Reviewers 'too scared' to under-rate some games?

[nick64]

Recently, i've been looking at the scores of some of the A-class games that have come out for the past years, many magazines and websites have the tendency to give out pretty similar score ratings (usually 90+% for the A-class games). Now looking at some of these games, i truly don't believe that they deserve the high marks they deserve.

Good examples are: Black and White (I hate this game so much), Final Fantasy X and Doom 3.

All had been given high marks which i believe really aren't deservedly so, i believe the causes of these high marks are the hype and also trying to promote their site/magazine.

If ever a game is hyped just enough, they have the tendency to give out the big marks for being 'creative' or 'its part of a franchise etc...', overhypeness has really lowered my expectations of some games, though hype sells the game, it has been pissing me off lately because its part of a franchise or something. (remember, just because it has Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Doom or GTA in it doesn't make it automatically good!)

The next point is basically for a business point of view, if there's a game that someone likes and the magazine gives out a high score, it makes the magazine sell more, as those types of people are willing to listen to a more positive review than a critical review. Of course, a magazine can't just stick 100%/99% wherever they want as it makes them feel biased, so just cut down a couple % to make it look fairer... <_< .

Of course, there's always the logical explanation that these games are simply 'brilliant' or that their opinions are different from yours etc. I respect that, and when i play those 'brilliant' games and find it totally crap (Black and White), it really pisses me off that i spent cash for something that everyone praises, when it is actually poor.

Anyways, rant over...

[oink37]

I'm a lazy ass for saying just this, but it's nothing new;
If i look at the videogames paper press in my country it looks rather bad (ditto for pc). And there is a VG channel available there, but it looks too as a big non-stop commercial most of the time (and the speakers look soo dumb, I could shoot them out of pity). I use gamerank to search for several ratings for one game, how do you check yours ?
(Dloading it is not a way to check :D)

[nick64]

Gamerankings is usually a good way to get a collective score of the magazines/sites.
For me, i go to gamefaqs and read the user-reviews, though may not be professionally written, 3/5 times a good unbiased review usually comes up.

And yes, this isn't new stuff but i've been looking into it recently, and really it has been pissing me off.

[blibbero]

I cancelled my subscription to Gamepro after I bought Jet Force Gemini which they rated as high as Ocarina of Time. Then EGM managed to piss me off last year when they made Zelda windwaker (The most boring game of all time) the game of the year. That cost them the loss of a 5 year subscriber. Now I just get my reviews online, and make sure that I read several as any one person can have differn't tastes then me.

Sell Outs!!

:(

blib

[Crys]

Go look at Gamespot. They've only awarded four perfect tens in the last six years, but still have a tendency to over-rate a few games ever-so-slightly.

Gamepro, on the other hand, can't stop handing out perfect fives. They do it like it's going out of style.

[kensyu]

Well reviews are personal tastes so it's no big deal. A good way to know stuff about a game is boards. I think gamefaqs should replace top ten faqs with top ten boards. But the people at the boards there aren't really the creme de la creme -_-.

RPGamer is good for RPG's.

But for a really good review nothing beats all fashioned word of mouth from a trusted friend =p as they will almost always at least have the same taste as you =p

[THC]

Funny how Halo 2 scored nearly perfectly... (*cough* UT2K4 - best FPS of '04 *cough*).

**EDIT**

To add, I do know that in the past, game magazines who gave (insert games) bad ratings, had ads pulled by certain manufacturers...

[mahouneko]

I guess it's a matter of sponsorship. Sponsors = money and free games. Not much anyone can do about being paid to review games.

[Logitechie]

I personally think Doom 3 was a masterpiece, but others don't think so. I think PC gamer gave the game a 94 and I guess some people thought that score was too much for Doom 3 and sent a letter to them, and they assured everyone that they were not being pressured in any way, shape, or form to give the game a higher ranking than it deserves. Even though they were let into Activision's offices to play the game before anyone else, on a Dell with a gig of ram and a 6800 :), with surround sound speakers.

And truth media says that Rockstar sent a letter to everyone who reviewed the game, with a subtile message to give it a high ranking. But then again, everything Truth media says is bullshit.

I personally don't think people who review games for a living make the score higher than it should, although I'm sure developers do try to make them do this.

[THC]

Truth Media from SomethingAwful ? "lol"

[Abicion]

It's common knowledge that at least Sony and Microsoft have a history of paying off reviewers to overrate popular games. That's just the politics of professional reviewers.

I make a point not to really pay attention to reviews.

[Warri0n]

D00M 3 is a wicked game same with FFX and GTA San Andreas... These games deserve all the ratings they can get

[LordThyMaster]

I gotta think that GameInformer is the best gaming mag of them all, and I've read alot of mags in my life, but nether here or there.:p they are the most unbiased mag I've seen. And they are run by one of the gaming stores around, GameStop.:D

[Karis Fra Mauro]

The only guys I really trust for game reviews are Reviews on the Run, a 30 minute tv show that's been around for quite a few years. They have two guys doing the reviews so you get to compare, and they aren't afraid to give out zero out of ten where it's deserved. Sites like game faqs are a step up from the lame magazines that have been bribed, but since you get a ton of different reveiws for one game it's hard to know which reviewer if any to take seriously. I've never been burned by Tommy and Vic saying something was great that turned out to suck, and they're descriptive enough I can tell if the game is my sort of genre as well. Excellent show, although their web site is a little too intimidating for me.

[DB27]

Best way is to find a few reviewers on GameFAQs that have written a lot of user reviews you agree with, and then look for their reviews in the future.

[Jona87]

I dont care about reviews. Seriously. Its just another person who works on a mag and tells you if he or she liked the game. And well, they let you know. Its just like if a play a game and call Nick to his house and tell him "hey, i rented this game and it completly sucks". Its basically the same. But maybe nick will like it. So meh. It all comes down to your own personal opinion. Dont listen to reviews. Its worthless.

[nick64]

Recently bought GTA:LCS despite myself not really wanting to buy it but reviews (and GamqFAQS people) said it was a PSP essential. Got it cheap and my eyes and hands were hurting after 20 minutes, the game wasn't spectacular though im still impressed with the 'scale' of the game, but this game is just another case of reviewers blowing the game out of proportion and making it better than it actually is. (Thank goodness this is the lowest rated of the GTA3D games)

But i tend to agree with people around GameFAQs, their views are far more better than any review because its more of a collective thought than just an individual's opinion. Of course, at the end of the day, the one who really gets to like the game or not is you.

[fatherofmako]

Its also a well known fact that there are always games that you are going to hate for no good reason.
They pull up bad and uncomfortable feelings for you and only you thats just the way it is... Just like me and GTA vice City.....IT makes me sick to play it.

[rgnk]

For some reason I like the plasticity of Doom3's graphic engine, and for some reason hates Half Life high-res-texture engine and lack of geometry. Personally I do think reviewers giving high marks for games is probably because they deserve it, the only thing is everyone has different expectation. I thought Doom3 was a masterpiece because of the technology it brought, and the game itself was very classic, the way I expected it to be. Given that a reviewer is just a gamer like us, I can't blame him/her for giving high marks for games that he/she likes. The rule is to never rely on magazine reviews. Download before you buy :D

[Skye McCloud]

Well, first off, it should be noted that some gaming magazines, and even some gaming sites, are given increased advertising if they showcase their stuff or give them good reviews. One magazine that DOESN'T do this is EGM, who has even blown the whistle on that practice.

However, at the same time, it can also come down to who reviews the game. Some people like a game, some people don't. I, for one, like FFX. The same applies to the reviewers. One person may like it, but another may not. As such, it all depends on who reviews it.

[jokermausland]

I bet when the new zelda game comes out it will automatically get a 10/10.

[nick64]

Like pretty much how Wind Waker and Majora's Mask got when they came out even when they fail in comparison with OOT or lttp.

*still having high hopes for TTP*

[jokermausland]

Like pretty much how Wind Waker and Majora's Mask got when they came out even when they fail in comparison with OOT or lttp.

*still having high hopes for TTP*
I didn't think Majora's mask was too bad but I thought Wind Waker just sucked not because of the graphics but because of the gameplay and story.

[orisa]

I don't think I've ever seen sites like GameSpot giving known "kiddy" games any high score. Reviews on GameFAQs and GameSpot for these games differ COMPLETELY. I follow reviews on GameFAQs 99% of time when I'm buying "kiddy" games, and I've never been disappointed. On the other hand, the times when I followed biased reviews...No need to mention it.

I just don't seem to have much in common for gaming with GameSpot reviewers. The only thing I ever agreed on was their review for Battalion Wars.