What game reviewers can we trust anymore?

[Not G. Ivingname]

Game reviewing isn't all it is cracked up to be now adays. Rarely anybody uses any of the 1-6 scores, relying almost entirely on 7-10. Many reviewers, if not out right threatened by the developer, fears losing advertising deals if he/she don't give certain games "curves" in the final score. What I ask you my fellow escapies is what reviewers can we trust? I say we put the people of the escapist since with Zero Punctuation, the Escapist basically has a free card to say what ever they want without the fear of losing ads.

 

[Blemontea]

Well its obvious we cant trust big name Reviewers ie gamespot, gamespy, gameinformer. But the independent reviewers we can trust like those on youtube, here on the escapist, and on TGWTG.com

still we should formulate our own opinions without the need of reviewers

 

[tombman888]

I don't trust any reviewer. I watch most video reviewers for some good gameplay and I read user reviews from some of my friends on here because they can explain whats actually in the game and explain certain things properly instead of just briefly explaining them. I only watch ZP for some laughs.

pretty much this.

 

[Awake-]

I trust gamerankings.com. Reviewers can be biased or have a different opinion than you, but I usually agree with the overall score.

 

[Velvo]

I think most games are awful bits of media that I play shamefully to kill time while ignoring the parts of my life that I desperately need to work on, so I trust Zero Punctuation.

 

[Rylot]

I read a bunch of different reviews from all over to see trends and over all how the game community views a particular game.

 

[Vrach]

Dunno why everyone says Yahtzee's reviews are only good for laughs, I actually find them quite insightful of the games as well. No, I don't take each of his words at face value, I read between the lines in his reviews and can generally tell how I'm going to feel about a game after I watch it.

Next to Yahtzee's reviews, I also check out the ones here or on just about any site/YouTube, just to see a bit of gameplay footage and perhaps some commentary to go with it. For me, that's usually more than enough.

 

[RatRace123]

Well we can't trust G4 anymore. Damn it I miss the old XPLAY. Also can't really trust any of the big name sites. The most reliable source is probably yourself. If a game gets generally good reviews, or even moderate reviews, if you have an interest in it. Give it a playthrough yourself.

So my advice can be summed up as, look at the overall consensus of a game, then decide for yourself.

 

[LitigationJackson]

Well its obvious we cant trust big name Reviewers ie gamespot, gamespy, gameinformer. But the independent reviewers we can trust like those on youtube, here on the escapist, and on TGWTG.com

still we should formulate our own opinions without the need of reviewers

but why can't we trust the big name reviewers?

 

[Korten12]

I don't let reviews change my opinions on games but X-play is pretty good, atleast adam sesslers reviews are.

 

[Blemontea]

Well its obvious we cant trust big name Reviewers ie gamespot, gamespy, gameinformer. But the independent reviewers we can trust like those on youtube, here on the escapist, and on TGWTG.com

still we should formulate our own opinions without the need of reviewers

but why can't we trust the big name reviewers?

Game companies will offer them some deals if they say good things about there games, Gameinformor i feel like i can sorta trust but ever since the Nier review i have been keeping a eye on them.

 

[LitigationJackson]

Well its obvious we cant trust big name Reviewers ie gamespot, gamespy, gameinformer. But the independent reviewers we can trust like those on youtube, here on the escapist, and on TGWTG.com

still we should formulate our own opinions without the need of reviewers

but why can't we trust the big name reviewers?

Most are either taking cash bribes or a blind fanboys (GameTrailers is proof of the latter, Especially back in 08)

eh, i have a subscription to game informer, and some games i thought were going to be awesome (crackdown 2) got a bad review in their magazine and they gave good reasoning behind it and changed my opinion. maybe we should just pay attention to the bad reviews and disregard all the good ones... i dunno im just throwing out ideas

 

[RedDeadFred]

I youtube the game and see if I'd like it. Then I look at the Metacritic score. When it averages about 65 reviews a game (this includes reviews that are both biased for and against the game) you usually get a pretty accurate score. Chances are if the game averages 85 or above, I'll enjoy it. Friends who already have the games are good for feed back on whether I should get it.

 

[yanipheonu]

I found the guys at gametrailers consistently do a good job. At the very least, they tend to be good at warning you of potentially annoying or game-breaking problems, plus having the footage at the same time is a pretty good indicator of the game as a whole.

I also like the review system Kotaku has. Just a simple What we liked/What we didn't like. YOu can agree and disagree with certain points, and overall makes it clear on the pros and cons of games.

Ideally for me, a review just shows the good and bad points of the game, and lets you decide whether you still want the game. IF a game is good or bad, it'll speak for itself, no need to place to much personal preference into it.

That said, some reviews are more fun when they are purely personal opinion, like our own Zero Punctuation of course. But I tend to read/watch those for entertainment, not for basing them on whether I'll purchase a game or not.

 

[rabidmidget]

PC powerplay's (an Australian PC gaming magazine) reviews are usually pretty good.

 

[Haydyn]

People who share a similar taste with you, or you believe to have a well respected reputation with no reason for them to be biased.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

No one should ever "trust" a game review. Reviews are opinions and nothing more. Read a bunch, get a sense of whether or not the premise and aspects of the game are to your liking, and then play the game and make your own review (opinion).

That being said, I tend to agree with the reviews in the Official Xbox Magazine. They don't really pull punches when it comes to bad games.