Did this game deserve the hate?

[Francisco]

Honestly the mechanics aren't all bad, dialog is okay ish and graphics are about accurate for a 2008 game and the environments are pretty amazing

[NeutronVortex]

Y'know, it's funny because a long time ago I downloaded the demo for this game on my xbox 360 and I ended keeping that demo for a couple years because I enjoyed it so much. I never got around to buying the game on console though as there was always something else that caught my eye whenever I went to Gamestop or Walmart. Eventually I deleted the demo to free up space and forgot about it.

Then a year or so ago I saw it for sale on Steam and remembered my fond memories of playing that demo so long ago. Instant buy!

However, after only an hour or two into the game I ran into game-breaking glitches during the driving segment after escaping the hotel because my car kept getting stuck in the graphics:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040287989

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040292265

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040295542

That's as far as I able to get before uninstalling. So yeah, I can understand why someone might regret buying this and come to hate it. :/

I'm do wonder if it's just a bad PC port or if the game has similar issues during the same segment on consoles....

[Francisco]

Originally posted by NeutronVortex:

Y'know, it's funny because a long time ago I downloaded the demo for this game on my xbox 360 and I ended keeping that demo for a couple years because I enjoyed it so much. I never got around to buying the game on console though as there was always something else that caught my eye whenever I went to Gamestop or Walmart. Eventually I deleted the demo to free up space and forgot about it.

Then a year or so ago I saw it for sale on Steam and remembered my fond memories of playing that demo so long ago. Instant buy!

However, after only an hour or two into the game I ran into game-breaking glitches during the driving segment after escaping the hotel because my car kept getting stuck in the graphics:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040287989

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040292265

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3040295542

That's as far as I able to get before uninstalling. So yeah, I can understand why someone might regret buying this and come to hate it. :/

I'm do wonder if it's just a bad PC port or if the game has similar issues during the same segment on consoles....

Back in 2013 i got a video game magazine that came with a dvd of this game, i never played it past the first few hours since i had a pretty awful laptop back then, i still have it but i'm running into the same types of issues that you are having.

Tbh i'm probably just gonna grab a PS3 copy, it's one of those games that was made with consoles in mind.

[TheWizard]

Originally posted by francisco:

Honestly the mechanics aren't all bad, dialog is okay ish and graphics are about accurate for a 2008 game and the environments are pretty amazing

Well it kinda didnt, but broken physics engine (when you interact with "dead" bodies to burn them, or even the extinguisher physics puzzle in the start of the game, broken earth textures, that completely stop cars even if the height difference is very small);
also horrendous optimization, that doesn't allow the game to run stable even on nowadays pcs (i mean i have 16 GB RAM and 4 GB VRAM and still have stutters sometimes, imagine the gameplay in 2008);
add to this locked content for consoles-only, where PC gamers lost a full chapter;
also - cliffhanger ending that clearly points that devs wanted to make the 2nd game ( i mean this was a reboot of the franchise, or at least they tried);
and finally the infamous "kill evil trees" task, to get access to the final chapter.

so this game had many great ideas (like the inventory, crafting, car mechanics, switching between views, electricity cabling physics, and FIRE and light itself), but it had (and still has) a lot of frustrating issues that make this game a very hidden gem.

P.S. add to this that mid 2000's - early 2010's was the golden age of the gaming (for example, 2008 great games - F3, Burnout paradise, Red alert 3, L4D, GTA 4, Dead Space (that had extremely good optimization even back than), Braid, Army of two, etc).

[Francisco]

Originally posted by TheWizard:

Originally posted by francisco:

Honestly the mechanics aren't all bad, dialog is okay ish and graphics are about accurate for a 2008 game and the environments are pretty amazing

Well it kinda didnt, but broken physics engine (when you interact with "dead" bodies to burn them, or even the extinguisher physics puzzle in the start of the game, broken earth textures, that completely stop cars even if the height difference is very small);
also horrendous optimization, that doesn't allow the game to run stable even on nowadays pcs (i mean i have 16 GB RAM and 4 GB VRAM and still have stutters sometimes, imagine the gameplay in 2008);
add to this locked content for consoles-only, where PC gamers lost a full chapter;
also - cliffhanger ending that clearly points that devs wanted to make the 2nd game ( i mean this was a reboot of the franchise, or at least they tried);
and finally the infamous "kill evil trees" task, to get access to the final chapter.

so this game had many great ideas (like the inventory, crafting, car mechanics, switching between views, electricity cabling physics, and FIRE and light itself), but it had (and still has) a lot of frustrating issues that make this game a very hidden gem.

P.S. add to this that mid 2000's - early 2010's was the golden age of the gaming (for example, 2008 great games - F3, Burnout paradise, Red alert 3, L4D, GTA 4, Dead Space (that had extremely good optimization even back than), Braid, Army of two, etc).

thank you for this in-depth analysis, it's the definitive answer to my question