A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part III

re: A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part III

SpaceShot — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:50:30 GMT

Review scores have become completely pointless. There is a compressed scale between 7.5 and 9.5 for all games. Games that fall below this are considered not worthy of your time.

Some games are preordained to get 10s. These games are rarely worthy of this score. So basically, scores are worthless.

What I need in reviews, since I can no longer count on scores or phrases like "this one is not worth your money" (this frequently turns out to be wrong), is detailed information. Since the opinions of the major gaming reviews sites (Gamespot, IGN, etc) seem to consistently get it wrong time and time again, I am now not looking opinion anymore.

What I want to know is a very detailed list of the game modes supported, how online play works, are their frustrating menus or delays (perhaps something annoying like, you can't just jump in and out of coop, if the host leaves the game ends). Can you play the entire "single player" experience together with a friend. How is the multiplayer and is it consistent or annoying to set up and play with friends?

Basically, I have gotten to the point where I am looking for someone who will just give me the facts about the game, with some light opinion. Comparison is good here. "This game is builds on titles like Crackdown". Well, I spent months with Crackdown, so I might like this game. I find the overblown opinions of reviewers and their pointless scores to be so worthless now that I don't trust them at all. It means that I buy way less games. I am sick of getting burned. Nowadays it takes a solid demo or positive word of mouth from friends to get me to plunk down $60 (or more) for a AAA title.

re: A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part III

N'Gai Croal — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:00:07 GMT

@SpaceShot: Do you find what you're looking for in strategy guides? FAQs? Message boards? Or is it only word of mouth and demos that provide the consumer advice that you're looking for?

re: A Symposium On Game Reviews. Topic 1: Review Scores, Part III

jp182 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:13:08 GMT

Well I can understand SpaceShot's frustrations, I think I find that type of information he's looking for in many reviews and impressions from smaller sites like Kotaku or whenever the Penny Arcade guys discuss a game. Scores are meaningless to me after a decade of seriously reading reviews.

I have to agree that I find this information very useful in making a decision. But after reading reviews for games I liked on Gamespot or IGN, after I played them, I realized that their reviewers were not in sync with what I enjoyed about videogames.