the German magazine included a test of a beta version in their most recent magazine
they stated that the new areas are basically stale and carelessly designed and that the game is still very buggy, even crashing frequently
I'm really not a big fan of that magazine (they still gave the game an 80% rating though) but does anybody have inside information on whether their claims are justified?
Hey mate What you`ve postet doesn't really match what was actually written in the article.
1.) They said nothing about a "stale design of the new areas", where did you get that one? I haven't read this... Only thing the writer mentioned is that he "would have been pleased if there was a new "graphic engine", although he assumes that "the fans of the series will feel a kind of nostalgic tingle when looking at the graphics". 2.) They did not state that the game does crash *frequently* - it "just" crashes *from time to time* (or if you try to start the tutorial). Furthermore, they are aware that this happens due to the fact that the game is still in beta and they`re sure that "the developers will fix those problems till the release".
You made it sound like they published a pretty bad review about the game. Truth is that their article actually sounds really promising, and there are many lines in it where they speak in high term of the remake (and the original BG1), e.g. the new multiplayer mode, the vibrant character design, the tactical aspect of the game, the well-made new hand-drawn cinematics and the neat fact, that BGEE comes with the "Tales of the Sword Coast" content.
Conclusion:
Gamestar actually made a very promising review of the BGEE instead of "slamming it into the ground" (like your "translation" suggests). There were lots of positive aspects and only few drawbacks. In my opinion it is indeed a pretty sparkling promotion for the game.
I didn't buy the mag, I just browsed it. I didn't say at all they bashed it (an 80% rating is hardly a bashing).and my original question was whether the current version really does crash that much like the article mentioned (they subtracted 1-2 points for that alone). that was my question (which nobody answered so far)
and the new area thing (I don't remember the exact adjective they used, ok?) is definitely in the article in the magazine. probably the online version isn't the whole thing
to cut a long story short, it was never about the source, it was about the facts (bugs, new areas). whether they are true or not.
The nature of reviews. You cannot tell people what to like and what to write. I fear his review is based on a pretty early build.
-Trent
That really surprises me. I can't fathom how they got permission to review a beta of the game.
Toucharcade.com talked briefly about a build of BG:EE they'd received, in a podcast just before the delay was announced, but they also said that they wouldn't write a review or post any video/screenshots until they would get the word from Overhaul/Beamdog.
Besides that, I find it unethical of the German site to review the game with a score, no matter how high a score, when they know the game have been delayed two months.
They could have called it a preview, not give it a final score, and it would have been fine.
@TrentOster So beta builds have been sent out for reviewing?
I'm interested in knowing this too.
Trent did not seem surprised to see this so maybe they did send out builds, but if they knew there was going to be a delay, why send out buggy/broken builds? It may be a leak from a beta tester ...
When was the last time anyone has seen a preview with a final score? I've been to dozens of review sites in my time and can't recall ever seeing one. Does this site do that for other games?
@TrentOster So beta builds have been sent out for reviewing?
I'm interested in knowing this too.
Trent did not seem surprised to see this so maybe they did send out builds, but if they knew there was going to be a delay, why send out buggy/broken builds? It may be a leak from a beta tester ...
The nature of reviews. You cannot tell people what to like and what to write. I fear his review is based on a pretty early build.
-Trent
@TrentOster As I wrote above, the first post of this thread made the review sound a little devastating, which is not the case. In fact, the writer implies that the game is worth being bought and will surely satisfy fans of the original once again. So don't worry - we're with you, I'm with you - and I'm really looking foward to the promising work you guys have created!
If you use your braincells a bit knowing the build you recieve is a "betabuild" and not a representation of the final game you dont write a review with a score for it. simple as that! No need for Overhaul telling them this in a message together with the build!!!
The nature of reviews. You cannot tell people what to like and what to write. I fear his review is based on a pretty early build.
-Trent
That really surprises me. I can't fathom how they got permission to review a beta of the game.
Toucharcade.com talked briefly about a build of BG:EE they'd received, in a podcast just before the delay was announced, but they also said that they wouldn't write a review or post any video/screenshots until they would get the word from Overhaul/Beamdog.
Besides that, I find it unethical of the German site to review the game with a score, no matter how high a score, when they know the game have been delayed two months.
They could have called it a preview, not give it a final score, and it would have been fine.
for the last time, THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WASN'T THE FINAL VERSION
really unbelievable how stupid this discussion has become when I just wanted to know how buggy the game is at the current point
First of: I'm a german and if you wish I can give you a full translation of the article so that all the "speculation" and "article/game bashing" can come to an end. Second: Gamestar is kind of the biggest and best selling gamers mag in germany, so this article is definitely legit. Although the quality has really become worse each year, I still own some of the oldest magazines of them (even with the original review of baldurs gate and baldurs gate II).
The only two bad points they mentioned in the review are the graphics and the bugs. Also, they mention that the version they played is a beta build and that they assume the bugs to be fixed for the retail. You can't blame them for throwing in DA:O or diablo for "younger gamers" to make them describe the game, because those are the games the younger audience will probably know. Diablo for "this game is unlike diablo" and DA:O for "tactical, pauseable combat".
Criticizing the graphics is legit, if you ask me, I mean, it's 2012, come on. I got to say a 80% rating is more than justified for this. You can't expect the "average" gamer to love and buy this game nowadays... it's a highly niché product intended for lovers of the genre (and they even said that nostal-geeks will dig the graphics). An 80% rating is also a pretty good rating for that magazine.
when i think about Trent´s comment i can only speculate that someone breached his/ her NDA because he dont know what build... an early build of course they have reviewed! I´m sure their BGEE.exe is like 0.9153 or 0.98054 and so on And if they didnt got the copy from Overhaul they should have knows this too. 1*1 is 1!!!
If this was EA they would get sued to the point of exile and selling their souls. The beta is strictly internal and no one can publish screenshots or detailed information about any beta build. Obviously it wasn't Overhaul who sent a copy, so this must be a leaked build.
Anyhow, please don't take any of this as being representative of the quality of the final product.
The link is not a review, period. It's an article about how BG is being remade, nothing more. Also, it is mostly positive, but there are some minor factual errors. No idea what the article in the actual magazine says though.
The title of the page is almost exactly "Preview of Baldurs gate enhanced edition"
with a conclusion... but i dont see any score now! And when you´re on the mainpage for BGEE and click on TEST there is no test for the game available it says now... uhu and they say BGEE is released on September the 30th....
Well... preview and review is hardly the same, right? I think whoever posted the link to the preview gave many people the impression that it was the same as the review in the actual magazine. That is not the case, which is why there is no rating in the online article.
The nature of reviews. You cannot tell people what to like and what to write. I fear his review is based on a pretty early build.
-Trent
That really surprises me. I can't fathom how they got permission to review a beta of the game.
Toucharcade.com talked briefly about a build of BG:EE they'd received, in a podcast just before the delay was announced, but they also said that they wouldn't write a review or post any video/screenshots until they would get the word from Overhaul/Beamdog.
Besides that, I find it unethical of the German site to review the game with a score, no matter how high a score, when they know the game have been delayed two months.
They could have called it a preview, not give it a final score, and it would have been fine.
for the last time, THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WASN'T THE FINAL VERSION
really unbelievable how stupid this discussion has become when I just wanted to know how buggy the game is at the current point
No need to shout at me. I may have missed where you wrote that they didn't know that, but your initial post that started this thread clearly stated that the magazine reviewed a Beta build of the game. Which is what my comment reflected. I can't read German.
I translated the preview for you guys. Note that this isn't a 1:1 translation.
"A classic in classic looks
One of the best RPGs of all times is back. 14 years after the first release Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is the makeover of Bioware's classic.
To understand what is Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition, we need to take a time travel back. We have a look on the second half of the 90's and an at that time young developer studio called Bioware. After making themselves a name with the first hit Shattered Steel (a mech sim), the studio presents the branch-giant Interplay a demo to the new roleplay project called Battleground: Infinity.
The publishers is interested, but recommends integrating the Dungeons & Dragons Licence into the game. At the year os 1998, Interplay publishes the RPG. At this time, it doesn't have its original name anymore, but instead the name with which it will burn into the history of computer games and the hearts of all roleplay fans worldwide: Baldurs Gate. Now, Overhaul Games (MDK 2 HD) started to do a makeover of the classic whose fascination until today seems still unbroken. The developers made over 400 small and bigger improvements, not only the graphics, but also the story of the game.
(PICTURE) picture text: The red wizards of Thay want to seizure our companion Neera, to analyze her magic. We are opposing.
Story and Heroes of the past
Long story short: Our hero was raised as an orphan by his mentor Gorion in the monastery of candlekeep. Some day the old man wants us to leave our own four walls as fast as possible, to make a rushed travel over to Baldur's Gate, the most important city on the sword coast, as he is worried about our own's safety. During the nighttime travel, we get ambushed. Gorion tries to buy time for us to escape, but dies in the battle against the deathknight Sarad. Shortly after, we realize that the ambush wasn't directed at our mentor, but ourselves. During the adventure we discover a conspiracy that entangles us and up to five companions deeper and deeper into the politic events on the sword coast.
The companions show one of Biowares biggest strengths: dialogues. More than everything else they give life to the characters and let them appear unique. The ranger and fan-favorite Minsc, for example, which may first look like a fantasy stereotype of muscle-loaded twohander-wielding warrior if it wasn't for his companion Boo, who assists Minsc with all kinds of advices. Boo, however, is a hamster... which rests comfortable in the inventory and makes a squee-noise when trying to move it. Sounds weird, but blends with the game world perfectly and creates memorable moments for sure.
(Picture) The fast battlemonk Rasaad was the first to reach the enemy and could intercept it before reaching our mage.
New Hero, old ruleset
Before we can start, we first need to create a character. We get to select one of seven races like human, elf, gnome or half-orc. We can also chose from eleven classes and have the opportunity to create multiclasses. If you get bored of your typical mage, you are able to play a battlecleric, for example.
Depending on the class of choice the pool of abilities differs. Warriors are allowed to learn weapon profiencies, whereas thieves can invest additional points in like pickpocketing and lockpicking.
(Picture) Instead of dusty render graphics we now get animated paintings as cinematics
Of course we will meet a lot of enemies on our travels and even if Baldurs Gate kinda looks like Diablo, the battles are a lot more tactical. Similar to it's spiritual successor Dragon Age: Origins we can pause the battle, to order our combatants to use abilities, prepare magic spells and get into the right position. For example, when getting ambushed, its always a smart move to pause the game, put back those wounded from the frontline and replace them by their comerades. In the backline, our clerics wait for the wounded to heal, whereas our mages support the frontline with fireballs. Planning ahead has higher chance of success.
18 hours of aftergame (note: it's a pun on soccer rules).
The original was already a giant, but now overhaul games even puts another shovel on the top. The new characters and areas will increase the playtime by roughly 18 hours.
In addition to the new cinematics, we also get a makeover of the old. Instead the aged CGI-movies we now get handpainted, animated scenes to artistically support the story.
New content block: At the optional new adventure 'The Black Pits', we can battle 15 arena fights with around 6 hours of new gameplay.
Rasaad, the calishite monk is a new playable character. With him, we can check out the new area Cloud Peaks. 4 hours of gameplay.
Neera is the second newcomer. The half-elf will make us visit a new hideout northeast of Durlags Tower. 4 hours of gameplay.
The half-orc Dorn is the last of the new characters. Betrayed by his former comerades, he is lusting for revenge and rejoices to join us. 4 hours of content.
One big improvement was done to the multiplayer mode. Not only we get a matchmaking feature now, but also cross-platform play. We can not only play with PC-owners, but with iPad, Mac and android users. Awesome idea!
Graphics of yesterday
Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition now also allows higher resolutions and widescreen options, such as smooth zooming. But to take this one ahead: You will notice the game's age at every corner and every detail. Fans of the classic should feel a nostalgic tingling, but we would have still wished for a new engine.
We liked that the title ships with the complete addon legends of the swordcoast instead of adding it - as one would assume nowadays - via pay-to-play DLC.
However: in the beta we played we had serious bugs here and there. For example, the game always crashed when we tried to start the tutorial. One quest couldn't be turned in despite being completed.
We are optimistic that overhaul games will fix the issues until the release in fall this year. The next makeover is already decided: 2013, the developers will create an enhanced edition of Baldurs Gate 2 including the Throne of Bhaal addon.
Sumary and personal thoughts of the writer Florian Heider: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced edition will get its buyers, thats for sure. Not without reason: even 2012 the gameplay is far from aged and the bioware-typical arguments and word-battles between our companions will still cause smiling faces of the fans. Nostalgics will buy it anyway, even if they might be the only ones who will look over the aged optics."
Since I actually bought the magazine in question I think I should set some things straight, even if others here have already done so. a.) It was a review, not a preview. Due to printing time and other aspects it is not uncommon that reviewers get a not completely finished game. The review was written (and went into printing) before the launch was pushed back. this even gets mentioned in the editorial, in which they express some disappointment that they did not get informed earlier by overhaul about the delay and announce a new test for the new build. [quote] Wenige Stunden, nachdem unser Test der »fertigen« Version von Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition in Druck gegangen war (der hintere Heftteil wird immer vor dem vorderen gedruckt), enthüllen die Entwickler, dass sie den aufpolierten Klassiker auf November verschieben, weil er ihren Qualitätsansprüchen nicht genüge. Das können wir gut nachvollziehen, schließlich kritisieren wir im Test unter anderem die Bugs und die lieblosen neuen Gebiete. Eine Vorwarnung wäre trotzdem nett gewesen. Sei’s drum, im November werden wir uns Baldur's Gate dann eben noch mal vorknöpfen – und wehe, es hat sich nichts getan[quote]
Translation: A few hours after out test of the "final" version of BG:EE went to press (the pages for the second part of the magazine get printed first) the developers disclose that they pushed the polished classic´s release back, because it does not measure up to the quality level they wanted to deliver. We can understand that after all we criticise in our test amongst other things the bugs and the stale new areas. A little warning would have been nice regardless. Anyhow in November will test the game again and hope for improvements.
b.) The review was very positive and the only real issues (apart from the not game breaking bugs, like occasional side missions you could not finish) the only other bad things mentioned about the game were that old characters did not receive new content making the new much more fleshed out companions stand out and that even though the backgrounds are still pretty the animations are dated by today's standard. And that the black pits lack story and are basically just one fight after the other.
c.) The video on the DVD that came with the magazine is also very positive and looks pretty good.
The nature of reviews. You cannot tell people what to like and what to write. I fear his review is based on a pretty early build.
-Trent
That really surprises me. I can't fathom how they got permission to review a beta of the game.
Toucharcade.com talked briefly about a build of BG:EE they'd received, in a podcast just before the delay was announced, but they also said that they wouldn't write a review or post any video/screenshots until they would get the word from Overhaul/Beamdog.
Besides that, I find it unethical of the German site to review the game with a score, no matter how high a score, when they know the game have been delayed two months.
They could have called it a preview, not give it a final score, and it would have been fine.
for the last time, THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WASN'T THE FINAL VERSION
really unbelievable how stupid this discussion has become when I just wanted to know how buggy the game is at the current point
No need to shout at me. I may have missed where you wrote that they didn't know that, but your initial post that started this thread clearly stated that the magazine reviewed a Beta build of the game. Which is what my comment reflected. I can't read German.
which is exactly what they did. why are we moving in circles here?
and my original question still wasn't answered. the original (vanilla) BG had very few if any gamebreaking bugs. bgee allegedly has (had?) plenty. so where did they come from? and are they ironed out yet, beta testers?
and my original question still wasn't answered. the original (vanilla) BG had very few if any gamebreaking bugs. bgee allegedly has (had?) plenty. so where did they come from? and are they ironed out yet, beta testers?
BG:EE does not have game breaking bugs, this is mentioned in the review itself and also mentioned in the accompanying video. They even show an example for a bug which is just the characters suddenly taking in baby voices. And frankly Minsk suddenly saying "Who´s a fuzzy Boo" in the voice of a four year old boy in the middle of a battle is kind of hilarious.
to be fair they did include a note that the game was believed to be completed and the review was written before the release date delay. this should clear up things
Except that i cannot imagine they acquired the beta legally
Comments
1.) They said nothing about a "stale design of the new areas", where did you get that one? I haven't read this... Only thing the writer mentioned is that he "would have been pleased if there was a new "graphic engine", although he assumes that "the fans of the series will feel a kind of nostalgic tingle when looking at the graphics".
2.) They did not state that the game does crash *frequently* - it "just" crashes *from time to time* (or if you try to start the tutorial). Furthermore, they are aware that this happens due to the fact that the game is still in beta and they`re sure that "the developers will fix those problems till the release".
You made it sound like they published a pretty bad review about the game. Truth is that their article actually sounds really promising, and there are many lines in it where they speak in high term of the remake (and the original BG1), e.g. the new multiplayer mode, the vibrant character design, the tactical aspect of the game, the well-made new hand-drawn cinematics and the neat fact, that BGEE comes with the "Tales of the Sword Coast" content.
Conclusion:
Gamestar actually made a very promising review of the BGEE instead of "slamming it into the ground" (like your "translation" suggests). There were lots of positive aspects and only few drawbacks. In my opinion it is indeed a pretty sparkling promotion for the game.
and the new area thing (I don't remember the exact adjective they used, ok?) is definitely in the article in the magazine. probably the online version isn't the whole thing
to cut a long story short, it was never about the source, it was about the facts (bugs, new areas). whether they are true or not.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourPointScale
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EightPointEight
-Trent
I can't fathom how they got permission to review a beta of the game.
Toucharcade.com talked briefly about a build of BG:EE they'd received, in a podcast just before the delay was announced, but they also said that they wouldn't write a review or post any video/screenshots until they would get the word from Overhaul/Beamdog.
Besides that, I find it unethical of the German site to review the game with a score, no matter how high a score, when they know the game have been delayed two months.
They could have called it a preview, not give it a final score, and it would have been fine.
Trent did not seem surprised to see this so maybe they did send out builds, but if they knew there was going to be a delay, why send out buggy/broken builds? It may be a leak from a beta tester ...
really unbelievable how stupid this discussion has become when I just wanted to know how buggy the game is at the current point
Second: Gamestar is kind of the biggest and best selling gamers mag in germany, so this article is definitely legit. Although the quality has really become worse each year, I still own some of the oldest magazines of them (even with the original review of baldurs gate and baldurs gate II).
The only two bad points they mentioned in the review are the graphics and the bugs. Also, they mention that the version they played is a beta build and that they assume the bugs to be fixed for the retail.
You can't blame them for throwing in DA:O or diablo for "younger gamers" to make them describe the game, because those are the games the younger audience will probably know. Diablo for "this game is unlike diablo" and DA:O for "tactical, pauseable combat".
Criticizing the graphics is legit, if you ask me, I mean, it's 2012, come on. I got to say a 80% rating is more than justified for this. You can't expect the "average" gamer to love and buy this game nowadays... it's a highly niché product intended for lovers of the genre (and they even said that nostal-geeks will dig the graphics). An 80% rating is also a pretty good rating for that magazine.
Anyhow, please don't take any of this as being representative of the quality of the final product.
Also, it is mostly positive, but there are some minor factual errors.
No idea what the article in the actual magazine says though.
"Preview of Baldurs gate enhanced edition"
with a conclusion... but i dont see any score now! And when you´re on the mainpage for BGEE and click on TEST there is no test for the game available it says now... uhu and they say BGEE is released on September the 30th....
I may have missed where you wrote that they didn't know that, but your initial post that started this thread clearly stated that the magazine reviewed a Beta build of the game. Which is what my comment reflected. I can't read German.
"A classic in classic looks
One of the best RPGs of all times is back. 14 years after the first release Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is the makeover of Bioware's classic.
To understand what is Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition, we need to take a time travel back. We have a look on the second half of the 90's and an at that time young developer studio called Bioware. After making themselves a name with the first hit Shattered Steel (a mech sim), the studio presents the branch-giant Interplay a demo to the new roleplay project called Battleground: Infinity.
The publishers is interested, but recommends integrating the Dungeons & Dragons Licence into the game. At the year os 1998, Interplay publishes the RPG. At this time, it doesn't have its original name anymore, but instead the name with which it will burn into the history of computer games and the hearts of all roleplay fans worldwide: Baldurs Gate. Now, Overhaul Games (MDK 2 HD) started to do a makeover of the classic whose fascination until today seems still unbroken. The developers made over 400 small and bigger improvements, not only the graphics, but also the story of the game.
(PICTURE)
picture text: The red wizards of Thay want to seizure our companion Neera, to analyze her magic. We are opposing.
Story and Heroes of the past
Long story short: Our hero was raised as an orphan by his mentor Gorion in the monastery of candlekeep. Some day the old man wants us to leave our own four walls as fast as possible, to make a rushed travel over to Baldur's Gate, the most important city on the sword coast, as he is worried about our own's safety.
During the nighttime travel, we get ambushed. Gorion tries to buy time for us to escape, but dies in the battle against the deathknight Sarad. Shortly after, we realize that the ambush wasn't directed at our mentor, but ourselves. During the adventure we discover a conspiracy that entangles us and up to five companions deeper and deeper into the politic events on the sword coast.
The companions show one of Biowares biggest strengths: dialogues. More than everything else they give life to the characters and let them appear unique. The ranger and fan-favorite Minsc, for example, which may first look like a fantasy stereotype of muscle-loaded twohander-wielding warrior if it wasn't for his companion Boo, who assists Minsc with all kinds of advices. Boo, however, is a hamster... which rests comfortable in the inventory and makes a squee-noise when trying to move it. Sounds weird, but blends with the game world perfectly and creates memorable moments for sure.
(Picture)
The fast battlemonk Rasaad was the first to reach the enemy and could intercept it before reaching our mage.
New Hero, old ruleset
Before we can start, we first need to create a character. We get to select one of seven races like human, elf, gnome or half-orc. We can also chose from eleven classes and have the opportunity to create multiclasses. If you get bored of your typical mage, you are able to play a battlecleric, for example.
Depending on the class of choice the pool of abilities differs. Warriors are allowed to learn weapon profiencies, whereas thieves can invest additional points in like pickpocketing and lockpicking.
(Picture)
Instead of dusty render graphics we now get animated paintings as cinematics
Of course we will meet a lot of enemies on our travels and even if Baldurs Gate kinda looks like Diablo, the battles are a lot more tactical. Similar to it's spiritual successor Dragon Age: Origins we can pause the battle, to order our combatants to use abilities, prepare magic spells and get into the right position.
For example, when getting ambushed, its always a smart move to pause the game, put back those wounded from the frontline and replace them by their comerades. In the backline, our clerics wait for the wounded to heal, whereas our mages support the frontline with fireballs. Planning ahead has higher chance of success.
18 hours of aftergame (note: it's a pun on soccer rules).
The original was already a giant, but now overhaul games even puts another shovel on the top. The new characters and areas will increase the playtime by roughly 18 hours.
In addition to the new cinematics, we also get a makeover of the old. Instead the aged CGI-movies we now get handpainted, animated scenes to artistically support the story.
New content block:
At the optional new adventure 'The Black Pits', we can battle 15 arena fights with around 6 hours of new gameplay.
Rasaad, the calishite monk is a new playable character. With him, we can check out the new area Cloud Peaks. 4 hours of gameplay.
Neera is the second newcomer. The half-elf will make us visit a new hideout northeast of Durlags Tower. 4 hours of gameplay.
The half-orc Dorn is the last of the new characters. Betrayed by his former comerades, he is lusting for revenge and rejoices to join us. 4 hours of content.
One big improvement was done to the multiplayer mode. Not only we get a matchmaking feature now, but also cross-platform play. We can not only play with PC-owners, but with iPad, Mac and android users. Awesome idea!
Graphics of yesterday
Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition now also allows higher resolutions and widescreen options, such as smooth zooming. But to take this one ahead: You will notice the game's age at every corner and every detail. Fans of the classic should feel a nostalgic tingling, but we would have still wished for a new engine.
We liked that the title ships with the complete addon legends of the swordcoast instead of adding it - as one would assume nowadays - via pay-to-play DLC.
However: in the beta we played we had serious bugs here and there. For example, the game always crashed when we tried to start the tutorial. One quest couldn't be turned in despite being completed.
We are optimistic that overhaul games will fix the issues until the release in fall this year. The next makeover is already decided: 2013, the developers will create an enhanced edition of Baldurs Gate 2 including the Throne of Bhaal addon.
Sumary and personal thoughts of the writer Florian Heider:
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced edition will get its buyers, thats for sure. Not without reason: even 2012 the gameplay is far from aged and the bioware-typical arguments and word-battles between our companions will still cause smiling faces of the fans. Nostalgics will buy it anyway, even if they might be the only ones who will look over the aged optics."
a.) It was a review, not a preview. Due to printing time and other aspects it is not uncommon that reviewers get a not completely finished game. The review was written (and went into printing) before the launch was pushed back. this even gets mentioned in the editorial, in which they express some disappointment that they did not get informed earlier by overhaul about the delay and announce a new test for the new build.
[quote]
Wenige Stunden, nachdem unser Test der »fertigen« Version von Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition in Druck gegangen war (der hintere Heftteil wird immer vor dem vorderen gedruckt), enthüllen die Entwickler, dass sie den aufpolierten Klassiker auf November verschieben, weil er ihren Qualitätsansprüchen nicht genüge. Das können wir gut nachvollziehen, schließlich kritisieren wir im Test unter anderem die Bugs und die lieblosen neuen Gebiete. Eine Vorwarnung wäre trotzdem nett gewesen. Sei’s drum, im November werden wir uns Baldur's Gate dann eben noch mal vorknöpfen – und wehe, es hat sich nichts getan[quote]
Translation: A few hours after out test of the "final" version of BG:EE went to press (the pages for the second part of the magazine get printed first) the developers disclose that they pushed the polished classic´s release back, because it does not measure up to the quality level they wanted to deliver. We can understand that after all we criticise in our test amongst other things the bugs and the stale new areas. A little warning would have been nice regardless. Anyhow in November will test the game again and hope for improvements.
b.) The review was very positive and the only real issues (apart from the not game breaking bugs, like occasional side missions you could not finish) the only other bad things mentioned about the game were that old characters did not receive new content making the new much more fleshed out companions stand out and that even though the backgrounds are still pretty the animations are dated by today's standard. And that the black pits lack story and are basically just one fight after the other.
c.) The video on the DVD that came with the magazine is also very positive and looks pretty good.
Why they are reviewing a Beta is anyone's guess.
I may have missed where you wrote that they didn't know that, but your initial post that started this thread clearly stated that the magazine reviewed a Beta build of the game. Which is what my comment reflected. I can't read German.
which is exactly what they did. why are we moving in circles here?
and my original question still wasn't answered. the original (vanilla) BG had very few if any gamebreaking bugs. bgee allegedly has (had?) plenty. so where did they come from? and are they ironed out yet, beta testers?
They even show an example for a bug which is just the characters suddenly taking in baby voices. And frankly Minsk suddenly saying "Who´s a fuzzy Boo" in the voice of a four year old boy in the middle of a battle is kind of hilarious.