Valve’s Gabe Newell is most likely doing one of two things at the moment.  He’s either swimming in a huge pile of money received from piling $80+ of Day 1 DLC onto the widely anticipated release of Portal 2, or yelling at his computer monitor as he reads the hundreds of negative reviews currently being posted on Metacritic about it.   PC players have flooded the user reviews of Metacritic with anger and confusion, delivering what is essentially a digital bitchslap that drove down the average review score for the game currently to a stellar 5.8!  For comparison at the moment, Homefront which is a game considered to be a failure at launch and drove stocks in THQ crashing to a low, sits a few tenths of a point above Portal 2!  So get out your pitchforks and read on to see what all the fuss is about!

I personally have a gripe with downloadable content that is released on the very same day the game comes out to market.  To me it represents greedy publishers and the idea that the consumer should pay even more for content which many times is held back from the retail copy.  Apparently I’m not the only one who feels this way and can only hope that this backlash shows that many of us are getting sick of it. 

Let’s take a look of some of the comments, shall we?

I paid $45 for a full game, but what I got was a stripped-down game and the “opportunity” to buy the $80 worth of DLC they have available on release day.  The DLC problem today is getting way out of hand, and Valve has stepped far, far beyond anything Activision or EA have done so far.  

~Jinxarm

 

…oh wait, did I mention that there’s a cash shop?  That’s right folks! You spent $60 on this game, now be prepared to spend another $60 to get all the cute little emoticons and extra animations!  Isn’t it great!?  

~Sixten

 

It’s shorter than some internet flash games i’ve played, is loaded with day 1 DLC, and has a terrible port from consoles.  The price is 900% what it should be for what essentially amounts to less effort than most oblivion mods.   

~Valanceer

 

$60 for a 3-4 hour game with $80 day-one-DLC.  No.  Just no.  I have never felt more betrayal or regret from a single purchase in my entire life.  

~LeatherGracket

 

OUCH!    

Have you played Portal 2 yet?  Is your blood boiling over the incredibly bloated DLC attached to the game?  Leave a comment for us or head over to our forums to talk about it!

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I've seen this before, but have yet to see anyone say EXACTLY what the DLC is. Is it JUST emotes for the co-op bots, or are there like actually challenge rooms and stuff???

I just took a look and I don't really see the problem, though I hate the idea of it. They essentially did the exact same thing as Team Fortress 2 and released a bunch of hats, skins, gestures, flags, etc. that you can buy. No in game content aside from aesthetics, so it's not like they left anything out. None of it is essential to your experience at all, and there's really no reason to buy "all" of it aside from an item or two that you would like to wear.

To lower your review score of a game for this is kind of dumb in my opinion.

The game hasn't been out long enough to know for sure, but you might even be able to get some of the items as random drops without buying them in the same way you can get them in Team Fortress 2. You either get really lucky and find the thing you want, or spend an unreasonable amount buying it.

Team Fortress 2 should have more backlash out of it, because they started it.

Heck, I'm pretty sure even The Sims does the same thing with smaller item packs you can buy aside from the expansions.

Also, as for the length, Portal 1 could be beaten in two hours if you knew the puzzles and where to go, but the first playthrough can be anywhere from 5 to 8 hours as you try to figure things and explore a bit, like finding the hidden rooms with the crazy writing in them.

4chan. 'Nuff said.

Yeah. I really don't have a problem with DLC that's just random stuff. I don't like DLC that takes away or is needed for a complete story. And come on, it's freaking Valve. I think they can have a little day 1 dlc for all the free shit they've given us.

And come on, it's freaking Valve.I think they can have a little day 1 dlc for all the free **** they've given us.

And don't forget all the insanely discounted games.

I just find the deflation of scores humorous honestly. People are geting a little sick of DLC, regardless of what it is, especially PC players IMO. The days of free support are pretty much gone, and that was one big thing that PC players have been holding on to for a loooooong time. I still respect Valve, I just wanted to write up the article to show how much people were b*tching. LoL

Developers should be working their ***** off to give the consumer the most of their product as possible for release, not how to charge them for all the bells and whistles. Will I have to pay to be on the Red or Blue team in Halo soon? This is getting ridiculous especially for someone who is sorta fading out of gaming and can barely justify a $60 game purchase let alone DLC.

It's a great game and the DLC has no negative effect on it. Don't like it, don't buy it. Simple as that.

The problem that I have with DLC is when the game is out and the developers have made no attempt to fix major flaws with the game.....looking at you Lionhead with Fable 3. I just don't understand the point of putting out DLC when developers have yet to address the issues with the game in the first place.

If it's just aesthetic stuff, then whatever... If it had been like an extra game mode or extra puzzles or something, that would have been messed up. The only thing I think valve did wrong was the potatoe debacle, and from what I heard they were working on placating everyone.

I don't really get the negativity at all. It's not missing content of any kind of significance like levels or story related content. It's entirely up to you whether or not you buy a $5 hat that you won't even be able to see since you're in first person mode most of the time. It's basically just to show off. The most you might see is a paint scheme on your robot's arms at the bottom corners of the screen lol, or if you are really vain and place two portals next to each other to make a mirror.

I'm about 5 hours into the game, at the beginning of chapter 7 out of 10, and it's fantastic. I haven't even touched the co-op mode yet, so the length is pretty good too.

I just think people want to complain honestly. I myself wasn't "personally" complaining about the game. I haven't played it yet and I'll most likely pick it up soon. I just wrote up the article because #1) Lots of "people" were complaining about the amount of day 1 DLC causing metacritic user review scores to dive and #2) I myself dislike Day 1 DLC in general.

So yah. That's my two cents.

It's a great game and the DLC has no negative effect on it. Don't like it, don't buy it. Simple as that.

This. I have no problem with it since it has NO effect on the game.

Developers give people what they want, people want DLC! If you don't have DLC after launch you are considered an abandoned game. So developers HAVE to make something to please the masses. The easiest thing to do is to just withhold content. I'd rather they withhold crap no one cares about (skins, costumes, whatever) and not full blown levels and whatnot.

Loving Portal so far, could care less about the DLC. I hope they provide levels in the future though.

Loving Portal so far, could care less about the DLC. I hope they provide levels in the future though.

This. That would be awesome!

Day 1 DLC is bullshit, it means the content was made in tandem with the box product and cut because they were set to make a bigger profit. If it were content released a month or two down the line, I might buy it. This and every other case like this of release day DLC is a calculated decision made by the publisher/developer to squeeze a few more bucks out of their customers. Regardless of how much cheap of free content Value gives out, making people pay double the price for all the bells and whistles on release day is just wrong. It's not like a special edition DVD or Blu-ray we're talking about here, this is at the end of the day for all the launch content, a hundred+ dollar purchase.

Does this break or even hurt the games overall quality, no. But it does alienate some of their consumer base and for what, more money?

Day 1 DLC is bullshit, it means the content was made in tandem with the box product and cut because they were set to make a bigger profit. If it were content released a month or two down the line, I might buy it. This and every other case like this of release day DLC is a calculated decision made by the publisher/developer to squeeze a few more bucks out of their customers. Regardless of how much cheap of free content Value gives out, making people pay double the price for all the bells and whistles on release day is just wrong. It's not like a special edition DVD or Blu-ray we're talking about here, this is at the end of the day for all the launch content, a hundred+ dollar purchase.

Does this break or even hurt the games overall quality, no. But it does alienate some of their consumer base and for what, more money?

That's kind of exactly how I feel. Sure, the content being withheld only adds aesthetics to the game but the fact remains it is/was still withheld from the release product only to make a buck. It's nice to see that someone else agrees with me a little.

On a side note, I'm buying Portal 2 this weekend! It's going to be on sale at Kmart for $35 on Sunday!

So companies aren't allowed to do what they went in to business to accomplish? Extras have always cost more in other products, sure it sucks, but why would a video game be any different? The main difference is, companies have an avenue to up-sell us now. This DLC in particular was obviously developed in tandem with the game, with the sole purpose of being "extras" to be sold along side the game. The logic being used to bitch about this DLC seems totally wrong to me.

So companies aren't allowed to do what they went in to business to accomplish? Extras have always cost more in other products, sure it sucks, but why would a video game be any different? The main difference is, companies have an avenue to up-sell us now. This DLC in particular was obviously developed in tandem with the game, with the sole purpose of being "extras" to be sold along side the game. The logic being used to ***** about this DLC seems totally wrong to me.

This isn't typical DLC though, this is the same price as the product itself. I don't think anybody has a problem with Valve turning a profit, but extra content at a reasonable price isn't to much to ask and is only fair. I just can't justify a 60 dollar game purchase and then an 80 dollar mod tool for the same product. I like and support Valve in most every case, but overpriced launch day DLC is just too bitter a pill to swallow, even for the hardest core Valve fans.

It's hats and junk, Sega. For your co-op player. If it were extra levels (which PS3 and PC will get for free I'm guessing), then I could see getting upset.

The best analogy I can use here is buying a car. You want to buy it and it comes with what you need standard. The dealer will then try to up-sell you a better radio, clear coat, body kit, etc at a very premium price. The car will work just fine without it and you have the option to not buy any of the extras. This DLC, as with most day one DLC, is absolutely no different. DLC has become the car options of video games in most cases. The game will work just fine without it, but companies want to sell you more stuff at a premium to make more money. Business is business and the point is to make money.

So companies aren't allowed to do what they went in to business to accomplish? Extras have always cost more in other products, sure it sucks, but why would a video game be any different? The main difference is, companies have an avenue to up-sell us now. This DLC in particular was obviously developed in tandem with the game, with the sole purpose of being "extras" to be sold along side the game. The logic being used to ***** about this DLC seems totally wrong to me.

Well don't get angry about it. It's just opinion man, and I respect where you're coming from too. I never said a company isn't allowed to do what they want. I just said I dislike it, and I'm definitely not the only one.

lol I still don't get the arguments here.

The DLC adds practically NOTHING to your game. You're not missing ANYTHING and it's still a great game. All you really get out of having any of the DLC, and mind you there's not really much point to buying more than one item from each category, is other people seeing you wear it or use the emote. Co-op was great when Dat and I played it with our "boring unaccessoriezed robots".

So it's not like it's an incomplete game at all because of the "extra content". I'd rather there not even be the item store since it's pretty useless in my opinion. Team Fortress 2's I understand because it's an actual multiplayer game with more than 1 other person with you to see you're "cool stuff", and those items add stats, but this? Doesn't really add much of anything.

Now if this was cut content like an epilogue (like Dead Rising 2 >( ) or extra co-op levels, I'd totally hop on the bandwagon and b***h at Valve for it.

But no one is arguing and there are no arguements. Not everything has to be "black" or "white". There is no "right" or "wrong" in this case. You feel nothing detracts from it, then fine. I respect that. I just ask that you respect my feelings (and Sega's) about it as well.