Is the game really that bad?

[Larry]

It got slammed on release...

I was really interested in this on release but I knew it was supposed to be a co-op game but when they finally released it it didn't seem like much people picked it up or bothered with it thus little point in paying full price for it.

Is it really as bad as people made/make it out to be? Is it unplayable without co-op? Is it worth spending the time playing it?

[bradleypariah]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T02Pvlpf2B8

[omed_86]

I got it for 6$ on a Humble Store sale, gotta say I'd have been pleased even if I'd paid full price :)
Good action and interesting characters, also some nice puzzles/riddles.

I played solo, and you can switch between charcaters at checkpoints, though I mostly played as the elf (forgot her name, it was some while ago), she has different kinds of arrows and I especially liked the exploding arrows.

[Draven]

So far really enjoying the game. A friend and I are playing over the net via Tunngle's lan mode.

Great review bradelypariah and thanks for pointing me in the right direction to get tunngle.

[Apost Khan]

I never understood the negative reviews. I think most were of the console version which must have been dreadful. I had zero glitches or AI issues and the game was tons of fun. But I did play nearly the whole campaign as Elara (the range elf) so i'm guessing maybe the game isnt as fun if you play as Kadac (Hack and Slash). But in all honesty, this game is a bit rough around the edges, and the first level is the worst in the entire game, is better with a controller, but in terms of fun factor, I'd put it in my top 10-20 games I've played on Steam and I own well over 1,000 games on here. So, yeah. Don't buy the negative hype. It's actually a great game. It reminds me allot of how Alien Rage was first recieved. That was another really fun Unreal Engine game, slammed by press outlets with negative reviews, but well recieved by Steam users. I guess my overall theme here is, don't trust press outlets. Trust your fellow gamers.

[Paradise Decay]

It's Gears of War in a medievil style setting.

[Grimlar]

Really enjoyed this when it came out.
Such a shame that it was tied to gamespy, even more of a shame that it was never patched to work with steam.
As others have suggested I used tunngle and lan mode to play with friends.

[76561198030043640]

In short:
1P -- linear and boring as Gears (CPU partner is invincible, rendering it a matter of target practice from afar)
2P -- one of the toughest co-op TPS's out there (harder than Kane & Lynch 2 on its hardest, difficulty... with shaky cam enabled... while drunk!) that forces co-operation, as the characters are different enough to not be as good at either melee or TPS'n as one another

Verdict:
Underrated because it's essentially a 'co-op only' game, does not hold players hands and because it was overshadowed by the GoW hype of its time. 8/10

[CinderellaMan]

I'm playing it now and on the last chapter, probably an hour or so from the end I'm guessing. Good story and characters... love the banter between them. It is a lot of fun and ramps up nicely. I would definitely recommend it.

[Dipstick]

I think it's a great game. It's just a shame there are so many bugs. It can be game-breaking at times. But all in all: This game is a slow burner. The more you play it, the more you enjoy it.

[Elgar]

Originally posted by Dipstick:

It's just a shame there are so many bugs. It can be game-breaking at times.

"So many bugs" ? "Game-breaking" ones ? Well, I didn't encounter any, as far as I remember. But maybe I was just lucky.

[SpawnCap]

Game is completely playable without co-op. Wether co-op works or not? Don't know, never touched it. Game is like Gears of War mated with some Lord of the Rings game.

[Sintacs]

Originally posted by Apost Khan:

I never understood the negative reviews. I think most were of the console version which must have been dreadful. I had zero glitches or AI issues and the game was tons of fun

I bought and played through the 360 version on release and it was great, I encountered maybe 3 glitches (though typically silly superficial stuff, like a character popping up and down rapidly), but they were all in places where you shouldn't be going anyway, and the average player very likely would not end up there. I think becasue there was very little hype or marketting around the game that reviewers didn't give it a proper chance. I absolutely loved the game back then, and still do now.

[gullyDJ]

this is a really good example of what you can do with a game when you put time and effort into a story, character creation and voice acting. As a game it is nothing too taxing very linear but really good fun. Totally playable without another person although local coop is good fun.