[quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop][b]Warning: AI Slop[/b][/url]
This game is partially or completely made with talentless, soulless AI generated content.[/quote]
[quote][b]Note: Dead PvP game[/b]
This game contains no meaningful single player content. There are no available servers and no player population. This game cannot be played as intended.[/quote]
"JBomb" is an unabashed, lazy ripoff of Bomberman (Copyright Konami, 1983). Many lazy "amateur" developers don't pay attention to their obligations under copyright law, and often steal the ideas of actual, real game developers without credit, such as the "developer" here has done.
Putting aside the unethical intellectual, creative and moral bankruptcy of stealing someone else's game concept, this is also breaking that unwritten law of stealing other people's game ideas... you should at least try to do better than the game you're ripping off. "JBomb" is considerably worse than Bomberman.
As mentioned, this features a blend of complete garbage pixelcrap "art" and worse, really godawful, "wrong" looking AI slop instead of genuinely and sincerely created game assets. It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating real game assets or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter. What matters is that this looks bad because of that decision. AI slop sticks out like a sore thumb... and it comes across as insulting.
There's also the old adage that those who lack the budget and talent to make their own game assets usually lack the budget and talent to do the rest of the job of game development properly, too, and that's glaringly obvious here.
Now on to pricing and value for gamers.
This is "free" enough (not every "free" game in the "free" section is truly free, there's usually some hidden price tag), at least you won't be expected to spend any more money after you download this, but just because something is free doesn't mean it's good, and the cost of a game is more than just financial, your time is valuable too. And there is the cost we all bear... the damage that the intellectual bankruptcy of stealing other people's game ideas, and the creative bankruptcy of using disgusting AI slop imposes on the gaming industry. Garbage like this makes gaming worse for everyone, and it gives indie devs a bad name.
Despite having no up-front cost, this failed to appeal to the 120 million+ gamers on Steam. SteamDB showed the game peaked at only 2 concurrent players... this is a dismal public reception. This was so bad they couldn't even give it away. I'm glad to see gamers rejected the unethical behaviour of these "developers".
Bearing in mind that free games don't add +1 to your game collector count, should you bother adding this to your library and downloading it?
Nope. This isn't worth downloading. While this didn't cost me any money up front, I still feel almost as ripped off as Konami.
[quote][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Response![/url][/quote]The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Usage Rules[/url] for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says:
[quote]Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.[/quote]
The first thing the developer wants everyone to know is that they are "The Main Character". You, as a gamer, don't matter. They breach Valve guidelines for developers just to complain about a fully accurate and informative review (with facts their ego doesn't like). It's evident from their attitude that they never created this product with gamers in mind. They did so to stroke their own ego. When developers, especially failed ones who would never be able to get a professional job in the industry, put themselves before gamers, we end up with garbage products like this. That explains how this trash ended up on Steam, but it doesn't excuse it. At least we finally got to meet THE MAIN CHARACTER.
The developer ADMITs to using disgusting AI slop. First reason this should never be put on Steam.
Worse, the developer makes the bombshell (geddit, bomb, because this is a copyright infringing ripoff of Konami's trademarked Bomberman game) that this was never intended to be a real game, it's an academic exercise, the developers self-assigned homework to try work out if it's sensible to re-invent the wheel and go about game development the wrong way. Wow, I'm glad everyone on Steam had to be part of this guys "do the job of game development only really badly and infringing copyright" home exercise.
Steam should not be a dumping ground for this kind of academic garbage, yet the developer decided to publish it anyway so he can pat himself on the back and give himself a hi-5 for stealing the game design of Bomberman from Konami. No thought whatsoever about what would be best for gamers, as his appalling developer response shows... see what I mean about this guy being The Main Character? He cares even less about you than he does about the copyright law he's breaking.
The developer claims this is their first time trying to make a game. If I went to a restaurant, got sick from eating bad food, and got told "The chef is new and has never cooked food before", would that make it okay? No, it wouldn't. The developer supplied a very valid reason why this should never have been put up for sale on Steam in the first place.
The developer complains, after their put their game up on the exact same platform as professionally and competently developed games by real developers, that this product has been compared to actually successful products. The developer is outraged by... well... their own failure, apparently. If the developer did not want their awful product to be compared to other products on the same platform, [i]they shouldn't have put it on that platform![/i] But this shows clearly the developer never considered the needs of you, the gamer, and your experiences and options on the Steam Store, they only thought about themselves. They're angry that you have better choices. What arrogance.
Nothing in the developers pointless breach of Valve guidelines changes any of the objective facts of my review. My review stands unaltered. I cannot recommend this game to anyone. I hope Konami sues.
