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I liked Enslaved quite well... It wasn't perfect, but I had a ball with it. And, it's one of the few games where I actually felt tempted to go for the full 1,000 gamerscore.
I still don't think this game was that great, it was decent. Definitely worth the 20 dollars I paid for it. Heavenly Sword on the other hand blew me away.
I just purchased this game a week ago or so; haven't had time yet to play (also picked up battlefield) but I'm looking forward to it.
Well, at least they didn't whine that it didn't sell because of the dread scourge of piracy. The real reason is that there are simply too many good games out there, and at $60 a pop gamers can't keep up with every A+ title that comes out.
The game was alright, albeit a bit short.
The real problem is the people at Namco Bandai who are in charge of release dates and advertising. I didn't even know Majin was released until almost a month later, and by then it was almost impossible to find a copy.
The real problem is the people at Namco Bandai who are in charge of release dates and advertising. I didn't even know Majin was released until almost a month later, and by then it was almost impossible to find a copy.
Personally, I think word-of-mouth did more harm to Enslaved than anything else. When people learned that it was a short game with limited replay value, and that the combat was, honestly, very boring, I think they backed off from a purchase.
I bought it for $40, but haven't made it to the end yet. I took it out to play something fun, and simply haven't felt the need to go back. It's one of those games where you want the gameplay to get over with so you can get back to the story. Enslaved isn't a bad game, but it's not that great, either, and it could certainly have been better. People will buy a game with good gameplay and bad story over a game with bad gameplay and a good story most of the time.
Also, stop linking Enslaved with Kane & Lynch 2. It's a bad comparison. Enslaved has been consistently more expensive and did not have a PC release, while Steam was just about giving K&L2 away during the holidays.
I bought it for $40, but haven't made it to the end yet. I took it out to play something fun, and simply haven't felt the need to go back. It's one of those games where you want the gameplay to get over with so you can get back to the story. Enslaved isn't a bad game, but it's not that great, either, and it could certainly have been better. People will buy a game with good gameplay and bad story over a game with bad gameplay and a good story most of the time.
Also, stop linking Enslaved with Kane & Lynch 2. It's a bad comparison. Enslaved has been consistently more expensive and did not have a PC release, while Steam was just about giving K&L2 away during the holidays.
I preordered it. I had tons of faith in the game but in the end it just proved to be a slightly better than average game.
It needed a black person... The monkey could have been the black person... And with named enslaved....
It would sell and outrage millions.
It would sell and outrage millions.
The demo ends telling the average punter that in the full game, he is going to be locked into an escort mission. One where he'll be protecting a character who was, for the length of that demo, entirely unsympathetic. And responded to his perspective character - an affable oaf - with unwarranted hostility.
That the game did 460k is actually quite remarkable!
That the game did 460k is actually quite remarkable!
They didn't advertise the games well I don't remember seeing not one commercial for enslave or splaterhouse of course us nerds knew about these game but the mainstream me too call of duty,madden crowd would not know about it.
ehhh i think the game was over rated. though the pacing looks good the gameplay are just plain bland.
will be getting this when it hits the bargain bin
will be getting this when it hits the bargain bin
I think the release window would have made a great difference. Take Infamous for example, I remember hearing about it just 3 weeks before its release and how sales started slow but good word of mouth helped the game a lot. The difference was Infamous released in late May, perfect time with no big budget titles since they were scheduled for fall and the yearly summer dry spell. Thus by the end of 2009 Infamous had sold over 1.2 million copies. Id love to try Enslaved but for me, it did indeed get lost in the shuffle because of its fall release
Nobody I knew heard of it. ._. Gamer ignorance was a HUGE issue. They should have hyped the shit out of it and released it during summer. I love that game.
Pokota said everything I could want to say, except I found the game for 25 dollars about a month ago, but had to put it down while halfway through because Mass Effect 2 came out on PS3. I really wanted to love this game, but I believe they tried to adapt too many modern gaming tropes to make it appeal to everyone and it just didn't do well.
It would have sold better if it had been marketed better. But I'll admit that marketing this sort of game is a bit difficult, due to the fact that it doesn't have gratuitous violence and because it's a new IP.
Marketing is one of the most vital things - a great game, marketed with only a mediocre effort, will only get mediocre sales. A crap game, like K&L2, will sell reasonably well, because they put F-ing banner ads all over the damn internet. I couldn't go 2 hours without seeing a damn ad for that game, even on sites not related to gaming!
I know Enslaved probably had a small marketing budget, but I hope publishers realize that marketing should be their number one priority. The number one priority of the developer is to develop the game, the number one priority of the publisher is to market it, not just publish it. Put ads on TV, and on every website willing to host your ad. It will annoy some people, but at least you'll get awareness out there.
Marketing is one of the most vital things - a great game, marketed with only a mediocre effort, will only get mediocre sales. A crap game, like K&L2, will sell reasonably well, because they put F-ing banner ads all over the damn internet. I couldn't go 2 hours without seeing a damn ad for that game, even on sites not related to gaming!
I know Enslaved probably had a small marketing budget, but I hope publishers realize that marketing should be their number one priority. The number one priority of the developer is to develop the game, the number one priority of the publisher is to market it, not just publish it. Put ads on TV, and on every website willing to host your ad. It will annoy some people, but at least you'll get awareness out there.
Argh, people saying they "know the game sucked" because they only played the demo make me sad. The demo was poor, yes, but the game gets so much better.
It's probably one of my favorite gaming experiences I had last year, but to be completely honest it is very short and can get mashy in terms of gameplay. I'd say $40 or below is a perfect price point, and at that everybody should at least try it.
And people complaining about the ending need to read books. We are so spoiled by dumbed down stories in games that guide us by the hand everywhere that once an actual ending that is both properly foreshadowed and a twist comes along, people just go crazy and all they can think of doing it to bash it.
Anyay, pity it sold poor, I've been recommending it to just about everybody I know since it is so cheap now.
It's probably one of my favorite gaming experiences I had last year, but to be completely honest it is very short and can get mashy in terms of gameplay. I'd say $40 or below is a perfect price point, and at that everybody should at least try it.
And people complaining about the ending need to read books. We are so spoiled by dumbed down stories in games that guide us by the hand everywhere that once an actual ending that is both properly foreshadowed and a twist comes along, people just go crazy and all they can think of doing it to bash it.
Anyay, pity it sold poor, I've been recommending it to just about everybody I know since it is so cheap now.
And it's not ignorance if THEY did a bad job marketing it. Jim, you have to read about Games all day long. That's your job. You probably knew about Enslaved well before it's release.
I don't read gaming blogs all day long. I have a job. I also have to do work around the garden (I have a very large garden). I only have so much time. Granted, I did hear about Enslaved, but not until it was released, and frankly, by then, I had already spent money on other games, and my time was used up. PRE-RELEASE publicity is absolutely necessary, because, again, I have only X amount of hours to play games, and I plan ahead of time which games I am going to get and which games I am going to play. By the time Enslaved came out, I had heard about Fallout New Vegas, I was already playing Persona 3 Portable (which I STILL haven't finished), I had already planned to get Super Meat Boy, and I was playing a few bargain-bin games on steam.
If you don't market your game up the wahzoo, people won't play it, because people can only play so many games and will go with the one they are most excited for/heard most about.
Sorry, but Enslaved had a bad marketing team behind it, and frankly, that's not my fault. Enslaved's game play and storyline mostly focused on mature gamers, and we've got jobs that don't involve us reading about and playing games.
Maybe one day I'll pick it up. When I have the time. If I have the time.
I don't read gaming blogs all day long. I have a job. I also have to do work around the garden (I have a very large garden). I only have so much time. Granted, I did hear about Enslaved, but not until it was released, and frankly, by then, I had already spent money on other games, and my time was used up. PRE-RELEASE publicity is absolutely necessary, because, again, I have only X amount of hours to play games, and I plan ahead of time which games I am going to get and which games I am going to play. By the time Enslaved came out, I had heard about Fallout New Vegas, I was already playing Persona 3 Portable (which I STILL haven't finished), I had already planned to get Super Meat Boy, and I was playing a few bargain-bin games on steam.
If you don't market your game up the wahzoo, people won't play it, because people can only play so many games and will go with the one they are most excited for/heard most about.
Sorry, but Enslaved had a bad marketing team behind it, and frankly, that's not my fault. Enslaved's game play and storyline mostly focused on mature gamers, and we've got jobs that don't involve us reading about and playing games.
Maybe one day I'll pick it up. When I have the time. If I have the time.
ok u sell the game for £9 like Kane & Lynch 2. Thats how u get 1 million of that shit, see. Then u can make quantum theory 2.
dude I think you need to accept that people may have tried it and just not liked it. I played through it and while the story/cutscenes were great, I felt the gameplay was unresponsive, bland and samey. Def wouldn't have given it higher than a 7.5
I think it's more likely that the slow sales were due to it being a weak game. It had its moments but the camera and controls were horrible at times and Trip was an annoying bitch.
A big turn off for me, that I haven't see mentioned much, was the DLC strategy. Before the game was even out the door Namco was going on about all the great DLC ready to go. How about a new IP earning it's stripes first before we start considering it a cash cow? Especially what turned out to be a very short game (not exactly filled with innovative gameplay in that run-time to make up for it either) that could have used some of that DLC (completely made after the game went gold *wink* *wink*) to pad it out.
Not a bad title, but felt like a graphical update of late 90's/early 00's action-adventure games. Floaty control, cartoony aesthetic that's at once solid yet ultimately forgettable, repetitive combat, short run-time.
Not bad, but dated and short. Fell squarley into ye old
'Good for rental, ain't worth 60 bones' category.
Not a bad title, but felt like a graphical update of late 90's/early 00's action-adventure games. Floaty control, cartoony aesthetic that's at once solid yet ultimately forgettable, repetitive combat, short run-time.
Not bad, but dated and short. Fell squarley into ye old
'Good for rental, ain't worth 60 bones' category.
When a developer fails twice in a row it's time to stop assuming the consumer is stupid, or blame it on bad timin,, and find out wht gamers are not interested in buying their games. Both Ninja Theory games were short with no replayability. I enjoyed both of them, but when you have better games that have more replayability then why waste your mony?
I liked the demo and still plan on buying it. Just haven't had the money or time.
Sad truth of it is that anything with a "2" slapped on it sells better.
Sad truth of it is that anything with a "2" slapped on it sells better.
I want to agree gamer ignorance with a touch of it being such a new IP is to blame. I bet anything the sales will be better when the sequel gets released. Same thing if they move forward with a Majin sequel, that game was good enough to stand on its own if people were way more aware... Splatterhouse however, well, I didn't think it was going to do well and I think it proved itself. The game had recondition going in for being a revival of the brand, those weary about it got a taste of the game through reviews and were thusly turned away when they found out it was crap.
I do sort of have to say that I blame Namco largely for this also.. Releasing against, or close to, things like Black Ops isn't such a great idea.. even if they waited till now to release them they'd possibly have done better for sure.
I do sort of have to say that I blame Namco largely for this also.. Releasing against, or close to, things like Black Ops isn't such a great idea.. even if they waited till now to release them they'd possibly have done better for sure.
Maybe it's just me, but I could not stand the game. For me the gameplay was better than the story. I hated that story. If I had the option to suicide my character just to kill Trip I would have. Maybe you'd rate that a win, that I cared enough about the characters to HATE one of the main characters. Unfortunately, it also meant it wasn't a game I could finish.
The entire time on the level with her home village with her continuously asking "how could somebody do this?" I just wanted to respond, "Maybe they needed some slaves to help get them home safe because it's scary out there."
And then when she screws monkey over I basically gave up on the game and returned my rental, precisely one day after I rented it, cause it's short.
The entire time on the level with her home village with her continuously asking "how could somebody do this?" I just wanted to respond, "Maybe they needed some slaves to help get them home safe because it's scary out there."
And then when she screws monkey over I basically gave up on the game and returned my rental, precisely one day after I rented it, cause it's short.
The excuse is that most of those sales probably came from gamers who don't read reviews at all. They walk into a Gamestop or other fine establishment, and see two games on the wall. Do you think the larger demographic of 18-34 males would find Enslaved more suitable to their tastes than Kane & Lynch, just from the box art?
@SephirothX
Yeah... Enslaved was a good game. Excellent in fact (apart from the camera). However, if others want to buy a shallow shooter over a quality and uniqueness, what can you do. There's no accounting for taste.
Yeah... Enslaved was a good game. Excellent in fact (apart from the camera). However, if others want to buy a shallow shooter over a quality and uniqueness, what can you do. There's no accounting for taste.
I mean, come-on! That ending was pretty freaking clear and quite a surprised. Really, what do you want? Does every game have to have a tacked on super happy, mickey mouse, hollywood ending? All tied up in a nice little bow. The words "The End", on it? Are we gamers really so un-clearver and must be spoon feed everything in order for us to "get it".
Any other ending for a story like that, would have been a slap in the face. If you guys really didn't get.... please go back and play it again. That's not an insult. Like reading a book over again, or watching a movie. Sometimes things become clearer the second time around.
Any other ending for a story like that, would have been a slap in the face. If you guys really didn't get.... please go back and play it again. That's not an insult. Like reading a book over again, or watching a movie. Sometimes things become clearer the second time around.
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