How Reliable are Game Critics? - Humankind

How Reliable are Game Critics?

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Mansen

Enthusiast

Mansen

Enthusiast

10 years ago

Dec 25, 2014, 9:43:41 AM

LemonadeWarrior wrote:
In my opinion Steam Reviews sort of speak for themselves(Because People)... Youtube is a great way to get Gameplay Footage to see whether or not you will like it after you see its high or above normal rating.

Steam's review system is flawed - It doesn't require people to review their reviews at a later point. Game had a terrible launch or was the victim of a trolling campaign (Total War: Rome 2 and Company of Heroes 2 being great examples of these), those reviews are going to stain the game forever - doesn't matter how many patches or free content that's handed out to the customers.

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Destal

Newcomer

Destal

Newcomer

10 years ago

Jan 7, 2015, 10:56:56 PM

I don't believe in critics anymore since I've become really demanding. I mean, those last Batman games, Tomb Raider, The Last Of Us, Far Cry 3 and 4, The Walking Dead, Assassin's Creed, and many more, I really think they suck, I wouldn't give them more than 12/20 for the best of them. They sacrified gameplay for visual effect. I mother♥♥♥♥ing HATE quick time events. I hate those Hollywood-like games. I like true and brutal games, with no assistance. This doesn't count for RPG or 4X of course, I'm more talking about action or adventure games.

And what I see on critics websites makes me sick.

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Nirual

Newcomer

Nirual

Newcomer

10 years ago

Jan 7, 2015, 6:28:38 PM

Mansen wrote:
Steam's review system is flawed - It doesn't require people to review their reviews at a later point. Game had a terrible launch or was the victim of a trolling campaign (Total War: Rome 2 and Company of Heroes 2 being great examples of these), those reviews are going to stain the game forever - doesn't matter how many patches or free content that's handed out to the customers.

Really thats a general problem with game reviews this day and age. Especially for MMO's, but even many other games keep getting updated a lot after launch.

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VIPPangolinAdvisor

Fanatic

~Proud to be a SONE~ And also a maker of hundreds of videos for Amplitude's games ;)

VIPPangolinAdvisor

Fanatic

10 years ago

Jan 7, 2015, 11:38:24 AM

Depends from a game critic.

I personally mostly rely on:

1) My instincts after watching some random gameplay footage

2) Totalbiscuit's opinion (cos I know his taste quite well now so even if he dislikes something I might now that I'll like it and so on)

3) My friends' opinions

In that order haha.

Though sometimes I buy a game just cos it has a cool thumbnail on steam. Ok, it only happened once. But it's now my favorite game of all times so I guess it worked lol

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Kazvent

Newcomer

Kazvent

Newcomer

10 years ago

Jan 6, 2015, 9:52:12 PM

i just read the reviews to see if theres is something i don like even if the reviewer likes it or viceversa

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VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

"Golgy in the Lair of the Spider Queen" The best Dungeon of the Endless Boss Expansion that never was.

VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

10 years ago

Dec 30, 2014, 4:44:34 PM

Mansen wrote:
Steam's review system is flawed - It doesn't require people to review their reviews at a later point. Game had a terrible launch or was the victim of a trolling campaign (Total War: Rome 2 and Company of Heroes 2 being great examples of these), those reviews are going to stain the game forever - doesn't matter how many patches or free content that's handed out to the customers.

I stumbled across the Deadstate trolling campaign by one person. Now I know what you mean

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Igncom1

Craver

Infantry win firefights. Tanks win battles. Artillery win wars.

Igncom1

Craver

10 years ago

Dec 30, 2014, 2:29:40 PM

I don't go to any of the networks and usually stick to youtube personality's.

That's usually what it takes to get a game on my radar, the point where I'll buy it is usually after some gameplay footage, and I do mean gameplay, not set demo where everything it set up to look like gameplay, but is all orchestrated by a puppet master.

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BayneRav

Timer

BayneRav

Timer

10 years ago

Dec 27, 2014, 12:30:40 PM

yah metacritcs scores seem way out of line, and then its worse when gamer reviews flood the hype of it to whatever whichway they deem useful... by all means if you make a review perhaps it would be better if said why you are,not just ohh its a bad game because i hated it.

Lol if thats what critisism has boiled down to, its a bad way for any industry to make a name for themselves... Also in regards to big score critics, before go offa the singular review... read the actual post they mentioned

I checked out Infestation:Survivor stories, at metacritic score of 20, and then i read the gamer reviews... and it was like, HOW is it still popular???

Oddly enough the only reason i even heard of it is due to a rL friend occasionally is on it... something about cracked, hacked gameplay that is a free for all with who can cheat the best! Sorta reminds me of Counter Strike: Global Offense on some of the reviews read.

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VIPNasarog

Analyzer Officer

I know nothing. To learn more, come visit us @ eXplorminate.net

VIPNasarog

Analyzer Officer

10 years ago

Dec 26, 2014, 2:04:12 AM

I follow a couple of youtube personalities, and i trust my friends. That's about it.

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LemonadeWarrior

Newcomer

LemonadeWarrior

Newcomer

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 1:49:31 PM

Not anything against Amplitudes Games (Love them), but are some Game Critics bribed to rate highly on (certain) games?

I certainly think so...

What do you think?

#GameCriticConspiracy

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LemonadeWarrior

Newcomer

LemonadeWarrior

Newcomer

10 years ago

Dec 24, 2014, 1:48:45 PM

In my opinion Steam Reviews sort of speak for themselves(Because People)... Youtube is a great way to get Gameplay Footage to see whether or not you will like it after you see its high or above normal rating.

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Nirual

Newcomer

Nirual

Newcomer

10 years ago

Dec 20, 2014, 2:45:01 PM

melkathi wrote:
Best reviews you will get from friends anyway - people you know and who also know you (and are not so self centered that they do not understand that "what I like someone else might not").

Good point as well, though that won't always be an option. But if a friend plays the game, by all means ask him what he thought about it. Especially if you see on Steam that he already spent a lot of hours playing it :-P

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VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

"Golgy in the Lair of the Spider Queen" The best Dungeon of the Endless Boss Expansion that never was.

VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

10 years ago

Dec 20, 2014, 9:15:41 AM

Best reviews you will get from friends anyway - people you know and who also know you (and are not so self centered that they do not understand that "what I like someone else might not").

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Rancor

Oddity

Rancor

Oddity

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 10:41:04 PM

Well I don't really know. I mainly look at reviews at youtube - where the ones doing the talking have pictures showing what they talk about.

My tech knowledge isn't anywhere near enough to know if the specs and whatnots are good or bad,

but if they say that the conversations in a game is terrible and have examples - I can at least choose to agree or disagree with what I see and hear.

the same goes for art-styles, sound (if they're allowed to play it) and such things.

But in the end, if I'm really interested in a game I'll look for a let's play or at least footage of the gameplay to complete my first impression of the game rather than reading just reviews.

I suppose I could simply say that I agree with not trusting a single source - unless that source is yourself after playing the game. - and perhaps not even then at times...

He he , and in the end - my interests in games aren't always what the "masses" want's to play - so who can really say what's good or bad.

(unless something is bad in the way of unplayable bad.)

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Nirual

Newcomer

Nirual

Newcomer

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 8:02:01 PM

I think the bigger problem is that a critic might be biased in other ways or just not match your taste. CynicalBrit for example is someone I very much agree on when it comes to 4X games (and I'd like to hear his thoughts on the Endless Games, actually), but for other genres I don't.

In general, I would suggest to never rely on one source alone. Metacritic can be helpful for an overall reception idea, but I wouldn't take those scores as 100% accurate either.

Another great way to get an idea about a game is to find some gameplay footage of the game. Or play a demo, but that is rarely an option these days.

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VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

"Golgy in the Lair of the Spider Queen" The best Dungeon of the Endless Boss Expansion that never was.

VIPmelkathi

Forgotten VIP

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 7:17:14 PM

From what I talked with the people at Amplitude, it seems that they have not paid reviewers off. They are really, genuinely excited about the high score.

That said, what Mansen said

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Mansen

Enthusiast

Mansen

Enthusiast

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 4:35:13 PM

Even if they aren't bribed the game industry is in such a state that no large reviewer dares point out a bad game unless it is -really- terrible.

Why? Because a reviewer who doesn't like a game has a very high risk of being blacklisted by that developer/publisher, which means they won't get any access to future products for review.

It's pretty much a hostage situation - It is completely different in the hardware business. You can point out terrible flaws and the hardware companies will listen to the feedback and send you their next product. Competition is so much fiercer that they can't afford not to get free PR.

Edit: And no - I don't tend to trust most (if any) reviewer at all who makes a living off of this thing. Especially not if they are employed by a large network of some kind.

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Estus

Newcomer

Estus

Newcomer

10 years ago

Dec 19, 2014, 4:33:45 PM

Maybe, but I dont care about those big sites like IGN, Metacritic, PCGamer, Gamespot, and others, I usually watch reviews from Youtube users, they are more reliable.

The CynicalBrit, HaasGaming, and the AngryJoeShow are my favourites.

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