IGN: Amy Review

IGN: The game Amy has been kicking around for a while now. Every so often, you'd hear rumblings on The PlayStation Blog about the downloadable survival horror title Vector Cell had in the works. It seemed cool enough in premise, and indeed, Amy no doubt looks good on paper. But the end result -- a supremely muddled mess of controller-throwing frustration and piss-poor game design choices -- makes Amy not only one of the worst downloadable games I've ever played, but easily the worst game I've played in recent memory, period.

[yesmynameissumo]

Just damn. They should be ashamed of themselves for trying to sell this on PSN for $3 more.

[zeal0us]

Game was overhyped. I feel sorry for those who plan on buying this game. Proves that looks can be deceiving.

[RememberThe357]

I completely missed the hype on this game. The first time I heard about it was when people were complaining about the PSN price.

[killerhog]

Yeah blame ign and other lame gaming sites that love puffing games then giving it low scores on the reviews. It doesn't get old reading positive hands-on previews then reading low reviews of same game.

[Pozzle]

"Yeah blame ign and other lame gaming sites that love puffing games then giving it low scores on the reviews. It doesn't get old reading positive hands-on previews then reading low reviews of same game."

I definitely agree with this. All the hands-on previews sounded really positive and I got pretty hyped about the possibility of a good new survival-horror being released.
If the gameplay, graphics and voice acting/script are as bad as reviews are saying, then how the hell did nobody notice this during hands-on previews? Are they paid to say good things about demos?? What's going on??

[theDECAY]

@ Pozzle

I agree with both of you but maybe the hands-on previewers believe that many of the problems will be panned out before the final release of the game. That's the only thing I can think of.

[Pozzle]

@theDECAY: That's true, but it's strange that barely ANY sites had anything bad to say. Bugs and glitches, ugly graphics, terrible gameplay and a crappy voice cast are things I'd want to mention if I was a journalist...even if I was only writing a preview. If they genuinely hindered the experience, I'd want to give my readers a heads up.

[Trunkz]

@Pozzle

You know why? because developers can say this isn't the Final version. You think a company would want you to preview their next game after being so harsh? How often do you see someone give a HORRIBLE preview? Rare.

[jeeves86]

Yeah, but at the same time, hands-on editors should know the kind of problems they're looking at, and have a realistic idea of whether or not these issues are going to be fixed in the final version.

If you received a preview copy and its littered with bugs and horrible glitches such as this was, maybe a month before release, do you honestly expect that it's all going to be fixed by the time the game releases?

[admiralvic]

@ the hands on people

Something to consider is that how would you feel about a writer who did a poor hands on of a beta product? Laying the hammer on a draft makes you look really bad. Most people would complain left/right that all of these issues could be fixed.

Like if I said it felt repetitive... many would wonder if I thought it MIGHT change from what the demo showcased.
If I said the story sucked... there were plenty of games that pulled out a winner randomly. A prime example would be inFAMOUS which had an okay story, but the ending ALONE saved it. (in my opinion that is)
etc

Another good example is el shaddai. The demo showcased some neat stuff and showed a neat game that could get better. However according to my friend that showcased every weapon... this was COMPLETELY unpredictable and could easily impact the final score.

Definitely some things to consider.

[-Mika-]

Oh plz these reviews are hating on this game for no reason. I seriously doubt the game is that bad. Im gladly going to pay $10 when this game comes out. I really would like to see more original psn titles like Amy and i am alive. So i will support this.

[yesmynameissumo]

2/10, 2/10, 4/10, 4/10, 4.7/10, 7.6/10. Unless there are a flood of great reviews, I'm going to go with my gut here and say...this game is shit.

[DeeZee]

No, this isn't one site going rogue. It's being panned across the board!

[TheNocturnus]

Don't do it man. I bought it tonight and the game is utter garbage. I agree with IGN.

[DigitalAnalog]

Normally I tend to go and take a risk due to the amount of overwhelming "opinions" of game journalists these days.

But it seems to me almost every negative review I've read have been extremely consistent to the minute point. It is as if every review was written by the same reviewer.

If there's one shining light in this mess is that hopefully more reviews are more consistent in their "positive" reviews.

[OhMyGandhi]

Hey man. I'm all for supporting indie development. GOOD indie development.

I understand that you want it to be amazing, or at the very least a decent excursion, but denial of the game's reception, is flat out ignorance.
Buy the game if you wish, and hell, if the game's average was a "6/10" or so, I'd totally pick it up, too (last game I played that was poorly received but I still enjoyed thoroughly was Dead to Rights: Retribution, so flying in the face of critical consensus can lead to pleasant surprises, I understand that much). But this game is bad, bad in the way of not just bugs (hell most games have them) but bad in the way of repetitive purgatory and bad controls sort of bad.

Go with your gut, and hell, go with the expectation of an absolute interactive disaster, and at the very least, you may find good things to appreciate about the title.

I know I was looking forward to this game with it's bad ass screens and concept art, but for me, I rather cut my losses then end up saying bad words and pulling every hair last follicle out of my head due to the game's content as well as what I had payed for in spite of all the forewarning..

[danielle007]

Just because they're indie and have a cool concept, does NOT mean they get a free pass for making a broken game, no matter what you'd like to believe.

Also, game reviewers are usually FORGIVING. Especially IGN, they usually go from 5-10, a 2 is VERY rare in this day and age.

[megacowdung]

dude the game is poop, don't buy it...

[showtimefolks]

so all the positive previews and hype ign and other gaming sites did for this game was just to get hits? i was never interested in this so could careless

what the heck were the DEVS thinking

[Bioshocking]

lol.... I just saw this trailer and I laughed so hard...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

IGN- "Amy is like ICO with zombies and it is totally brilliant"

IGN review- 2/10

Destructoid- "Survival horror Amy is looking really good, scary"

Destructoid review- 1.5/10

Just made my day.... goes to show that you should not trust reviewers and the press.

Why don't game dev's you know... release these demo's they show to the press to the public to play at home rather than at e3 or some other event?

The best critic is you, because if you don't like the demo... you won't buy the game with your hard earned money.

Goes to show how untrustworthy critics are

*cough* Skyrim on PS3 *cough*

[Oldman100]

Is the game really that bad? Well at least the score equates to a 10......out of 50.

[Ezio2048]

bubble for making me laugh, mate. :D

[DonaldBeck]

hahahaha

[WildStyles]

This game must be horrendous lol.

[killasder]

rofl.. aw man a 2... as in number 2?(shyt)

[LackTrue4K]

lol, they could of gave it a "number two/10" now you know that's one BADDDD GAME!!!

[Rezka]

Can't believe I actually had hope for this game must had been the "Horror based game" that got me interested at first lol

[bebojet]

Same thing happened to me with Dead Island. Don't get me wrong Dead Island wasn't a bad game but it just didn't live up to the hype.

[Jensen]

smh........

[BitbyDeath]

Ouch, i'll try a demo if they release one.

[danielle007]

Well it's XBLA right? So it will most definitely have a demo.

[BitbyDeath]

I don't have a 360 ^_^

[DeeZee]

I'm normally never this blunt, but this game officially sucks. This is like the 5th bad review, and I mean "bad", none of that 7/10 stuff. We're talking 4/10 and under.

[Soldierone]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't IGN stating it was good during a HANDS ON preview before?

[killerhog]

Yup, but it wouldn't be ign without it.

[ReservoirDog316]

Well they probably played an older form of it and most games aren't polished in that form and IGN knows it. But they just never polished past that.

[kaveti6616]

That's why teachers are always hesitant to tell students that their first drafts are "really great." Because then the student might get it in their head that their essay doesn't need any more work so they'll just leave it as is and turn it in a week later. Then they complain when they get a C or lower. "But you told me it was great."

[ilovemyps3]

I like to defend the poors and oppresseds.
Maybe the game is bad,but after the facebook poll and price story,someone wanted to "revenge". And then the first bad reviews came up.
And then,once there is a bad review,others will follow,just like the 400 websites that will score a halo or cod game a 9 or 10, because the "references" websites, gave them a 10, they will blindly score it a 10 as well, because,well,everybody did it.

I love games,and I dont like to pay for a bad game.but thinking about those developers that certainly put a lot of love and work on that game, I just feel bad for them.

If a big and experimented studio with 100 people release a shitty game,ok, no excuses, I won't buy it because they just rushed and wanted to respect the deadline and their boss, and they just ruined the game,because of a few extra months.

But if a small studio work hard for us, but ,well, they did the best they could, how can I blame them, call them idiots,etc? Do people imagine if these guys get fired?think about their wives and children.does it make you happy?

I don't believe in ign reviews, the same with a few others, like gamespot.

I made 2 donations these year, to the adblock developer, it was only 10$ each time,but still. I'm not rich,if I stop working I will starve,like many.but if we all can lend a hand to those who dare asking, its a good thing,I believe.sure, all the kids here, that got their console from daddy, can't understand this.

I don't know who the studio behind Amy is, and I don't know nothing about Amy.but thanks to ign, today I will pick Amy on psn,even if its 13 or 23, even if I confirm buy but don't download it. Good work guys, you will do better next time.

Now, gamespot, its your time to give Amy a 1.5

And please, go on and press disagree,I don't mind

[Trekster_Gamer]

Your money to waste. There is no conspiracy against this game, I played the demo and it would have been lame 10 years ago. IGN and other review sites are correct in every aspect. If you after all the reviews are going to buy it I have a new Next Gen system called Atari 2600 that I will sell to you for 1000.

[ilovemyps3]

only 1000? man, that's a good deal !!!
give me your iban please ;)

ok, i will get the demo, before buying it twice :)

[ilovemyps3]

last bubble.
ign and gamespot are the biggest sony haters.
if you give them 2 x360 games, for example, with another gamepad, and find a way to put , in one of the games, the ps3 type buttons(square, triange, etc), and they just blind test the game, and i say, THE SAME GAME from THE SAME CONSOLE, those guys will still give a better score to graphics on xbox, will say the sound is less good on ps3, and there is less lag on the xbox, and textures on the xbox are more crispy. and will give a 95 to the xbox version, and a 93 to the ps3 version. THE SAME VERSION.

ign and gamespot are the perfect example of US media always trying to kill sony products.

they are paid so the xbox versions always score better, and so the ps3 games always get bad scores. and people don't come with the conspiracy theory.

a perfect example : http://www.ign.com/search/p...

thousands of websites said the ps3 version of portal 2 was the best, with better graphics, etc, even on lensoftruth, etc, i mean, EVERYBODY in the world knew the best version was the ps3 one.

ohhh, do you think ign would score portal 2 better on ps3 then on the xbox, according to those facts ?? no, their hate towards sony and their desire to always make the xbox games look better, and never, i mean, never, a ps3 game will score better then on the xbox. that's ign and gamespot.

but, whenever you have a multiplatform game, they will give a 8/10 instead of a 9/10 on xbox, because they saw a green pixel on the whole game, when it was supposed to be a red pixel. because of that, the ps3 score will be lower. you see ?

but with portal, graphics on xbox were bad, compared to the ps3 version. and ps3 had steam support. FUCK, the games got the same score there.
that proves that they are xbox fanboys, and microsoft/advertisers don't want them to tell the truth, in the case of portal 2, the truth is the ps3 version is better, and therefore, deserves a better score, which didn't happen.HATERS

lol, ps3 version got a 9 for graphics, and xbox, a 9.5. on both reviews, NEVER they use the word "graphic". since ps3 graphics were superior then xbox version, it was better to not even talk about it...

only a 30 yo virgin will click on disagree...come on guys, don't be ashamed.

[Swiggins]

As a fellow gamer I'm going to ask you to stop with your Jessie Ventura Conspiracy Theory Bullshit.

There is no great anti Sony conspiracy. The reason they score certain multiplatform games differently is because there are differences.

The reason Portal 2 is scored the same is because IT IS THE SAME. The graphics, the gameplay, it's all the same, and the much toted steam support does little to enhance the experience.

This game is a piece of crap, if it was released on Xbox it wouldn't make it any better.

-_-

[PirateThom]

Here's my issue with this though.

Just because a developer is small, doesn't give them an excuse to release a bad game. There's a lot of small developers who have released good games, both on disc and as downloads on a variety of platforms.

[LNDCalling]

Agree, I think they were trying too hard to make it something it wasn't rather than concentrating on just making it a good game! :/

[Voxelman]

I suppose eurogamer are Sony haters as well right? http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

and http://www.officialplaystat... up official playstation magazineaplso hates Sony.

The game is just bad and has no excuses, Paul Cuisset the director has worked in the industry since the 80s and directed Flashback so it's not like this is his first game or anything, and the developer has been around since 2005. The game is no little garage project it's made by experienced people who should know better and have made better games in the past.

[SkittlesLikesPopcorn]

everyone is disagreeing with you... but i agree. i just feel bad for these guys. its not like they made a bad game on purpose... i hope they learn from their mistakes.

[danielle007]

Yes, it's sad that they released such a horrible game.

However, why didn't they playtest their own damn game? If it's broken to THIS degree, be upfront and push the release back. Meeting deadlines is super, but if it means you will have no sales and your reputation will literally ruined, then you have to take the better choice and push it back until you get things at least functional and preferably fun.

[Ezio2048]

umm...i guess its power level is not over 9000!!!!

[tigertron]

I like to treat game reviews with a pinch of salt, particularly with IGN, but this game hasn't had one good review as far as I'm aware and thats dissapointing, because the gameplay videos I saw a while back looked great - and it had a great concept. Its just ashame it didn't live up to its potential because I would have bought this. If they release a demo I'll download it, but until then I'll be playing other games this year.

[LeShin]

Hmmm...I dunno. If there is a demo I'll try it out. It's been a long time that I've agreed to the majority of reviews online. Someone got me COD 3 & NFS The Run for xmas. COD 3 deserves nothing but a 7 (and that's being nice)yet everyone gave it a 9 as usual. NFS The Run single player campaign was horrible! A game centred around a 'story' with no actual 'story' while playing?! That game deserves a 5 it's average at best.

Lair got panned by everyone yet I loved it. GTA 4 got 9's and 10s but I thought Saints Row 2 was much more fun (Checking virtual emails and going to virtual comedy clubs isn't my idea of fun) so traded GTA 4 after finishing it for SR2.

Like I said, I'll play the demo before making any judgement, they could be right, we'll see...

[MegaSackman]

Vector Cell is going to be shut down, im a fortune teller.

[redcar121]

stop moaning its one of the best arcade titles i ever played if anything it should of been a retail game

[InTheLab]

Perhaps if the devs made the game "quirky" like Deadly Premonition, it would be a cult hit? What I've read about Amy sounds exactly like DP, which was also unplayable.

[gigreen]

No way they could've done that, it would have required to completely turn around the concept from Silent Hill-like seriousness into a humorous game like DP.

[Half-Mafia]

I'm not the kind of person who see's a review score like this and then passes on the game. What ive seen of this game looks cool and different, so ill pick this game up when its on a Steam sale for around £2.

Also Fuck anything IGN.

[Silly gameAr]

I feel bad for Vector Cell. It doesn't take much for small indie devs to shut down now in days. The bad scores and a couple of questionable choices could be all it takes for them to go down.

[Run_bare]

I agree with you, BUT I can't help by feel dissapointed and angry with spending $15 dollars (Aussie price) in a game in was very looking forward to playing and turn out to be utter garbage. I never read reviews, but in this instance, IGN is right. This game give me headaches and I switch it off straight after.

[Drabent]

LOL FAIL! Awww just put CoD on the front of the box and it will sell.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

My problem is $10 for this, or put that towards my reserved copy of Silent Hill Downpour... I went with Downpour!

[n4gisatroll]

Ya, it looks very promising.

[Fel08]

OUCH

[n4gisatroll]

That's hilarious. They should give us 3 bucks to play it, instead of trying to change us 3 bucks more.

[Raoh]

ouch, had high hopes for this game.

[CrazyRap]

For a minute i dreamed if that was CoD review....
Ah,well..

[Braid]

What the hell? 2 out of 10 means it's almost UNPLAYABLE and I really doubt the game is that bad. I mean, it's an arcade title, how good would you expect it to be?

This is too harsh in my book. Modern Warfare sells like butter even though they just recycle the same thing over and over every year, no one complains there, and an arcade title that probably looks BETTER than MW3 gets a horrible 2/10.

Something somewhere is really f'd up.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Ok we get you like Amy and a lot of people don't like MW3. But are you honestly claiming this game LOOKS BETTER then MW3? I mean MW3 isn't the best looking game, but it's still miles ahead of Amy naturally.

[Braid]

I haven't played Amy yet so I can not precisely say which one looks better. But judging from the screenshots, it sure looks like the game has great visuals for a low budget game.

That Modern Warfare uses the anchient DX9 architecture on PC is "inexcusably" lazy programming. The engine is not that different from Modern Warfare 1, in fact it's only a slightly modified version of it. When it comes to the visuals of MW3 I tend to bash it hard only for that reason. And if there is going to be any Black Ops 2, I'm sure that they will use the same old engine again and will not care one bit about it.

[Soldierone]

Visuals are not everything, and even then just watch the first 10 minutes everyone is posting. It doesn't look good in many area's. She was Holding a phone and her hand was straight, didn't even wrap around it. Little things like that need polish for sure.

The voice over work from what I've heard is terrible in many area's too. And when your first mission is "I've got to find her" you know what the gameplay will be like lol

It's an indie studio that just took a huge bite out of something that they haven't explored yet, its understandable. They need to embrace these reviews, fix what people are complaining about, and release a better follow up.

[Braid]

I don't know if I'm being generous but the game looks like a "5-6 out of 10" to me.

Obviously it has some flaws that should have been improved before the release, but 2/10 so harsh that it almost sounds humiliating. Those kind of very low ratings should be saved for games that don't work properly like, say, the game crashes every ten minutes, visuals glitch up so bad that you can not play the game or controls are so irresponsive that characters respond to your button presses extremely delayed. If the game is that unplayable, then it deserves a 1-2/10. If not, it's too harsh.

I may be too generous though, can't be sure unless I get my hands on it myself.

[danielle007]

Let's get real here. The reviewer DID think it was unplayable. He didn't finish the game because he HATED everything about it and could find no redeeming qualities.

The combat is broken, the rendering has clear issues, the voice acting is horrendous, he cared nothing for the characters, the "oh i can clearly fit through here but only the little girl can go and not i" shit is ANNOYING and makes me hate games if they tell me things have to be a certain way because of really stupid nonsensical reasons.

You can disagree with MW3's score all you want, but this game got what the reviewer felt it deserved. Eurogamer also gave it a 2/10, and there a lots of other 4 or below scores to join it. I don't believe in giving a game a higher score because it's indie, I believe in giving a game what it deserves. This review clearly states why it is broken - and you would choose to give it a 5 or 6? No, pal. I think you're part of the problem. If you hate literally everything about a game, and it's nearly completely unplayable, then you don't give it a 5 or 6. You give it a 2.

[LNDCalling]

Its difficult in two ways, firstly this is a low budget indie downloadable game really and should be reviewed as such HOWEVER it is also trying to be a big budget game and whilst props to the devs this doesn't always work and can end up in no mans land inbetween which is where this appears to have dropped!

Whilst I intended to buy this regardless of reviews the controls do look awkward, even just looking at video gameplay..

Sony should bought into this, made it exclusive and thrown one of their studios in to help on development and made it the game it could have been but suppose they weren't convinced themselves! :-/

[KingOfArcadia]

I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff - Earth Defense Force, Deadly Premonition, etc. - so, yeah there's a better than average chance I'll get this at some point.

I mean, I'm old enough to have played Pong in an arcade. I grew up with an Atari 2600. Trust me when I say that no matter how big of a pile of crap this game may be, that there have been much, much worse games - and I have likely played those too. Deadly Towers for the NES, anyone?

[Old McGroin]

Uh, a bit of a U turn on their preview me thinks! Check it out here:

http://ie.ps3.ign.com/artic...

[Soldierone]

Exactly what I was looking for lol

[danielle007]

But that was while it was in development. No one expects polish and perfection during that. They have a lot of leeway, and get graded on ideas. AMY was filled with good ideas, it can't be said otherwise. It definitely wasn't realized, though.

Once you release it and expect money for a product, then it needs to be fully functioning and fun.

Someone mentioned above it's like essays in school. For first drafts, you get graded on what you're saying you'll do and the ideas you present. Once the final paper is done, it doesn't matter what you got on the first draft at all, you get graded on what you actually deliver.

[Run_bare]

I bought them on PSN before reading any of the reviews. It's a terrible game, I can't recommend this to anyone. I don't understand why they even release it at this state.

[PickAShoe]

I like Amy's kitchen setting

[andron]

Auch, is Amy really this bad. It's getting really bad reviews...

[Squadron40Dive]

bad developers are bad developers