I don't read too much into an individual review per se, but an aggregated score like Metacritic gives you can generally give you a good impression of a game. Honestly though, I'll rarely buy a game without playing the demo first.
Review scores - what do we think about them?
- Thread starter MiracleOfSound
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I'm not a fan of review scores. It boils down to being a rough barometer of the reviewer's opinion of the game forced into an attempt at a consistent framework of critical opinion, which is less accurate than it thinks it is.
I prefer a more simplistic approach that focuses on the impressions given by the game rather than assigning a numerical value. Which is rare, especially in mainstream publications. Perhaps abandoning the system altogether, and ensuring that the closing paragraph gives an adequate condensed opinion of the game would suffice. I quite like the idea of a simple icon (for example, a thumb held up, down or sideways) to convey the reviewer's opinion of the game.
I prefer a more simplistic approach that focuses on the impressions given by the game rather than assigning a numerical value. Which is rare, especially in mainstream publications. Perhaps abandoning the system altogether, and ensuring that the closing paragraph gives an adequate condensed opinion of the game would suffice. I quite like the idea of a simple icon (for example, a thumb held up, down or sideways) to convey the reviewer's opinion of the game.
Scores just aren't neccesary, every time I write a review about a game that is average, I often struggle to score it, and so my score may not reflect my true opinion of the game.
I tend to consider review scores as more of a preemptive indicator than a final judge on the quality of a game. Primarily due to its good interface, I tend to keep tabs on games coming out through Gamespot review scores but, of course, read the reviews too. I find myself disagreeing with them frequently (I preferred the creatively named Computer Games Magazine before it went under a few years ago) but our enjoyment of the game is rarely greatly disparate. For me, Arcanum, Viewtiful Joe and Black and White were deceptive reviews that immediately come to mind.
Scores provide a mediocre way to distinguish good games from the bad, something that is extremely useful when checking out a subset of games new to you. When buying a PS2 and Gamecube, the scores were useful to get a list of games to check out, then decide if I wanted to buy them. Some good games that I enjoy have fallen through the cracks of the score plunge and I've got them through word-of-mouth or random other references (Bomberman: Generation, Zone of the Enders, Steambot Chronicles, later Mario Parties, Gauntlet Legends) but on the whole, they do work.
There are worse models to go by than checking out masses of reviews. Thinking if lots of other people like something, then it should be of interest is a good heuristic. I might end up preferring a creativity rating meter over a generic review score, but so it is.
Scores provide a mediocre way to distinguish good games from the bad, something that is extremely useful when checking out a subset of games new to you. When buying a PS2 and Gamecube, the scores were useful to get a list of games to check out, then decide if I wanted to buy them. Some good games that I enjoy have fallen through the cracks of the score plunge and I've got them through word-of-mouth or random other references (Bomberman: Generation, Zone of the Enders, Steambot Chronicles, later Mario Parties, Gauntlet Legends) but on the whole, they do work.
There are worse models to go by than checking out masses of reviews. Thinking if lots of other people like something, then it should be of interest is a good heuristic. I might end up preferring a creativity rating meter over a generic review score, but so it is.
I would LOVE to have the financial means to go and buy every game that I'm interested in and judge them that way, but as i am not a wealthy person I have to be choosey about which games \I buy, hence reviews do come in handy.RocketPocket said:
Demos are a godsend though, as are rentals sometimes, though certain games take more than one night to reveal thier true greatness (Fallout 3 or the Wind Waker for example)
I use multiple reviews and look at there common complaints, to get an idea if the game interests me.
