Killzone 2 Backlash (GameStooge.com editorial)

"Much like the MetaCritic Incident in which fanboys used the review aggregator as a battlefield, Killzone 2 is becoming a hotbed of controversy regarding review scores...

...One must wonder if this is a Gerstmann situation in reverse, in which review exclusivity - which, in my humble opinion, is an evil practice that should be abolished - and corporate pressure makes it harder for a journalist to be objective."

[JonahFalcon]

I just know I'm going to regret posting this on N4G.

[boodybandit]

Oh please stop Jonah. Enough already with your BS. You hate anything Sony and are one of the biggest trouble makers on the web when it comes to starting flamewars. This is what you live for.

You could simply remove this story just as fast as you posted it if you were being serious. Anyone that doubts me about Jonah just google him "Jonah Falcon" and see for yourself just what he is into. He lives on usenet and other sites spreading his venom about his hatred for Sony, and in the past, Electronic Arts.

[sonarus]

IGN awarded the game an 8/10????

[spacetoilet]

Maybe the mickey mouse UK site scored it lower I'm not sure.

[bomboclaat_gamer]

FALCON IS THE MAN \O/

[Obama]

You should be ashamed for posting this since IGN gave this game a 9.4 not 8.

[HighDefinition]

Report this as fake, lame and spam. Also REPORT the submitter. This shouldn`t have made it thru.

[freeblue]

Site reviews still think they can just put whatever they want on a review and no one will question their professionalism. they believe just because they say so, gamers will jsut take their words for it even all the videos and handons said otherwise. remember the "non destructible," nitpick "low textures". When they make mistakes, you bet gamers will correct them. It's about time to let the reviewers know they're no higher than the gamers they write for. they just have a priviledge of playing the game early than most, nothing more. They ain't elites.

[crazypuppet]

There is nothing wrong with this story its just an editorial that in my opinion is accurate, all the most recent reviews for killzone have been under 8.5. So i do believe that the initial high scores are due to fanboy pressure on the publications. However, I havent played the game other then the demo so i cannot say that the game is good or bad, only that the reviews have most likely been skewed.

Edit: I didnt realize that they said ign gave it 8, since thats the case i agree with the removal of this story.

[HighDefinition]

Fake info is NOT allowed.

IGN did NOT give Killzone2 a 8. Regardless of how major or minor you feel that is.

[Blitzed]

Another fuc*in troll desperate to knock KZ2 down a few pegs with blatant lies and FUD. What are you guys so scared of? Why would any true gamer not want this game to live up to the hype?

Keep fighting the good fight Jonah, you're really making a difference! 3 people out of the 2 million pre-orders just cancelled after reading your FUD. Now go celebrate by beating off into a gymsock while reading Edge's review!

[pswi60]

i posted a response to your article on your garbage website. hopefully you have the balls to approve it, because honestly, someone needs to put you in your place.

you are the worst blogger/journalist i have ever seen. you must hate yourself and you must hate the ps3 to be putting out all that garbage and propaganda. HHG is even more honest that you, and he is borderline sensationalist. life must suck for you, seeing all these good things happening for the ps3. you are the joke of n4g.

its time the gaming community starts ignoring people who:

1. try to start flame wars with crappy articles like "will X game be X killer?

2. stop giving garbage websites hits that keep repeating the same tired headlines over and over: 'is the ps3 doomed?', 'can the ps3 catch up?', 'will sony make it out of 3rd this gen?' etc

3. start ignoring troll review scores - EDGE should be wiped off the face of the earth for what they did to KZ2 and Halo Wars. Both of these games are at least 9. if a pub wants to be a troll, do not give them your money or hits to their sites

4. stop putting up with media bias period. i have a 360 and a ps3 and i want to know whats good for each. eurogamer recently posted screenshot comparisons for the RE5 demo, and they made sure every ps3 screenshot was as blurry as can be. So i went and got the demo for both, and it looks great on both systems. but even little things like this shouldnt be ignored, and media outlets need to be called on it (like the GT Grid fiasco)

People like this kid Jonah are all over the internet, and they need to be silenced, period. HHG is another one, he is starting to spread FUD, and that is not acceptable just because he is pro ps3. Because as soon as KZ2 doesnt outsell Gears 2 day 1, Xbox fanboys are gonna lash out back at us because of what he said. Its time to stop the nonsense people.

[likedamaster]

boodybandit is a tool!

[BalekFekete]

Jonah -

You know, I really feel sorry for you. Honestly, I do. You have such venom pent up for Sony and/or the PS3, I just can't understand it all. More over, I can't understand how on Earth you can live knowing - knowing as in fact - that Sony now has what is shaping up to be a highly rated, successful title in Killzone 2. The idea that you twist scores of reviews touting how good the game is into some sort of twisted conspiracy is simply pathetic.

I do feel sorry for you. You have your mind closed to a system that is now starting to give the consumer - us gamers - titles worth playing. I own all the major consoles, and have since the original PlayStation. I play the games, not the consoles, so I have the wonderful position of playing truly great games like Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Super Mario Sunshine...all without watching my blood pressure jump out of hatred for any manufacturer.

However, with that said, who I REALLY feel sorry for are Doodirock and DSmooth over at 2old2play.com. The idea that you are co-branding with that extraordinary site is a travesty of epic proportion. This site was a nice idea of theirs to get going, but your repetative pisspoor journalism (or at least attempts to that end) drags that name into the muck. I can't do anything but shake my head.

Sessler said it best..."Take your d*&k, and stick it your mouth so I don't have to hear you talk anymore."

[bomboclaat_gamer]

when a game is massively hyped and overrated.

it comes under massive fire. this game is definitely not perfect, but a good game non the less. not great. it doesnt add anything new to the genre. i.e. generic. graphics are good, ugly textures, blah blah blah lbh blah.

go buy the game when it comes out and shut up. if u like it, no one should influence u to not like it. if so, then ur a sheep. just like most americans

[spacetoilet]

You so cool! ....sigh

[bomboclaat_gamer]

and im so special

thats why mi strapped wid mi 45 special. bwoy a trace mi fi gyal and dem a trace like Petal

[Fruit Loops]

with your annoying typing, talk like us normal people and maybe I can understand

[Alexious]

Ahah, ridiculous and pathetic story. BACKLASH? It's one idiotic magazine giving it a 7. There's another 8, 8.7 and then ALL 9-10 scores. Wait, I know, I know that you Xbots are about to point out that probably the reviewer who gave it a 7 is the ONLY person right on Earth about Killzone 2! But wait....Let me remind you some of the previous EDGE track with game scores.

7 Fallout 3
7 Mass Effect
7 God of War 1&2
7 Killzone 2
6 Resistance 2
6 Call of Duty: World at War

How's it now? EDGE has ZERO credibility. These are ALL pathetic scores. They just want to be sensationalist so people will talk about them all over the net, so whoever tries to use EDGE's review as a shield "against Killzone" is a moron and hypocrite.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

"Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone."

-----> Go that way to the Open Zone ------>

[pswi60]

Crab, then why don't you report him and have your mommy and daddy mods come in and delete his comments so your feelings can be un-hurt.

I see a pattern with you bots lately:

1. troll and flame
2. when the user gets upset, tell them to go that way ----->
3. report user to a mod

Give it up already. It wouldn't offend you tools if it weren't true

[bomboclaat_gamer]

killzone 2 got a 7 LOLLOOOLLOLOLOL

SE7EN OUT OF 10.uhhhhhhhhh
70%...uhhhhhhhhhh
not good enough.uhhhhhhh
oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLASPHEMY

[Cool Hwhip]

How are you not banned from the Gamerzone?

[pixelsword]

if he was however...

=> => =>

[pswi60]

Halo Wars got a 7 LOLLOOOLLOLOLOL

SE7EN OUT OF 10.uhhhhhhhhh
70%...uhhhhhhhhhh
not good enough.uhhhhhhh
oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLASPHEMY

see what i did there?

[Blitzed]

He is not banned because this guy probably is a mod on this site.

Hey Babyclat, the only thing your strapped with (see his 2.2 comments) is a serious case of Carpal Tunnel from jerkin off to the Edge review.

Fanboys are truly fu*ked, it must have been killing you waiting for a low score to come in, despite the fact that it was still relatively positive. Gotta hang your hat on something though right? Maybe now you can stop starring longingly at the PS3 ads in the flyer; when your 360's not lookin of course, wouldn't want to upset your version of American Pie. Hows that d!ck dongle working for ya?

No one is going to take away your 360 when KZ2 is out, you can put the gun away.

[PirateThom]

Thank God for Edge or else the 360 fanboys may not have any way to discredit the game... ESPECIALLY AFTER THEY WENT INTO HIDING AFTER THE NUMEROUS GOOD SCORES.

How sad that people latch on to the only sub-8/10 score and ignore the numerous 9+ scores.

[nycredude]

Maybe you should take your BS into the openn zone. I don't how people like you continue to stay in the gamer zone as it's obvious you aren't into gaming, but hating. GTFUH with your BS. This game could get -50 on metacritic and I would still buy it (Preorder and paid in full), why cause I played the demo and it's perfect for a fps.

[bomboclaat_gamer]

its perfect in ur eyes, cuz ur a fanboy. its not perfect. thats y it got a 7

[pswi60]

it has a 93 on Metacritic. out of 40 reviews, 2 are below 90.

Halo Wars 0.8/10 on Metacritic

If you want to be ridiculous, we can go there

[jackdoe]

Er, publications have given Killzone 2 9s and above AFTER the embargo ended. So, this whole article is flawed. Not to mention, IGN didn't give the game an 8...

[Spike47]

just amazing.

[Kain81]

My people, sons and daughters of Sony. This much I vow.The history of this console generation will be written in blood.By crushing the fanboys of our enemy. By releasing the best game in the genre they thought to use against us.. we are fighting for our consoles very existence.But if there are those who want to deny us enjoyment. Refuse us our rightful place in this console generation. Then we will unleash such a terribly awesome FPS that generations of xbros yet unborn will cry out in anguish!

-break-

The enemy may shatter our sales but they can not break our spirit. Even now they advance on our metacritic gamesections to troll by force what they cannot claim by right. They cannot imagine what awaits them.WE WILL SMITE THE XBROS WITH THIS GAME.Though they sweep over our forums like the trolls of summer vacation. Never again will we be trolled by them; Never again endure their jealousy; Never again endure their lies and oppression. We will enjoy ourselves for hours without caring; playing as one hand, one heart, one soul. We will shatter their dreams and haunt their nightmares. Drenching our ancestors PS2's with their blood.And as our last breath tears at their lungs; as they try to rise again from the ruins of their RROD:ed consoles......they will know, Killzone 2 belongs to the Playstation 3.

[mirroredderorrim]

Hahahahahahaha!

[LTC]

Actually gave it a 9.0

[billybob2468]

IGN UK gave it a 9.2, it was those kangaroo-riding Aussies that gave it the 9.0.

[swiftshot93]

in addition to the IGN (most credible gaming website) review being 9.4, not an 8, all the reviews AFTER the embargo lifted were all mostly 9-10. Good thing this got approved, so now everyone can have a laugh:D

EDIT: Obama, yup. People dont realize thats its over, done, terminaste, finished. Killzone 2 is a success. All these stories about controls sucking (lol all reviews praised controls), glitches and bugs in a demo of an old build, predicting sales numbers etc... ITS OVER! 93 @ METACRITIC+1.1 MILLION PREORDERS IN EUROPE ALONE! seriously just accept and lets move on...

[Obama]

the article outright lied about the IGN score. What a shame. The xbots here are scared of killzone 2 success and had to make up review scores to justify their hatred.

[terrandragon]

I wish games were out for both systems....

[redsquad]

As do I. 360 owners could play KZ2 (if they wanted to) and I could play GEARS OF WAR.
Pity I'm skint and have to settle for one or the other...:( (PS3 in my case)

[NegativeCreep427]

Ummm...as I recall IGN bestowed a 9.4 onto Killzone 2.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles...

This author's credibility for obtaining and correctly representing facts just went FLUSH!!! Right down the crapper!

[thor]

Do people actually read reviews nowadays?

The critical reaction to Killzone 2 has been overwhelmingly positive. Even Edge loved it - though gave it a low score because of the poor story and voice acting (they did the same for Resistance 2).

Fanboys are using it as an excuse to bash Killzone 2, which we KNOW is an awesome game.

Typical comments have been dragged back from months ago like
"Bububu teh gameplay iz not good!!"
"Grafix aren't as good as crysis lulz!!11"
And now new ones are being blown out of proportion such as the controls.

I think a 93% metacritic average speaks for itself, really. Edge has given it the lowest score; and even THEY enjoyed the game. They even said you'll play though it twice just to test the AI.

However you spin it, you can't deny that Killzone 2 is a great game. Sure, it might not "blow you away" - but then, I don't know what you're expecting - it's a game after all, and if you've been playing games all your life, it's not going to "blow you away".

The backlash is pretty much soley directed at the little number Edge put at the end of their review. I personally think they shouldn't put a review score - then people would read the review; it's quite positive actually.

[solidjun5]

I don't know what EDGE was thinking. They praised the game yet took off three points for voice acting and story. In that case, they should do the same for Gears of War and Gears of War 2. Anyway, when a good game for the PS3 is on the horizon, fanboys came out in droves. They'll come out like groundhogs in February. You'll have your outright fanboys like pp and your closet ones like Jokes on You. It's too bad articles like this gets approved.

[Trebius]

I played the KZ2 demo...and it's very well polished, and has a control scheme that is a bit hard to get used to at first, unless you tweak the sensitivity, then it's really not too difficult.

Reviews are opinions, thats all they will ever be. If they were to write reviews on who has the best dog or mother in the world, everyone would go for the one they themselves have. Unless you're eminem or someone that hates their mom....and their pet...

Whats funny is that when people go to metacritic to see a game's standpoint (or what I do anyway), is ill read the top 5, then read the bottom 5...then it sort of puts things at a balance and you can kind of feel out the game for all its positives and negatives.

Get the game, and play it.
Rent the game, and play it.
Go to your friends house, play it.

Dont base your decision on a review though.

[Max Power]

"per se", thank you

[Trebius]

Haha Thank you. As I was typing it I was thinking...is it Perse...or Persay...and I just let it as is instead of looking it up. Now I know though...learn something new everyday :)

Peace.

[Gue1]

Hey I commented on the site like 3 hour ago, where's my comment? I didn't said bad words or insulted anybody. It was a respectful comment... So, where is it?

JonahFalcon and his site suck.

[JonahFalcon]

I meant to write "TVG", not "IGN" when I posted the article. I didn't discover the error til I returned from Comic Con.

http://www.totalvideogames....

[Blitzed]

Yeah, I mix those up all the time.

[JonahFalcon]

Let me ask you a question.

Suppose you're given a major release by a publisher, who says they're going to allow you to post the review pre-release, give you major hittage.

You review the game and find it to be an okay game, worthy of a 7 or 8. How easy would it be to just nudge that score to a 9 to please the publisher, so they'll buy more ad space and give you more hot releases to publish reviews early for?

It already happens in the movie and book industry. All. The. Time.

(Actually, there are no honest book reviews outside of the NY Times Book Review. None. Zero.)

[Blitzed]

Let me ask you a question-

You review the game and find it to be an okay game, worthy of a 8 or maybe a 9. How easy would it be to just nudge that score to a 7 to generate hits so you can sell more ad space and make more money? See what I did there? Its called baseless speculation, and thats what your article is.

Lets ask a more direct question that doesnt call for baseless speculation.

How hard is it for you, a completely biased fanboy, to see that a game that is (despite your hopes) widely praised and obviously a fantastic effort by GG, be exclusive to the PS3?

So hard that you try and spread FUD by focusing on 2 low review scores out of the majority of rave reviews (not to mention the IGN 'mistake'- I guess your fingers slipped) to try and label this game as not meeting expectations?

Lets ask an easier question, do you actually consider yourself a journalist?

Any gamer would want any game with this much hype to meet or even exceed expectations despite what console its on. Gamers love games.

Now go hug your Xbox fanboy, tell it 'its going to be OK' and you'll get em' nextime.

[JonahFalcon]

"You review the game and find it to be an okay game, worthy of a 8 or maybe a 9. How easy would it be to just nudge that score to a 7 to generate hits so you can sell more ad space and make more money?"

So you anger the publisher, who stonewalls you and doesn't give you perks? Um, right. Whose ad space will you be selling to? Joe's Hardware?

[Blitzed]

Thats your response?

First off, I wasn't talking about about exclusive reviews. So, by your logic, Edge and TVG just pissed away all their advertising dollars by giving a lower than average review score?! You do realize that several high scores for this game came out after the embargo, don't you?

Second, I was simply making a point that your article is baseless speculation; and you refuted it by suggesting that my baseless speculation was ridiculous. Thank you for helping me make my point.

Lets ask you another question, did you write a similar article when Halo 3 received 10's from multiple reviews (who allegedly received expensive swag bags)?

Or better yet, did you write a similar article when Gears 2 was given several 10's despite a heavily glitched MP?

[karlostomy]

In this day and age of Sony sponsored exclusive reviews, how can a little journo give an objective opinion if a glorious review comes with fringe benefits?

corruption.