Camzy | 4 November 2009

I think this is a revolutionary achievement on the iPhone that deserves to be rewarded with a higher score. Despite having a few flaws, these things aren't going to stop people playing, and on the whole, I think especially for the price that you can't do any better. I really dislike how reviews on this site are focused on nitpicking mistakes rather than praising achievements. An ambitious game is bound to not be perfect, and reviewers can't see past it.

failtorespond | 4 November 2009

I always find it funny when I hear a contradictory critique on almost any review that I read. It always starts off as "It should have got a better score even though XXX could have been fixed, or XXX could have been better", and then it ends offensive to the reviewer. It is what consumers want to hear. I want to know what the reviewer thinks it is that holds the game back from being a perfect score, and I think this was a fair review.
They(the person writing the review) have to critique the problems because that is what most consumers and readers want to hear. They cannot rate something higher just to appease to a certain fan base. Imagine half the crap you would end up blowing your money on if they all said everything was a 10, just to make that games fans happy.

failtorespond | 4 November 2009

This game kind of sucks. I have been playing it off and on today and it just feels partial. I don't think I would want to spend that much money just to play this game.
This free-plus gimmick seems like a way to launder more money out of everyone. I feel like there was no positive intentions for the consumers with free-plus apps. I would much rather pay one time and have all the features, with option DLC or whatever- than to get a free game and pay X-amount for some energy that is a VERY temporary purchase.

splat | 4 November 2009

For me the bottomline is that the controls aren't are slick as I would want them to be. In a single player game like Modern Combat, this is fine because the developer can tweak the AI to suit, but in something like Eliminate, while it's a fun game because everyone blasts away, fragging and fragged, I also find it fairly frustrating.

Also, so far I've spent $1.98 on power cells, and I might drop a couple more 99cents, but I can't see I'll be playing Eliminate next week, because of those fundamental issues.

dumas1000 | 4 November 2009

The controls are spotty. The gameplay is basic; like old-school 007 Golden-eye-basic. The weapon/armor/upgrade system is very nicely done. I do get the feeling of want to play one more match just to progress a little more. One more upgrade here or there. If I can just add one more point to my weapon's damage. One more level and I unlock this weapon or that armor suit. It feels a little like COD in this way. Pay to play is too expensive though. It's simply not competitive within the appstore marketplace.

I still believe that gameplay is imbalanced and that the game is not noob-friendly enough, especially for casual gamers. This imbalance comes from the very thing that adds replay value to the game. The upgrade system is a double-edged sword in many ways. And remember, everyone starts out as a noob. Being a noob in this game, however, is especially frustrating. A lot of people might quit early on without giving the game on honest chance due to the frustration. The learning curve can be steep. People aren't going to want to purchase DLC unless they are able to overcome the learning curve first.

coola55 | 4 November 2009

i think a seven is a fair score. eliminate has serious potential. if ngmoco pays attention to the consumer it should only take 1 solid update to shoot this game up to a 10. i love this game even with its quirks and find it to be one of my favorites so far but that might just be because im a huge shooter fan and this one works well. finally.

Zombies | 4 November 2009

It's a decent game, but I'd probably give it a 6 personally. The controls just aren't tight enough for my liking.

Delete | 4 November 2009

The waiting time is pathetic. I would rather pay a one-time payment of $9.99 to be able to play and earn credits anytime I want.

dooda | 4 November 2009

freaky sauce | 4 November 2009

i work for an iphone gaming company. we are playing games all day long. IMO eliminate is trying to do something pretty incredible on a very new platform. iphone = fps? did anyone really think that was possible when these idevices came out? i think not. regardless the consensus amongst an office full of gamers is: controls are weak, in-app purchase is BS, but the overall game is very polished with near platform quality production. if you like FPSs you will like this game. but don't expect xbox or playstation on an iphone - its not clear its even possible at this stage...

splat | 4 November 2009

Too true freaky sauce.

I think if it was a normal paid for game, people would like it more but the pay to play option seems to be annoying a lot of people. Guess we'll have to see whether people are still prepared to pay next week.

Eliminator | 4 November 2009

Here are some tips:

-There is an 'auto-fire' option which you can choose. Early on, select this option in order to get used to the game. However, later on, when you start to possess greater weapons such as the Rocket Launcher, you should deselect this option.

-Sometimes, it is better to upgrade your current weapons, rather than purchasing new weapons. For example, it is better to upgrade your Plasma Cannon than to purchase the Gravity Hook.

-When you pick up the Damage Amplifier powerup, choose weapons that cause great damage such as the Plasma Cannon or the Rocket Launcher.

-When you have the Beserker Shield powerup, you become invulnerable for a small period of time. You are also able to 'shield-bash' people. In order to do this, go right next to someone and shoot them, and you will see that they will die in one shot.

-In order to kill someone quickly, always shoot at their head.

-If your goal is to collect credits, sometimes it is better to just let other players to kill themselves so that you can pick up their credits. If anyone did not know, credits are the green things with the 'C'.

-When you step on someone that has died, be sure to shake your iPhone to taunt them. When you have successfully taunted someone, you will hear your character say 'Yeah!'. Taunting people will increase the credits you earn when energized.

klouud | 4 November 2009

I think this game is a great new concept for the iPhone. Yes there are flaws... and yes the arenas will probably become old hat pretty quickly... but it is a monumental achievement on the iPhone.

I only played practice mode (yesterday) because I was in a basement with no signal and found the game to be pretty cool.

Like everyone said, the gameplay is somewhat shallow ie: small levels pack everyone in tightly so its just a complete frag fest - very old school. But the upgrade system is what is going to keep this game alive, it will hook the hard core gamers, and eventually coerce them into paying for energy cells.

The problem I have is that players are going to be somewhat polarized with most playing for free or paying large sums of money. The players that constantly upgrade might end up completely dominating the game, frustrating the casual players, and forcing them to abandon the game.

To be honest I don't see this as a game that I regularly play in the future.

tim

Web Man | 4 November 2009

Tim, I think you hit the nail on the head. This game is going to split people between the haves and the have-nots, the people who will shell out for the extra purchases and those that can't. This is why I don't play any of the MMO games where success or progression depends more on money than skill. It's also one of the reasons why I won't be getting involved in Eliminate.

As for the free-then-pay concept of Eliminate, the more I look at the more I'm convinvced it's a big rip-off. It's enticing people into playing the game then fleeecing them for money if they want to continue playing. It's very manipulative.

I would much rather pay a high price to get a whole complete game and then have unlimited play.

I hope this experiment fails miserably so other companies aren't tempted into fleecing players for money in the same way.

It's amazing how much hype and overkill is given to every ngmoco game. Everything they release seems to get blown out of all proportion. A brand new concept, a revolutionary development? Online multiplayer games have been around for ages, even on the iPhone. The only new thing about this is the dubious payment scheme but being an mgmoco everyone seems to be falling over themselves to love on the game.

LiamW | 4 November 2009

You guys have to realize that the traditional business model on the app store is simply not sustainable any more, especially for multiplayer games. Multiplayer games revolve around having a large userbase. In making eliminate free, ngmoco resolved this issue. We, the hardcore market, will pay 10$ for a game like Eliminate. However, the vast majority will not, thus leading to low sales and a small userbase. This has happened before. So the company panics, drops the price and ends up alienating the fans who got it at full price, also the low price ends up being too little to cover server maintenance and still make a good profit.

Ngmoco however, chose not to go down this path. They decided to do something similar to Zynga's strategy, a pay-to-play model which has proven to be very successful for them. On the app store, the top paid app garners ~15,000 downloads a day. The top free app gets a whopping ~100,000 downloads a day. It makes much, much, much more sense to make it free than have it at a low price, but only if DLC is involved. Ngmoco now have a huge userbase, and make a pretty good profit through DLC (Eliminate is currently ranked at 57 in top grossing) .

A very smart business move on their part.

klouud | 4 November 2009

I think the energy purchase model should be revamped. The steps are too large. It should look more like:

$0.99
$2.99
$5.99
$9.99
....so on

Obviously you get more bang for your buck as you progress up the price tiers.

tim

Mclovin | 5 November 2009

WTF. Game is weak as rubbish. Ngmoco games a very overated (part from topple) leave the online FPS games to call of duty.

Moe | 7 November 2009

What weapon should I choose out of the following: Vaporizer, Rocket Launcher or Animatter Jet?

Michael | 7 November 2009

Yeah I have to say that I do love the game dearly; but this whole pay to play thing pisses me off. I'm broke; and I dont really pay for extra things in video games rather than add ons for rpg games and such. So now I'm stuck on not really being able to play online for credits because I have to wait two days to get maybe twenty minutes tops of actually getting money! It upsets me and I think the hardcore gamers are going to dominate; I wish it was me; lol but it can't be because I won't be throwing money towards one app put of the other 99 my itouch cAn hold, you know? So I really don't think this games going to last long, sure it night make the makers some pocket change but that's about it.

Camzy | 8 November 2009

I'm level 11, win most games and I haven't yet paid a cent. I don't understand where all this hatred of the matchmaking system comes from either. The system matches people based on skill. The only thing that could crop up is that some people get matched with people at a much higher level. If that's the case, then lower your skill without credits until you start getting better equipment. I don't feel at a disadvantage because I haven't paid. I know that some people are more hardcore than me and play 5 times as much, but even playing on the daily dose of 6 recharged games I've got a decent armor and weapon.

pgjon | 8 November 2009

Always rocket launcher for me