New games release on Steam all the time, and a lot of times they have a hard time standing out when facing lots of stiff competition from hundreds or thousands of other games in the genre. One company thought they could get around the promotional blockade and put eyes on their game by paying gamers with in-game cash shop currency.

Over on the Steam forums a thread was posted notifying customers that some of the positive reviews they read on the main page for momoStorm Entertainment’s Epic Cards Battle — a free-to-play mobile trading card game that was ported over to Steam — could be tainted. The thread from Steam user Hobbes reads “Now if you ever needed proof of a developer being scuzzy…” with the following image from momoStorm notifying users about the promotion.

If the image fails to load or you have trouble reading it, it basically states…

“We wish to express our deepest thanks to all players, without your support and passion, ECB wouldn’t be what it’s like today launch on Steam. ECB is free to play on Steam Now. We know the best way is to reward you game diamonds. Please send the screenshot of your review on Steam page (Show your Steam id), game id, server name to support@momostorm.com to receive 20 diamonds. Informative review (>100 words) on Steam will reward extra 10 diamonds.”

Steam user Slippy was a bit skeptical to jump on the bandwagon carrying gamers who wield pitchforks and torches… Slippy put on a critical cap of pessimism regarding the ill-intentions of the developers, stating…

“It doesn’t mention anything about the review being positive…all it says is they want informative reviews about their product and they will reward you for your feedback.”

While it’s true that an “informative” review is not the same as a “positive” review, it’s not hard to see that some gamers may take the opportunity to write a “positive” and “informed” review for the cash shop rewards.

MomoStorm commented about the thread, writing in a forum post [backup]…

“We repeat, we never ask any players to write POSITIVE reviews anytime. Player is rewarded no matter positive or negative review. To gather players’ reviews, so we know how to improve it in future updates. And to write a review especially long and informative review takes a lot of time. In our option, player’s time is precious and deserve reward for time spent.”

The temptation to please the developers for the free goods is a tempting proposition. Also, if a game journalist was told that simply writing an “informed” review — positive or negative — for a company like Electronic Arts or Activision would net them free gaming gear, would they not be inclined to write positively about the game?

This issue was brought up during the Metacritic debate about paid trips, free wining and dining, and the corruption it entails.

Epic Cards Battle Demo on iPhone 5

Game Demo of Epic Cards Battle on iPhone 5 The game will be launched on Feb 2013

But what is Epic Cards Battle really like? The trading card game appears to be getting pelted hard by those not enticed by the free cash shop rewards. Oberain writes…

“I have to admit I’ve played a few of these on my phone and have enjoyed one or two of them, but this is basically bottom of the barrel right down the line. A good F2P game like this gives you constant rewards and chances at top tier monsters/whatever and money is just a means to speed up the inevitable. This however, is purely P2W with daily quests involving you spending real world money.”

Darkfreedom brings out, rather crudely, that Epic Cards Battle isn’t even a real game. That the whole thing is just an automated pay-to-win click-fest with boobs…

“You know….this isn’t a game.

 

“There’s nothing you can do expect for selecting the cards that you want to use for the battle. The battle itself is fully automatic and there are even some P2W aspects. The only reason why i and other people here have downloaded this game in first place, is breasts. Damn Peniz”

A lot of people appear to have given up on the game only a few hours in. Steam user Crimson Red, however, took it a bit further, employing more than 12 hours of gameplay into Epic Cards Battle, but even then the verdict was the same…

“I got to the 8th chapter in the campaign before I decided I finally had enough with AI’s mistakes. It honestly started to feel like Groundhog Day.

 

“The only thing this game has going for it is its lewd artwork.”

The “lewds” seem to be a common theme in most of the reviews, with many of the users stating that the only good thing about the game is the artwork. Elaine writes…

“It’s mobile gaming garbage of the lowest of the low. Pure Pay2win. Im just playing it for the animu art but even the art is pretty so-so. Has quite a few engrish words and errors in translation.

“2/10 has boobs at least.”

It’s not surprising that rewards would be offered for “informed” reviews of the game. But how has momoStorm Entertainment responded to all the negative backlash from users? Well, in the best way they know how: an update post about how to play more strategically.

Following a lot of the harsh reactions and the charges of corruption to influence reviews for Epic Cards Battle, the company posted the following message along with a 11 point rundown of how to play the game better…

”We will introduce to new players about the strategic gameplay about Epic Cards Battle in this post.

 

“We hope you get a better idea about strategic gameplay of this game. This post is just a basic overview, there is much more waiting for you to find out yourself.”

Epic Cards Battle is available right now on Steam as a free-to-play game. If you find any positive reviews over on the Steam store page, just don’t forget about the image near the top of the article.