@mofaz: The pre-review was to test server stability/netcode once the game went live. Calm down and grab yourself a drink.
It was just weird that they went out of their way to put something on the site almost immediately. I think Jason and Jeff really like SFV that much that they'd make an exception here. The pre-review to review turnover was so fast I wouldn't have minded them just cutting that pre-review step out.
Unfortunately, Giant Bomb doesn't roll with updated reviews like other outlets do, and taking two stars off for what reads like largely performance-related issues is a pretty big stain on this game. ..
While I would like them to update reviews when patches and such and like you I wish they'd give these games another look at GotY time, right now as of today those issues are very present for a lot of players.
My rig beats recommended specs and the game's framerate takes a huge hit even on the title screen. To score a game 4-5 stars when it hasn't earned it yet is equally unfair.
bad behavior should not be rewarded. If Firaxis or Betheseda or whomever doesn't want to be scored low, they shouldn't ship busted games before they are ready.
Yeah, I agree that there'd be more of a blowback for not punishing Firaxis for this and I think my gut reaction could have used a couple of minutes of stewing before posting my original comment. I do think that games start to carry a stigma when they are delayed multiple times, though, and Firaxis probably just had to take it on the chin at a certain point, even if it is "bad behavior" on the part of publisher 2K. Think about how gaming websites talk about some games with interminable early-access cycles -- it really takes the wind out of those games' sails from time to time.
I will give Firaxis a lot of credit for putting a plethora of modding tools out there early, which has helped soften the blow when compared to Fallout 4's situation, where the patches are slow out of the chute and there's no GECK that will allow for safe modding. Patches may end up being slow going for XCOM 2, I obviously don't know for sure, but the mods right now are really putting some duct tape on some of the holes.
@efesell: I know where you're coming from, but if any game's going to generate that level of discussion on this particular website on this particular day, it's going to be the full-fledged sequel to this website's 2012 Game of the Year.
There's a lot to live up to on Firaxis' end. I just count myself among the fortunate ones as someone who has a machine that only experiences FPS drops with the game instead of full-blown crashes like I've seen from Jeff, for example.
Unfortunately, Giant Bomb doesn't roll with updated reviews like other outlets do, and taking two stars off for what reads like largely performance-related issues is a pretty big stain on this game. No excuse for poor optimization on a delayed PC exclusive, of course, but as a fan of the GOTY deliberations this already feels like a "Ehh *shrug* I wasn't really ready for more XCOM anyway" discussion come December of this year, which I think is unfair since the gameplay is just that much better to feel like a sequel without feeling like more of the same. This was never going to win GOTY 2016, but now it might be one of the last games cut from a "Most Improved" category at best.
But my personal top 10 list already has a spot for this carved out, so that's all that matters, I suppose.
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