[quote][b]Warning: Dead PVP Game[/b]
This game has no single player content, and no playable PvP servers. There is no functioning PvP population, it's a dead game, and cannot be played apart from very limited, pointless bot support.[/quote]
JetX VR is yet shovelware from serial offending Steam polluters, SA Industry. This time instead of just doing an asset flip it looks like they got their hands on someones abandoned VR centric PvP arena game and are trying to slug gamers AAA pricing for an abandoned, dead shovelware game. So, basically, another day that ends in "y" for these guys.
This PvP shooter has you flying around in a 3D low poly space and shooting stuff. It's kind of sci-fi ish? But the graphics are awful, phoned in low poly untextured placeholders. At least I hope they're placeholders and whoever made this before SA Industry got their hands on it didn't think it would really be okay to publish a game in such a poor visual state.
SA Industry/Singularity Lab have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. Here's some examples so you can see for yourself:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/856490]Falling Words[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/2d-typing-game-endless-random-falling-word-text-font-typer-game-107867]2D Typing Game[/url] developed by Steelkrill Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/756260]Kingdom Defense[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/tower-defense-basic-pixel-art-pack-45705]Tower Defense Basic Pixel Art Pack[/url] developed by FreeThePlayerOnGame
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1053650]Drive For Your Life[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/zombie-drive-full-game-template-73074]Zombie Drive - Full Game Template[/url] developed by Puppeteer
[/list]
The focus of the game is pure PvP, there's no single player content. The developer gambled that other players would be an acceptable substitute for adding storytelling, level design etc to the game. The vast majority of PvP-only games fail because they don't "go viral", and without players, or single player content to add a lasting value to the game, the game dies. Developers must learn that other players are not an acceptable substitute for adding content to a game.It failed. SteamDB shows the game hit all-time peak player numbers just after launch, with only a tiny 16 concurrent users, which is a pitiful number, and now the game has practically no players, with nobody playing at all, just one or two people logging on every week or so then quickly deleting the game when they see how bad it is. Why did it fail? It's video game autopsy time!
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
The game features lazy low-polygon "retro" assets, making this look like a barely functional 3D game from the 1990s. It's unclear why the developers weren't able to arrange high quality, high polygon count contemporary assets for the game, and also irrelevant... what matters is that this looks bad as a result of their decisions, a compromise PC gamers shouldn't have to put up with.
This was designed primarily for VR (but it will work without a headset, not that anyone would want to try). The VR focus of the game is a major crutch here, because without VR, this compares poorly to professionally developed games. Developers must learn that while VR is great, if the only thing that makes the game great is the VR, then the game isn't great at all.
The developers made the fatal, lazy mistake of believing that PvP, other players, would be an acceptable substitute for doing the difficult job of adding single player level design, storytelling, NPCs and other rich aspects of designed game content to the game. As a result of this choice by the developers, the game has little to no actual interactive game content. It's a little considered fact that the vast majority of PvP only, multiplayer only games [b]fail[/b]. Developers must learn that other players are not an acceptable substitute for doing the job of game developers and building a game filled with content. PvP only games must have a [b]huge[/b] player base for them to "go viral" and succeed. But with no single player experience to add lasting value to a game, the developers instead chose to bet against all odds that their game would "go viral" without any actual reason for players to want to play the game. Predictably, they lost this bet.
JetX VR didn't appeal much to the people who own a copy of the game, either. It has achievements, and they show us a very clear picture that the game didn't really capture any interest from gamers. The most commonly and easily attained achievement is for winning any match, trivial to get, but less than 25 percent of players bothered to get that far before uninstalling the game. Hardly a success story, gamers just weren't all that interested in the game.
It's also important to note the "developer" here has connections to a number of shady Russian asset flippers and review manipulators who show an organised pattern to scam and defraud gamers with fake reviews and asset flipping the work of others for profit. While reviews are about the games, gamers should be informed when developers act unethically. Whether these connections are the same developer using multiple accounts, or just working closely with other unethical developers, gamers should be warned about the harm to gamers by this developer and their associates. Buying games from unethical developers puts your money at risk.
Unethically, the developers have left this on the Steam store in an unplayable, playerless state. It's the responsibility of the developer to maintain their product, ensure it runs on all modern PCs, or if there's no players and no servers and no single player content, they should remove it from sale instead of misleadingly trying to scam gamers into buying knowingly defective products.
This is harmful to Steam and to gamers, not just because it's a direct and intentional attempt to scam people, but because it takes a share of the marketing space and visibility away from other games. It's polluting Steam and making it harder for gamers to find genuine games and for genuine indie developers who put months or years into making proper games find an audience.
So, should you buy this dead PvP game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
The developer is deliberately and unethically trying to scam gamers into paying them the comically over-optimistic price of $35 USD for a game they know is unplayable due to the zero population state. Don't give it to them.
[quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b]
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]
