Website Metacritic, which collects video game evaluations from dozens of publications to provide a mean rating, places Crimson Desert at a “generally favourable” 78 out of 100, external.
There was nearly unanimous reward for the game’s graphics, its number of environments and the scope of its ambition.
But critics had been much less united on whether or not Crimson Desert introduced its numerous influences and concepts collectively into an fulfilling complete.
Forbes’ Paul Tassi, in his 9.5 out of 10 review, external, was impressed by the game’s “unprecedented scale”, and stated he’d “never been bored” after taking part in it for 100 hours.
Despite his reward, like most reviewers he was much less impressed by the game’s story, calling it the “weakest element”, however stated it was not anticipated to be a powerful promoting level.
In a four-star review, external, GamesRadar’s Joel Franey stated Crimson Desert was “messy”, however “elements of genius and wonder make the experience worthwhile”.
One of the game’s harsher critics, Shacknews’ Will Borger, external, stated the game’s “maximalist” method labored in opposition to it, and felt it solely succeeded “half the time”.
“The rest of it made me wish I was doing literally anything else,” he wrote.
“I cannot deny its ambition; I did not enjoy my time with it. It is a game that wastes your time.”
Radio Times reviewer Alex Raisbeck, who gave the game four stars, external, summed up the variety of opinions in his write-up.
“It feels like a game that, for the right player, could be played for thousands of hours without getting bored,” he wrote.
“For others, it’ll be one playthrough and then never picked up again.”
Reviewers performed the PC model of the game, however it’s also due for launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles.
