Evidently, Xbox just made a big announcement. The wild procedural-shooter Terminull Brigade that was until now a PC exclusive has finally reached the console world. The Xbox tweet that proclaimed it was the typical kind of excitement that would come to be expected: “It’s time to dive into the Nullverse⚡”. An amazing trailer, the game link already available for playing—it’s just like the usual vibe on a release day. However, if you just check a little below the comment section, you will find a totally contrasting scenario. It’s like two completely different worlds colliding. On one side, the gamers are eager to engage in a console war, while the other side is simply grappling with a loading screen.
Let me sort this out, Terminull Brigade is the new Xbox console title. For those who are not familiar with this game, it first came to PC and through was known for its mad, procedurally-generated levels (they call it the Nullverse) and a rapid, brutal shooter style. The promise is that of a completely chaotic new experience being delivered straight to your living room. ‘vinodhkumar’ (VK_PrimeX) among others was really excited and said that he had been looking forward to it since its launch on PC, called the Nullverse ‘a mood’ and applauded the procedural generation as ‘actually chaotic.’ That’s exactly how it should be. A seamless port bringing that PC intensity to the large screen.
But this is the point where the problem starts getting into the Nullverse. Pretty soon after the announcement, the happy vibe got overshadowed by a huge number of reports about the game simply not working. The issues are with the servers, which were already down at launch. User ‘Qua24_7’ got right to the point: ‘Hi Xbox, servers are broken ms. That was the general feeling of all the complaints, as ‘noahakasaki’ put it openly, ‘doesnt even work on console lol.’ ‘Dlonei’ warned others, ‘This game can’t run to save its life, don’t install till the devs optimize it.’ So, the picture being created is a rather dark one about the launch—the cycle of bugs that goes on and on, preventing a game to go live.
The responses split the argument concerning the game into two factions, one that consists of users reporting critical issues. Player ‘Volumes_Up’ observed that the reviews had stated Xbox could not even play it and he was hoping for fixing to try it with his friends. ‘BrutusCV’ answered to somebody who said the game was working and vehemently argued that it was not, recounting being disconnected from the game since its inception and having to deal with ‘a ton of stutters’ just to get through the tutorial. That’s not a very impressive first impression.
The other half is composed of devotees or perhaps just the few fortunate ones. User ‘iShooks’ asked people to disregard the reviews, asserting that the game is working with infrequent stutters that are ‘nothing unbearable,’ accusing detractors of being review bombers who never intended to play. ‘NopeNope’ even jumped in saying, ‘It plays. I had a blast with this 2-star game.’ Which is a bold statement—having a blast with a two-star game? That’s some serious commitment or perhaps a high tolerance for jank.
Apart from the server issue, other problems surfaced as well. The traffic on the comments section was exactly like it is usually on these major Xbox tweets—some people were complaining about remote play not functioning or other roundabout Xbox problems. The key issues were people asking about crossplay (‘_Vampragon43_’), speculating about the control scheme of the consoles (a good point made by VK_PrimeX), and even questioning the role of AI either in the game or in Xbox support. It is the usual chaotic mess of a social media comment section.
So, what is the current situation like? Is Terminull Brigade on console a hidden gem suffering from launch-day blues or a fiasco that needs to be returned to the workshop? The actual reality is most probably in the middle. The launches of online games are always very difficult and full of bugs. Servers are overloaded, a bug that passed through QA appears when one million people hit ‘play’ at once, and so on. It will happen. It will be the speed of the developers’ and Xbox’s response that will determine the real test. The users who are reporting constant disconnects and stutters are not joking—that’s a real experience for a section of the audience.
For the ones that are still undecided, the advice that is going around in the replies might be the most intelligent one. ‘ElusiveVerge’ suggested, ‘Worth checking the Steam page before installing 😅’ – alluding to looking at the history and reviews of the PC version.
