No Game ever deserves 10/10... Do you agree?

[Gamer137]

For a 10 point scale, their is no game worthy of a 10. I prefer 5 point scales because they are more general and more linear, but in a good way. It is never hard t classify something on a 5 point scale.
1- Just crap. Should never have even entered the thoughts of the designer.
2- A noble effort, but too many flaws.
3- Average. Good enough to play, but not going to be missed once finished.
4- Above adverage, but misses that "epic" factor.
5- A true classic. Not perfect, but a revolution to some degree.
If I see something get 5 stars, I know its not perfect in the mathematical sence, but it is still very good.

Now in a 10 point scale, you need to be very detailed in how you judge. That detail is its major flaw for me. 10/10 means perfect. Everytime I see someone give a 10 to a game, I just shrug it off knowing it is being overly praised. A 9 I can accept, but nothing is flawless.

Somehow magazines tend to forget there's anything below a 7 or 70% on any big title out there and tend to rate them from 7-10 even though a 5 is still passable, 6 okay and 7 good...

True. Average is suppost to be the middle, so 5/10 should be adverage. Instead, I see most games reviewed in magazines and such getting between 6-8. I rarely see anything 5 or lower. It is like the authors want to make the game or themselves sound better by raising the adverage score. Reviews do not work like school grades. A 50% is an F because you cant be intellegent if your success ratio is 50/50. For quality standards, 50% is adverage.

 

[Alan Au]

I give this thread a 4. Out of something.

- Alan

 

[The Thief]

For a 10 point scale, their is no game worthy of a 10. I prefer 5 point scales because they are more general and more linear, but in a good way.

Hate to break it to you, but 5/5 = 10/10.

This discussion is kind of ridiculous.

1. It's a score, not a symbol of perfection.
2. It's possible for a flawed game to have a perfect score.
3. If you think 9/10 should be the highest score possible then that is in fact a perfect score.

 

[Ultrajoe]

For a 10 point scale, their is no game worthy of a 10. I prefer 5 point scales because they are more general and more linear, but in a good way.

Hate to break it to you, but 5/5 = 10/10.

This discussion is kind of ridiculous.

1. It's a score, not a symbol of perfection.
2. It's possible for a flawed game to have a perfect score.
3. If you think 9/10 should be the highest score possible then that is in fact a perfect score.

seconded, thread over, no more discussion, no more disagreement its clear is final thats the answer.

 

[Shotaro]

For a 10 point scale, their is no game worthy of a 10. I prefer 5 point scales because they are more general and more linear, but in a good way.

Hate to break it to you, but 5/5 = 10/10.

This discussion is kind of ridiculous.

1. It's a score, not a symbol of perfection.
2. It's possible for a flawed game to have a perfect score.
3. If you think 9/10 should be the highest score possible then that is in fact a perfect score.

I believe this belongs to you.

Congratulations.

 

[Phifty]

I don't know about this. We have to keep in mind that no matter how hard a reviewer tries; game ratings are still hugely subjective. It's the reason why book reviews don't really use numerical rating systems (except on Amazon, but we're going to ignore that for now). The reason is because the reviewer's personal preference fits into it so much.

However, the industry has really gone in the direction of numerical reviews. The reason is because game review readers are more like newspaper readers then book review readers are. That is--they don't read. The game review number functions much in the same way as a lede does for a news article, it gives the reader a way to see the general gist of the article while being too lazy to read it. That's why it is often posted at the top of the article. If you want this to stop happening, stop being a lazy ass and read through entire reviews. (Now that's being alone in the dark... )

However, ever if we dismiss the number as a basic marketing gimmick, it should still be held up to some standards. Yes, the majority of a reviewer's experience will be subjective, but there are some objective portions as well.

I know people are going to want to kill me for using this, but Halo 3 is a great example of this. Yes, it was a good game, but were all those 10/10s really appropriate? It's ok, if you've been sucked into the world and the marketing and really like the game, that's cool. But some things in that game were objectively BAD. I went through the last level and then sat down with my game design textbook and looked at everything the game had done absolutely wrong just in that level. Removing player agency. Undifferentiated level areas. Difficult navigation. Area repetition. A few other things as well. By any objective review, these things run counter to the basic principles of game design. This has happened in other games as well.

Now should love of a game counteract mechanical failure? (Which is the underlying question of this entire argument.)

Plainly: No.

Halo 3 may have been the love of many reviewer's lives, but elements that severely impact the quality of game play should have forced lower ratings.

I love Mass Effect (it is the reason I got a 360), but the inventory system alone should knock off a point.

Psychonauts may be one of the cleverest games of the last gen, but camera problems and irritating jumping issues knock it down at least a point.

What would (in my ever so humble opinion) get a 10/10? Games that make us love them and function really well (within the constraints of their generation and genre) or at least games that are so fun that we don't notice the flaws. Deus Ex is the first one that comes to mind. Starcraft, the original Diablo, maybe Grim Fandango.

It's a ridiculous discussion to begin with, really. The real reason there are game ratings and many of them can get away with being flawed is because you'd all rather watch ZP (no offence to Yahtzee, I love ZP) than read through an entire article.

 

[Wargamer]

There are few games I can think of that deserve 10/10.

Any game made by RockStar is at the bottom of the list. GTA games are not actually very good.

Likewise, Halo games are nowhere near 10/10. I'd struggle to rate them as anything but "slightly above average." The Halo games, along with virtually all the other First Person Shooters, have worse multiplayer than Perfect Dark, a game that is now archaic by most standards.

But is Perfect Dark worthy? I think that's one of the closest you'll find. If any game should be 10/10, it is Perfect Dark.

The game DOES have flaws, I'm not pretending otherwise, but most of these are more about the limits of the N64 than the game; it lags to buggery and back when a lot of bombs go off all at once, and the fact you respawn "stunned" if killed while stunned is stupid... but I just cannot allow myself to let these spoil the game. The rest of it is just too good.

It can be as easy or as hard as you like. There's a load of extras and hidden features, and the multiplayer is Perfect; how many other games allow you to field up to 8 bots (in addition to 1-4 human players), with 6 levels of difficulty (Meat, Easy, Normal, Hard, Perfect and Dark), and IN ADDITION to this alternative personalities, such as Kaze (fights in hand to hand only), Venge (hunts down the last player / Sim who killed them), Prey (attacks the weakest player), Judge (attacks the strongest player) and Turtle (very slow, but gets extra shield to increase their lifespan). On top of this, you can alter the appearance of the Sims all you want, just as you can alter your own character's outfit.

Couple on to this about a dozen maps (including three classic maps from Goldeneye - Temple, Complex and Facility), and multiple modes of play, Perfect Dark is unequaled in modern gaming.

No FPS out today deserves higher marks than Perfect Dark. Unlike bullshit like Halo, where the justification is always "yeah, the solo play is dull... but OMFG multiplaya rox lol!", Perfect Dark has not skimped on any of its modes. It is beautiful.



Anyway, if you want to know why so many shitty games are given 10/10, let me explain:

You work for a magazine that reviews X-Box games. Someone just took a shit on your desk and called it Halo 4... but if you tell everyone it's shit you get fired as Microsoft are pushing this as the Must Buy Game of Forever.

So you give it 10/10, and go spend your wages.

 

[mjhhiv]

well a 10/10 doesnt mean perfect, it just means its a game that cant be missed. An 11/10 would be the perfect game

See, I just don't get how you think that. The scoring system in question is 10 out of 10. You can't give an 11 when there is only 10 choices. That's just dumb when reviewers do that - it's like they are too scared to give an actual score so they give an 11. Personally, I'd stop reading their reviews, because obviously they can't take their own reviews seriously.

I am not sure if the reference to spinal tap was deliberate but if so well-played, mjhhiv, if you haven't seen spinal tap I suggest you watch it and then if nothing else the suggestion of 11/10 will make you laugh....

I haven't seen it, and now I'm quite confused... In response to Wargammer - Try to tame your inner fanboy before posting. It's pretty apparent that all GTA games do NOT suck, and while I wouldn't have given a 10/10 rating to GTA 4, it ceartinly isn't bad.

Anyway, I've been thinking, and there are only 5 games that I'd bestow a 10/10 rating on.

Half-Life 2
Super Mario 64
Perfect Dark
Ocarina of Time
RE 4

Those are my top 5 3-D games, anyway. It's way to hard to count games like Tetris and Pac-Man into this scale, compared to these games.

 

[tucci]

No i don't think a game should get a 10 out of 10. Becuase that would mean the game was perfect. Valve knows this and respects it. Just look how the game that is probably the best game they've ever released i.e Half-Life 2. They gave it a 96 out of 100. when i think it deserves a 98 out of 100

 

[cmdr31]

Yes I agree,nothing is perfect or 100%. That law does not exclude video games.

-cmdr31

 

[Heroic One]

This is why the /5 rating system is superior to the /10.

1 = utter worthlessness
2 = rather bad
3 = average, something only fans of the genre would like
4 = quite good, worth playing
5 = the best of the best (does not mean perfect, just something you must play)

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

well a 10/10 doesnt mean perfect, it just means its a game that cant be missed. An 11/10 would be the perfect game

See, I just don't get how you think that. The scoring system in question is 10 out of 10. You can't give an 11 when there is only 10 choices. That's just dumb when reviewers do that - it's like they are too scared to give an actual score so they give an 11. Personally, I'd stop reading their reviews, because obviously they can't take their own reviews seriously.

thats what i'm tryin to say, there will be no such thing as a perfect game so, no such thing as an 11/10

 

[snp517]

i agree 10/10 is supposed to be a perfect game i don't think any game deserves that score i and i don't think any game ever will don't get i am a hardcore gamer i play games a lot and their my favorite form of entertainment but it i have yet to find "THE" perfect game

 

[CTU_Agent24]

What about the Resident Evil 5 and Far cry 2 which are set to come out.

So far these games look great, but i hope they don't receive a 10/10.

Otherwise what else will they have to work on...?

 

[CTU_Agent24]

This is why the /5 rating system is superior to the /10.

1 = utter worthlessness
2 = rather bad
3 = average, something only fans of the genre would like
4 = quite good, worth playing
5 = the best of the best (does not mean perfect, just something you must play)

Thats actually quite good.
I like this ranking

 

[Dommyboy]

The only games that ever deserved 10/10 were the games on the Nintendo 64. The console of ultimate gaming.

 

[shatnershaman]

The only games that ever deserved 10/10 were the games on the Nintendo 64. The console of ultimate gaming.

So this should get a 10/10? http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/n64/batmanbeyondreturnofjoker

The only games that deserve perfect scores are Halo games/joking

None are perfect.

 

[Zukhramm]

10 should not mean perfect, if not all scores are used, there is no point in a 1-10 scale, it would be a 1-9 scale. As said, it's not perfect, it's just the top score.


Now, are scoes useless? I hear people complain about how a game that has gotten high scores is not fun to them, but why not actually read the review? Don't listen to the reviewer saying it's good, listen to him telling WHY it's good, and then form your own oppinion! Scores are a good to quickly tell aproximatley how the reviewer feels, but shouldn't be taken too heavy.

This is why the /5 rating system is superior to the /10.

1 = utter worthlessness
2 = rather bad
3 = average, something only fans of the genre would like
4 = quite good, worth playing
5 = the best of the best (does not mean perfect, just something you must play)

How would that be different from a 1-10 scale other than being less specific?

1 = utter worthlessness
2 = a bit less utter worthlessness
3 = rather bad
4 = a bit less rather bad
5 = average, something only fans of the genre would like
6 = a little more than average, something only fans of the genre would like
7 = quite good, worth playing
8 = a little more than quite good, worth playing
9 = almost the best of the best (does not mean perfect, just something you must play)
10 = the best of the best (does not mean perfect, just something you must play)

 

[Rob Sharona]

http://games.ign.com/halloffame/

I would say all of these games deserve a 10. They are not all perfect, but they are all hugely influential and important.

 

[shatnershaman]

http://games.ign.com/halloffame/

I would say all of these games deserve a 10. They are not all perfect, but they are all hugely influential and important.

SO if they get 10s we should use OXM's rating system (1-11) because a full score is perfect (you get 100% on a test you got EVERYTHING right unless you got one with some bullshit extra questions)