[Mr. Tibbs]

http://gamasutra.com...BLE_CONTENT.php

Quote

"We wanted to show our appreciation for the fans that stood by us from day 1 with Bombshell" said 3D Realms CEO Mike Neilsen. "The game wasn't perfect at launch, but our partners at Interceptor remained committed to creating fun and memorable experiences in their games -- and that's an ideal 3D Realms supports."

Addressing mixed critical reviews at launch, Interceptor Entertainment's CEO and Creative Director Frederik Schreiber said: "It's true, games press was hot or cold with respect to Bombshell. But the game has a 'Mostly Positive' user rating on Steam right now, fluctuating between 70-75%, and it's a relief to see gamers responding more consistently positive. We made this game for gamers, not the critics." He went on to add, "Bombshell is a game we're proud of. And it's an even better game with 1.1, as we've addressed most of the fair and consistent criticisms the game received at launch."

[Micky C]

I'm thinking of getting the digital deluxe edition, partly for curiosity of the game, partly for the prequel. It says beta access to the prequel, but does that mean we're entitled to a full final version of it?

[Hendricks266]

Micky C, on 15 March 2016 - 02:43 PM, said:

It says beta access to the prequel, but does that mean we're entitled to a full final version of it?

No.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Hendricks266, on 15 March 2016 - 02:59 PM, said:

No.

[Hank]

Micky C, on 15 March 2016 - 02:43 PM, said:

I'm thinking of getting the digital deluxe edition, partly for curiosity of the game, partly for the prequel.

(... not answering what Hendricks266 already wrote.)

I've got it for the sound track. On GoG you even get it in the flac format. As a music fanatic, it's worth the extra cash.

[Daedolon]

You get a lossless soundtrack on Steam as well.

[Hank]

Daedolon, on 15 March 2016 - 04:15 PM, said:

You get a lossless soundtrack on Steam as well.

My bad.

[Sixty Four]

I missed the photo that was posted Tx.. ooh very nice is right looks very interesting now looks like magic

I thought the beta access meant we would have the game itself also like we were also paying for that on top of the other stuff.... That's the main reason I bought that one but the soundtrack is cool to have and I'm not upset just saying that is literally the reason I bought it. But beta access and soundtrack is cool though the music is good for it and can't wait to see beta if this image is before beta. I just kind of thought otherwise

[Micky C]

While it's a bummer that the prequel doesn't come with the DDE, it can be taken as a positive sign that the prequel will be long enough such that it's not simply considered a bonus to the original bombshell, rather a completely standalone game in its own right. I.e it's an actual game and not a 2 hour marketing tool.

[Lunick]

Lunick, on 08 February 2016 - 06:57 PM, said:

Well, it doesn't look so bad on the Steam Store page now:

A month and a bit later and the negative reviews have picked back up despite the new patch claiming to make things better:

[Marphy Black]

The threshold between "Mostly Positive" and "Mixed" on Steam is exactly 70%, and Bombshell's current 69.49% score is riding right along that line. The review percentages here don't round as the calculated fractions are completely truncated, hence there's no difference between 69.0% and 69.999% (which is also why this item's perfect 100% score was easily broken and can never been reattained). In Bombshell's case, quite literally one or two extra reviews at this point can tip the scale either way between the two ranks. I have to admit, "Mixed" looks exceptionally ugly compared to "Mostly Positive" even though there's less than one percentage point difference separating them, but that's just how the system works.

Checking Bombshell's user review history on Steam Spy (image mirror for those not logged in), I don't see an obvious trend going either way, although there's not a lot of data to work from.

[Hank]

I can't review on Steam, 'cause I've got it from GoG, OK, lame excuse, I simply do not review a game anyway. - I either like it or not.

I like the game (no it ain't perfect), it's a new character, that I believe has a lot of potential. I also like the game style, I sort of grew up with it. Like the olden games on Genesis, I think Desert Strike etc. from EA.
Those that do not like the game, fine, play something else.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Marphy Black, on 28 March 2016 - 07:48 PM, said:

The threshold between "Mostly Positive" and "Mixed" on Steam is exactly 70%, and Bombshell's current 69.49% score is riding right along that line. The review percentages here don't round as the calculated fractions are completely truncated, hence there's no difference between 69.0% and 69.999% (which is also why this item's perfect 100% score was easily broken and can never been reattained). In Bombshell's case, quite literally one or two extra reviews at this point can tip the scale either way between the two ranks. I have to admit, "Mixed" looks exceptionally ugly compared to "Mostly Positive" even though there's less than one percentage point difference separating them, but that's just how the system works.

Checking Bombshell's user review history on Steam Spy (image mirror for those not logged in), I don't see an obvious trend going either way, although there's not a lot of data to work from.

One things for sure, only having 118 reviews two months out from release is appallingly low. Positive or negative reception aside, that number speaks volumes about the interest levels in the game. Either there's no market for top-down shooters or people just don't want to play Bombshell.

[Micky C]

Mr. Tibbs, on 28 March 2016 - 10:12 PM, said:

Either there's no market for top-down shooters or people just don't want to play Bombshell.

[X-Vector]

Mr. Tibbs, on 28 March 2016 - 10:12 PM, said:

Positive or negative reception aside, that number speaks volumes about the interest levels in the game.

That's the really damaging part, I think.

Trackmania Turbo currently also has a "mixed" rating at Steam, but it's received over 500 reviews in the 5 days that's it been available in.
Also, the total number of votes on GOG now resides at 90 (Bombshell standard + digital deluxe + upgrade), which is less than half the tally of Grim Dawn, a fairly low exposure isometric ARPG that was developed by a small "indie" studio and released 5 weeks ago - 7500 Steam reviews and counting (though that's largely because it's been in "early access" since November 2013).

I don't know the sales numbers, but it's hard to imagine Interceptor/3D Realms being very profitable after two releases that received so little attention by media and public alike.

[PsychoGoatee]

Marphy Black, on 28 March 2016 - 07:48 PM, said:

The threshold between "Mostly Positive" and "Mixed" on Steam is exactly 70%, and Bombshell's current 69.49% score is riding right along that line. The review percentages here don't round as the calculated fractions are completely truncated, hence there's no difference between 69.0% and 69.999% (which is also why this item's perfect 100% score was easily broken and can never been reattained). In Bombshell's case, quite literally one or two extra reviews at this point can tip the scale either way between the two ranks. I have to admit, "Mixed" looks exceptionally ugly compared to "Mostly Positive" even though there's less than one percentage point difference separating them, but that's just how the system works.

Checking Bombshell's user review history on Steam Spy (image mirror for those not logged in), I don't see an obvious trend going either way, although there's not a lot of data to work from.

This happened to DNF on steam recently. It was "mostly positive" for years, just recently it went to "mixed" at 69%. Though at least 69 is a thematically appropriate number.

[xMobilemux]

After all the updates and what not, can anyone say if this game worth buying and giving a shot?

[Player Lin]

As 1.2 patch was out recently, I guess it getting better more than the buggy 1.0. I would say give it a try if you really want to try it(and don't mind the checkpoint system).

But, yes...you still may get annoying by some random glitches or unfair instant-kill pits/holes.

[xMobilemux]

Got it on a Steam sale and went into it trying to at least have some fun killing some aliens and to see if Bombshell is any good of a character.

Only took an hour of gameplay to bore me and cause me to stop playing.

Interceptor should never ever make an isometric shooter again cause they don't only suck as a genre, Interceptor sucks horribly at making them.

Submitted for a refund, I'll wait for the Build Prequel cause that looks interesting.

As for Bombshell herself, there's nothing really memorable about her, I do like her new design, but her personality or lack there of makes her boring and forgettable, a standard female voice with some oneliners isn't the kind of personality a character with the name Bombshell should have.

Though yes I'm in agreement with everyone else about the soundtrack, A+ on that.

I do want to see Bombshell have another game though cause not only does this franchise and her character have massive potential, but I want a new badass female lead to put up there with Bayonetta, though she's not gonna be worth a damn in top down shooters.

[Micky C]

You'd think Interceptor would have learnt their lesson about checkpoint saves and insta-death jumps (and ESPECIALLY the two of them combined!) from ROTT.

[Mblackwell]

First proper world is the most boring. The second and third worlds are worth it.

[Daedolon]

I don't see the issue with the instakill pits, usually it's always legitimately been my fault too when falling down, you just hit respawn and lose 100 or so Ky. Which is more reasonable than say when you die in something like Diablo II.

[Kathy]

Daedolon, on 08 May 2016 - 02:47 AM, said:

I don't see the issue with the instakill pits, usually it's always legitimately been my fault too when falling down, you just hit respawn and lose 100 or so Ky. Which is more reasonable than say when you die in something like Diablo II.

Because checkpoints made it a frustrating experience. You kill some enemies, maybe do some jumping, but got instakilled in the secret room and needed to do it all again. Also, checkpoints were poorly situated. The game also encouraged fast movements. The word I'm looking here is unbalanced.

[Daedolon]

You start right where you died at.

[Kathy]

I was talking about ROTT, sorry for confusion.

[Daedolon]

The ones in ROTT were indeed painful, was talking about Bombshell. I think the save system made it at least a bit easier in ROTT, but the pits were still kind of terrible.

[Player Lin]

Daedolon, on 08 May 2016 - 02:47 AM, said:

I don't see the issue with the instakill pits, usually it's always legitimately been my fault too when falling down, you just hit respawn and lose 100 or so Ky. Which is more reasonable than say when you die in something like Diablo II.

At starting without owning much of Ky, 5% penalty seems not much, but in later levels when you have about ~100K or more of Ky, now that's would be not just some of them...at least no respawning enemies(but, again...since reload latest checkpoint is not only respawning enemies, but also the Ky "pools" in the level...and some of power-up items you got before died may just taken away when respawns, not sure if it's glitch or not...)

Also, I'm not sure if Interceptor guys fixed that nasty respawn glitch in 1.2(which your game will totally soft-locked and you have to reload latest checkpoint), it did caused many complaints in 1.1...I hope they fixed that shit...

[DukeNukem64]

So. This game has been out since 31/1.
It was announced the console version would come out jan 2016, but of course release dates were pushed.
Does anyone have an idea of when the console version of Bombshell is coming? I have been waiting.... Forever :/

[Danukem]

Mr. Tibbs, on 26 February 2016 - 02:05 AM, said:

How to handle a Bombshell: Reviewing the reviews

Quote

We reached out to Interceptor Entertainment CEO Frederik Schreiber to learn how the studio has reacted to and handled the game’s mixed media reception:

“(Firstly) I’d like to make clear that a great many of the bug-related issues reported by these reviews were known issues that we were still in the process of fixing at the time we distributed review builds (of Bombshell) to the media. We advised reviewers that they were getting an advanced version of the game, and that that all known bugs would be fixed before the game went live for purchase.

(So) we were actually quite surprised that reviewers dinged us so hard for these bugs, because we had the vast majority of them fixed when (Bombshell) went on sale. Which isn’t the same as shipping a buggy game and then day-one patching it – the game we shipped didn’t have most of the bugs we got criticised for. In this sense, we learned a hard lesson: You can not let reviewers have a copy of the game until all the bugs are out,” says Schreiber.

Wow that's really dumb. So they said to the reviewers, "Hey, ignore the bugs because they will be fixed in the released version." It is very naive to assume that reviewers are going to listen carefully or even care about a disclaimer like that. Also, the reviewers would have to take his word for it -- they don't really know that the bugs will actually be fixed. That shows very poor judgment from Interceptor. The lesson may be learned now, but it's too late.

[DukeNukem64]

They are being active about bombshell again - i guessed they were doing some kind of re-release or maybe the console version is cominh soon..