LegendOfKage
Member
When I made the OT thread for Abiotic Factor earlier this year, I didn't realize just how good this game would be.
Abiotic Factor was in early access for over a year, and then it was added day one of it's release to both PS Plus Extra and Xbox Game Pass. Because of this, it was absurdly overlooked by critics, I would guess due to a mix of "people have been playing that game for a year now" and "everyone's getting that game for free anyhow."
People say they miss the exploration in classic first person game world design, instead of corridor shooters. People say they care more about gameplay not graphics. People say they don't want games to hold your hand and explain everything. People say developers should care about single player first, and multiplayer should be optional rather than required to enjoy a game. People say games aren't surprising anymore, and don't take risks. But this game is a great example of doing all of those things right.
Despite all that, and overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, there are only four reviews for Abiotic Factor on metacritic. The game is sitting at an 88 score out of 100. What are good scores when it comes to GOTY nominees, when only a handful of critics reviewed your game?
Remember FBC Firebreak? That game was also a day one release on subscription services, but it wasn't in early access, and people talked about it a lot for about a week or two. People criticized the length, the amount of content, the variety, the repetition, the value, the design, and more. And then, just a month or two later, a game with none of those issues was released on subscription services and it barely received any attention. But why not?
I'd say perhaps it's because people would rather talk about a failure than a success, but that's not true either. The development of Expedition 33 was the feel good story of the gaming world for weeks, and it led to a lot of great publicity and sales. More than anything, I have to think this is a cautionary tale when it comes to early access negatively affecting the interest of critics.
But early access did help fund the development of the game, and the developers have found enough success that they're still adding new content and working on an expansion, so I'm guessing it was still worth it.
Last edited:
