A couple of hours back, Killing Time had 29,994 players logged.
Killing Time unlocks at Mastery level 5.
3.7% of Steam players have reached Master level 5.
Presuming every player who has reached Mastery level 5 has run Killing Time and logged a score, then the overall player population is:
29,994 / 0.037 = ~810,000 players.
Things worth taking away from this approximation:
Steam's sales and consecutive player count numbers are irrelevant to any discussion regarding the game, as they are largely inconsequential to overall sales figures.
If the console playerbase has a more casual approach to the title, then the population figure will be higher.
If players don't run Killing Time after unlocking it, due to the much longer time commitment and the fact that it doesn't appear to progress overall Mastery level in the way that the other three incursions do, then the population figure will be higher.
(Thanks to u/TheAllslayer for correcting me on the Mastery level unlock for Killing Time on my previous post - mine seems to have been bugged, or slow to register.)
El Pit wrote on Feb 3, 2024, 02:20:But he didn't bother to show you the UI customization screen, where you can switch all that off? Teleportation, aka 'turn around, and don't miss this time.'
In the video he showed how much info is on screen
Early Access review:
29 hours played. 4/7 in terms of introductory campaign chapters. Lv.12-13/30 on all characters. Two boss battles down. Reading/listening to all of the lore content, doing all side missions and openworld activities as and when they unlock, or I discover them. Playing fully solo at all times.
tldr: Best introductory campaign for a game in the looter-shooter genre that I've played. Premise is engaging, characters are well-written, plot beats are enjoyable, and the balance between activity freedom and narrative funneling keeps the player's momentum going, without making you feel like you're on a conveyer belt.
Overall, one of the better story campaigns in the looter-shooter genre, (somewhere between Destiny 1 Taken King and Destiny 2's Forsaken.)
Positives/negatives:
+ Early chapters are well-paced, giving the player a good mix of cutscenes, lore, mission locales, and live gameplay.
+ Combat is incredibly moreish, and I find it difficult to move through the world without wanting to pick a fight with something.
+ Enemy AI and friendly bot AI is solid. Enemies will flank, surround, and outmanoeuvre you. Ranged enemies find good perch points. Friendly bots utilize all of their kit, and keep pace with your movement and repositioning.
+ Openworld activities are competent and often feel fresh, due to the game's unique traversal. Friendly bots understand these events and engage competently, (including with most of the event modifiers.)
+ The traversal system offers a choice of Anthem/Tribes Vengeance/FFXV Noctis/Savage's differing approaches, and utilizes them to their full extent.
+ Build complexity seems fairly broad, when considered within the full scope of perks, gear, and playstyle.
+ Crafting, and crafting material loop is good. Doesn't feel overlay grindy, and has good transparency in terms of what you can roll on what item or slot.
+ Gear stats and UI is thorough. Not quite Call of Duty levels, in terms of stats, but close.
+ Audio/visual presentation is sublime. Stunning level of detail, draw distances, and world-density.
+ Social-integration seems on-point. The ability to download characters from your friend's profile, or from the regional/global scoreboards, and use them as AI bots who auto-scale to your solo progression, is very cool.
+ UI, keybind/controller customizability, and the range of client setup options are solid. FoV slider and headbob limiter are included, for those who suffer from motion-sickness.
+ Good mouse and keyboard implementation. Mouse feels clean.
+ Essentially bug-free, thus far. (One cutscene that failed to progress, which required a force-close, followed by a rewatch of that brief 60 second cutscene.)
+ No disconnects or downtime during the period I was playing.
+ Pause functionality while solo! (Not common in this genre.)
- Very CPU limited in the openworld areas. To the point where your choice of upscaler is largely irrelevant.
- Audio levels aren't the best balanced by default, (pump the dialogue, so you can catch all of the openworld/flavour chatter lore,) and the audio track can get a little busy if you don't stop to listen to each round of banter.
- Sensitivity slider's upper limits required me to switch DPI to be able to maintain the same sensitivity between hip-fire and ADS.
Prez wrote on Feb 2, 2024, 21:56:Presuming the game survives long enough for the offline localhost option to be added, (I suspect it already exists and is being held back as an exit strategy, rather than just delisting the title and cutting off further returns on the development investment,) I strongly suggest you give the game a go as a singleplayer campaign, at a later date. There will be a price point at which the offence caused by the term "live service" diminishes enough for you to consider the gameplay and narrative on its own merits.
I'll be honest; I am one of those who read the information surrounding this game and I said "no fucking way".
Prez wrote on Feb 2, 2024, 18:06:The commentary surrounding this game coming from outside its demographic has been needlessly antagonistic, too, so ultimately the comment's tone fits the situation that spawned it.
You had me right up to the "whining" comment at the very end, which I found needlessly antagonistic.