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[Review] Firefall: The Beginning of Something Great

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Comments

  • cnutempcnutemp Member UncommonPosts: 230

    My biggest grip with the game is that there is no sense of accomplishment.  Defend a section of the map for a few hours to clear out chosen? Don't go for a lunch break because if you do you will get booted out and placed into another random server world with no way to get back to the world you made all that progress on.

    I would also like to see player made bases to add more sense of accomplishment.

  • MassManMassMan Member UncommonPosts: 10

    Ahem... As a gaming news site, how can mmorpg.com not even mention something as relevant as Red 5 Studios failing to deliver on a $1,000,000 dollar Press Release? It's even here on mmorpg.com as well: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameId/566/showArticle/25278

    “Red 5 is dedicated to supporting the future of eSports and we believe that creating a more compelling experience for participants and spectators will further the cause of competitive gaming”, said Morgan Romine, eSports Maven of Red 5 Studios. “The newly launched eSports Toolkit is just the tip of the iceburg. We will be supporting this initiative with our Mobile Gaming Unit this fall and providing a huge payout for elite competitive gamers in 2013”.

    It shows a severe lack of trustworthyness when a company wants to generate publicity by announcing $1,000,000 price money, and they silently change it to Zero dollars.

  • BelegStrongbowBelegStrongbow Member UncommonPosts: 296

    Originally posted by MassMan

    Ahem... As a gaming news site, how can mmorpg.com not even mention something as relevant as Red 5 Studios failing to deliver on a $1,000,000 dollar Press Release? It's even here on mmorpg.com as well: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameId/566/showArticle/25278

    “Red 5 is dedicated to supporting the future of eSports and we believe that creating a more compelling experience for participants and spectators will further the cause of competitive gaming”, said Morgan Romine, eSports Maven of Red 5 Studios. “The newly launched eSports Toolkit is just the tip of the iceburg. We will be supporting this initiative with our Mobile Gaming Unit this fall and providing a huge payout for elite competitive gamers in 2013”.

    It shows a severe lack of trustworthyness when a company wants to generate publicity by announcing $1,000,000 price money, and they silently change it to Zero dollars.

    I agree with this guy,  

    but I also agree with this review.  I really am hoping for this game to blow up with content and features.  but I lack hope,  I think they ran out of cash and are running on fumes atm.  Or else they wouldnt have released the open beta with cash shop.

  • TorgamaticTorgamatic Member UncommonPosts: 29

    Love the game myself , find it very addicting. Current 30% off frames has me leveling like a mad man to unlock as many for free as possible. Score is fair, given all the conditions stated. NEW content I hope is coming soon. Have only been playing PvE content so cant comment on PvP . The CHOSEN (bag guys) seem to have been bumped up a bit. With a good turnout the INVASION (world event of a city being attacked) almost was a victory for the chosen.... we most always kick but.

    See you in game I hope,

     

    DONBLAS.

     

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  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,789

    "Value = 10" ?? There is no monetary value in something that is suppose to be "free".

     

    Also, someone said they "made a point of buying Red Beans once a month". This reminds me that this whole "f2p" thing is in fact just a sort of scam. Recently, I as reminded of a term that is used to describe such scam attempts...."ding joint". In a ding joint, mostly associated with carnivals, you have a tent or attraction that is offered to the public as "free". All kinds of little amusement items are sprinkled throughout the tent that are to keep the public interested. Then at the exit there is a bowl. Above the bowl is a sign which says "Donations". The point of the bowl is to get people to feel guilty and "contribute" something for the show. No one forces your hand into your wallet but the expectation is still there.

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • GinazGinaz Member RarePosts: 2,455
    Originally posted by Grakulen

    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    It is a fun game, but it has a ways to go to get those scores.  Lately game reviews on this site seem to be pandering to the advertising budget instead of actually giving a fair review.

    Do you really believe that? I mean we gave Neverwinter a 7 and right now I see a Neverwinter ad on the site. We panned Scarlett Blade with a 4.7 when it had ads all over the site. Do you really believe that we get paid for Cs Ds and Fs? This was a C. I'd be embarrassed by that score if I received it as a student or developer. I drop links to our Metacritic aggregate on twitter all the time. Like Bill said, we are low. If people are paying us off they aren't getting their moneys worth and Bill owes me some checks!

    You can't really blame people for mistrusting "game journalists".  There's been a few high profile cases where developer money has influenced editorial content and the whole industry/journalist relationship is pretty incestuous.  That being said, the reviews here have been better lately and while I don't agree with the review score, esp. the score for innovation, it's not completely over the top.  I would have given it a 6 at the very most.

    Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?

    Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.

  • orbitxoorbitxo Member RarePosts: 1,956
    Originally posted by sheller
    A fair review, but I wish you guys had waited for the next milestone patch on the 20th. Being that it's only six days away I find that this review could have been delayed to give players a more accurate understanding of what's in the game.

    agree with you on this.

     

    also id like to see a re-visited review on GW2 (on their 1 year anniversay) now with their new direction. yes , new direction.

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  • MumboJumboMumboJumbo Member UncommonPosts: 3,219

    Got to admit, Firefall looks very interesting to me. [mod edit]

    >"Red 5 has really turned a focus towards the game’s open world content, its invasions, events, and the idea that the players will ultimately decide what parts of the world are uncovered for further exploration in the future.  We’re going to shake this review up a little bit and jump right to the Longevitycategory on that note."

    THIS^ is what Red-5 need to concentrate on it seems to me: Open World + PvP plus progress.

  • SidQFTSidQFT Member UncommonPosts: 96
    i like the game so far but gets boring fast, not much a pve guy.  also not much of an instance arena pvp guy either.  im waiting for the open world pvp!!!  this would be my game of games if they ever implement it.  from what they have promised - base building/base defense/territory fighting/etc etc...  but until then the game is kinda....well.........how should i put it...........meh.
  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806

    Thanks Bill, thats a fair review, all things considered.  No doubt the haters and trolls will be howling for blood, but then thats to be expected.  I'd like to see some of them attempt to deal with the types of HIGHLY complex software and hardware thats required to make a game like Firefall (or other high level MMO's) function.

    When all is said and done, its not the haters or trolls who will have a say about the games future.  Its really in the hands of Red5 and those who share their vision of the games potential.   If they can effectively communicate and share that vision, with enough people, then the game will be a success.

    Not having any real taste for Kool Aid, I've been of two minds about the game for the more than a year and a half that I've spent in it.  On the one hand, there is the games potential to be something really great. On the other is the continuing sequence of mistakes and fumbles, that have taken place.  But thats all part of the learning process, when dealing with software and hardware of this complexity.  So, I'm hoping for the best.

    Over all, I'm quite looking forward to what Red5 adds to the game over the rest of this year, and into next.

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • Aplus007Aplus007 Member Posts: 13
    This is a Beta game....at Stage 1....come the fuck on....really?
  • SlayblazeSlayblaze Member UncommonPosts: 24

    Way too soon for a review. You can't look at the timeframe for this game in the same way as in other games and just say "well, it's been in beta so long so I'll just go ahead and do a review even though it is NOWHERE CLOSE to being anywhere near a finished state". The current game is just a framework, a skeleton upon which the actual upcoming game will be built upon, what you see now is not the actual game - it's just the foundation "gone live" to make sure the structure is sound.

    And the structure is NOT sound yet, in fact it is very unstable although slowly creeping towards improvement as mentioned in this review. I would have called this a preview of an incomplete work in progress.

  • DamonVileDamonVile Member UncommonPosts: 4,818

    Originally posted by Grakulen



    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    It is a fun game, but it has a ways to go to get those scores.  Lately game reviews on this site seem to be pandering to the advertising budget instead of actually giving a fair review.

    Do you really believe that? I mean we gave Neverwinter a 7 and right now I see a Neverwinter ad on the site. We panned Scarlett Blade with a 4.7 when it had ads all over the site. Do you really believe that we get paid for Cs Ds and Fs? This was a C. I'd be embarrassed by that score if I received it as a student or developer. I drop links to our Metacritic aggregate on twitter all the time. Like Bill said, we are low. If people are paying us off they aren't getting their moneys worth and Bill owes me some checks!

    do you believe people are looking for objective reviews on this site anymore ? People want reality TV from their reviews, not honest opinions.

    When you spend your days trash talking everything in the mmo market the last thing you want to hear is a positive review on anything.

    Tabloid posters want tabloid reviews.

  • CrazKanukCrazKanuk Member EpicPosts: 6,130

    I actually tend to agree with the Innovation mark. I don't think that a game has to be entirely innovative in order to get a 10, TBH. What could someone possibly create that we haven't seen a million times before? I think that Innovation should be a measure of advancements that any given game offers that are new or unfamiliar. In the case of Firefall I tend to agree that they did enough to create a "new" gaming experience. 

     

    First and foremost, has there ever been a game where actual territory can be taken over? That's actually a serious question because I can't think of one. It would basically be like Stormwind getting taken over by the Defias Brotherhood. IMO, that's innovation. That's one major thing that I would give Firefall huge props for and actually following through on, as I logged on this week and found one of the major hubs in the game completely and utterly in "the melding" entirely inaccessible. That's good shit! 

     

    The ability to level up multiple battleframes (classes) on the same character was cool. 

     

    Truly dynamic events (as repetitive as they might be). No set start/end point. Sure, the content is shallow right now, but it's about the innovation and not the depth of the content. 

     

    If you're not finding anything innovative about the game then you haven't played it, sorry. 

     

    Crazkanuk

    ----------------
    Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
    Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
    Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
    Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
    Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
    ----------------

  • SpcTstCrnchSpcTstCrnch Member Posts: 28
    I have to agree it's a really good crating game, but hardly a shooter. only shooting you do is protecting your thumper, the group ARES mission or PvP, but it is a really good FPS/TPS crafting game. 
  • FlyByKnightFlyByKnight Member EpicPosts: 3,967

    How does a game with 1 instance, small area and unfinished "other areas" get a 6 for longevity? It's EXTRA repetitive. It's literally 2 weeks before you've seen everything. It deserves a 4 or 5 there.

     

    You gave them a 10 for value because its F2P? Does that mean every game that is F2P and isn't P2W get's a 10?  This was CLEARLY a score boost.

     

    You gave them a 7 for polish.  The game is unfinished. Log-in errors. All types of stuff not ready.  Yes they're working on it, but they've BEEN working on it.  Have you actually played the game?  Enemy NPCs underwater shooting at players.  Players dying in water that comes up to their waist? So many things wrong.  This is easily a 5 or 6.

     

    I like the potential of Firefall but padding their score is only a favor to THEM and misleading.  This game honestly deserves a whole entire point less.  6.7 rating.  Red5 needs to know Firefall has potential but they're not going for it right now.

    "As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*" 

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • GravargGravarg Member UncommonPosts: 3,424

    Have to agree with almost everything in the review, except the bit about laggy UI.  The last patch fixed alot of the problems with this.  I have no clue what they changed to fix it, but doing things in the garage and the crafting stations are now very responsive.  Before you had to wait like 10+ seconds if it happened at all, but now it seems to be working great.

     

    I know some people say it's an ugly game, but I'd have to disagree.  It has it's own art style, it was never meant to look realistic or anything, however using my nighthawk's scope I guesstimate the maximum view distance during midday is around 1 km (it has a range finder that goes to 215 m, which is the max range of the sniper rifle, and it seems the distance I can see past that is around 4-5 times that).  Unlike other games where you can see the terrain for that far maybe (In most games I think you can only see like 500m tops)  You can see NPCs from far away as well.  Standing on a ridge sniping chosen squads, I was able to see them from very far away, and wait til they got within 215 m to kill them.  It's not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but the sheer distance you can see things at is astonishing.



     

  • GravargGravarg Member UncommonPosts: 3,424

    Players: "We don't want you to hold our hands"

    Developers: "Here's a game where you can do whatever you want with very little interference or quests holding your hands."

    Players: "We want a game that tells us what to do."

    Developers: /wrists

     

    lol  people make me laugh.  The problem I think alot of players have with this game is that there isn't going to be a quest (except maybe a daily) that's going to tell you to go kill those chosen over there, or go do that Ares Mission, or go craft this item, or go thump here.  I thought people were tired of quests and quest hubs.

  • DihoruDihoru Member Posts: 2,731
    Originally posted by Mtibbs1989

     The reviews from MMORPG.com employees are getting worse with each review. The same company who gave best in show to a tech demo and concept art over actual games at E3 is one of the best examples of how little they really even care about these games. While Firefall is fun on the surface it does indeed have quite a lot of issues that need to be clarified.

     Firefall has quite a lot of issues going for it that's not taken into account in this review. From the severe graphical pop-ins while running through the game and the low texture resolutions that I've been experiencing even at the max settings makes me wonder how they rated it as a pro. To the lack of progression, seriously? How one rates the progression system in this game as "fantastic" is beyond me. It's very basic especially when compared to many other MMOs.

     The only thing in the review I can agree with is the combat. But how hard is it to create an excellent shooter? It's not like companies have to deal with a lot of highly sophisticated attack animations.

     The only thing I can't speak about is the crafting as I usually don't craft, I can only take their word on that part because I haven't touched it since I started playing Firefall.

     This game is also about as social as Defiance was when I played it. In fact this game might actually be worse  than Defiance because I rarely every see anyone in Firefall. When I'm playing Firefall it's essentially a ghost town (remember that the game is completely based around public events).

     I'm also seriously scratching my head with the innovation rating which is a 9. What did they innovate? What has this MMO brought to the table that previous games never thought of? The public quests aren't innovative, shooting isn't innovative,the progression isn't innovative, even the types of weapons aren't innovated. Sure, Public events are the only things available in the game at the moment but that doesn't make it more innovated than anything else. I just want to clarify something to the MMORPG.com employees for future use:

     

    Definition of INNOVATION

    1: the introduction of something new

    2: a new idea, method, or device : novelty


     

     This review is nothing more than MMORPG.com stroking another companies ego in the hopes for a payout in ad space.
     
     In addtion, I'm quite sure that Aeria Games had advertisements for Scarlet Blade on MMORPG.com's website before the actual review even came out and if I'm correct about that. There was probably no say about the actual article until after they had already paid for ad space.

    I've seen some weird posts in my years on mmorpg.com but you sir have hit a new record.

    1. EQN being just a tech demo is pure speculation here, what was seen was in-game footage without a UI, the UI could've been absent because of the whole "help us build the game how you want it" element.

    2. I run it on max and never honestly seen that in Firefall o.O I mean never, could it be a GPU compatibility issue? ( I run a 6950 Radeon for reference sake).

    3. Google WarZ for an idea of how badly you can cock up a shooter. It ain't as easy to make a fun one as you think, a competent one maybe but fun is hard to get right.

    4. Go craft, you'll get a bit lost and quite pissed off at some of the requirements for higher tier items ( 2 and above ).

    5. Social elements abound in the game, all you need to do is talk, you may not always get an answer but speaking from experience it's quite a rush to wake up in the morning, log in, notice half the damn map is chosen controlled and start looking for which way to go first while trying to pick up as many people as possible to push back the chosen advance, doesn't always work mind you but 2 days ago I had an epic 1 and a half hour run recapturing everything south of Copa up to (and including) SH.

    6. The innovation rating is because of the game's hidden little tweaks and features (for example you can customize your advanced battleframes with multiple loadouts, 2 primary weapons, 4-5 secondaries and tweak the power output of your frame's reactor to your various installed modules and weapons so you can change quite easily how heavily you're leaning on firepower or ability power) plus the melding pockets and the fact that while currently you cannot push back the melding past the known area you can, if chosen conquer a city and absorb it into the melding, push it back locally.

     

    The game has potential and it is fun, I am curios to see what the 20th of august patch holds in store.

    image
  • FlyByKnightFlyByKnight Member EpicPosts: 3,967

    Originally posted by Gravarg

    Players: "We don't want you to hold our hands"

    Developers: "Here's a game where you can do whatever you want with very little interference or quests holding your hands."

    Players: "We want a game that tells us what to do."

    Developers: /wrists

     

    lol  people make me laugh.  The problem I think alot of players have with this game is that there isn't going to be a quest (except maybe a daily) that's going to tell you to go kill those chosen over there, or go do that Ares Mission, or go craft this item, or go thump here.  I thought people were tired of quests and quest hubs.

     

    I fucking hate when people say this about Firefall.  You act like Firefall is a deep Open World game where there is mounds of content for people to explore and they won't because they're lazy. LIES.COM

     

    Firefall is a small map with icons and pointers for every damned thing. It's simple and basic.  People would like to know what the game is about and its purpose and how it works before they jump into it. They like to be immersed in the game.  Not search forums and patch notes and read manga written by homophobe nut bags.

     

    They tell  this grand story about a ship crashing and causing the end of the world, then throw you on a BEACH in a battle frame with tiki lamps and beach chairs like there isn't some war going on.  They don't tell you the significance of battle frames why you're wearing one, where the fuck you just came from.  THAT'S why people ask "okay now what?".  It has nothing to do with the game mechanics it has to do with the shitty presentation and explanation.

    "As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*" 

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • FootsoreFootsore Member UncommonPosts: 5

    The reviewer hit the nail on the head, I was bored and confused after only 8-10 hours of play. The tutorial was way too short, and incomplete. I disagree that the devs want players to discover how to play on their own and think its more like laziness, and greed, and them wanting to get the game on the market. The game has nice features, but I dont believe any game in beta should be selling perks. If devs are actually interested in "beta testing" they should give game cash, and all the FTP items away. Test game play, load test servers, make sure it all works, then release the game and start selling.

    I've already uninstalled this.

  • utvetteguyutvetteguy Member UncommonPosts: 8

    I like the game, and enjoy what content they do have. 

     

    Open world PVP and improving armies needs to be their focus to put the MMO into this game.

  • GravargGravarg Member UncommonPosts: 3,424

    You can tell older MMO players and newer ones.  You can go to a website to go look something up, it doesn't mean you're dumb or anything. I just means you want to know something and you can go look it up.  I remember playing early MMOs and having two computers (since dual monitors wasn't even around for the PC), with one playing the game, and my old computer to look up stuff on websites or game manuals.  There are little robots in the game that you can watch videos and stuff on also.

     

    Firefall is what you make it.  If you want to be told what to do then you'll be lost.  If you want to explore, go shoot some stuff, craft, or have pretty big battles, then you'll fit right in and have a good time.   I know of several people (some of them are friends I know from real life) who said they want maybe a short tutorial, then just plopped down into the middle of somewhere and not know what the heck is going on.  That's what Firefall does.  It won't hold your hand.  That isn't a lack of content, the content is there, you just have to find it.  I've had to help many players to show them the ropes of what and how to do things.  There's no problem with asking a question.  That's how you meet people (at least in my experience) that become good friends.  The community in Firefall is one of it's best features imho.  If you ask something, you aren't going to get a "omg you so stupid!" comment, you'll most likely get an answer, or someone will even show you.

     

    I think the one thing they did wrong was splitting up the maps.  I think a lot of players think New Eden is the only area in the game.  You have to do a little work to get to the other areas, but they're there.  There's generally very few people there, but the ones there know what's going on.  I'm happy just sniping chosen in New Eden, but the other maps are fun too, except diamondhead, I hate that map lol.

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