Wanted for breaking the law: Vogster's CrimeCraft
by Mike Schramm 
{ Jun 3rd 2009 at 10:45PM } 
***NOTICE TO ALL GAMERS***
FROM: The Joystiq Office of Law Enforcement
RE: Vogster's CrimeCraft, a "persistent world next-gen shooter" due out August 25th.
Attention: CrimeCraft is to be considered armed and dangerous, and should not be approached in a video game store. Stay away at all costs.
Last seen location: E3 2009, in the Vogster booth.
Wanted for:
- Breaking the laws of game design. CrimeCraft's controls are floaty and difficult to use (an especially heinous crime in a shooter), and the interface is confusing (one of the four "Skills" tables -- where you can spend points to increase your character's ability with things like "Firearms" and "Explosives" -- is named "Skills"). In fact, it seems the developers have spent more time worrying about how to deliver ads in the game than the actual interface itself: all of the various billboards in the cities can contain real ads, and Marc Ecko has made a big deal to offer both ads and licensed in-game items, while Best Buy has made a deal to sell the game exclusively at retail, and gotten their customers "discounts" on ingame items.
- Extremely poor AI. The PvE content is hard to find (even the person demoing the game to us had to ask someone else exactly which icon to click on -- "I think it's a shield. Wait, what about the briefcases?" -- and if they can't find it, how can players?), and when you do finally get in there, the AI bots mindlessly run back and forth in front of you. In fact, they'd be easy to kill -- if they didn't respawn in the strangest places. They pop into places you've just cleared out, and will even spawn into being right in front of you.
- For spoiling a good idea. PvP is actually kind of fun -- the game plays like a pretty generic shooter, and there are a few different maps and gametypes to choose from, including standard deathmatch, capture the points, and robbery, where there are two safes at either end of the battlefield full of cash that both teams have to try to steal from each other. But in the game we played, there was no matchmaking to speak of (the game put a level 10 and a 36 up against a level 3 and a 5), and even if the shooter played well, the rest of the game didn't offer nearly enough to prop it up. Why play a marginally good shooter in CrimeCraft's PvP mode when you can play any number of great shooters on consoles or PC?
If encountered: Avoid at all costs. Patient gamers can wait for APB, Global Agenda, The Agency, or any other upcoming cross-genre action/shooter MMO-style games. CrimeCraft needs to be cuffed, put in the squad car, and driven away.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Uncontrol @ Jun 3rd 2009 10:47PM
thank god they changed that bizarre off-center logo
Shadsy @ Jun 3rd 2009 10:54PM
Is this going to have a subscription cost? And do actually have to purchase the game? I can't imagine them charging anything for this if there's already better free MMOs out there.
devilsei @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:22PM
Yep its gonna be P2P.
It used to be F2P, though it also used to sound fun... :P
Jeremy White @ Jun 3rd 2009 10:59PM
I'm resting my faith on APB.
Rosssas @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:15PM
if i didn't im scared i would be ran out of Dundee
Mabui @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:06PM
It is practically a Left 4 Dead Poster!
Ataraxy @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:07PM
Thanks for posting this. I have wanted to saw how horrid this game is for a while.
Here's waiting for Global Agenda and APB!
NukeAssault @ Jun 4th 2009 12:16AM
I just learned about Agenda today. it looked pretty cool. But yeah that and APB are looking good for me.
Levi @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:24PM
bitches with tattoos are hott.
The CC in the middle of the logo looks bad.
I didn't read anything about the game or see any screens before I posted.
CH3BURASHKA @ Jun 3rd 2009 11:55PM
I called it. Russian developer = high chance of screwing up. Bonus points for exploiting idea for money.
rustyshackleford @ Jun 4th 2009 12:31AM
im testing the beta and i was hooked after 2 days.. the trailer doesn't do it justice, and neither does playing it for 10 minutes at a convention. definitely worth a try. especially considering that APB isnt even gonna be out until 2010-11..
Red @ Jun 4th 2009 12:45PM
The guy who playing Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP played PC Shooter for 20 minutes and don't like it. Well, I am testing beta and playing this game every day. This is a lot of fun and the best level design and graphics I ever seen. APB maybe has a style and brand, but graphics terrible and we have to wait probably for few more years.
Mik Richeson @ Jun 4th 2009 9:49PM
Being someone who has not only played a vast amount of games from different genres on many different platforms but has also been part of the beta since the very beginning, I can attest to Joystiq hitting the nail exactly on the head. CrimeCraft is just as bad as this article says. As for you, Red and rustyshackleford, you two are either still experiencing the "new game wonder" and reality hasn't sunk in yet, are playing a completely different game, or have ridiculously low standards for a good gaming experience.
Kudos, Joystiq, for writing a superb article.
refinedsugar @ Jun 5th 2009 3:32PM
Well ... that pictures seals it. This game is going to be a winner.
Red @ Jun 5th 2009 3:53PM
Mik... Mik... or can I call you Mike? Friend of mine working for beta testers team in Vogster, so I call him and guess what I found out? Where is no such a beta tester with last name Richeson. He told me ask you what is a names for Lobbys and Instances and who signed your NDA on the Vorster's part? But we both know you have no answer for that.
So, if you do not know anything about game, what exactly are you doing?
Continue "superb" article?
Don't worry, we all got you love WoW and Nintendo DS. Show your level of "low standards for a good gaming experience" better than thousand words.
By the way, about my gaming experience. This is a list of my PC games:
steamcommunity.com/id/redcaban/games
You played that much you'll talk about somebody's game experience.
Uninvited @ Jun 9th 2009 12:06AM
I smell a Vogster employee... (you Red)
Red @ Jun 10th 2009 4:33PM
Uninvited.
Nope.
Did you try Nasal or Ephedrine?
Red @ Jun 10th 2009 4:35PM
Uninvited
Nope.
Did you try Nasal or Ephedrine?
Crb @ Jun 30th 2009 2:40PM
Red you are a tool. Most ppl such as myself always put in fake names when registering online for betas.
I have been testing CrimeCraft Since the end of May. I must agree with this review. It just plain flat out sucks! We are right about 1month to ship and PVE opponents can shoot through walls still. Many players are hitting the lvl 50 cap in 2-3 days. If your lvl 1-10 your just cannon fodder and fish in the barrel for higher lvls. The "missions" suck kill 10 Rocket launcher armed opponents with shotgun, smg, pistol etc....... I can unload a full magazine into someone not killing them, but a laggy player can kill me with a knife in one hit after I'm half a map away.....
This game WILL tank badly. They are planning both $50 purchace price then $15 per month subscription fee and also a premium item Shop. This would be a cool game if it came out 1 year before Halo. There is no Jumping, your fighter will hangup on the slightest object.
Steve @ Jul 1st 2009 4:24PM
Uhh. The game is shit.
Don't forget they're going to make you PAY for the game.
Something like this:
$50 Box fee + Monthly fee (~$1-20) a month AND they're going to have a cash/premium item shop.
Fuck.
The game is awful, and they've stated a launch date of some time in August. It's July 1st already, can they really remove the suck from this game and make it WORTH paying for all that? Doubtful.
Olicon @ Oct 3rd 2009 6:22PM
Not having a cover system shouldn't be a problem so long as you can duck behind a box manually. Can you? (I don't know. I didn't follow up much on this game since its first debut because it..well.. didn't look promising.