Quote:
Originally Posted by janh
Just out of curiosity I read a review article about the new Mafia II. Off genre, but obviously the tenor could have been "copied" from SHV. Lack of features and functionality, linearity of story, poor physics simulation and purely optical damage model for cars, incomplete character development and empty cities,... sounds like another overly ambitious project that matches the above discussion.
Now it is no longer surprising that they did not widely distribute the game for previews before release... Which per se is already a huge stop sign.
|
I don't see that level of similarity between Mafia II (which I'm playing at the moment) and the SH5 release. There are a few people who are upset at the way MFII looks superficially like it should be a sandbox-style game, and it doesn't actually play that way. If you approach it on its own level -- as a linear plot RPG/shooter in an interesting environment -- then it's fun (IMO). My only complaint is that it's a little too heavy on the driving as filler between action sequences. MFII is currently at 79 critic/8.0 user rating on Metacritic, compared to SH5's rather dismal 62/2.3 rating. So it's not exactly being panned everywhere.
Two really important differences between MFII and SH5 are 1) I'm playing version 1.0 and I have seen no bugs so far, and 2) there was a demo available. A demo is a sign of confidence by a game company. Imagine how the whole SH5 drama would have played out, if Ubi had released a demo that revealed the shape the game was in.