[Intrepid Homoludens]

BJ, I had read your review on the game the other evening. Unfortunately it wasn't as scathing as you had made it out to be to me, so I couldn't justify downing a shot of whiskey after to shake off whatever effect it may have (better luck next time!). I've read far more acidic (but much less eloquently written) reviews of other games.

I agree with pretty much all your comments on the technicalities of the game, but remember, most of my experience of it is only from the demo. And yet the there were enough flaws in the demo to prompt me to think that the entire game is screwy. Is there a patch available yet? In all honesty I will not buy the game. Reading your review, I found out it to be a budget title (20 bucks) - that explains quite a few things. It's really, really too bad. The game was groaning with possibilities as a cool adventure experience. If far more funding and technical and creative effort had been invested, this game could have really impacted the adventue genre. But as I conjectured in the other thread:

Originally Posted by Trep

....an elementary attempt at a version of an adventure game with a cool atmosphere [which the genre so desperately needs more of]. But they didn't try hard enough, they didn't try intelligently enough. Traitor's Gate II could have the been the truly cool and suspenseful pure adventure game version of Thief or Splinter Cell, but with the action and violence replaced by extreme cunning of puzzlework and cleverness of wit required of the player.

I mean, imagine if TG2 had been better produced and played very much like Splinter Cell (with intuitive controls the adventure gamer can learn in minutes), but there is no violence at all, no combat, no heavy action, and the primary demand is on your intellect to solve ancient enigmas and environmental obstacles to proceed. This was the idea behind the original Traitor's Gate, yes? (I haven't played that one).


Left: The Messenger - excellent concept but very weak execution.
Middle: Traitor's Gate - the dexterity-challenged adventure gamer's
version of Thief:The Dark Project. Right: Thief: The Dark Project -
what the developers should have studied while working on TG2!

Thematically, TG2 also reminds me of The Messenger, another 'stealth' adventure title that I had played, and that one I thought also tragically suffered from half-assed misguided execution even though it had a strong conceptual premise. Of course, The Messenger was just 20 bucks, too. See, this is why I usually stay away from budget titles - you pay peanuts, you get peanut shit. I don't know why so many people are so gullible to keep buying them, then complaining about the quality after. I'd rather pay $40-$50 for a high quality adventure title that'll give me a memorable experience than $20 for a half-ass game full of debilitating flaws. Hmm, maybe the publishers need to be a bit more generous unto more talented developers with strong ideas, they'd have a better chance at getting better review scores and thus selling more games. What a great idea, eh?

[BacardiJim]

Actually, it seems I made a mistake. (Chalk it up to writing my review at 3 am.) It seems TAC is asking $30 for this turkey. My apologies to anyone who read my review and was running out to purchase it for $20.

Of course, for that price you could buy three copies of Sanitarium and have a chunk of your Christmas shopping done.

[Phil25]

Great review Jim.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by BacardiJim

It seems TAC is asking $30 for this turkey. My apologies to anyone who read my review and was running out to purchase it for $20.

$30?! Screw that piece of donkey excrement! I'd rather add another $10 and get Silent Hill 3 or BS3. 258 Productions needs to get their collective heads slapped and forced to take a 3D Game Design 101 course, then an Integrated Game Design Theory 101 course, then....

[Marek]

It's kind of interesting how the attitude of TG2's developer at E3 seems to reflect the quality of the game. He only reluctantly started talking about the game, with little to no enthusiasm. I thought he was just tired, but perhaps he just wasn't very proud of his game.