I'm not against paying for games. I have tons of full-priced games and a sizable collection. I even collect physical games, which is a pricey hobby. But it's a little bit insulting when a game developer or publisher says "This game is free to play!" with paid "DLC" when in reality, it's a demo, and the "DLC" is just to unlock the base game.

Let me put this another way. I'll review this game using the game's own standards and warped terminology:

This is a review of the base game. As it stands, Killer Instinct's base game offers you one character that you are not allowed to choose. Or rather, you're forced to choose, from a single rotating character of the game's choosing. Compared to other fighting games, having a single character to select is absolutely abysmal, and given the poor options and scope of the base game, I elected not to splurge on any DLC characters. (Please note the DLC has a separate page, and a separate review section, so the DLC should be reviewed there.) While the game has good 3D graphics, the experience is also soured by the immediately apparent and aggressive monetization in a game where micro-transactions is sorely unnecessary in a faux-"free-to-play" model.

Notice how nothing I said is factually incorrect?

I'm kind of tired of games need to insert micro-transactions and grinding levels into a game where it's not necessary. Sure, I get it. Mark it as "Free to Play" to get it added to as many libraries as you can. But then after you download the 46GB, you open the game and see you can only play as one character, and can't really do anything until you pay for and download the rest of the game. Again, I'm not against paying for games. Devs needs to be paid. But just sell a regular game without these little tricks. I would have bought a regular game full-price up-front, but when a game says "Free to play!" then immediately stops me, holding out their hand for my admission fee, that's not a good impression made.

Why is this a big deal, you may ask? An up-front payment means I know what I'm paying for and what I'm getting. A "freemium" model means the game can keep unveiling new things to buy, new things to charge me over and over again, and it's a tactic to get people to lose track of how much money they spend. Also, once people start spending a small amount, it's known their inhibitions go away, and they end up spending more than they initially intended - taking advantage of that is predatory. I'm baffled by the people who are happy that they're being treated like people of below-average intelligence.

Let me put it yet another way if you still don't understand. Let's say you want to spend time with a lady-of-the-night. She tells you how much it costs for the night and you pay it. Compare that with a second one who says they'll spend the night with you for free. But then after you drive her around, she says it'll be $20 to continue. And then it'll be $30 if you want her to talk to you. And another $10 if you want her to give you a hug. And then $50 for a kiss. And then if you don't want to drive her back, it'll be another $100. Killer Instinct is the second one.

I don't live in America. Internet here is crap, and 46GB takes a long time to complete, and slows everything else down. My time and bandwidth was wasted.

Just sell your product with the intended price up-front. Padding your download count by saying it's free-to-play, when that "free" portion is a demo is quite dishonest. If you have to do that to try to get more people to download it, it speaks volumes about how poorly you think your game will do.

Everyone beats the crap out of me, i love it!!

played this game on my xbox way back, downloaded just to leave a good review