Review Pair of Bloodlines reviews at GPM and Guru3D

[Spazmo]

Tags: Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Two Vampire: Bloodlines reviews--one at <a href=http://www.gpmonthly.com>GPM</a> and the other at <a href=http://www.guru3d.com>Guru3D</a> offer another pair of perspectives on Troika's latest title. GPM rates the game <b>8.6/10</b>, though they criticize Troika's lack of support for the game. Guru3D doesn't have a rating, but, much like many others, they like the game in spite of its flaws. Here's Guru3D summing things up.<blockquote>After the various criticisms I have mentioned above, you could be forgiven for wondering what I make of this game. The truth is that despite some of these short comings I absolutely loved my time spent wandering the underbelly of LA. The in depth characters, varied quests, and political complexities of the plot are absorbing, and engaging. Couple this with the unending fun of being able to feast on an unlimited supply of human flesh, and the ability to gruesomely kill your enemy’s with a variety of powers, you can find yourself immersed in an alternate world.</blockquote>Read more <a href=http://www.gpmonthly.com/pc/vtm-b/reviews-vtm-b.htm>here</a> and <a href=http://www.guru3d.com/article/gamereviews/178/6/>here</a>.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</A>

 

[Sol Invictus]

GPM has posted a review of Troika's 'Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines'. Rating: 86%. - Not sure what their so called "Dev Grade" is all about but it sure looks like they gave Troika a "C" for support of the game which (careful... there's a one of a million opinionated comment coming up) seems fair because Troika only seems to move as long as they are getting paid for it (hint: 'Temple of Elemental Evil' patch - it only happened after Atari paid them for it).

 

[Fez]

Let the flames begin. Someone bring marshmallows.

 

[Moriendor]

GPM has posted a review of Troika's 'Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines'. Rating: 86%. - Not sure what their so called "Dev Grade" is all about but it sure looks like they gave Troika a "C" for support of the game which (careful... there's a one of a million opinionated comment coming up) seems fair because Troika only seems to move as long as they are getting paid for it (hint: 'Temple of Elemental Evil' patch - it only happened after Atari paid them for it).

Anything wrong with that comment?
I've always disliked Troika's support policy - that's all. Makes the phrase "we hope you enjoy playing our game as much as we enjoyed making it" seem a bit shallow. You'd think that a developer would be proud and caring of their product and do everything to improve it post-release even if the publisher doesn't send them any fat checks anymore. There's plenty of examples of developers who have supported their products well beyond the paid phase in the past (Larian Studios, New World Computing, Sir Tech come to mind).
So, yeah, that C grade seems fair IMHO.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I thought it was less along the lines of money and mroe along the lines of "Troika can't release a patch for a game that, by law, is owned by Atari". You trying to tell me (from what I recall) that all those posts by Steve Moret telling us how he was working on the patch almost in his spare time is BS?

However, I agree. It is sad that Tim and Co didn't drop everything, work like nuts to fix all the bugs and then release a patch. Why just Steve? I think if ToEE had had a good, proper patch all of this bug hunting wouldn't be so harsh.

 

[Moriendor]

I thought it was less along the lines of money and mroe along the lines of "Troika can't release a patch for a game that, by law, is owned by Atari". You trying to tell me (from what I recall) that all those posts by Steve Moret telling us how he was working on the patch almost in his spare time is BS?

However, I agree. It is sad that Tim and Co didn't drop everything, work like nuts to fix all the bugs and then release a patch. Why just Steve? I think if ToEE had had a good, proper patch all of this bug hunting wouldn't be so harsh.

True but there should be ways to circumvent the legal patching issues. Larian Studios was in a very similar situation when Divine Divinity was released. Publisher CDV demanded that patches be passed on to them for QA before they were made public. Problem: CDV was not exactly in a hurry to approve the patches for release. That's why all the early Divine Divinity patches were called "hotfixes". Larian paid very close attention to avoiding the term "patch" in any way, shape or form as long as the "patches" didn't have CDV's seal of approval.
Well, you never know until you've seen the actual contract but I'd be willing to assume that Troika has had a carte blanche for fixing game-breaking/stopping issues as well. And if a few non critical fixes made it into the "patch" as a side effect... so what? Oops .