Interceptor and 3D Realms have detailed the first patch for Bombshell today, mainly focusing on quick fixes to the game's notoriously difficult boss battles, reigning back on some of the repetitious dialogue from Shelly while playing, and fixing some achievements that weren't unlocking correctly. The patch notes also include a message from Interceptor CEO Frederik Schreiber which considers the game's tepid reception and validates some of the criticisms of the community.
Some issues that will be fixed in the next patch (version 1.1) include unlocking the game's Hard difficulty from the get go and rebalancing Normal to be a bit more forgiving. They will also be tweaking boss fights even further to make them more approachable to some players. The message also details some of the regretful design decisions that can't just be patched. About the game's huge levels, Frederik had this to say.
We wanted to create huge environments, and massive worlds. What we ended up with instead were too few missions with too little variety, presented in a manner that ended up feeling too monotonous at times. It’s clear we have a fun little action game in here, but it’s bogged down by a lot of this unnecessary “filler.”
A future announcement will detail exactly what will be in the 1.1 patch, and Bombshell is still expected to hit consoles later this year.
Quick Take
I am pleasantly surprised to see 3D Realms step up to the plate and address their critics head on. There certainly were a lot of problems with Bombshell both from a technical and gameplay perspective, but it seems that the developers are willing to keep working on the game to try to make it shine. My review turned out to be one of the nicer ones out there, and I'm a sucker for the game's style, so I will be the first person to cheer if Bombshell can go from the dreary RPG experience it is now to the arcade action title it was always meant to be.
