Why IS this game suddenly so loved?

[Reno Story]

A long time ago, this game was considered a waste of money, hated by many because of how awful it was apperently. I remember catching it before and seeing all the negative reviews in the past..

Yet, nowadays, for some strange reason, it suddenly is considerably popular (Although I think most of the hype died, due to the number of players currently playing according to this http://steamcharts.com/app/104900 )

Why is it so loved all of a sudden, though? I don't see any real reviews, most of the reviews are from random players rather than people who do it for a living, I don't see a metacritic score or anything besides typical joke reviews on the front page of the review panel, with only a few positives that are kinda reviews.

What suddenly caused this game to be so likened? I looked at a more current video of gameplay, and it doesn't seem too different... Rather, it bored me to death, just watching people backpedal from braindead AI on mostly empty maps.

Is it because of the insanely low pricetag that subtly begs people to play the game (No doubt due to the dying numbers)?

Is it because of how the game has resorted to mocking itself, slapping all sorts of dumb content to please the masses of the internet?

Or is there something else I am missing? How did they fix the game compared to the past?

[Kenshiro3]

basically its undergone massive expansions & improvements and 2 relaunches since it came out. Most of the original reviews were based on an extremely old and glitchy build that had little to no content.

[BlackSpawn]

Interesting points. I enjoyed the game since the Dino Horde days. Ill try to list some improvements off the top of my head:
1. Graphics. significantly improved since launch, 1080p now looks reasonably good without overstretched blurry textures. Still horribly optimized, but if u have a good rig u can run it reasonable well maxed or nearly maxed out.
2. Difficulty. A bunch of game dynamics were simplified and leveling became easier, making the game more accesible to new players. Some "glitchy mechanics" that in my opinion enriched gameplay have been eliminated (Rapid Reload w melee/roll)
3. Game Modes. Added new PVAI and PVP modes on last update. The game has quite a good variety of modes including players vs AI, players vs players and a mixture of both. Some modes are more polished than others, but overall there is a lot of content to be explored. And yes, you can play as ANY DINO IN THE GAME. The tiny ones are so OP'd its awesome.
4. Gameplay. After you learn how to use the different weapons and what works for you and the strategies with the different classes, the gameplay can be quite addictive. Particularly cooperatively with people you know. There are customizable modes in which you can titrate the amount of small dinos, big dinos, vehicles, start money, enemy damage, ability to revive, etc. With the last update, the game is so customizable...that you literally can dumb it down to where a blind man can play or tough it up to where it is nearly impossible to beat. Its pretty cool.
5. Addition of Bots. Now there are bots that can work as friendlies or enemies. People that dont have a good net connection or care to play with others now can play "multiplayer" on their own.
6. Bugs. Most common bugs have been squashed. Occasional hiccups occur, but nothing game breaking for most players.
7. Price Cut. As more ppl play the game, the word gets out that the game is not as bad as original reviews pointed out. Granted, at launch game was POS...but the current product is barely discernible as the launch item. Its quite a remarkable evolution. In fact, I'd give it a solid 7/10.
8. Fun. There are so many permutations to the game...so many baddies(10 dinos total I believe), vehicles (6 or so), Weapons (20+), Classes (3)...that the combinations are really limitless even playin same map with same players over and over again. Weapons range from flamethrowers to rapid fire machineguns to laserguns ala star wars blasters to a laser rifle a la quake rail gun to a freakin Light Saber! Vehicles are as awesome as a lil speeder bike ala star wars, to a buggy with machinegun in its back a la Halo to a freakin avatar style heliplane.....AND THERE IS A ♥♥♥♥♥♥ MECH TOO!!
9. Shamelessly derivative. The only original aspect of the game is the premise of futuristic individuals, vehicles and weapons in a prehistoric setting fighting dinosaurs. Most gameplay dynamics are co-opted or borrowed from a bunch of different games that influenced the developers and it shows. There are some tried and true dynamics that are mixed in, and they work in a funny way. Its a decidedly old school feel and appeal. Ppl that were born and raised on current COD generation may not appreciate it...but there are tastes from Star Wars games, Borderlands, Tribes and Halo..perhaps a bit of Turok, to mention a few of the more salient ones. If you enjoyed any of those games, you are likely to enjoy this one...as long as you are prepared for a full multiplayer experience without a proper single player campaign. You can play by yourself (or now with bots) but it would be the usual 10 wave campaign.

I cant recommend the game enough. As long as you have the CPU and video card to run it well (it needs more horsepower than it should TBH), I cant see how you can go wrong by checking this game out. Partticularly at a 99c price tag. Ive lost more than that in the crevices of my couch for weeks and hadn't noticed!

Cheers.
Happy gaming!

[raupi]

Metacritic missed the name change from Dino Horde to Prelude, they are still stuck at collecting ratings under the name Orion: Dino Horde[www.metacritic.com]. Whether this particular rating or metacritic scores in general are worth anything has been debated a lot. Fact is that the critic reviews and a lot of user ratings are dated, whereas the game has undergone a lot of changes over time. If the changes would change older reviews is a completely different question, though.

There are more reasons to that small price tag, too. Getting more people to play is indeed part of the plan. The developers are also building up a bigger audience for their upcoming next title. But another aspect is the increased revenue[www.facebook.com] they are making. Despite selling at 6.6% of the old price they are making almost 10 times as much money compared to the previous year.

[The Total]

changing the name is used to trick people.period.
and i guess it works.

if this was straight up he would have kept the original name and used version numbers.
but he sold a million lmao

[[HKK] TheProphetOmega]

I agree with BlackSpawn, this game does have some old school charm, and is highly customizable, I´ve had more fun in this game than in many others I own that have cost 500% more, its appeal comes from not pretending to be something it isnt, its a straight up shooter that demands skill and timing , it sometimes feels like Quake 3, sometimes it feels like Unreal tournament, the graphics overhaul have been great and the conquest semi open world maps are a blast to play with friends.

I highly recommend and have gifted this game to several people and no one has been left dissapointed, but I do agree, its not for all, ypunger generations might not be affected by its old school feel, but hey, to each its own!

I love it

[Fejj]

Originally posted by HKK TheProphetOmega:

I agree with BlackSpawn, this game does have some old school charm, and is highly customizable, I´ve had more fun in this game than in many others I own that have cost 500% more, its appeal comes from not pretending to be something it isnt, its a straight up shooter that demands skill and timing , it sometimes feels like Quake 3, sometimes it feels like Unreal tournament, the graphics overhaul have been great and the conquest semi open world maps are a blast to play with friends.

I highly recommend and have gifted this game to several people and no one has been left dissapointed, but I do agree, its not for all, ypunger generations might not be affected by its old school feel, but hey, to each its own!

I love it

"Requires skill"
I just backpedal hile shooting a T-Rex in the face with a sniper 200 times. Works every time, lmao.
But I have gifted this to 2 other friends and we play from time to time.

[MightyMoe]

lots and lots of hard work from the devs and lots and lots of free updates / dlc.