I think that bit was directed at me.Originally Posted by Fox
The setting is OK, sure, I was referring mainly to the game systems or the structure of the storytelling. There's nothing wrong with the way it structures its storytelling (perfectly fine with cutscenes-a-plenty) but if that's the main focus of the game than neither is it particularly interesting. Put it this way: as you say, the setting is pretty cool. I would have loved to explore more of it through less narrow corridors.
Sure, that setting sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of it. I've seen two trailers for the game, the original reveal trailer (which I felt was interesting, but not majorly hype-building or warranting a preorder or instant purchase), and the one that killed my interest.
If they'd had more trailers displayed online, or even through television, that highlighted more of the awesome setting, cool mechanics or whatever, I'd be hyped by it, and I'd overlook the bad trailer. But if they put out one bad trailer and nothing else, that's going to dominate my opinion. I've seen steampunk and Teslapunk before. Their other advertisement didn't show anything new, except a little bit better graphical realism, compared to most other media that covers the same topic. There were no plot hooks, no character focus, or anything else that would actually draw me to this game as opposed to any other depiction of a similar setting. There's nothing special to it, and nothing to counteract the poor opinion that the other trailer showed.
As a side note, after looking through their advertising in an attempt to hunt down that add, I have to say that any interest built up by the other ads is offset by this line:
"Crazy Ambitious and Highly Cinematic"
This is a quote from Entertainment Weekly, and I've seen it highlighted in several ads. It's another fantastic example of terrible marketing.
It is apparently one of the only positive lines they have about the game, as they've put it on at least six different ad videos.
Entertainment Weekly is not a particularly well-known source of solid game critique, as they're usually focused on movies and television shows.
Finally, the line itself is meaningless. "Crazy ambitious". Do you know what else is "crazy ambitious"? Trying to fly a jet plane through the sun. Does that make it a good idea? No. Does that mean that the team succeeded in reaching their ambition? Nope. It just means the devs had a lofty goal to which they pushed themselves. That goal could be anything, and they need not even have reached it for that line to be true.
Then, there's the other bit. "Highly Cinematic". That's great. If I were looking for a piece of cinema. I'm not. Entertainment Weekly may be (as I said, that's what they typically focus on), but I'm more concerned with other aspects than the cinematography. The characters, the story, the world-building, the gameplay. Heck, I'm more worried about the music than I am with how "cinematic" the game is. It's a game, not a piece of cinema.
It may not be fair to judge a game by its advertising. But then, that's what advertising is for. To get people to judge your game favorably, and be interested in buying it. Their advertising failed utterly in hitting that mark for me, and the incredibly polarized opinions I've heard since release have not convinced me that I need to buy it at this point.
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