Review eToychest shreds Boiling Point: Road to Hell

[Fez]

Tags: Boiling Point: Road to Hell

<A href="http://etoychest.org">eToychest</a> have a <A href="http://etoychest.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1832&Itemid=42">review </a>that makes a prison gang rape look kind by comparison, awarding it the feeble score of 29/100. Have a read at these quotes to give you an idea of the smackdown level:
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<blockquote>The badness of this game is so complete it’s mystifying. In fact, it could be the only thing really complete about this game.
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And don’t think that it’s eye-poppingly gorgeous graphics that are dragging the system down. The graphics are extremely dated, with jagged polygon pedestrians and boxy items sprinkled liberally throughout the game world.
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Assuming you can gag down the poor visuals, the game’s controls don’t make the pill any less bitter to swallow.
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And it just never gets any better. The missions don’t make a lot of sense, they’re poorly laid out, and thanks to Boiling Point’s inane skill system, many of them are virtually impossible.
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<b>But Boiling Point: Road To Hell is bound to sit in the annals of poor gaming history, next to Trespasser, Daikatana, and other games that were hyped more than they were worked on, and left the gaming populace hungry for real sustenance.</b></blockquote>
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Ouch. I hope they remembered to lube up before that one was delivered.

 

[Screaming_life]

The missions don’t make a lot of sense, they’re poorly laid out, and thanks to Boiling Point’s inane skill system, many of them are virtually impossible. At the beginning of the game you can hardly even shoot your weapons, as your lack of skill apparently physically affects the machinery of the guns, translating into frequent jams and misfires.

WRONG! - the wear of the weapon affects the number of misfires, not your skill. How could someone be so stupid to miss that?! Surely they would have noticed a virtualy infinite improvement when they bought a new weapon. (assuming they played longer than 30 mins)

 

[EvoG]

...and how DARE he talk of Trespasser that way. People to this day fail to at least be objective and call Trespasser what it is...a really awesome tech demo. Personally one of my favorite games just through force of atmosphere. Think of all the fancy things games have now, and are lauded for...Trespasser attempted to do back THEN, when 3D acceleration was barely coming into its own. Full on physics...guns you REALLY had to aim by adjusting your arm position and wrist rotation...and something NO ONE has yet; fully physics and behaviour driven creatures. Not a single frame of animation was created for them. Sure they behaved strangely at times, but for the most part, when you put into perspective, whats underneath, and consider that they are moving under their own power with a behvioural pattern driving them, thats pretty awesome. It wasn't perfect, but damn it was sure neat...it feels like no other FPS and its a shame its seen as such an abomination rather than simply an unfinished game...as he really truly had potential.

Sorry for the Trespasser rant...it was an opportunity I had to take.


Cheers

 

[Shagnak]

I don't know about the "hyped more than they were worked on" guff.
I remember Daikatana being hyped beyond all proportion in the magazines, but as far as I can tell Boiling Point has been released with little fanfare at all. I've seen the occasional article, but its profile is dwarfed by that of, say, Stalker.

 

[Gwendo]

Even with completely new weapons (ware=0%), what the author said is true.

This game is really shitty. I don't care about the graphics, but the bad performance in a high end PC and the myriad of bugs make it what it is. 29/100 seems about right.

I hope the creators take this review up their anus without lube, so that they won't make the same mistake again.

And don't say the fault is the publisher's. If they just said the game was far from finished and would play like shit if it were released, the publisher would think twice.

Hell! It just takes 2 minutes to find the first bugs! Did they even beta test the game??!

 

[Fez]

So is the consensus that the game is crap then? Or merely average with a lot of bugs? It seems that opinions are varying a lot with this one.

 

[Screaming_life]

Even with completely new weapons (ware=0%), what the author said is true.

No it's not!

0% wear = no misfires... after continued use the wear will increase and thus misfires will occur but this is a very gradual process.

As for bugs, i've not had a problem with them... sure i notice lots but none so far have prevented me from completing any missions nor had as great an impact on gameplay as is insinuated in some reviews.

I guess alot depends on personal tolerance levels.

 

[Screaming_life]

So is the consensus that the game is crap then? Or merely average with a lot of bugs? It seems that opinions are varying a lot with this one.

Yes very varied... this review sums it up well:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=59379

 

[Fez]

That's the review I had in mind too when I was thinking of the game's reception. It is a good example, but sadly doesn't help in coming to any decisions.

 

[Shagnak]

It sounds to me, going from all the reviews that I have looked at, that it is a great game underneath a sea of bugs.
If you are willing to forgive the bugs in order to experience the open expansive gameplay, then you will get a lot out of it.
If I ever see the damn thing on a shelf over here, I'm willing to give it a go.

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

eToychest blows.

 

[Screaming_life]

If you are willing to forgive the bugs in order to experience the open expansive gameplay, then you will get a lot out of it.

Exactly. You have to remember that when they started this game there were only 4 people working on it and for a debut release... or any release for that matter it's extremely ambitious.

And Atari don't help matters.

Have you seen their next game?
It looks even more ambitious! They should at least me commended for trying!

Precursors:

"Precursors" leads the gamer into unexplored regions of space, where he can fly with huge battle ships from planet to planet. There will be hunts for blind passengers on board in large corridors or fights against boarding pirates, while outside of the space ship rockets and laser weapons are fired in stunning space battles. It will be more peaceful on planets where you can talk to different alien nations, but also must fight from time to time.

Acting as a still nameless Hero, the gamer overtakes the part to survive in a conflict between two dominating races. This part is only defined by the actions and decisions that must be made during more than 250 different missions. The professional dealer deals with goods or smuggles them, a brutal bounty hunter is notorious, the celebrated conqueror governs unknown worlds; many ways are possible in "Precursors".

With "Boiling Point" Deep Shadows has already created a believable world, where the gaming freedom is a central point. "Precursors" takes a step further where a complete universe can be freely explored and you can fly everywhere. On board of the space ships there will be war from time to time. Outside are stunning battles with other ships, battle stations and interceptors, while inside of the ships that are larger than 10,000 meters, there will be fights man against man! In case a ship approaches one of the most different planets, it will land on the surface and there will be battles with partly organic weapons against large numbers of enemies or you will explore one of the numerous civil cities.

"Precursors" is an updated conversion of good old and still famous game "Elite", a modern First Person Shooter, classic science fiction movies and the world of the novels from Andre Norton. Therefore it is a mixture of very thrilling and fanciful genres and will inspire a broad range of gamers.

Features:

* Simulation of a huge futuristic universe
* Very different planets to walk around absolutely free
* More than 250 diversified missions
* Partly organic weapons with ammunition that must be bred
* Controllable space ships up to the size of 30,000 feet
* Stunning space battles
* Big number of unusual enemies (plants, insects, aliens, etc.)
* Trading possibilities with complex circulation of goods
* Interaction with hundreds of NPCs of different alien races

 

[Fez]

It might be worth getting on a budget release, there is a chance the worst of the bugs will be patched by then too.

 

[Fez]

Have you seen their next game?
It looks even more ambitious! They should at least me commended for trying!

Maybe they should concentrate on being able to finish one game before going for another even more hugely ambitious project? It could just end up in an even worse state than BP.

 

[Screaming_life]

Yeah it could but from what i understand they are concentrating on BP... they just had the opportunity to show it at E3 so did.

 

[Gwendo]

Well, in my PC, the weapons work like crap. Maybe it's because of my weak p4 3.4GHz with only 1GB DDR2 ram and a X800GET 256MB graphic card, but I can't play combat in that game, it just lags more than if I were playing online with a 28.8K modem. And the weapons... Too erratic!

I even confess that at the beggining I was very forgiving about the bugs, but when I noticed that the moment I fired a weapon the game would be just unplayable, I just quit after a lot of tries.


I think the developers should do a Startship Troopers game. At least, everyone would be expecting bugs.

 

[dunduks]

I think the developers should do a Startship Troopers game. At least, everyone would be expecting bugs.

Your prayers have been heard, look no further

 

[Screaming_life]

Patch 2 details:

- fixed: crash while loading some save files;
- fixed: camera control when firing from the Pirania;
- fixed: rendering error in landscape while flying a plane;
- fixed: some situations where the user car would disapear;
- fixed: sometimes in the vehicle list NPC names are displayed;
- fixed: list of vehicles, now the last car you were using is N1;
- fixed: when FPS are low you could fall through the map while driving a car;
- fixed: the snake wasn't able to bite you while you were crawling;
- fixed: car kills NPC's from slight touch;
- fixed: car map indicators remained even after it was destroyed;
- fixed: when you fire the RPG and quickly switch to a different weapon the remaining ammo does not decrease;
- fixed: size of the moon;
- fixed: corrupted frames beetween AVI movies were visible;
- fixed: windows appear as dark squares while it's raining;
- fixed: some open doors dissapear at certain view angles on indoor levels;
- fixed: flickering triangles on bus (3rd person view);
- fixed: boat appears to be filled with water;
- fixed: boat trace can dissapear and flicker under some viewing angles;
- fixed: flickering carpets in federal base;
- fixed: posters in bar vanish as you turn away from them;
- fixed: dog does not cast shadows;
- fixed: water and landswell are not animated in 6th cutscene;
- fixed: white square from car lights are visible on GeForce cards(1th person view);
- fixed: on some occasions a white square is clearly visible around the moon;
- fixed: savegame icon does not contain horizon and fog when saved in plane;
- fixed: slight screen borders darkening on GeForce cards with Bloom effect on;
- fixed: fog from car lights casts shadow;
- fixed: portals on airport and city;
- fixed: sports car's wheel are not clipping by the ground
- fixed: grenades get stuck in the doorways and windows;
- fixed: NPC standing in chairs;
- fixed: missions "The Intimate drama - 1 and 2";
- fixed: a metal clanking sound plays, if the user's character stabs the curtains;
- fixed: user character stands in the air inside don pedro's island house;
- fixed: passer-by's in Pueblo Faro walk in air near the bar;
- fixed: the dead body lies in incorrect positions;
- fixed: money obtained from the bus drive missions is not consistent;
- fixed: if the music settings is set to min (any %), and the user rests in game, then suddenly the music blasts to 100%;
- fixed: characters speach is too quiet;
- fixed: wrong message when paying for a vodka shot at the Puerto Sombra bar;
- fixed: change a tire icon does not update correctly;
- fixed: no driver in the taxi in pueblo-faro;
- fixed: PSS is not available in the Trade Menu;
- fixed: jaguar floats across screen at treetop level;
- fixed: character fails to stop running if objectives window is open;
- fixed: hint appears if the user is on the other side of wall;
- fixed: soldiers do not hold Shotguns properly;
- fixed: the two Policemen appear to stare at the ground;
- fixed: npc die on contact with grenades, and not from the actual explosion;
- fixed: prison A.I. gets stuck in doorways;
- fixed: remove voice "A-a-a" when passer-by's are running away from player.

- added: cans to refuel different kinds of vehicles;
- added: Weapon repair upgrades;
- added: support of non-4:3 video modes;
- added: the Nissan(Melarud) car now has it's own gfx-interface (cockpit);
- added: NPC reacts on car horn;
- added: steering Wheel Sensitivity lacks Plus and Minus signs;
- added: informative messages appear while upgrading;

- improved: car dynamics;
- improved: NPC & Combat AI;
- improved: weapon's balance;
- improved: helicopter dynamics, you can now turn on the spot;
- improved: barrel physics;

- optimized: grass rendeing and fixed flickering on hilltops;
- optimized: Bodies of Drivers accumulate over time;

 

[dunduks]

Well, its good to see that some developers support their games.

 

[Baley]

Wow,a whole lot of fixes.

I might give this game a chance...

 

[Saran]

Wow,a whole lot of fixes.

I might give this game a chance...

Same here, like a lot of people i was turned off by all of the bugs that were said to riddle the game, but if the devs are really trying to fix it up it might be worth a look.

 

[Gwendo]

Once the 1.2 patch comes out, I'll try installing the game again and give it another try. It will be the last chance.