Party Animals is a certified attention-grabber. The adorable characters and chaotic co-op style are a massive hit, which allows it to skyrocket in popularity. It surpassed 100K concurrent players on Steam shortly after its release.
With its surge in player numbers and fan anticipation, one expects to see an overwhelmingly positive response. But, the reality seems to be quite different.
A visit to the game’s Steam page reveals a Mixed review status, with negative reviews (4,319) almost equal to its positive reviews (3,604). This begs the question: Why is Party Animals being review bombed on Steam?
Party Animals’ launch has seen its fair share of issues. The primary issues revolve around rampant server problems and its monetization strategies. Perhaps the worst part is the lack of an offline mode. Connectivity issues aren’t uncommon. It’s not unusual for players to wait 10 minutes up to over an hour to play the game. Naturally, it’s an issue leaving fans to feel frustrated, with the problem showing up as early as the game’s tutorial.
While the sudden influx of players could have resulted in the sudden influx of players, the next point of contention – monetization – is a more deliberate choice. The seemingly last-minute add-ons hasn’t sat well with many. It’s one thing to pay an initial price for the game, but it’s different when an in-game skin costs $30 for what feels like an upscale indie title.
Given the initial cost of the game, it’s easy to see why many feel that the in-game shop pricing is difficult if impossible to justify.
But perhaps the most significant issue fueling the review bombing is the lack of an offline mode. This particular point of contention has a bit of history. Before the game’s release, it was promoted with the phrase, “Paw it out with your friends both online and offline.” This clearly indicated that players could enjoy the game without an internet connection, or at least that’s what most people thought. However, after the game’s release, players realized that this wasn’t the case.
Following the backlash, the developers clarified that by “offline”, they meant local multiplayer, but that Party Animals is still an always-online game. This not only led to confusion but also deep disappointment, especially for those who had been looking forward to an offline experience.
It’s now believed that this fiasco is all due to a mistranslation error. The game’s developers, Recreate Games, are based in Chinese. It’s believed the nuance between “local co-op” and “offline” might have been lost in translation.
Basically, in their native language, the word equivalent to “online” and “offline” refers to where the players are – offline basically means face to face, not off the internet.
Still, when possibly millions of dollars are on the line, you’d think the developers would have hired a proper translator to communicate their project better and prevent disastrous mistakes. It would’ve been easy to see a scenario where it didn’t baid players into buying a game they felt like they could’ve played offline with their friends and family.
Despite the controversy, it should be noted that Party Animals isn’t without merit. It’s polished, fun, and brings a new flavor to the physics-based multiplayer game genre. Many consider Party Animals one of the best of its kind. However, the game’s future remains uncertain. If the developers address the raised concerns and provide consistent updates and communication, they could potentially turn the tide.
It remains to be seen if Valve will step in to offer refunds or if the developers will initiate the procedure themselves.
Speaking of Party Animals, the game spent quite some time being one of the most wishlisted games on Steam. With its launch, Hades 2 has vaulted to the top of the rankings, surpassing the perennially delayed Metroidvania, Hollow Knight: Silksong.
