@Wretchosoft: very true cant complain about free. but i look at it like this it wasnt free it cost me live time which = money.

crazyeyez15

It's available to Silver members too.

I really like it, and it sounds amazing in 5.1.

dynendal

The gameplay was all right but didn't feel as intuitive as Geometry Wars. A nice gesture, but you know what I'd really like MS? I'd like to have Live work. I still can't get on for more than 15 minutes without being kicked off Live (I had to re-login a couple times just to DL Undertow). In fairness, it used to be 5-10 minutes so it's improving, but just fix the damn servers... it's fucking annoying.

TheBrianIsAstonishing

The game sucks played demo wasn't impressed, just offer up a month or two of free xbox live to current gold members and we will be happy because live hasn't been acting right since the friday before Christmas.

P.S. and if it isn't a microsoft isssue Comcast needs to get there #@$! together if it's my service provider.

Signed Mad enough to do a Call of Duty 4 free for all in real life.

kdmc1

@CopyPaste:
No, no it wasn't. I did the same thing and that one had to be parted on ebay to help offset the cost of a new one (which RRoDed six months later). Opening a 360 can never have a happy ending in the long run.

ARboom

It's such a terrible, terrible game.

PirateThom

Downloaded this game, played for 10 minues, BAM RRoD!

Im not blaming that im blaming my roomate who played it 20 hours a day... Maybe cracking open the box a while ago wasnt such a good idea now.

CopyPaste

I downloaded and played for an hour and ended up with nothing good to say about it. Were the cut scenes even supposed to be comprehensible?

ZerozakiIshiki

@brent_w: I agree. My wife and I turned it on to play split-screen and our thoughts were, "Umm... wtf. We suffered countless CoD:4 downtime to play this for free? No thanks."

Blanku

I downloaded it, didn't find it very fun.

Its just a slow horizontal shooter with terrible aiming controls combined with the "territories" game mode.

I wish they would have offered something more entertaining.

brent_w

@DUFFKING:

The cost isn't the problem, its the fact that then and still I cannot play half my games without erasing my saves or erasing progress beacuse I can't access my downloaded content because of their stupid DRM scheme. They have unfairly given me the option of either deleting hours of work in games such as Oblivion or not playing more than half the games in my library.

Morberis

My 360 has been out for repairs for a few weeks now, everytime I call they say to call again in 5 days. So what do they do for me since I experienced said downtime but can't get the game due to their repairs... nothing, their system "isn't setup to handle that situation". I plan on calling again today with a tone of anger to see if I can't yet find some hope.

jamisonrd

This game sucks. It's like an underwater SmashTV.

telekinesis

Still can't stay connected long enough to download it... so yeah.

Morberis

@joelface: Or, perhaps xbox live goes down for 2 weeks, microsoft gives you a game very well recieved by critics that is more than double the value of amount of money lost through subscription payments.

DUFFKING

They must have set this deal up so it cost them a lot less than what 800 Microsoft Points for all users would have. I don't really think giving away 800 Microsoft points was ever a consideration.

notalkjustrock

haha, so, xbox live goes down for a REALLY long time, and as an apology, microsoft gives you a shitty game that no one would have bought anyways.

joelface

Looks to be Silver as well. At least, I was able to log on and grab it.

HikariOblivion

Great!
Thanks for the reminder...just let me tell you, i don't know if this matters but I live in Mexico and currently have a silver membership (since I've been playing with the ps3, which btw i cannot download add on content for rock band) and I was still able to d'l the game...so pretty much everyone can get it for free...

VeNoMmx

I never would have bought this game myself, but it still kind of sucks to miss out on it due to repairs (1 month and counting).

KirbyMorph

I don't suppose you get an extension if live still isn't working for you? -.-;

rdj

Well iv always been on the fence about this game. And after downloading it i probably would have waited until it went to the XBLA Greatest Hits thing.

It's fun, but not 800 points fun. Also a lot of brits on multiplayer. Young ones. And they complain a lot and use a lot of english swear words i dont understand so i dont get to offended.

ArmyofJuan

It's kind of fun, but I am glad they didn't make the downloadable game Metal Slug or Sonic, I downloaded those the day before they announced the freebie.

Infradead

I liked this game a lot and am glad they chose a good game for me that I would have passed by otherwise im very happy

NunianVonFuch

@crazyeyez15: Ha, I haven't even played the game yet. But when you get free stuff, I guess you can't complain.

Wretchosoft

i did not like this game at all i would have much preferd the 800 points to get something else im very dissapointed.

crazyeyez15

I already bought this game. I get nothing. :(

Coyotegrey

@Hedgeworth: i can imagine they don't have the ability to instantly credit 800 points to everyone at once

i mean, geez, at least they gave SOMETHING.. they could have just shrugged it off, whatever happened to the phrase that "it's the thought that counts"?

HikariOblivion

Yeah, this game is in no way worth the time we spent without XBL. They should have given everyone their choice of game, be it this or something else.

Not all of us like Arcade shooters. Not all of us would bother with this game and so techincally, not all of us got an apology...

Hedgeworth

downloaded it yesterday. beautiful game but it will take time for me to get used to the control scheme.

nabils6

almost missed this too. thanks kotaku, you're the best

johnnylineup

@ArmyofJuan: They probably called you a niggly tiggly shitty little tag nut. xD

That's some Conker humor there btw.

I kinda agree and disagree about Undertow. It's an amazing looking game for XBLA and the voice acting is top notch. It just feels really generic in terms of gameplay. It's like all the other arcade shooters out there.

Phazonmasher

@Muisee: And given that if Live is still useless by the time my live expires in May, I'm trading it in for a PS3... does that mean I have some greater right to reject the pittance they're giving me? I don't give two shits about an arcade game... MS needs to just fix the damn servers or they can get by without my business as a customer.

TheBrianIsAstonishing

downloaded it...how come everything free that is a digital download sucks?

NocturnOwl357

Thanks for the heads up, I almost missed this!

draconianspark

These people that whine about this sort of thing are not actually prepared to do anything about it, that is why you got a bad game. Back up your words with action, like not buying Live for the next year. If you are not ready to do that, accept whatever M$ gives you.

Muisee

@Seiryuu:

Not true. Once you download an item on Live you can redownload it at any time. If it was free when you got it you can still redownload it even if it isn't free any more.

I'll agree that it would've made more sense for MS to give everyone a free month of Live added on to their current subscription.

Giving away a free game is never going to be a good apology because even with Rez, most people are going to be like "WTF is this game!?"

The problem was with the service, so they should just reimburse people for that month. That's what Blizzard does when WoW servers are down.

skullivan

I thought this game was pretty good, kinda like Battlefield underwater. The actual gameplay is fun, but it was kinda dumb to shoehorn a storyline and cutscenes into it. Free game though, no complaints here.

I don't use Live Gold though - I guess if i was a paying customer i'd be a bit more annoyed at the downtime.

jtj

@DaveB: yeah, they should totally swallow down a truckload of potential profit to satisfy your ridiculous sense of entitlement.

Moonshadow101

If MS wanted to issue a genuine apology they should have given away REZ next week.

DaveB

The thing is that, if people wanted this game, they woulda bought it in the first place. They charge for access to online play and now even for getting demos in a timely manner, the least they could do is to offer decent service.

I played the game, not crazy about it, again, if i wanted to have this game I would have paid for it, giving all of us points to get whatever we want, or even a refund/service extension at our option would be a better option.

It wasn't Joust I guess, but the net effect is the same, they gave out nothing, in exchange for something.

I will also point that this is not as if they gave the game away, it was free for those few days, if you delete it, you cant get it again (without paying) based on the promosion this got (or lack thereof, actually) I would say most people didn't even get this game. Ridiculous to claim that this is somehow a valid reparation.

Gogo Gadget Class Action Lawsuit.

Seiryuu

I just beat the campaign. Real short, horrible story, and repetitive.

EskimoDave

I wasn't really that impressed with this game. The only thing remotely fun about it is multiplayer conquest.

kojirodensetsu

You can't complain about free... until you realize this is something of an elaborate ploy by Microsoft to keep people from pursuing class-action lawsuits. For all of us who pay for the privilege to connect to Xbox live, ANY amount of downtime is unacceptable.

frozach

@FigNewton: I dunno, it was a positive gesture. The game was supposed to have been quite good according to the reviewers. The problem on my end is that I often find my opinions at odds with those of reviewers, and this game is one such case. Didn't enjoy it at all and will never play it again. But I'm sure there are plenty of folks who are appreciative because they got a game that they enjoy. I wouldn't mind getting back the hour of time I spent trying to like Undertow, but you know... life is long. What's an hour anyway?

baked ham

Yeah, I played for about 30 minutes...then gave up and went back to Mass Effect.

Spoony Bard

It's a free game and i'm pretty sure Live's TOS covers downtimes with typical "We make no promises our service will be up all the time."

Stop bitching, god, they didn't have to do -anything-

Foxstar Sixtail

It's hard to complain about free... but this was supposed to be an apology gift of sorts. I found little to like in Undertow, and in the end don't feel like this was a terribly positive gesture.

FigNewton

@DUFFKING:

ah, fair enough.

joelface

Man, it sure didn't feel like it was worth my time...

Psudonym

Yeah. I agree with some of the folks here. I'd have much prefered 800 points, or even one of those 1 month free cards they give you when you get the red ring. It took me about an hour to download the game, learn how to play it, give it a fair chance, and finally conclude that it's a piece of shit. Heh. Okay, I dunno if it's really a piece of shit, that sounds like I'm trying to outline some categorical, objective fact. I'm not. Some people may really enjoy the game, but I disliked just about everything it offered. Did it remind anybody else of kind of an underwater Subspace type of game? I got that feeling from it. Only it was nowhere near as fun as Subspace.

baked ham

The game is fine, it's not THAT bad. For crying out loud people, Live goes down for almost a month and then MS gives you a free game and then everyone complains? This is indeed a sad, sad world we live in.

KenHikari255

@ZerozakiIshiki: The key is that you're changing factions throughout the game without the game really telling you so. The cutscenes eventually make sense but that should help a little bit.

Although, in my opinion, it doesn't make them any better.

First-Chair

I would have dl'ed it, but my 360 broke two weeks after I bought it.

DamonAlbarn

@rdj: @TheBrianIsAstonishing: @TheBrianIsAstonishing: Well, glad i'm not the only one who can't even get into Live, I was barely able to download the game. This still sucks pretty bad...

JerrD74

This reminded me. I already had the game but just called MS and after being repeatedly put on hold for about 30 minutes I eventually got my 800 points.

ebm62980

@muu: never heard of that, maybe it IS possible, and thank you for correcting me in that case

What can I say, hell, I'm a silver member, I rarely touch the 360 in the first place.. maybe there is some major malfunction that continues and whatnot, what I'm saying is that there's an excessive amount of hate for a free gesture

HikariOblivion

@HikariOblivion: what about the time when they gave out 600-800 MSPs to everyone that got hit with some GoW save-game bug?

Maybe it was just the Japanese version, I don't remember since at the time I was busy playing a few other games I bought a Japanese Xbox for. But when I checked my email one day they'd spammed everyone hit with whatever bug (which didnt even affect me) with a coupon code for the points.

muu

Marble Blast Ultra is more fun than Undertow...

I like the premise of Undertow: Combine geometry wars with an RTS. Ultimately, Undertow fails in execution.

hopanoe

I hated Undertow. I'd rather have received nothing. I had to waste time waiting for it to download and waste time playing it...not to mention waste hard drive space for having it.

TheBrain

@HikariOblivion: When the thought is "how can we compensate our customers in the cheapest way?" then its an insult. Its like buying a wife plastic roses from a service station for a wedding anniversary. It shows no thought and she'll just end up putting them in the bin because they're not worth keeping. And she'll think less of you just like i think less of MS for this "gesture".

kuntaku

@madman83:

That is the real kicker. Supposed compensation for paying customers.

EnigmaNemesis

Actually it was free for both Gold and Silver members.

madman83

Barely had any problems other than some connection issues around NYE, and I downloaded Undertow and loved it.

Go down again anytime Live as long as I get stuff like this in return.

whiptcracker

Mine Field? Try the goddamn battlezone!
I had to call customer support on wednesday to sort out my refund deal, and I got a call today in the morning.
Oh but that's not all, they had the nerve to give me a refund in the worst possible way.

4 FRACKING codes worth 200 points each. It is not fun hearing "P for peter, V for victory, 4, Q for Queen, R for retard..." OVER AND OVER. Seriously, just give them to my account, don't tell me to input these long ass codes manually. >:(

scotty

@Coyotegrey: If you bought it, call MS and get a refund. It states that right up there in the article you're commenting on.

dowingba

Undertow isn't quite as good as Mass Effect, so I'll pass.

dowingba

Remember, MSFT is about "choices"!

NO SOUP FOR YOU!

EnigmaNemesis

This game infuriates me. In single-player it always feels like your teammates are absolute morons whereas the enemy has copious amounts of intelligent players.

Roadkill

Personally, I think the game's pretty fun. Not great, sure, and maybe not something I'd pay 10 bucks for, but as a free game it's perfectly adequate. When you get teammates that actually want to work together, it's very exciting (especially if your opponents are the same way).

Spiffyness

To recap, my console is in MS's repair shop, thus I couldn't grab the game this week. After many calls, I was finally able to get some results as to how I would be 'compensated' since I can't get the game without my box. I have to call back! I've been given a code to take me directly to a level 3 rep that will "make sure that I get my compensation". Who knows what that will be, I'll assume either the game or points, but what a hassle. That took me 1 hour and 25 minutes this call alone. Good luck to all the others who's box is in the shop, it seems that they were not prepared to handle this situation if you're 360 is broken.

jamisonrd

I was not impressed. The game is infuriating at points. The level where you are sabotaging pirate bases? Your allies disappear as soon as the door opens. I can't kill them with ANY vehicle by myself! Depth charges have too short of a range! I can't even SEE my enemy as the blow me to pieces. RAAAAAAAAAARGH! If I could break the disc in half, I would.

Ghede

@EnigmaNemesis: Agh, I hadn't thought of that. That really pisses me off now. I guess they were too lazy to use a method of delivering the game that would distinguish between Silver and Gold members.

Oh, and get this. I placed a repair order for my 360 about a month ago (DVD drive frequently refuses to spin up discs), but they somehow "forgot" my order and never sent me the box. So I called again a few days ago to see what the hell was up, and after they reissued my repair order I asked to talk to the supervisor about compensation for their month of incompetence. The regular guy didn't put me through to his supervisor at first and asked if I thought an XBLA game would be sufficient compensation. I paused for a second and asked, "Is this a specific game you're talking about?" He replied that it was in fact Undertow, and that he could set it up so I could get Undertow for free. Man, I almost lost it. Thankfully I managed to keep my composure and was very civil to the supervisor once I got switched over, and he agreed I should be compensated for the trouble. Damn, though. Just damn.

Toasticus

I found the game immensly fun myself. Its like a classic shooter with a twist, maybe not ikaruga quality, but pretty close. The controls took a bit to get used to, but once you figure them out the game is pretty deep and entertaining. I dont understand how one cant see his character on the screen, Im playin on a 20v aquos HDTV and I have never had any issues with seeing the characters. Someone needs glasses I think.

RuneX

If a game isn't worth playing, what's the point of it being free?

I appreciate the gesture, but the game is just taking up space on my hard drive.

Maybe it's better with a team that cooperates, as suggested above. Good luck finding that on Live (unless you happened to be a member of some altruistic fraternity of friends). Anyone I get online with wants to go it alone, teammates be damned.

Besides that, I can barely see my player on the screen amidst all of the Unreal Engine-generated bubbles and effects.

How the hell did this game get past quality control? Who played this game for more than 10 minutes and thought it was fun?

I'd love to see Chair to a Kotaku-style "Defend your gameplay" video. That I'd pay 800 MS points for.

SeeOne

@Lawya:

Wow, talk about a double whammy!

EnigmaNemesis

I had already bought this game but I can't face dealing with the Microsoft support helpline. I'll settle for the consolation that at least there's a lot more people playing multiplayer recently.

floppylobster

I RROD'd at 92% downloaded. It is possible that I could feel more screwed right now, but it would involve sodomy in a literal sense.

Lawya

@HikariOblivion:

It is a principals thing my man. When a lot just wanted and extra month tacked onto their paid service.

EnigmaNemesis

@EnigmaNemesis: is there any real reason to complain about it applying to everyone?

HikariOblivion

I didn't like it. :(

Solidius

@HikariOblivion:

Yeah funny ... anyways!

EnigmaNemesis

@EnigmaNemesis: they already screw over Silver members enough <_<

HikariOblivion

This seems like a good time to review this article [kotaku.com] which contains hints on this game from the developers.

Since you have it, you may as well take a crack at enjoying it.

Or not.

Ess

man this game sucks, I wish I could've gotten Metal Slug instead.

Ruzzel26

Eh, it's an alright game. Glad I got it for free, because I wouldn't pay for it.

Gripman

I would download it if my XBOX 360 hadn't died on me the day I got my new HD TV and had to be sent out for service.

GenericFoster

Capturing bases has to be the stupidest part to this game.

Once you capture one base, one of yours waaaay on the other side of the map has been taken. I never really notice a decrease in their men.

Ryumeka

played the game for 90 minutes and i am so not happy about this "gift" for all the trouble we had in the past weeks!

maiky-nisute

to be honest, i just downloaded this game, and I'm really unimpressed. Its kind of like an old school shooter, but with capture the flag? I dunno...I found it pretty annoying. I played it for a little bit, got annoyed and then played Everyday Shooter instead. Such a better game...

Hyperlite

This game isn't even worth downloading for free.

Elixir

Having tried the game out (and attempted coop) i have to admit i'm shocked this game got such high reviews.

The HUD is completely incapable of delivering the necessary information - your health bar's in the bottom left of the screen, completely out of the way from your guy, and multiplayer? Where's the name badges to show who's who, and who's talking? Where's my admin menu to show who the hell actually joined my game and so i can kick any feckers?

The game's incomplete, and - although pleasant - certainly lacking in several areas.

edhe

man I did not like this game at all, given it was free but I feel for anyone who paid for it.

Gadgetron

My 360 is dead ;( err can't download :! damn you Microsoft :!

My 360 died in October and i have been lazy to send it in . I have missed my chance of alot of free xbox live arcade game ;(

tuteja1986

No thanks. I would had prefferred the cross word game.

Tuxy79

It seems as though Microsoft's 'apology' has red ringed my 360 after freezing it twice. *facepalm*

russtophiles

i donut know why all you people are btching, that game is actually pretty decent and quite original, and definitely shows potential for how great xbla could be. obviously the game has its flaws, but what do you expect.giving everyone 800 points instead would have probably been a smarter idea, but this game is nothing to laugh at. i can almost guarantee there'll be some type of sequel or update that irons out all the wrinkles, and then all you haters will see...damn you haters

dontasemebro

i, ladies and gents, have missed out on this oppurtunity. i am a fool! DOH!

kw4k

I was very disappointed in this game. I was completely board within the gameplay dynamics within the first 10 minutes...it was a chore to give it a whole hour of playtime.

yashichi8bit

WTF I wasn't home for the past week.

So I lose out one a week and a half of live and don't get the download?

Why such a limited time frame?

BostonK

BOSTONK

jf04gli

I didn't get Undertow. My Comcast internet was extremely sporadic since friday and I never got a solid chance to get it downloaded. What do I get from Live customer service? The middle finger. Microsoft truly could give 2 craps about their consumers. I'm going to sell the remaining shares I have in Microsoft because I can see where things are headed with them. I bought an Xbox and 63 games to go with it. I've been on live since the original Beta test and paid since it went "live". More than 5 years. I've had 4 Xbox 360's crap out on my (thank God for Costco), including 2 DOA, one dead after 3 months, and my current one that has to "warm up" for ten minutes before I can play it. I own 30 Xbox 360 games. I also have 2 computers running Vista and 2 running XP. I'm also stupid enough to pay for a Hotmail Plus account. What do I get for my loyalty all these years? A big F-you from Microsoft. I was basically told 3 times that I was...or could be lying. If I gave enough of a $hit I guess I could get my complaint escalated and send in my Comcast bill showing the outage credits. But why should I?

The guy told me proudly that they treat all their customers equally. I said "Really, so all my loyalty after all this time means that I am not to be trusted?" I've never called their customer service line...ever. And I don't think I will again. What a waste.

If I'm going to get crappy customer service, I might as well dust off my PS3 and get crappy service for free.

jf04gli

Not the most exciting of games IMO. I suppose it could had been worse though.

Ramases

@Phazonmasher: CONKER FTW!!! (Original n64 owner here!)

Spoony Bard