I might have been interested int the full game, but doesn't seem that's going to happen now. They did everything wrong with this.
- No advertising
- Exclusive on a console with less interest in adventure games
- Episodic game
- Releasing just after back to school, just before the big games start hitting
- Kinect stigma
- QTE stigma
I guess it deserves the low sales after reading this
The bigger problem, sadly, is that D4 is built around a Kinect-reliant interface that unfortunately doesn't work. As ever with Kinect-centric games, it's sometimes hard to tell whether it's Kinect or the game itself that's at fault, but navigating D4 with motion controls is torture. D4 plays like a point and click adventure, and you hover your hand around to examine things. The only way to move around is to hover over different areas in the room and close your fist, which works about 70% of the time. Swiping your hand to look around, sadly, works more like 50% of the time. Both are painfully slow.
Unfortunately it also has a lot of QTEs, and there are few more infuriating combinations in the world of video games than QTEs and motion controls. Even though what's actually happening during the QTE sentences is always enjoyably bonkers – an extended fight scene aboard the plane soundtracked by what can only be described as "bagpipe punk" was a particular highlight – it's difficult to pay attention when you're flailing around trying to get Kinect to recognise your PERFECT gestures.
Too bad, it looked promising.
