After blitzing through Dragon Age II last week, even though l was able to put a hefty 35 hours into the game the best word I can find to describe it is ‘underdone’. A less polite word would be ‘unfinished’.
For one, the game is brimming over in repeated assets. Every crypt, cave, house, and warehouse has exactly the same look, right down to the same color scheme and even the same layout of rooms. There aren’t even that many locations in the game anyway, especially noticeable since it all takes place in just one city. This excessive familiarity makes what could be an excellent game become tiresome to explore; a great role-playing game needs a great world.
What’s bizarre is it’s the exact reverse of Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2. Repetitive side quest layouts were a big problem in the first game, so why has BioWare made the same mistake with Dragon Age?
The only reasonable explanation is that the game needed more time in the development oven, especially given how many people are reporting problems in particular with the PC version. Even with the latest patch released, a number of my friends can barely get past the starting screen for a plague of Blue Screen of Deaths. Hardly what one would expect of a developer with a rich history in PC gaming, is it?
Then again, it wouldn’t be the only game that’s shown up in Q1 with issues post-release. Homefront has a single-player campaign that barely lasts four hours, although I’d call that a blessing – but that’s for another editorial post. The first-person shooter has had freezing issues in its online multiplayer too. Meanwhile, Test Drive Unlimited 2 launched with a number of game-breaking bugs including corrupted save files and server issues. A friend joked that it might even take until Q2 for the game to be in working order. Two Worlds II, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Magicka have all had uneasy launches too. I’m sure I could more, but frankly it’s already an embarrassing list of offenders.
With a number of big games coming out this Q1 including Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2, and Dragon Age II, it’s clear that publishers are increasingly seeing the lull between the madcap Q4 and usually busy summer as a solid time for good games to stand out and do big business. Unfortunately, this opportunism appears to have led to a number of games released too early, either too buggy to be playable or too unfinished to warrant the ever-increasing asking price.
I’m playing through Fallout New Vegas at the moment, and it’s a stark reminder that unfinished games have been an increasing trend of the industry for some time now – God, is it a bug-fest. I walked into the saloon to find the upper torso of a dude floating in the counter. It was quite weird when he nonchalantly said hello.
Developers can patch games after they’ve been released to fix these kind of errors, and that’s great because it means they can remove problems they’ve overlooked and ensurep players get the best experience possible even when the disc is out of developer’s hands, but publishers take that as a green light to take advantage. In this, they fail to meet trading standards.
Players are speaking up more, like UK consumer group Gamers’ Voice did over the problems with the PC and PS3 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but if this Q1 is anything to go by then publishers simply aren’t taking notice. So the question is: will there ever be a breaking point? Will the next New Vegas or Dragon Age II be the straw that finally breaks consumers’ backs? Or is this an inherent problem in the online age that we’re just going to have to get used to? I wonder how gamers will respond if this year’s all-important Q4 has as many raw-tasting offerings. For now, let’s just hope Q2 is given more time to breathe.