Star Fox Zero review round-up

Star Fox Zero debuts on the Wii U eShop tomorrow and several reviews for the game from major publications have gone live. The reviews have been less than favorable for the game, with some outlets citing the game’s ability to be beaten quickly and lack of innovative mechanics as one problem. Here’s a quick overview of what game critics are saying about the game.

GameSpot – Score: 7

By the end of my first playthrough, I was eager to go back and retry old levels, in part because I wanted to put my newfound skills to the test, but also because Zero’s campaign features branching paths that lead to new locations. Identifying how to open these alternate paths requires keen awareness of your surroundings during certain levels, which becomes easier to manage after you come to grips with Zero’s controls.

IGN – Score: 7.5

Star Fox Zero’s fun stages and impressive boss fight give me lot of reasons to jump back in and play them over and over, and especially enjoyed them in co-op until I got a hang of juggling two screens myself. I’ve played 15 hours and I still haven’t found everything. Learning to use the unintuitive controls is a difficult barrier to entry, though it comes with a payoff if you can stick with it.

GameInformer – Score: 6.75

Star Fox Zero isn’t ever bad, but it’s generally uninspired. It’s a musty tribute that fails to add much to the series, aside from tweaked controls and incremental vehicle upgrades. I loved Star Fox when it came out, and I’ll even defend Star Fox Adventures (to a reasonable degree). For now, I’ll stick to Super Smash Bros. when I feel like reuniting with Fox.

Polygon – Score: NOT A REVIEW

In many ways, Star Fox Zero actually feels like a launch title for the Wii U console, full of half-fleshed out ideas that don’t quite stick. But the Wii U has been out for almost four years now, and I can’t help but wonder what happened.

This isn’t a review of Star Fox Zero. Save for very rare, extreme circumstances, Polygon reviews require that a game be completed, or at least a good faith effort be made to complete it.

I am not playing any more Star Fox Zero.

That’s quite a bit of divisive criticism for the game, with most who enjoyed it seemingly saying it wasn’t the experience they wanted out of a new Star Fox game.