Launch Review: Babylon’s Fall is a dull and cynical service game
In the future, Babylon’s Fall will almost certainly be frequently used as an example of how not to launch a live service game.
Not only does it fail at the most basic elements, such as a visual style that’s incredibly unappealing, or a mission structure that is somehow both dreadfully short and tedious, but the game also tries desperately to establish itself as a live game, filling your screen with as many opportunities to micro-transact as it can, despite the fact it actually costs $60 to purchase.
Co-developed by PlatinumGames and Square Enix, Babylon’s Fall is a third-person action RPG that has players grouping up with up to three others as they hack-and-slash their way through hordes of enemies in pursuit of powerful loot. So far, so cliche as far as live service games go.
Upon entering the game you’re greeted with one of the most striking art styles we’ve encountered in many years – and sadly, it’s striking for all the wrong reasons. Babylon’s Fall’s low detail look is supposed to evoke a moving oil painting, but in practice, it’s not been implemented well at all and doesn’t suit the fast-paced, zoomed out action which becomes frustratingly difficult to track.
The game’s sludgy, low-quality characters look like you’ve zoomed in on the crowd of a PS2 racing game. While the world itself isn’t quite so ugly, the whole game has this strange filter that never conveys any tone other than a general blurriness that permeates your time with it. Characters often shimmer endlessly in certain cutscenes, one of many visual bugs we encountered.
Voiced cutscenes also come across as grating. It’s difficult to focus on the nuance of the world-building and lore that’s being set up when every character sounds like they’re auditioning for
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