I just thought I'd post this to summarise some of the issues surrounding the release of this game, so people who didn't play the Beta know what to expect.
The Bad:
Here's the situation: The retail version of the game is
very buggy right now in a lot of ways. KAOS did their best to meet the release deadline, but I think that in the end, the screws to finish the XBox 360 version have adversely affected QA for the PC retail release.
Some known critical issues:
- Vista users will likely run into a series of game-breaking bugs that may prevent them from even launching the game. There is no fix for some of these at this time.
- Steam users will need to download a 9GB file and a 4.5GB patch to get the game going. Less than ideal, but something that may be fixed.
The Good:
All reports say that the game mechanics, sound and "feel" are amazing. The game's huge potential is being marred by a premature release for the PC platform.
My personal recommendation to people is to expect at least a couple of weeks, if not a month of teething problems for the game before gameplay becomes comfortable. I have faith that the game will come to its own, but as it stands, some of you are going to struggle with the logistics.
I thought it worthwhile to post this to make sure that people know they should be treating this retail release like a second Beta until a serious patch makes its way out. For those of you on the fence, I recommend waiting for comments from those who already have it.
Me? I'll be getting it off Steam, but likely only in a few days. I am running a quota-based ADSL connection here and an extra 13.5GB would take me over that until my rollover date of Mar 6th. Of course, I will still be monitoring our server and making sure we are gearing up for full support of FFoW.
I'll also be trying to provide as many updates of issues as possible and patch news when available. I'd like to ask the FFoW admins to also pay close attention to the KAOS Community Forums and help people here and there with issues.
Fingers crossed that this game will live up to its potential and not get left in the wake of the rushed release.