Republic: The Revolution

[Donners]

Is this out in Australia yet? It's one of the most promising and potentially revolutionary (no pun intended) games in history, and after five years of development it's finally out in the US and UK.

I've been constantly ringing EB Games (my only local games store) to find out its availability and have only got cryptic responses ("Well, our computer says it was out last month", "I *think* we've ordered it in", "It should be here any day now", "Why don't you try again later" and so forth).

Has anyone actually seen it on the shelves yet?

 

[Mr Eagle]

PC Powerplay had a review of it in the latest issue.

I quote: "the biggest disappointment since Black & White".



Ouch.

 

[Donners]

I agree that Black & White was a huge disappointment, but I've seen very positive reviews for this - both from game magazines and players.

 

[Mr Eagle]

Previews were very positive, however...

(from GameRankings.com)

Games Domain: 3.5 out of 5
Total Games Network: 70 out of 100
Eurogamer: 6 out of 10
Gamer's Hell: 7.3 out of 10
Loaded Inc: 5.5 out of 10

add in...

PC Powerplay: 64 out of 100
'Reader Rating' at Gamespot: 8.0 out of 10


and my dreams are getting a nasty reality check

 

[Donners]

Don't read a great deal into final scores. I've just read two English newspaper reviews - one gave it *, one gave it *****, and yet they said pretty much the same thing. It's huge, it's ambitious and it's complex.

That last bit is the crucial one - some people hate overly-complex games, especially when the manual and tutorial are pretty weak (as seems to be the case here), but others are willing to look beyond that and put in the time and effort to truly appreciate the game. Keep in mind that for reviewers to put out timely and comprehensive opinions of the game, they don't have a heck of a lot of time to play it - hence there will be a fair few negative reviews from people unable to get into it from a superficial look.

I know which category I fall into, and already have it on pre-order. To answer my own question, it is due out here around the 20th.

 

[Mr Eagle]

Perfectly true points...but equally, I just don't have the kind of time to put into the mere learning of a game like I once did. Ahh, the good old days... (cue dream music...)