Related Sections: Patches Strategy Games
When is a patch not a patch? When it's for East India Company.
The historical strategy game East India Company is getting a new patch, but it's not called a patch. It's called the "designer's cut", which is a new one on me. Among the changes announced in the press release:new port views, the ability to fight tactical battles on island environment, providing completely new tactical elements, the introduction of multiplayer modes "Beehive" and "Breakthrough", history graphs to help track long term progress, and many more new features to make East India Company a deeper experience than ever before.
As disappointed as I was with some aspects of East India Company when it was released, I can't fault developer Nitro Games for their excellent post-release support, which is well on its way to invalidating every complaint I've raised.
Contrast this with Creative Assembly, whose historical strategy game Empire: Total War was similarly disappointing. Their post-release support has included selling more content for a game that's still broken, while writing a jeremiad about how tough it is to lie in the bed you've made.
The new patch designer's cut for East India Company will be available on October 27th.
By Troy Goodfellow at 10:37 AM ON 10/08/09
This update will probably convince me to give it another try.
And still waiting on the MP campaign for ETW. Maybe you were right after all.
By Miramon at 10:59 AM ON 10/08/09
Jeremiad? Nice vocabulary word, Tom, very apt, too!
By salwon at 11:03 AM ON 10/08/09
So should we buy it yet? By "we," I of course mean those of us who were really excited by your and Troy's interview at E3, and then really disappointed when your reviews came out.
Does this game, at long last, provide the current-gen trading simulator that Railroads! does not?
By cogadh at 11:42 AM ON 10/08/09
"Designer's Cut"? I'm strongly reminded of the Witcher "Enhanced Edition" and "Director's Cut", two patches that weren't patches in name only.
By Balance of Power at 3:06 PM ON 10/08/09
Mike Simpson's blog is beyond asinine. I cannot believe he has the gumption to blame the gamers for rightfully critiquing their game for its obvious flaws (not the least of which existed in previous iterations of the Total War series). So what's his excuse?
I gave him my two cents with my comment, which I will post here in case they are censored:
"Are you f*cking kidding me? Are you seriously blaming the users and their comments for Empire: Total War's weaknesses? A 67% rating is not fair? Gimme a break.
Only in the game industry will you see these kind of apologetics. It's absolutely inane.
What's your excuse for all the previous iterations of Total War? The brain dead strategic AI is just as bad in Medieval 2: Total War as it was in Rome: Total War. The diplomacy engine is absolute garbage without a semblance of intelligence or forethought.
Perhaps if would lay off the guys in the graphics department and hire some coders for AI then perhaps all that time you spend developing could go toward a game that is substantially more than a platform for one-shot multiplayer skirmishes and make something truly worthy of the name 'Total War'
As for your apologetics - it's 'Total Fail' "
Balance of Power:
Mike Simpson's blog is beyond asinine. I cannot believe he has the gumption to blame the gamers for rightfully crit...More »