Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Divided Over Disappointing New Release
Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC are divided over a fairly major new release for the subscription service. Ahead of Redfall, Xbox Game Pass has been bolstered with a few notable releases this month, primarily Minecraft Legends and Ghostwire: Tokyo. This month there was also palpable aniticipation for the release of The Last Case of Benedict Fox, which Xbox put some of its marketing might behind and which impressed Xbox fans when it was revealed last year. It wasn't the biggest release, but it was a day one game for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, many of which had April 27, its release date, circled on their calendars.
April 27 came and went, and there are still no reviews live for The Last Case of Benedict Fox on Metacritic, confirming developer Plot Twist and publisher Rogue Games did not send out review codes for the title, which is almost always a bad sign. To this end, perhaps it should come as no surprise the game has some performance issues, while others have taken aim at the way the game controls and plays. That said, user reception hasn't been all negative. Some Xbox Game Pass subscribers are enjoying the title.
Over on the Xbox Game Pass Reddit page, a post about the game opened has opened a disccusion about it. The post notes how there's been almost no coverage on the game's release, which they find surprising because they are loving the new Metroidvania.
"On Open Critic there's only one review, and only a few on YouTube," reads athe post. "I'm really surprised there hasn't been a ton of press over this game. I'm about mid-way through ( I think) and I love it. The set pieces are beautiful and I really like the mystery aspect for a metroidvania game."
In the replies, some Xbox Game Pass subscribers have echoed this sentiment, but many have offerred a contrasting opinion, calling the game a "disappointment."
"I'm pretty disappointed with it," The setting is cool and the game looks great. The controls are unfortunately very clunky and don't feel good to control and there are zero options to change them. The voice acting isn't very good. Everything feels insanely slow, from the combat, to the dialogue, especially the dude possessing you. Weird grammar choices and mistakes. The menu and UI aren't great. Playing on Series S and I'm still getting major frame drops going between areas, on performance or quality mode. It feels like an early access game. I'll give it some more time but as of right now I'm not enjoying it at all and I'm disappointed because it looked really good. It is nice to have a more story-focused metroidvania, though."
As always, feel free to weigh in with your own opinion on the game. Do you agree with the original post? Are you enjoying The Last Case of Benedict Fox or do you agree with others who are disappointed by it?