Free Undertow to make up for Live problems next week

by Richard Mitchell { Jan 18th 2008 at 12:30PM }

Major Nelson just pinged us to let us know that Undertow has been pegged as the game that will be offered for free as an apology for the recent troubles on Xbox Live. If your unfamiliar with the game, it's essentially a 2D version of Battlefield ... only underwater. Players engage in class-based shooter action in order to capture control points and drain their opponents' resources. It's also one of the best looking games on Xbox Live Arcade and supports 16 players online. To put it simply: it was a good choice by Microsoft. The game will be free for download starting next Wednesday, January 23 at 2:00 am Pacific and will remain free through Sunday, January 27 at 11:59 am Pacific.

The big question is whether or not this $10 game will serve to quiet the angry throngs of gamers that have been denied their Xbox Live. Come to think of it, the bigger question may be whether or not those who download Undertow will actually be able to play it online next week. Let's hope so.

Gallery: Undertow (XBLA)

Tags: chair, chair-entertainment-group, undertow, xbla, xbox-live

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Santeria64 @ Jan 25th 2008 12:52PM

Hey everybody, just wanted to let you all know that I called Xbox Customer Support, told them I had already bought the game, they asked me how I liked it, verified that I had it, and then credited me the 800 Microsoft Points. It was easy, make sure to redirect into the Xbox Live support section, and then just ask to speak to a representative. (Max accepts that as valid).

:( @ Jan 18th 2008 12:37PM

I was kind of hoping they'd wait and give us Castle Crashers...

Louis @ Jan 18th 2008 12:37PM

No, the real question is whether Live will even work for the people trying to download this. I still get problems logging into Live

pkilla @ Jan 18th 2008 3:28PM

So with all this talk have anyone who already had the game called MS yet? What was the outcome?

HHHawk @ Jan 18th 2008 12:41PM

NO, the real question is what will the Xbox Team do if you already have purchased Undertow (like me)? Now I could get a free game I already own? WTF is that. I'm assed out it would seem. INVESTIGATION!

Big Orange @ Jan 18th 2008 12:56PM

Absolutely! What about us! We already paid for it...that does me no good at all.

Why not just go through and credit the gold accounts 800 points if they own undertow?

SAGExSDX @ Jan 18th 2008 12:58PM

they've stated that you should contact customer support if you already have the game. i'm thinking they'll recredit your account with 800 points

wtfmate? @ Jan 18th 2008 1:40PM

yeah, i'll chime in here... i already own it and i'm pissed... i hope you're right sage... i'm definately calling and i'm definately gonna bitch about it... i better get something! lol

Jon @ Jan 18th 2008 4:44PM

Yeah this is bull. I already own this game. I filed a complaint through the better business borough a week ago and they called me this week to "straighten things out." But they have yet to offer anything, I'm waiting on a followup phone call.

Porkfist @ Jan 18th 2008 12:42PM

For the subscription price and the service Xbox live provides, I am very happy with the offer of Undertow.

J @ Jan 18th 2008 12:42PM

I played the demo for this and it was pretty lame... Oh, well. No biggie.

Larry not allowed to say cheevo @ Jan 18th 2008 12:59PM

I tried the demo,the graphics looked great, it was an interesting idea. I just didn't really like the game. It wasn't fun. Now, the upside to that is that I never bought the game. I more concerned with the people who already bought it. Seems unfair for them. Points would have been more appropriate.

Peter @ Jan 18th 2008 12:44PM

I don't want this shitty game. I want a refund. I already own all the of the XBLA games that I want, so anything they can give me from that service is useless crap that I don't want taking up my HDD space. Give me a refund or Microsoft Points, then I'll be happy. Give us the option of either this crappy game, or the equivalent price in Microsoft Points, then I'll be happy.

Louis @ Jan 18th 2008 12:45PM

Yeah, this game is getting good reviews, but I really didn't like the demo.

Give me Microsoft points, or at the very least, just add 3 months to my subscription.

RudyHuxtable @ Jan 18th 2008 12:52PM

For $5 more they coulda just given us an Xbox Original or 1200 points. Which i would have preferred. In the long run what is the difference? Doesn't the publisher of Undertow lose out since they're now not getting moolah for their game (or does Microsoft pay them for the game to buy it out)? How does that even work?

DerekTGreen @ Jan 18th 2008 12:58PM

I'm satisfied. Then again, I don't own the arcade game. I am impressed that they didn't hand out some crappy arcade game. They actually gave us a popular one.

flameofdoom666 @ Jan 18th 2008 6:37PM

It isnt too popular, but it received great reviews. 8.7 from IGN, and such.

I am also very satisfied :-)

wei @ Jan 18th 2008 12:56PM

I wonder how I'll be downloading this game during that short time-period, since my 360 red-ringed for the fourth time earlier this week.

Kev @ Jan 18th 2008 1:31PM

Maybe you could go to a friend's house, recover your gamertag, and download it? The game will be tied to your gamertag so you can re-download it on your xbox when you get it back. Not an ideal solution but it should work.

CARNAGE RULES @ Jan 18th 2008 1:57PM

Stay away from this guy. He either has the worst luck on the planet or is entertainment center doubles as an oven. Wei, you're being dismissed as an xbox owner when your 360 comes back, sell it. You are no longer allowed to own one. You are dismissed, sir.

wei @ Jan 18th 2008 2:01PM

@CARNAGE: Haha, thanks! Actually I started keeping my 360 outside of the entertainment center, stood vertically on the floor, after all my troubles. But yes, I'd suggest you stay away. I tend to have horrible luck with these types of things.

James @ Jan 19th 2008 7:17PM

Heh, I hear ya -- my second RRoD console went back about a week ago, so I'd be surprised if I have it in time to get the free download. And I don't think I have any friends with a 360... hrm, maybe I can talk the guys at EB into using theirs briefly? Or maybe I'll just call up customer service and explain how I've been bent over and screwed twice ;-)

Jim Perry @ Jan 18th 2008 12:56PM

not a bad move, but far be it from being a great move. I think a better solution would have been 1600 marketplace points. That way we could spend them how we want. I think for the problem lasting at least 2 weeks, we should have gotten $20 worth of trouble.
Also it would have perhaps helped their video marketplace. The 1600 pts would allow people to perhpas spend it towards Movies, and give the service a trial run. HD movies are $1 more per movie than Itunes. I have yet to download a movie/TV show. I can watch a TV show streamed for free on NBC, ABC etc. or watch it for free on TV, and you mean to tell me, you want to charge me over $2.00 to watch it on LIVE? It would be too big of strain on their servers, but if I can rent a movie from the Red Box service for a $1, then I should be able to watch a movie on marketplace for $1, and watch a TV show for 25 or 50 cents. Give us better pricing models...

Kev @ Jan 18th 2008 1:35PM

How does a 2 week outage even come close to $20 of trouble? If Live is roughly $50 a year that about $1 per week.

ali @ Jan 18th 2008 12:57PM

noooooooooooo *weeps*

oo7ev @ Jan 18th 2008 12:58PM

xbot users complaining? madness I say madness.

I haven't played the game yet, so I can't say how thrilled I am.

read the user's agreement, MS doesn't owe you anything. They are doing this to up their rep as a nice service for users.

that said, paying for an online service that doesn't work makes one want to look at other options. but then again, those options are expensive and don't have games ;)

DjDATZ @ Jan 18th 2008 1:02PM

not bad...i still have to play my trial of the game...lol

Pops @ Jan 18th 2008 1:03PM

Let the Whingeboys begin.

If you already got the game, hard luck. Gift horse + Mouth = you lot. Get over yourselves, would you prefer they just gave an apology and said they'll improve in the future?

wtfmate? @ Jan 18th 2008 1:42PM

no, i'd rather they come up with compensation that affects everyone, not just the people that don't already have the game they choose.

Gemini Ace @ Jan 18th 2008 1:04PM

At least it wasn't Space Giraffe.

Larry not allowed to say cheevo @ Jan 18th 2008 1:06PM

I'll second that!

volmarr @ Jan 18th 2008 1:07PM

This sucks cause my 360 is being repaired and I probably won't have it back by then. And I think we deserve more!!!!!!

mattclarkie @ Jan 18th 2008 1:06PM

I'll download it, but would prefer to get something like Pac-Man.

I haven't played this, but it sounds like a game that I wouldn't play even if it was 20p.

But I am suprised MS are giving us anything with the lawsuit, but if they are giving 800ms points worth I would like the Crackdown DLC.

Kicks @ Jan 18th 2008 1:09PM

I'll see how the phone call turns out since I already own undertow as well....

TORO @ Jan 18th 2008 1:09PM

To make EVERYBODY happy they would have to give away a new upcoming game. Castle Crashers or Dodgeball :)

I bought this game already, I really don't play it that much, Bomberman is funner

Michael Paul @ Jan 18th 2008 1:09PM

So is Undertow an in-house game, so the royalties on the $10 value don't have to be sent to some poor developer who could USE them?

I guess I'll try it. The last free game was OK...

flameofdoom666 @ Jan 18th 2008 6:39PM

Your information is wrong. This is NOT an in-house game at all. Check your sources.

saylorsgang @ Jan 18th 2008 1:12PM

Xbox Live is an amazing service and innovation in video gaming, their is going to be glitches, problems. Get over it, it was the holidays, the new influx of subscribers overloaded the system. Yes MIcrosoft should have been prepared, they did'nt big deal play games by yourself for a couple days. Microsoft Does'nt owe us a thing, the Xbox Live contract has not guarantees of flawless service. If you want the free game , take it, if not , don't. This may cost Microsoft millions, millions they did'nt have to spend. Everyone needs to get a life

flameofdoom666 @ Jan 18th 2008 6:42PM

You are the first person that said exactly what I think.

Everyone is.... INSANE. A free game is great! Plus IGN gave it an 8.7, so thats even better. It is one of the prettiest games on the arcade, PLUS it cna go online.

People will ALWAYS bitch.

Eddie @ Jan 18th 2008 1:14PM

Goddamnit! My XBOX just RROD'd and I haven't even gotten my coffin yet! Not only did I have to deal with the Live outages, and now have my XBOX die on me, but now I miss out on the amends they're making BECAUSE my XBOX crapped out?

Fuckabees.

flameofdoom666 @ Jan 18th 2008 7:06PM

Call Microsoft. I heard they have been helping people with that issue, like crediting their account for 800 MS points and such.

ccc @ Jan 18th 2008 1:32PM

Man fuck MS.

8complex @ Jan 18th 2008 1:32PM

Personally, I don't want any of their crappy downloadable games, I'm on Live (gold) so that I can download demos of real games, join a few online games, and message a few friends. My interest in DLC is little to none, other than addons to my existing games (especially Crackdown or Forza 2). I'm definitely going to call and ask for points rather than some random game that I wouldn't have interest in even if it was free.

Now, as a side note, can someone tell me how the heck to access my account on the X3F/Engadget network? I can't remember my password to save my life and can't figure out where to go to change it.

Disco Ball @ Jan 18th 2008 1:43PM

Click on your profile picture in your comment...

Larry not allowed to say cheevo @ Jan 18th 2008 1:47PM

When you leave a comment, it will send a confirmation email to you. ON that email, at the bottom it actually has your login and password. Hope that helps

8complex @ Jan 18th 2008 2:31PM

@Disco Ball - Thanks, I'd have never thought of that!

harma41 @ Jan 18th 2008 1:35PM

This is garbage. I have a network outages for three weeks, and I get the game in which I deleted after playing the demo once, deeming it not fun.

1000 Gamerpoints, not some trash game nobody is buying.

j @ Jan 18th 2008 1:39PM

I find the Microsoft bashing hillarious when you factor in the website your currently at, also I know everyone here will download the game as soon as it comes out just like they leeched the free points till they were gone, it seems Microsoft sucks until you get free stuff and its Microsoft FTW!