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Deadliest Warrior Dev Talks About License Stigma, More In Postmortem
The downloadable game Deadliest Warrior got savaged in the press for its fighting system and relatively crude presentation. According to developers at Pipeworks Software, some reviewers just had a difficult time getting past the game's ties to the television show.
"The premise of the IP makes perfect sense for a game, yet there were countless gamers and reviewers that immediately blew this game off as garbage without picking up a controller to give it an honest go," said Jeremy Mahler, the game's producer in a postmortem on the game with Gamasutra.
"I heard it numerous times at E3: gamers would come up to the Deadliest Warrior booth, play the game and then tell me: "I have to admit, I was a skeptic, but this is actually really fun to play." We literally had people coming back to the booth to play the game again and again for three days straight.
"Regardless of the game's content and fun factor, the stigma of being based off of a TV show is still present.
"There are a ton of people who have picked up on the game's subtle complexities and depth by really playing the game and seeing what it has to offer, but on the flip side of that, there are just as many who either refuse to play it, who briefly skim through the game with their opinion already set in stone, or who try to pigeonhole Deadliest Warrior into the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat mold while becoming upset when they discover that there aren't any complex 20 button combos to master or warriors that fly through the air and shoot lasers from their eyes. Perhaps some of this stigma will fade over time."
The article is a fascinating read, whether or not you've played Deadliest Warrior. We did a Quick 15 on the game just after it launched, and it was pretty clear that the game wasn't a Street Fighter clone, nor was it attempting to be one. It wasn't flawless, but it was definitely worth at least checking out before dismissing it wholesale.
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