Well it's become apparent to me (i'm in act 4 out of 5) that the developers are really good at what they do, but that they just didn't get enough time from the publishers to get what they needed done.  

You can tell by the level designs, the creatures and the unique atmospheres in some of the later levels that what we're playing now was really just a framework (as amazing as it is) and that future developments are what will be the bread and butter of this game.

Still, at the moment I have yet to actually group with a full group.  Whenever I do group with someone it's annoying as all hell to play with them because my pets die so easily due to the monsters increased strength, making it a chore to constantly ressurect them.  So this definately doesn't need a forum on MMORPG. 

Especially when the chat bar is so horrible, and grouping wasn't made seamless.  This is truely a single player game.  Even Diablo 2 was more multiplayer friendly.

As far as the game goes...  the first levels are boring as all get out, and don't really serve any purpose since the story is rather absurd anyway. 

It's rather late and I got off work so I'm going to head to bed, but I'll give my score now and reply back later on each section.

Gameplay = 10  (By far the best online action RPG ever!  You don't realize how great it is until you reach level 15+.  This game has sooo much potential and in a couple months I'm sure it'll be playable!)

Graphics = 6 (Not only are they dated, but you have to turn them down to not crash due to memory leaks)

Features = 4 (Missing a lot of features, including grouping efficiently and easily, quests streamlined into natural flow of grouping, auction house, etc...  basically just a dungeon crawl.)  Did I mention they took away features at launch?  (Hardcore as one) Subscribing is busted and don't work.

Polish = 5 (Some levels are really polished and really cool, but there's problems that were problems in alpha that aren't fixed yet and are major game stopping issues.  Not to mention the crash every hour or two that kills any fun you just had.)

Sound = 8 (Nothing that really stands out but it does flow nicely with the gameplay.)

Story = 2 (The intro movie is awesome but the cut scenes are a joke, along with the storyline)

Hmm I disagree with most of it, besides the part about the storyline :D

And I haven't yet had the opportunity to test my Minions in multiplayer. Lvl 16/17 myself. The graphics aren't dated at all, I don't have to run in reduced settings due to the memory leak, even though I do have it.

There's some minor "stuck" bugs, especially when jumping on random rubble.

But otherwise, I'm loving it and I'm going to get together with the guild for some partying later on.

I hit 15 last night and currently have several minions doing most of my work. I have yet to group with anyone and I am starting to think grouping will not happen. The chat window is terrible, it takes up a lot  of screen and you cannot adjust it. Still, the game is a lot of fun.

Got the game, but didnt play it yet... Work.. Work ..Work.. 

The summoner is the main class I'm playing. In the beta I played the fire minions and even though they die easily. But still I made it to level 22 fairly easily. I have a different build this time and working with a carnoger and the elementals.

I have to agree about the chat window. It isn't mobile.  At least I couldn't find a way to move it. So when you talk to the quest givers, the chat window covers the reward part and has to be closed. The action bar doesn't have enough slots for all the necessary potions and skills. Plus it would be nice if it was mobile and could be resized. 

HGL isn't really finished and undoubtedly in about a year it will be much better.

Beta was all I needed to see where this game is going. 

It just does not have enough content to justify a subscription fee.  And the non subscription limitations make it almost mandatory to get a subscription to play as most people will be done with the non subscription content in less than a month.

This game won't make 6 months let alone a year as it currently stands.  The marketing department had a major brainfart when they came up with the subscription plan.

Enjoy it, I won't waste my money on it.  I will get a lot more for my money in other MMO's than here.

Only thing I agree with is the story and gameplay. Currently the quest line story is terrible.

Though really the graphics are dated? It is the best graphics i've seen on a game on the market currently. It is crisp clean and looks absolutely fantastic.

If you are crashing every hour or 2 you need to check your computer because they fixed the memory leak on their end. You may need to update your graphics card drivers. Polish i'd say it is atleast a 7 or so.

Features, hey i've yet to play everything but between the many options it is amazing, but from what i've played so far with them adding the halloween for everyone i'd say it seems like they will keep stuff updated 8.

I never play any online games with the sound on so i can't agree or disagree, but an 8 seems high to me. (Mainly cuz I am an evoker and killing mobs so close together started making the moans to annoying).

Edit** btw there is a huge change from the beta client to the installed client from disk. If you haven't installed your disk yet you will notice a huge change.

Loving this game. lets me enjoy playing for 15 minutes or a couple hours. I actually find the story line to be fine. Much more dtail and it would be a distraction. I do have to agree that the chat is the worse. To big, to cumbersome, no hot linking, hell I cant even get out of chating in the /town chat. I'm playing extended beta and will not buy the game untill the engi Drone bugs are fixed. I E losing weapons and armor when logging out.

Originally posted by namelessbob

Though really the graphics are dated? It is the best graphics i've seen on a game on the market currently. It is crisp clean and looks absolutely fantastic.

 There are a ton of games with much MUCH MUCH better graphics than hellgate,and im not even talking about the 2007-2008 games,im talking about the 2004-2005 ones.It seems that you havent heard of crysis,UT3 etc... soo yeah,if you are living under a large rock hellgate probably has the best graphics.

I have to disagree with essentially everything in this thread.

First off, there is a story there. Granted, it isn't exactly kept along very well, but the story is still there to set a framework, which is essentially what it was designed to do. The focus is more on the action than giant blocks of dialog as an action RPG, pretty much true to Diablo style. If you want in-depth story, the graphic novel and the book do so nicely.

Second thing, the subscription model isn't going to fail. Far from it. And you are far from required to get it.  The game is about replayablity, so saying that you're going to go through all the content in a month is a moot point. Even so, if thats the case, then the subscription service wouldn't solve the problem anyway because considering the first real big content update is in December, you're not going to be dealing with new content very long anyway.  If you can completely exhaust the fun and replayability of the entire game in one month, then you're not going to be enjoying the extra content for very long. Personally, given what they're offering, the subscription model seems great, and even without it, the game itself is plenty entertaining and has plenty of content.

 As for the graphics, airstrike, join him under the rock. Crysis is a glorified benchmark program and UT3 isn't even in the same ballpark, its using a completely different engine that isn't capable of what this one is because its designed for a totally different purpose. The graphics are far from "shit" and people like you who bitch that anything that isn't the absolute bleeding edge sucks regardless of genre piss me off to no end. He's right, the game looks phenominal especially given how long its been in the development cycle. Want to compare it to Crysis? Fine, then level the playing field and toss a shitload of particle effects, volumetric smoke, and hordes of creatures jumping all over the place at any given time into it. I'm far from impressed by a handful of human models and the ability to blow up shrubs.

The only thing I can agree with, and the developers have as well, is that the game currently is somewhat of a framework for things to come. The way their engine is setup, they can develop and toss in new tile sets to make the levels more diverse whenever they want, and they plan on doing so in the future.

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Originally posted by airstrike

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Originally posted by namelessbob
Though really the graphics are dated? It is the best graphics i've seen on a game on the market currently. It is crisp clean and looks absolutely fantastic.

---

You have being living under a very large rock ,havent you ?
There are a ton of games with much MUCH MUCH better graphics than hellgate,and im not even talking about the 2007-2008 games,im talking about the 2004-2005 ones.It seems that you havent heard of crysis,UT3 etc... soo yeah,if you are living under a large rock hellgate probably has the best graphics.

---

You're comparing apples and oranges. HG:L is dynamically generated content. Games like UT3 and Crysis can do geometric passes and focus on rough areas, whereas these graphics are modular, adaptable, and thrown together on the fly. For what they have to do, they are great.

I've always been a gameplay > graphics kind of guy, so obviously HGL's graphics are more than enough for me.

Originally posted by airstrike

 

Originally posted by namelessbob

Though really the graphics are dated? It is the best graphics i've seen on a game on the market currently. It is crisp clean and looks absolutely fantastic.

 You have being living under a very large rock ,havent you ?

 

 There are a ton of games with much MUCH MUCH better graphics than hellgate,and im not even talking about the 2007-2008 games,im talking about the 2004-2005 ones.It seems that you havent heard of crysis,UT3 etc... soo yeah,if you are living under a large rock hellgate probably has the best graphics.

O pardon, thought you were comparing it to other MMo's. If you want to compare it to fps or just regular offline games sure the detail can be higher. I like to compare 2 different genre of games that appeal to other peoples play styles and needs all the time too .

Originally posted by Moonglo
First off I want to say that this is a great game and well worth my expense so far. I will reserve judgement on numbers etc but I agree with the assessment that they released a less than polished game. I blame that on EA. They used to have some "street cred" but yet another potentially awesome game pushed out ahead before it is polished. I hold real hope for future patches and content. Thus far its been hard to quit playing.

The first major content update is going to be in December. I think I'll have more than enough to do until then.

I'd give a few higher ratings.  First, the storyline isn't so bad.  I've made a point to read the texts (rather then just accept and do the quest), and there is some pretty decent humor in there, as well as a decent dark storyline.  I'm sure we can expect the NPCs to become more lively as the game marches on. 

Second is polish.  A lot of people complain about polish, but I wonder if they're really just complaining about the interface (which does need a lot of work).  The gameplay, though, is rock solid (barring the occasional crash), and I think the graphics are just fine. 

Third, I think their quest structure (once you get used to it) is actually a bit revolutionary.  You don't end up with multiple quests that take you anywhere and everywhere.  The gates which you have quests in are yellow, making quests much less inconvenient to complete, and the linear questline also makes it convenient to complete the quests in order.  In essence, there is one overarching storyline, filled with other typical side quests (kill x, bring x items, kill bossx) to get you out and killing monsters.  It does this VERY effectively.

It needs work, no doubt about that.  But there's a lot of potential that I think most people are seeing.

I like it so far,but theres some really poor implementation multiplayer wise which needs work if it wants to be taken seriously.

The chat window and functions are horrible and even more surprising is that to get the chat window up you have to click on a small,unassuming arrow at the bottom left corner of the screen.No wonder no-one talks,half of them probably dont even know its there...
The design of it also doesnt feature a fade option so you have a white edged clear box stuck at the side of the screen.

Theres no LFG chat or function,although there is a box you can tick that auto groups you which is nice,but its stuffed at the bottom of your character sheet,hidden out of the way.

Theres no way to see where your party are if you happen to be in a hub,or they leave off somewhere without you.of course you could just ask them where theyve gone,but the point is that you shouldnt have to.Levels dont show up on portraits either.
A list of chat functions wouldnt go amiss either.

The problem with grouping in this game is that its quest based,so you have to find others on the same quest as yourself.But there isnt really any point joining a pug as you can likely solo it anyway,even though grouping makes the game so much better and the monsters much tougher.

It would be good for guild play,or if you have friends who are playing at your level,but otherwise it all seems a little clumsy.
They should add large dungeon style instances with extra loot for different level ranges,so that they can be joined any time you wish without having to find people on specific quests.
Just something to go off and do when you want some good drops,either pugging or guild grouped.Just like traditional MMO dungeons you might do.

I'd have commented on the lack of a decent trade outlet,but with auctionhouses and mail coming in itll be solved.I hope they add a C.O.D mail option too.

The game itself is very good,but the multiplayer aspect really needs some work.

Im hoping the raid and pvp content is good as I think this game has some interesting multiplayer potential.Its a great single player or game to play with friends/guildies at the moment though.

Ok first off this game is even more unpolished than I originally thought.

Engineers pets are made unplayable later on with a huge bug that prohibits them from keeping item stats.  This was known by the devs before launch.

Elementals if you are in the midst of enemies and trying to keep your pets respawned if you hit the button too fast it'll zap your mana and not give you an elemental, causing you to be one pet down until rezone.  Entering and exiting turrets causes your main monster to disapear.   Sometimes you can't resummon him after he dies.  There's no "call back" button to get pets to respawn near you or at least run to you.  Elemental cost for summon goes up as you level yet there is no information to warn you of this, so when i leveled I could no longer summon all my elementals because i spent my points in stamina.  Fire elementals are so weak later on that most monsters will AOE them and kill all of them in one blast.  Witch doctors are bugged and don't work correctly (one of their abilities doesn't work at all).  The problem with fire elementals being weak is it takes a 3 second recast to summon them all back, which is essentially 30 seconds at my level.  When you're in nightmare and it's impossible to get anywhere because the monsters jump up 10 levels every act it seems they die a lot and I mean a lot.  To the point where it feels useless to summon them and I wish I could respec.  Of course, it's more so that they didn't actually get to nightmare in beta i'm guessing because the levels are so far ahead that it took me an HOUR to kill a boss with friends. 

I admit that the first run through the game, in single player... this is an ok game.  Considering that at the moment chat dialogue is rather irritating I don't consider this multiplayer one bit.  Not one ounce of it is multiplayer beyond a friends play with friends (much like any game with lan multiplayer is).  The only people I've ever managed to party with at my level is people I know in real life. 

However, you can tell the devs never ever played this game all the way through before launch.  Or maybe they just didn't care or didn't have enough time.

Portals that you need to go through will sometimes show "restricted area" and be red, when they should be blue throwing you off.  Monsters if they flame you (which 50% of monsters do later on) your graphics will have a "perma flame" around him unless you zoom in and then out, in which case your zoom in will have a perma flame.

Levels will randomly generate so that there is no possible way to get pass the level, you have to relog and hope it regenerates into something you can get through.  Keep in mind you sometimse have to pass three randomly generated areas to get to the last area, which if the third one is generated with blocked paths then you're screwed and have to do all three over again.

Constant random freezes.  Memory leaks galore.  You'll understand how unpolished the game is once you beat it and get to nightmare.  You'll sit there and say, why is my map showing different places I can go to when I can't go there there's no possible way?  Why is this zombie, which I've killed millions of, bleeping taking 5-10 minutes to kill?

Why isn't subscription available?  Isn't this how they're suppose to make money, you're telling me they did such a bad job at polishing that they forgot to make sure their billing system worked?  WHAT COMPANY IN THE NAME OF SUBSCRIPTION FEE'S failed to take peoples money? Hahaha.

There are so many bugs I could go on and on.  Excorsism during the trains take off my pets get stuck and can't move, and I can't resummon the phase elemental and monster without them dieing.  During the train parts mission they only allow you to pick up one part at a time, making you run to the very end back to the very front of a level three times for no reason just to annoy you I guess.  Elite passageways the monsters just stand there don't even aggro me I just kill them and atke their loot. 

 Sorry I'm just a tad frustrated because I just got to nightmare and realized it's unplayable without grinding for hours and hours on lower level mobs, which means i just beat the game and now have nothing to do and was hoping this game would last me awhile :(

Then I created an engineer and ran into th ebug that made him unplayable... then I just took a break to post this frustration.

Believe it or not, under all this unpolished game... there's a really good game there.  It's worth picking up... in about a month or three.  Once they fix the bugs.  Assuming they go for bug fixes instead of new content, which most developers tend to go for new content since it generates money...

Originally posted by daveospice

Ok first off this game is even more unpolished than I originally thought.

Engineers pets are made unplayable later on with a huge bug that prohibits them from keeping item stats.  This was known by the devs before launch.

Elementals if you are in the midst of enemies and trying to keep your pets respawned if you hit the button too fast it'll zap your mana and not give you an elemental, causing you to be one pet down until rezone.  Entering and exiting turrets causes your main monster to disapear.   Sometimes you can't resummon him after he dies.  There's no "call back" button to get pets to respawn near you or at least run to you.  Elemental cost for summon goes up as you level yet there is no information to warn you of this, so when i leveled I could no longer summon all my elementals because i spent my points in stamina.  Fire elementals are so weak later on that most monsters will AOE them and kill all of them in one blast.  Witch doctors are bugged and don't work correctly (one of their abilities doesn't work at all).  The problem with fire elementals being weak is it takes a 3 second recast to summon them all back, which is essentially 30 seconds at my level.  When you're in nightmare and it's impossible to get anywhere because the monsters jump up 10 levels every act it seems they die a lot and I mean a lot.  To the point where it feels useless to summon them and I wish I could respec.  Of course, it's more so that they didn't actually get to nightmare in beta i'm guessing because the levels are so far ahead that it took me an HOUR to kill a boss with friends. 

I admit that the first run through the game, in single player... this is an ok game.  Considering that at the moment chat dialogue is rather irritating I don't consider this multiplayer one bit.  Not one ounce of it is multiplayer beyond a friends play with friends (much like any game with lan multiplayer is).  The only people I've ever managed to party with at my level is people I know in real life. 

However, you can tell the devs never ever played this game all the way through before launch.  Or maybe they just didn't care or didn't have enough time.

Portals that you need to go through will sometimes show "restricted area" and be red, when they should be blue throwing you off.  Monsters if they flame you (which 50% of monsters do later on) your graphics will have a "perma flame" around him unless you zoom in and then out, in which case your zoom in will have a perma flame.

Levels will randomly generate so that there is no possible way to get pass the level, you have to relog and hope it regenerates into something you can get through.  Keep in mind you sometimse have to pass three randomly generated areas to get to the last area, which if the third one is generated with blocked paths then you're screwed and have to do all three over again.

Constant random freezes.  Memory leaks galore.  You'll understand how unpolished the game is once you beat it and get to nightmare.  You'll sit there and say, why is my map showing different places I can go to when I can't go there there's no possible way?  Why is this zombie, which I've killed millions of, bleeping taking 5-10 minutes to kill?

Why isn't subscription available?  Isn't this how they're suppose to make money, you're telling me they did such a bad job at polishing that they forgot to make sure their billing system worked?  WHAT COMPANY IN THE NAME OF SUBSCRIPTION FEE'S failed to take peoples money? Hahaha.

There are so many bugs I could go on and on.  Excorsism during the trains take off my pets get stuck and can't move, and I can't resummon the phase elemental and monster without them dieing.  During the train parts mission they only allow you to pick up one part at a time, making you run to the very end back to the very front of a level three times for no reason just to annoy you I guess.  Elite passageways the monsters just stand there don't even aggro me I just kill them and atke their loot. 

 Sorry I'm just a tad frustrated because I just got to nightmare and realized it's unplayable without grinding for hours and hours on lower level mobs, which means i just beat the game and now have nothing to do and was hoping this game would last me awhile :(

Then I created an engineer and ran into th ebug that made him unplayable... then I just took a break to post this frustration.

Believe it or not, under all this unpolished game... there's a really good game there.  It's worth picking up... in about a month or three.  Once they fix the bugs.  Assuming they go for bug fixes instead of new content, which most developers tend to go for new content since it generates money...

I was finally able to subscribe last night during their brief 15 minute window before taking it down again. I got my extra char slot and more stash space.

Originally posted by Kordesh

I have to disagree with essentially everything in this thread.

 

First off, there is a story there. Granted, it isn't exactly kept along very well, but the story is still there to set a framework, which is essentially what it was designed to do. The focus is more on the action than giant blocks of dialog as an action RPG, pretty much true to Diablo style. If you want in-depth story, the graphic novel and the book do so nicely.

 

Second thing, the subscription model isn't going to fail. Far from it. And you are far from required to get it.  The game is about replayablity, so saying that you're going to go through all the content in a month is a moot point. Even so, if thats the case, then the subscription service wouldn't solve the problem anyway because considering the first real big content update is in December, you're not going to be dealing with new content very long anyway.  If you can completely exhaust the fun and replayability of the entire game in one month, then you're not going to be enjoying the extra content for very long. Personally, given what they're offering, the subscription model seems great, and even without it, the game itself is plenty entertaining and has plenty of content.

 As for the graphics, airstrike, join him under the rock. Crysis is a glorified benchmark program and UT3 isn't even in the same ballpark, its using a completely different engine that isn't capable of what this one is because its designed for a totally different purpose. The graphics are far from "shit" and people like you who bitch that anything that isn't the absolute bleeding edge sucks regardless of genre piss me off to no end. He's right, the game looks phenominal especially given how long its been in the development cycle. Want to compare it to Crysis? Fine, then level the playing field and toss a shitload of particle effects, volumetric smoke, and hordes of creatures jumping all over the place at any given time into it. I'm far from impressed by a handful of human models and the ability to blow up shrubs.

The only thing I can agree with, and the developers have as well, is that the game currently is somewhat of a framework for things to come. The way their engine is setup, they can develop and toss in new tile sets to make the levels more diverse whenever they want, and they plan on doing so in the future.

Preach on brotha man!  Preach on!

For all this games quirks (and there a few), it's a fun game.  I got in for the last week of beta and i've been playing since.  I don't have a lot of time to play but i've made it to lvl 11 as a summoner.  Honestly i'm enjoying the game. 

The majority of the flaws fall into the "that's kinda annoying" catagory.  random warp messages, group pictures not showing,  lack of chat fuctionality.... who cares?

The things that bother me most...

- crafting that either doesn't increase an items stat's or worse decreases them.

- paying X palladium to add a random attribute to your gear and have a non-sensical attribute added.  My favorite to date the +400% critical damage increase to a weapon with a 0% chance to crit.

- and of course the drone bug where we lose the gear we equip the drone with on log out.

- Last but not least...random game crashes.