Yeah, I tried the game a long time ago and it was abandoned at that time.

Didnt have any problem with the re- review.

I was in beta, but didn't care for the game much. I heard they made big combat changes and was hoping the rereview would give me some insight into how it has changed. I hated 'zoning' everytime I agro'ed a mob and the the symbols didn't seem to do anything.

I do agree with many of the points the reviewer makes. And I agree with points people in this thread have made. The missions do feel repetitive - go to building, kill people, achieve objective, get jumped by a couple more people on teh way back to a hardline. Go to other building that's across town but somehow laid out exactly the same (apparently, all the buildings in the city were designed by maybe 3 architects), kill some more people, achieve an objective, get jumped again on the way to another hardline... and so forth. THat part did seem mind-numbingly boring to me as well.

What made the game such a joy for me, back when I first played it, was the community. Hands-down, the best community I've ever seen in an online MMO. Sadly, many left because the game was too buggy, the events were screwed up and the Monolith folks couldn't seem to keep up. To their credit, however, Monolith were trying to do quite a bit more with the community than any other MMO I've played. Having real team members playing the roles of Morpheus, Niobe, Locke, Merovingian and other key storyline characters - actually interacting with other players and furthering the storyline was something I have never seen in any other MMORPG. It was a noble effort and I don't knock them at all for attempting that level of community involvement. I think they simply bit off more than they could chew.

When the bugs began to rack up and the game became more and more unplayable and more people started leaving.. it lost all that.

I tried to come back not long ago and played for a bit, hearing how it had improved. But it felt empty and pointless. Every time I"d log in, the same people, hanging around the same hardline, doing the same thing. I'd go off and do a mission or two.. come back an hour or so later... same people.. same hardline... same things.. Totally stagnant.

Now.. what I don't get about the review is how the reviewer is positive about nearly everything in the game -the graphics are wonderful, the gameplay is wonderful, the fighting system is wonderful... However he couldn't find a good Faction/Crew to join, so he gave it a 6.6. That seems awfully wierd to me.

Before you flame the review, think for a second...which review actually gets written after the reviewer has played for a MONTH ?

Get real, I think we all know no review site plays a game for a month and actually touch a lot of stuff that mostly ONLY THE PLAYERS relize, because only *THEY* play the game longer than 1 week. (Actually 1 week is too much, I still doubt any review is based on a 1 week experience..even if they do, reviewers have a lot to do and dont play much Im guessing)

So anyway, by my beta experience I would say the game isnt very impressive as said..sure it could be more of an informative review, but isnt that mostly always ?=\

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Originally posted by Darkz0r

Before you flame the review, think for a second...which review actually gets written after the reviewer has played for a MONTH ?

Get real, I think we all know no review site plays a game for a month and actually touch a lot of stuff that mostly ONLY THE PLAYERS relize, because only *THEY* play the game longer than 1 week. (Actually 1 week is too much, I still doubt any review is based on a 1 week experience..even if they do, reviewers have a lot to do and dont play much Im guessing)

So anyway, by my beta experience I would say the game isnt very impressive as said..sure it could be more of an informative review, but isnt that mostly always ?=

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Valid point - if we are talking about reviews.

Most sites and magazines just compete to put the reviews as soon as possible. And are often to afraid to bash some game because it could be that due the fact that they played just couple of hours, they actually missed the good parts.

Evidence is plain

NWN2 agreed by most of comunity to be a massive disapointment - got 90% reviews all over the board.

Why?

Simply because NWN 1 - was reviewed to be failure , back in the days. But the obvious NWN1 quality points came to view only later.

So reviewers didnt dare to do the same mistake. And playing NWN2 to the end takes more than month


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Alas we are talking RE-REVIEW

Meaning - yes review was rushed. But our stuff played the game over the last year, read the forums, seen the rate of patches, talked with people...

And now we bring you the real - ins & outs of the game.


But this is more like review no2.

So why the bother ?

When i see title rereview i expect serious look at the game coupled with amounted experience

I think Donna's review sumed it up quite well for me. MXO isnt a bad game and I can see why people play it, but it hasnt got that cetain "Unff" factor I look for in MMOGs. Thats just my opinion which aint worth much.

A Review of the Review.....

For a review, I would give this a C-/C+.  The attitude Donna presented is what it should've been, non-biased.  I've read too many reviews where the writer has an obvious bias towards/against whatever he or she is reviewing.  However, I felt lead on up to the end.

Throughout most of the article, it seemed as though Donna was fairly excited for the game.  The only true "negatives" that she pointed out were the sound, service, and activity of players.  She appeared to praise the gameplay, the graphics, and all other aspects.

The other thing is, is that its clear MMORPG.com has a particular scoring system with different categories.  It would have been nice to make a point to cover each of those topics(graphics, gameplay, lag, value, sound, role-playing, fun, community, and service).  I think next time, each aspect should be covered more clearly and specifically.  A good example is how Donna talks about the sound.  Its hard to explain, and I apologize I can't quite put this to words effectively, but her use of words is "clunky", and it is throughout the whole piece.  In reviews, you want to get in to each topic quickly, concisely to better illustrate your point.  State your facts on the point, then give your overall opinion.

I don't mean this to be an attack at the writer but more or less a critique. 

Not to pile on because I think the intent here was admirable, and I mean the "re-review" idea, especially for someone who actually had a great time with MxO in beta but was crushed by the overnight changes to pvp, and the random key-accessed zone system- and the dull graphics, and the dull repetitive quests/missions, etc but this review was just really, really sloppy. 

Sorry but the grammatical mistakes are obvious, and more importantly, what really compelled me to comment here, the research and tone here were sloppy.  The approach made the entire thing read like a review from someone who only tried a 14day free account, so they didn't want to slam the game too hard, or dig too deep in the review.  I NEVER post just to make a meanspirited comment about the articles on MMORPG but this review really bugged me.  Seriously... beyond the errors and casual tone, it's sloppy because many things are obvious to anyone who's spent time in that game- for example the graphics are subpar by 2006 standards, at least drab, just as every reviewer noted when it got joked for being a depressing City of Heroes mod with the same 10 enemy character models in every building and the same corridor-office-questing over and over. 

I admit these are old impressions, but I haven't heard of any significant graphics updates to MxO either, and the reviewer doesn't even mention what missions consist of, typically.  Again, I appreciate the effort, but this was just so poorly executed that it offered nothing new in the form of reliable impressions about how this game has evolved/devolved since launch.  Which is why many of us read through it- because, as with many mmo's, it had promise, so it's worth reading a review to see if it ever changed course. 

I know- it's all about opinions, but this review didn't offer any new information at all so that I can have my own opinion.  Information, for example, like how PvP is being handled now (specifics, not just "you can duel"), how zones are accessed (still with random key drops?), how much fun live events are after a couple months of them, how varied/complimentary classes/skills are, what if anything is planned for expansions, how/how well is crafting implemented, what are the primary player criticisms/demands, or what's changed since SOE took over.  Nothing.  How can I have my own opinion about whether this game is worth reinstalling if I don't have any info about the actual gameplay?  To me, that's the difference between "one person's opinion" and a "review." 

Could we have a reviewer actually look into things that make the game what it is?

Just seems like Donna just logged in for about 2 weeks, didn't manage to get to 50 (In which if this is true, she would have completely missed a lot of content), and didn't attend any RP based events -- yet alone some of the better live events which just happened in the last month or so.

The developers of MxO are involved in the community, and I'm sure Donna could have easily private messaged one of them to get a front row seat to almost anything happening ingame, really.

Would be interesting to know what server she was on, also.


Anywho, compared to the original review... This doesn't do MxO justice.

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Originally posted by Insertion
The developers of MxO are involved in the community, and I'm sure Donna could have easily private messaged one of them to get a front row seat to almost anything happening ingame, really.

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That wouldn't have given an honest review experience though would it?

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Originally posted by ParaTrooper

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Originally posted by ViarrgosMom

 'We've trashed this game since launch, because it's really crappy and no one plays it, but that was before we sold our souls to sony. So now its happy rainbow sunshine land all the time! The matrix online will do your taxes, walk your dog, reverse global warming, and make the statue of liberty dissappear before your very eyes!"

                                                                                                 -MMORPG.COM

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Well someone quite clearly hasn't compared the old review rating to the new one.

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What.. was the old review farting Zippidy-doo-dah?

Sure.. I liked the game before. The player events were second to none. Ever since $OE took over it has gone to hell. That combat revamp? Horrible. Now their idea of content is re-runnig the story arcs the WB designers created!

I'm suprised there's still power on those servers.

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Originally posted by GRIMACHU

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Originally posted by Insertion
The developers of MxO are involved in the community, and I'm sure Donna could have easily private messaged one of them to get a front row seat to almost anything happening ingame, really.

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That wouldn't have given an honest review experience though would it?

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In a way, it would.

Your experience in the game is based off of how much effort you're putting towards reaching some goal. Things such as Live Events and whatnot can only be access through contact with an organization's liaison, the live event character themselves (ie. Merovingian, Morpheus, Seraph), or other operatives who are revealing the location of something happening. Having a dev invite you to an event (Which could be attained by anyone who makes a name for themselves, which could happen rather quickly) would definitely change someone's idea of what MxO is and how things can work. Depending on the event subject matter, amount of player participation (PvP'ers or hardcore RP'ers), you could see an entirely different face of the game that would have you hooked.

Anywho... My main attraction to MxO is the RP element it holds... If you're a fan of the movies, there's that same experience ingame in alternate forms all the time -- be it Devs or player driven storylines ( Mind you, many of the player driven storylines are more "Matrixy" at times).

*Shrugs and walks off... its late*

"5. All the players go to the clubs and use /dance emotes for several hours while listening to whatever in-game music stream they enjoy."

 

LOL.  that was hilarious... 

Just out of interest, how long does it take to get to max level?

I played casually for a month or so (50 hours according to XFire) and got to around lvl 16/17. By that point I was getting pretty tired of the same missions which I had to grind not just for xp but to improve my faction score so I could get storyline missions. I did solo so maybe it would be faster to level in a team once things slowed down around level 10. So it's always going to be tough to do an objective review of an entire MMO - you've got to play the whole thing but not become attached to it.

In the case of MxO you'd have to be pretty into the game to even get past level 10 as I had to use my MMO boredom ignoring skill (with ability bonus from soft drinks) to last as long as I did :) It's a shame as it is really cool being in the Matrix, leaping from building to building and knowing kung-fu.

Getting to level five takes about 30 minutes... Getting to level ten would take about an hour more -- although, if you're new to the game and reading the crits (as you should to find the game more interesting), then you may have to go around for a good five or six hours before getting the nifty hyperjump ability.

I've played MxO since launch and I have to say this review was quite half ass prepared. The re-review was lower than the original review which makes no sense considering all the improvements made over the last few years. The reviewer hit only a few points........one of which was the sound. Alot of the sound effects are a bit lacking and some of the music is repetative but that's  why a radio is built into the game. Not many other games have that. Seems like the reviewer didn't even get to level 10. And there are no flowing trenches in the damn game either. Seems to me like quite a half assed review attempt. 

There was no mention of any of the content that's been added to the game...which is quite a bit. The Pandora's Box arc. The 01 quest line. Not any mention of the combat upgrade and how it changed the game. Then again........I guess you would have to play past level 10 to experience some of that stuff. And what other game has prop vendors that sell items specifically for the sole purpose of role playing? None that I can think of. How did the RP rating get so low? This reviewer probably didn't try and initiate any kind of conversation with people because the community is overhelpful in the biggest of ways. It isn't crammed full of WoW artards either. :P

Look, I understand the difficulty of writing for public consumption and the risk of looking silly by letting something slip into the work that should never have made it past even a barely-attentive editor, but...

"If you can find a very active crew and faction then you are lucky and will have a lot of good company to accompany you on your way through the Matrix world then you will enjoy this game a lot."

I read that sentence in the review.

Then I read it again.

I blinked hard and read it a third time.

I finally tried reading it backwards, and had to admit at last that it made no grammatical sense.

At that point, I stopped reading the rest of the review.

Sorry Donna.

Grade: D -

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Originally posted by boinged

Just out of interest, how long does it take to get to max level?

I played casually for a month or so (50 hours according to XFire) and got to around lvl 16/17. By that point I was getting pretty tired of the same missions which I had to grind not just for xp but to improve my faction score so I could get storyline missions. I did solo so maybe it would be faster to level in a team once things slowed down around level 10. So it's always going to be tough to do an objective review of an entire MMO - you've got to play the whole thing but not become attached to it.

In the case of MxO you'd have to be pretty into the game to even get past level 10 as I had to use my MMO boredom ignoring skill (with ability bonus from soft drinks) to last as long as I did :) It's a shame as it is really cool being in the Matrix, leaping from building to building and knowing kung-fu.

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could one of you matrix online supporters reply to this please?  elaborate on some of the things that you guys have hinted at in this thread, if you would.  because hinting at things or referring to game things (that we don't know about) doesn't tell us anything.