• Light/Dark

Jimpressions: We Happy Few - A Joyless Broken Disaster

Toumari

Toumari

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,335
England
So it seems this fully priced game has been released in an unfinished state.

Issues that Jim has raised in his video include:
  • Too many bugs to be comprehensive in a single 15 minute video
  • NPC AI is really poor - Get stuck on pieces of scenery, walk through each other, float in the air, randomly die by talking to them
  • Various parts of the map have no collision detection so you fall through the floor
  • Most expensive skill tree talent doesn't work
  • Forced to reload the game as he's been stuck in a death animation
  • Items randomly disappear from the inventory
  • Pulled out weapons to find out the visuals don't render
  • NPC's all look the same and randomly change voice actors when talking to them
  • Terrible screen tearing
  • They didn't use his voice acting lines even though his name appears in the credits to his embarrassment
  • Ladders have animations for going down, but a loading screen for going up (This was picked up by Dan from Giantbomb)

 
Duxxy3

Duxxy3

Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,023
USA
Well at least it's in early access... wait nope.
Well at least it's not a full prices game... huh... nope it's a full priced game.

The game looked so promising when it was first shown too.
 
Majiebeast

Majiebeast

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,090
I laughed when the npc just changed voice actors after one sentence. 60$ game with a season pass people totally acceptable.
 
Kemono

Kemono

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,697
Needed a few more months in the oven.

Sad to see such a fresh setting rushed out to die.
 
Yinyangfooey

Yinyangfooey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,817
Hopefully if we do get a We Happy Few 2, Microsoft's resources help it improve. Though with what happened with State of Decay 2 I'm not so sure about that.

I am interested in this game, but I'll wait for a price drop here.
 
Dabi3

Dabi3

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,552
Aww shucks. Looked like they hit the jackpot with the premise.
 
woolyninja

woolyninja

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,029
Yet another game that will go down as a failure that may have possibly found a market at the $20 / $30 price point.
 

Deleted member 1413

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,617
I guess with a season pass the developers are going to keep working on it.
A bit unusual since I believe Jim previewed it like 3 years ago and it's still in a rough shape.
 
Kolbe1894

Kolbe1894

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,207
Played ~10 hours, didn't meet any of these bugs, i must be really lucky.
Though i think the optimization of this game is not good, need major improvement.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
45,051
Not excusing it but at least the PC version seems a bit better? At least the Let's play's I've seen on PC haven't really been filled with so many issues. Did we ever see the PS4 version pre-launch? Makes me think now we know why, assuming that is the case.
 
MrFortyFive

MrFortyFive

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
606
I love the premise and seemed like he did too. It's a shame that they put it out in this state. $60 plus a season pass is a joke.
 
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,446
It's weird that Microsoft bought this studio, unless they got them on the cheap.
 
Igniz12

Igniz12

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,506
Should have just made the game they were going to make and get that done then maybe try and do the game people thought it was gonna be from the initial reveal in a second game or in a sequel. I can't imagine changing focus midway did this game any favors, seems like a lot of cutting corners from the GB video and from the bullet points in the OP.
 
Kolbe1894

Kolbe1894

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,207
Kalentan said:
Not excusing it but at least the PC version seems a bit better? At least the Let's play's I've seen on PC haven't really been filled with so many issues. Did we ever see the PS4 version pre-launch? Makes me think now we know why, assuming that is the case.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh he's playing PS4 version? maybe because PS4 version doesn't have early access of this game so it got way more bugs than PC and maybe XB1.
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
I am surprised at this, since Jim Sterling was a pretty big advocate for the game during its Kickstarter/Early Access period.

Who could have anticipated that Gearbox would release a game in an unfinished state?
 
RedStep

RedStep

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
Wandu said:
That is probably the case. Even with additional resources, I don't see the potential for their games to be much better. Contrast wasn't much of a bug-less game as well.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Both this and Contrast have awesome settings and design hamstrung by technical issues. Maybe they see an opportunity to put resources behind the "easy" part and patch those up?
 
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,446
Cap G said:
The trailer had a bunch of people on board depsite the lack of gameplay. It was a good trailer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It was a fantastic trailer, but I find it hard to believe a company as large as Microsoft would break out their cheque book on the strength of a trailer. They had to know about the state of We Happy Few before making an offer.
 
Brannon

Brannon

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,586
I dunno what he has against synchronous floor fuggery, for shame.
 
Kaiser Swayze

Kaiser Swayze

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,644
Always disheartening to see a game with some genuinely inventive ideas bomb the execution like this. I don't know, maybe someone can scan the code for typos in this one too?
 
JINX

JINX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,487
Soap said:
It's weird that Microsoft bought this studio, unless they got them on the cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Mikey Jr. said:
A cheap buy, maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Buff Beefbroth said:
So what was the potential Microsoft saw in this developer?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well if you read the reviews you will see the story, world and art is praised, so their is definitely potential but We Happy Few feels like a game constrained by budget and shaped by it's survival game roots. There was a quote from the dev that basically said "We have a million left in the bank, what sort of game can we make for that." Were as now they look forward to saying what sort of game do they want to make, really if you look at the game it feels like they tried to make a game that they couldn't due to their size, time and budget. So I assume MS is looking at what a future project from them with far less limits would look like, while We Happy Few is deeply flawed there is a ton of really great parts to it from story, art direction, world design and some of the side missions. I can definitely see what MS see's in them, those areas that Compulsion are good at MS lacks.



Thread: Can't say I have seen that many bugs outside AI pathing and glitches, but that may be the PC version being better than the console versions. It's a real shame that Gearbox has stuck a $60 dollars price tag on it, at least I assume it was Gearbox. They have a free survival update planned and three story dlc's, so hopefully they can polish up the experience and work better within the smaller scope of a dlc.


EDIT: Goddamn that PS4 version is completely broken, yeah the PC version isn't like that at all.
 
Last edited:
Thrill_house

Thrill_house

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,708
Gave it a rental on ps4. Have had a few issues here and there and there is some jank thats for damn sure. Have had fun so far though. Story seems interesting and I'm really digging the style. Hope they get the game sorted as I have enjoyed what I've played so far.
 
Qudi

Qudi

Member
Jul 26, 2018
5,348
Let's see how much time until most of the bugs are ironed out. The story bits seemed coo, but the gameplay loop very tedious. Why do I feel like the devs aren't 100% behind this game.
 
falcondoc

falcondoc

Member
Oct 29, 2017
6,288
Holy shit that was one of the most vicious reviews I've ever read. Developers are scam artists
 
newgamewhodis

newgamewhodis

Member
Oct 28, 2017
820
Brooklyn
Looks like a Mafia III situation. I'll just wait a month or so until its less buggy and then pick it up. They said on reddit that they had to hold to this release date (probably some contractual agreement), but it still sucks when so much of the criticism is about bugs that likely will be cleared up in due time.
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,110
I remember when we saw this during E3 and it looked legit really interesting. Seeing it in this state is rather disappointing, but for the price they're asking for it, yes it's downright embarrassing going by the video.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,125
Kolbe1894 said:
Oh he's playing PS4 version? maybe because PS4 version doesn't have early access of this game so it got way more bugs than PC and maybe XB1.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No early access feature is no excuse. They should've delayed PS4 port in that case instead of charging full 60€ for it.

The game looks rough as hell, last time I was so "entertained" was when I watched State of Decay 2 bugs videos.
 
Kolbe1894

Kolbe1894

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,207
xrnzaaas said:
No early access feature is no excuse. They should've delayed PS4 port in that case instead of charging full 60€ for it.

The game looks rough as hell, last time I was so "entertained" was when I watched State of Decay 2 bugs videos.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Not disagree you but look at #40, maybe the developer have some "must not later than X" release date when sign the contract with Gearbox.
 

Cap G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,488
Soap said:
It was a fantastic trailer, but I find it hard to believe a company as large as Microsoft would break out their cheque book on the strength of a trailer. They had to know about the state of We Happy Few before making an offer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
insert phantom dust joke

This is a very Microsoft situation and doesnt really surprise me based on how the present and announce games.
 
Wandu

Wandu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,163
RedStep said:
Both this and Contrast have awesome settings and design hamstrung by technical issues. Maybe they see an opportunity to put resources behind the "easy" part and patch those up?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Kolbe1894 said:
Do you seriously think Microsoft won't send any people to help them optimization their future games?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What I am getting at is Microsoft sent people to optimize other games and still problems/issues occur. So yeah, I am not confident with Compulsion's current track record with games to all of a sudden be fixed just because they are under Microsoft.
 
Expy

Expy

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,884
This turned from a bargain bin purchase to a non-purchase. I cannot support this kind of game quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.