Confirmed: Free Radical lays off 140, 'For Sale' sign posted
by Ross Miller 
on Dec 26th 2008 11:58AM
36
Reader Comments (36)
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 4:35PM (Unverified) said
"our hearts go out to all the developers"
What a load of tripe. Joystiq and Kotaku were the rabid dogs that destroyed these companies. Haze and Lair did not deserve the grillings you gave them.
You lot should be ashamed.
Reply
What a load of tripe. Joystiq and Kotaku were the rabid dogs that destroyed these companies. Haze and Lair did not deserve the grillings you gave them.
You lot should be ashamed.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 7:03PM (Unverified) said
@Digdug: Lair was developed by Factor 5 and Haze sucked donkey balls. Metacritic's rating for Haze is 55 with an average user review of 6.8 out of 10.
They failed miserably with Haze, when they could have stuck with a tried-and-true formula like Timesplitters.
Reply
They failed miserably with Haze, when they could have stuck with a tried-and-true formula like Timesplitters.
Posted: Dec 27th 2008 5:55PM Extinction said
I agree with DigDug. Kotaku is partly to blame for this. Haze was better than the critics gave it credit for, and thus ruined it's sales.
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Posted: Jan 25th 2009 5:35PM (Unverified) said
I love Freeradical. I dont know anything about Haze, or Lair, but Timesplitters was one of the greatest, if not the best series to ever exist in my book. I pray to God in all seriousness, please let Freeradical come back. Let EA buy them out. With the great games they have been making lately like Dead Space, and Battle Field, and Crysis, there sure to make a good partner ship. I wouldnt mind it if Ubisoft picked them up. LONG LIVE FREERADICAL!
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Posted: Dec 26th 2008 7:41PM (Unverified) said
@Markez: Timesplitters, deep? Yeah, about as deep as a puddle!
don't get me wrong, I love TS, and thoiught it was one of the best console FPSes, if not the best, of it's gen, but that single player was akin to an Jason Stretham film; lots of fun, action but lacking in story.
Reply
don't get me wrong, I love TS, and thoiught it was one of the best console FPSes, if not the best, of it's gen, but that single player was akin to an Jason Stretham film; lots of fun, action but lacking in story.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 8:01PM Tez said
I don't think he's talking about the story. There were loads of unique challenges and goals, tons of characters to unlock, and a wide variety of options for setting up matches. I'm almost certain he wasn't talking about the story, because I just can't imagine someone trying to say the Timesplitters storyline is deep :)
But gameplay/options-wise, I would say it was deep. Where else could you set up and tweak a match where everybody is a monkey using only flamethrowers and one-hit-kill bricks?
God, I need to play Timesplitters 2 again. That setup was just too much fun.
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But gameplay/options-wise, I would say it was deep. Where else could you set up and tweak a match where everybody is a monkey using only flamethrowers and one-hit-kill bricks?
God, I need to play Timesplitters 2 again. That setup was just too much fun.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 9:09PM MarkezJM said
Lol, yeah thanks, Tez.
Most definitely not referring to the story. Just echoing what you said, the tweaks you can do, the challenges, bells and whistles, etc. Very, very gameplay and options deep.
Now I want to go play it again, too :( I sure miss those deer carcasses...
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Most definitely not referring to the story. Just echoing what you said, the tweaks you can do, the challenges, bells and whistles, etc. Very, very gameplay and options deep.
Now I want to go play it again, too :( I sure miss those deer carcasses...
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 12:19PM (Unverified) said
I almost want to buy Haze just to give them a tad bit of support. Almost.
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Posted: Dec 26th 2008 12:47PM (Unverified) said
I wonder how much they would want to public domain the source code for Timesplitters code and IP. Hell even open source the Haze IP/Code. I would give 5 bucks for that.
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Posted: Dec 26th 2008 1:13PM (Unverified) said
boo-hoo! ANOTHER maker of "me-too" fps bites the dust... WHY SO SURPRISED?
-I can not wait for idiots to start blaming nintendo and the Wii for yet another "hardcore" publisher dying. Funny thing is, IF most of the dead pubs would have tried to make a PRETTY GOOD AND COMPELLING game, instead of JUST A PRETTY (to look at) game, they would probably still be in business.
the less of these shitty publisher the better.
I wonder how many people are actually going to buy and actually enjoy the next halo?
the less of these crappy publishers the better, sad thing is companies like EA and atari are somehow still in business....
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-I can not wait for idiots to start blaming nintendo and the Wii for yet another "hardcore" publisher dying. Funny thing is, IF most of the dead pubs would have tried to make a PRETTY GOOD AND COMPELLING game, instead of JUST A PRETTY (to look at) game, they would probably still be in business.
the less of these shitty publisher the better.
I wonder how many people are actually going to buy and actually enjoy the next halo?
the less of these crappy publishers the better, sad thing is companies like EA and atari are somehow still in business....
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 1:53PM MowDownJoe said
How is it Nintendo's fault? Haze was PS3 exclusive.
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Posted: Dec 26th 2008 1:57PM sicsided said
actually, most of the people working there are the reason why their are FPS games on consoles. Since most of them created GoldenEye on the N64. Their Timesplitter series top notch on the PS2 and then further consoles once it expanded. It was slick, tons of content, and a ton of fun. The only downside was story, but it never seemed like it was all about that. Sorry to tell you also, publisher and developer are different things. Free Radical was a developer, and with Dev costs on current gen systems being around 55$ million, its really sad to see these guys go after having great games and only one dud. Me-Too FPS they were not.
And now, I shall go play CO-OP with a friend on the zombie mansion level in the first Timesplitters.
Reply
And now, I shall go play CO-OP with a friend on the zombie mansion level in the first Timesplitters.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 4:59PM (Unverified) said
Wait... you never heard of Timesplitters?
Like the guy above said, 'Splitters was a top notch series.
It was good... and compelling.. and played like nothing else out there.
I guess you just hate developers with a passion? Making a deep compelling game ain't easy.
Reply
Like the guy above said, 'Splitters was a top notch series.
It was good... and compelling.. and played like nothing else out there.
I guess you just hate developers with a passion? Making a deep compelling game ain't easy.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 2:22PM BlackIceJoe said
I hope Sony picks them up because Free Radical has made some great games and they really care about co-op and split-screen multi-player.
So then Sony would have both Guerrilla and Free Radical to make awesome shooters.
If it can't be Sony I hope Microsoft this way FR and Rare can work together to make a new Perfect Dark. Plus may be a remake of Golden Eye. So to me either of these two would be great. But at the end of the day I just hope some ones gets them over them being closed down.
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So then Sony would have both Guerrilla and Free Radical to make awesome shooters.
If it can't be Sony I hope Microsoft this way FR and Rare can work together to make a new Perfect Dark. Plus may be a remake of Golden Eye. So to me either of these two would be great. But at the end of the day I just hope some ones gets them over them being closed down.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 3:31PM (Unverified) said
See I told you the glass helmet was a stupid idea.
(poor guys)
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(poor guys)
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 9:30PM (Unverified) said
I didn't turn so bad for Rockstar when they decide to put on their serious face.GTA IV is my favorite game in the series.
The thing is that they tried to do something between the grounds of Halo and Crysis with a story line that makes little to no sense. The cherry on the cake was making it an exclusive.
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The thing is that they tried to do something between the grounds of Halo and Crysis with a story line that makes little to no sense. The cherry on the cake was making it an exclusive.
Posted: Dec 27th 2008 4:08AM cuteSAVAGE said
"I detected trouble when I heard the makers of the silliest FPS on earth were trying to do something serious and story-based."
Come now, Second Sight was an amazing game! It was when they added the realism it all went downhill.
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Come now, Second Sight was an amazing game! It was when they added the realism it all went downhill.
Posted: Dec 26th 2008 10:34PM Premature ejaculation man said
NOOOOOOOOO
Now how am I gonna get my fix of burning monkeys in an FPS game?
;_;
Reply
Now how am I gonna get my fix of burning monkeys in an FPS game?
;_;
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