650°

The Evil Within: Why I No Longer Value Game Reviews And Neither Should You

"I remember seeing an advert years ago of a fairly large overweight man in a scruffy barbecue stained white vest and Y front pants, shouting at the footballers on his television screen to run faster and perform better." - Offbeatculture

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offbeatculture.com
jonnyvito3891d ago

"These self appointed journalist make unrealistic demands and high expectations"

Never heard so much crap. That doesn't even make sense. They're just people writing about video games. I don't know anyone who writes reviews and calls themselves "journalists". The best thing to actually do is read a bunch of reviews and watch footage of a game.

Griever3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

Well I think journalists have been quite ridiculous for the past few months or atleast weeks. They have been burning every game at the stake: Alien Isolation, Driveclub, The Evil Within, Destiny, Order 1886 (even though it hasnt released yet) and there might be some more that I cannot think of right now. All of those are perfectly fine and fun games that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, are enjoying. The reviewers have become polar opposite of what they were last gen where they handed every other game a 9 or 10. I personally have stopped caring about reviews after so many good games got poor reviews. I am loving Destiny and still playing it. I am loving Evil Within and playing it every night. Ar Nosurge and Fairy Fencer are decent. These reviewers cannot stop me from having fun.

vishmarx3891d ago

thank god I don't .would have missed out on my goty if I did (tew)

porkChop3891d ago

Man thanks for mentioning Ar Nosurge. Never heard of it before, but I looked it up and it looks pretty sweet. I'm hoping they bring Ar Nosurge Plus to the Vita in NA, I'd buy that Day 1.

dumahim3891d ago

I don't mind reviews that are lower in the 7-8 range. I have thought it's been silly all these years with places on a 1-10 scale and it isn't considered a good game unless it's a 9 or above.
There's nothing wrong with finding faults in a game and marking it down appropriately. Doesn't mean it isn't fun.

Bimkoblerutso3891d ago

We, as gamers, have to be very careful about how we interpret these reviews now. The whole point of GamerGate was (allegedly) to insure that journalists could give these games the score they thought they deserved, without any fear of corporate coercion.

It is perfectly fine to disagree with a review like, say, the IGN review of Alien: Isolation, but we also have to learn how to live with dissenting opinion. It's not so much that reviews hold no value, it's that we don't know how to mine anything of value from them. We've been taught wrong since the industry's inception.

Reviews are meant to present perspective on a game. They are not cheerleading articles. Even a review that you vehemently disagree with can still give you as much perspective on a game as a review that falls squarely into your expectations.

That's not to say that we can't call out obvious troll articles...but...we just have to be careful about how we tackle all of this in light of the last few months.

360ICE3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

Cut reviewers some slack. Sometimes it seems like video game journalists either are burning every game at the stake or that they're on corporate paylists. They seem to have very little wiggle room before they're branded as either one.

As for reviewers being ridiculous in the last few months, Bayonetta 2 has received incredible reviews, Alien Isolation is at 80 on Metacritic, Destiny at 77 even though many users are criticising it. The Evil Within is at 76, which is good, and while The Order has received some criticism, it has also received a lot of positive press. The bad ones just tend to get emphasised here on N4G.

I personally thought reviewers were too harsh on Driveclub and Destiny, but hey, that's my opinion. And there are reviewers out there that agree with me or like the games even better than I do.

To adress the article, I'll never stop listening to reviews. Just recently they've led me to great games like Danganronpa, Prinny and The Walking Dead--games that I otherwise wouldn't have picked up and that are now among my favorites. I could go on forever about how many games I would've missed out on without the press.

FanMan3891d ago

Since when are games with an average rating in the 7s considered burning at the stake?

Everyone acts like games that are in that range are these horrible games that should not be played. You know why you are having a good time with destiny? Because it is a good game, which has been agreed upon by gaming reviewers. We need to get this idea that 7 and 8s are not good reviews.

I am actually happy that people are reviewing these games with higher standards. If we give every fun game an A+ without really criticizing it in anyway then I do not think we can expect games to get better anytime soon.

ChickeyCantor3890d ago

"Since when are games with an average rating in the 7s considered burning at the stake? "

Oh, hello. You must be new. See the stigma with gamers is that if it's not remotely close to a 10, they will think it's a shit game. Even though it doesn't mean that much in reality.

Consumers pull too much on reviewers for their own opinion. Even though they might as well have enjoyed it regardless of that 6-7 rating.

SolidStoner3890d ago (Edited 3890d ago )

Review is based on opinions by people who actually dont play games the way they should be played.. "These self appointed journalist make unrealistic demands and high expectations!" and that is straight to the point!

How can a non gamer person describe and say whats good and bad for a gamer? :) (even if he thinks he is a gamer, and they're not, we can see that many times, they're lying son of a gun!)

Sideras3890d ago

These reviewers can barley play the damned games as evident by footage from e3 and what have you.
Most of them anyways.
Hell the last months they've been more interested in professional victimhood and corruption rather than videogames anyways.

abradley3890d ago (Edited 3890d ago )

As a reviewer, I can say that I'm happy the industry is not doing 9/10 for every game anymore, in fact I still think there are two many 8/10 or 9/10 games today.

Anything above 5/10 is above average and possibly worth buying new, anything below 5/10 is below average and not worth buying new and should be picked up as a bargain.

That is how review scores should work, hence our sites review of Destiny got a 5.8/10, slightly above average but nothing worth shouting about.

I'd love to know what games got really bad reviews in the last couple weeks, AAA wise? Driverclub is 71 on metacritic, the evil within is a respectable 76, alien isolation is a good 79, how are any of those bad reviews or scores. They just mean they aren't something groudbreaking or a must buy for the average joe. Anything above 8/10 has to be something special that really brings some enjoyment to the reviewer or gamer in general. Otherwise it is just a normal game.

Update - Scores were taken from the PS4 versions on metacritic but the other scores seem to be around about the same spot.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 3890d ago
bouzebbal3891d ago

Thank God I am not like you. I would have skipped amazing games like recently knack or dead space 3 cause everyone said that these games stink and they're far from that..
I have never been trusting reviews cause opinions are highly subjective. I'm not expecting to base my purchase on the opinion of a guy that I nerve met. I kinda agree with this article until I read this
'' I think you can usually tell after the first 5- 10 minutes if it's worth getting.''
I would multiply that period by 10

FriedGoat3891d ago

The first half hour of the evil within was complete turd, the fps sucks, it's clunky, the animations fell 10 years old.
But 10 hours in and I love this game.

You can't judge everything in 10 minutes.

DOMination-3890d ago

True. I watched gamespot now playing the evil within and turned off after the first chapter because it didn't impress me. But after reading that I'll give it some more thought

fei-hung3891d ago

Yes, the new strategy used by the gaming media is to say they are not journalists. They review games, write articles on the games industry and earn a living from it but they are not journalists.

It's like being caught with your pants down in public trying to do things to a goat and denying you were doing anything, then denying the goat is a goat, and then denying you are a man, followed by denying you are human and have anything to do with humans.

windblowsagain3891d ago

Is the person in love with the goat, is it a one night stand. What was the goat wearing.

Either way weird analogy that made me laugh:0

joab7773891d ago

With twitch etc.we have multiple ways now.

And i read words not numbers.

I love Destiny for example. Not sure how long I will play or of i keep going back, only time will tell.

geddesmond3891d ago

Reviewers do make unrealistic demands and they do expect so much from games. Also if you look at most reviews they come with pictures of the reviewers were they proclaim that they are journalists. Your right though. I ever heard so much crap except the crap I'm talking about is coming from you.

The only thing you said I can agree with is your last part about watching footage and deciding if it's a game you could like,

jonnyvito3891d ago

It's a massive generalization that you make about reviewers.

What unrealistic demands? Do you mean that reviewers mark games down because they expect too much? Just trying to understand what you mean :)

Baka-akaB3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

Well it's clearly that . I mean it's ok to note negatively or lower a game you found lacking , just ok or bad ... based on it's own merit and the game itself .

Among other examples over years , some people are just mediocre writers when it comes to reviews , and project far too much their expectations , some very unrealistic , on a few games and rate game for what they believed they would be , think they should have been , or should be in the future , rather than what they actually are , at release

FanboysKiller3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

Could you explain how Resident Evil 6 reviews been polished?. And the propaganda of reviewing remastered games? Why they just link to the original review of the remastered games instead of doing it again just to appeal new visitors?. Right, it's all about who generate more online traffics

IGiveHugs2NakedWomen3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

@jonnyvito

"Never heard so much crap."

This^^ and the current state of video game news is why very few gaming information sites are trusted and why most are riddled with biases, corruption, and nothing but self-appointed gaming experts who aren't experts at all.

The author of this article is absolutely right...

From reviewers being paid to give positive reviews for certain games, to the foaming at the mouth Microsoft fanboys trolling the internet with negative reviews for DriveClub and Destiny, these are two of the many examples as to why reviews can't be taken seriously. There are a few reviewers who actually report the facts about a particular game first, then offer up their review/opinion to summarize the story and this article wasn't meant for them. Unfortunately, the word "impartial" doesn't seem to have any meaning to some people simply because many of them have hidden agendas.

I have nothing but applause for the author. Anyone who takes a look at the article objectively won't take it as a cheap shot against reviewers and what they write, rather, anyone who reads the article should use what they have read as a guide, a template for every thing they write and post on the web that is related to video games.

"The Evil Within: Why I No Longer Value Game Reviews And Neither Should You"

*CLAPPING*

memots3890d ago

The mouth foaming is crazy.
Look at how much hype titanfall got it was beyond anything i have ever seen.

Its not just entitlement anymore its elitist/hipster thing going on all over the place.

Automatic793891d ago

I don't play reviews. I play games.

KwietStorm_BLM3891d ago

The best thing to do is use the brain in your own head and make your own decisions. I haven't read a review in years unless I'm 100% at odds if I want a game or not. Couldn't care less about who a reviewer is or what their nitpicky criticisms are.

Spenok3890d ago

The best thing to do is to look at a game and decide for yourself whether or not to buy it. THEN, and ONLY then, decide if they like it or not. They can choose to read reviews, and decide whether or not the believe it. However, what is best is to find someone who reviews games who has a similar mindset, and taste in games as you, and read their stuff. That way you have an idea if you will like it or not.

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Genuine-User3891d ago

reviews are just opinions pal.

Ka7be3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

@jonnyvito and Genuine-User. True. but there are people who give to much credit for those opinions. and Use metacritic to buy games only with the highest scores and ignoring the other games with the lower scores. Calling those games "mediocre" or "failed" games. without playing them or using their own minds.

some fanboys will go and say: "I put tons of stock in a collection of reviews for a game because it shows the general"...... Their opinions matters more than him own opinion...

some "gamers" go far, by thinking that those who give games a score are some gaming guru or something... its laughable.
Then they go post metacritic scores of the game they bought and use it against other games. Saying: "look my game got better scores than yours. ITS A BETTER GAME!"....

From article, "Don't be influenced by couch potato journalists. Make your own mind up and think for yourself!"

Genuine-User3891d ago

I agree with almost everything you have stated.
Similarly I'm glad that I gave DriveClub a chance. Yes the online is broken but the single player is quite good. Also, it looks absolutely fantastic, the best racing game I have ever seen.

FanboysKiller3891d ago

They're just sheep to those websites, Haters follow harsh reviewers just to discredit the games from what they deserve. their arguing is all about overrated games and mediocre's They don't get satisfied either way.

memots3890d ago

How many time are we going to hear this around here.

"the highest rated racing game ever"
This line been so used its ridiculous. Its like your opinion don't matter because of that and everything else that got lower score means that its a flop or something.

schlanz3890d ago

Well I put tons of stock in meta reviews, personally, but I'm no fanboy and by no means will I avoid a game simply because it averages in the 70s. But I may be a lot more inclined to pick something up that is in the high 80s and 90s that I hadn't maybe planned to previously. And it goes the other way too, I won't just automatically get any game that is rated highly.

The thing is many people, myself included, aren't going to plunk down $50-60 on a new game without getting a feeling for the consensus out there. And for me it's less about the money than it is about the time; I don't have a ton of time to spend playing games anymore so the ones I do play, I want to be sure I won't have any regrets.

No matter the argument against meta reviews, they are worthwhile as a quasi-barometer to which someone with no experience with a game can get a sense of the general feelings towards the game. It's not about not wanting to form one's own opinion on a game, it's about a starting point to determine whether or not it's a generally well received or not well-received game, and going from there, reading specific reviews, user feedback, ect.

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OB1Biker3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

They should not be 'just opinions' or they shouldnt be called 'reviews' but essay or opinion article or something similar
Reviews need to be more open minded and help people figure out if they will like the game

MSBAUSTX3890d ago

Thats why I miss getting Game Informer magazine. I could read what the pros and cons were and look at screen shots. I dont know if everyone agrees but I used to have pretty good luck getting my games based on those magazines back in the day. I dont know if they are trust worthy now though since I havent seen their reviews in a long time.

However now I base my purchases on whether the IP is established already and I know its fun, videos, user reviews on the actual download marketplaces for each system or by playing the demo. If you follow all of those forms of input it is hard to be disappointed.

Godmars2903891d ago

Opinions that can promote the sale or non-sale of games. Opinions which are suppose to represent the viewpoint of a consumer, but more often than not is what a publisher or even social-political group wants consumers to believe. Opinions which show more concern towards breast size than if a game is too buggy to actually work because the reviewer is either a feminist and/or friends with the developer.

Genuine-User3891d ago

I agree with you.
I think almost every game should have some sort of a playable demo so people can make up their own mind.

MSBAUSTX3890d ago

I agree with you. It is someone elses idea of whether a game is good or not. However I do like to find like minded reviewers so that if I see a review from them I am a little closer to an idea of whether or not I will like the game. Reviews have a place in this world or else we would all have paid $60 for Haze and we would be wanting to kill ourselves for it.

Reviews are important because they weed out the crap. What we have to remember is that all reviewers are people with different likes and dislikes and the best way to approach reviews is to find those reviewers that grade games based on the same factors that you personally as a gamer grade games on.

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Monstar3891d ago

Evil Within is one of the worst designed survival horror games that i can remember. From the horrid weak recycled RE4 A.I, horrid enemy designs, laughable story, poor animations, broken combat, laughable upgrade system, boring protagonist, shocking camera, collecting green goo, too many unexplained moments, overuse of blood due to the lack of scare-factor...i could go on. The game feels beyond cheap and looks to be designed by amateurs...

How did shinji go from RE4 to this?

Evil Within is influenced by many different games/ideas...yet manages to fuk it all up, it just doesn't know what it wants to be and just throws it all together because its what one would consider scary..without much thought. "hey look, it doesn't have to make sense, it's just disgusting OK?"

5/10

P.S - Father of survival horror my arse. Naughty Dog with Last of Us has raised the bar on what a survival game should evolve too, be... and play like. It's funny cause Evil Within plays like a poor mans Last of Us...just broken in every way possible.

UnwanteDreamz3891d ago

I love TLOU but it is not the pinnacle of survival. I don't know what survival games you have played, but no.

Onenyte3891d ago

just by reading that i could tell your some 18-20 year old PS gamer that does not understand a thing about the survival horror genre....

all thoes points that you mention are in RE4...

JeffGUNZ3891d ago

This.

The original Resident Evil, man that was a gem.

buttclown3891d ago

I would love to see his thoughts on Amnesia

Imalwaysright3891d ago

TLoU isn't a survival horror.

Azfargh3890d ago

I agree in some of your statements...

But gotta say, this need of force everything in art direction to look scary makes it desperately forced... like "hey, I´m a scary horror title! Be afraid!" all the time. But still feels like a thrilling experience that no gamer should miss it...

Besides, TLOU is "Survival", too few "horror" to imply on the genre. I would put Outlast, Amnesia, Alien, Slenderman: Arrival, Dead Space 1 on the list rather than TLOU.

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S2Killinit3891d ago

After the shenanigans they pulled with Destiny i sincerely have come to doubt every review score.

Godz Kastro3891d ago (Edited 3891d ago )

Ryse gave me the same feeling. That was the beginning of the end of my faith in reviews.

Azfargh3890d ago

I agree. Ryse still looks a great game to me. I´m still waiting for a chance to play it on PC, because XBone is definitively not on my list of "must buy".

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60°

The Evil Within Deserved More: A Great Horror Series Left Behind

The Outerhaven writes: While I hold Bethesda's The Evil Within series as some of the best Survival Horror games available, it's clear that Bethesda has no intention of revisiting the series. While Capcom is still working on its Resident Evil series, I look back at the now-dead survival horror series from Bethesda, wondering why the series was left wide open, and yet still not revisited.

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theouterhaven.net
SimpleSlave1h ago

An OK horror series left behind. It had some great ideas, but it never knew how to play to its strengths. Instead, it came out like just another RE4 clone.

I would love for a third entry to come out, but it needs to learn to lean in on the psychological aspect and move away from the generic "pew pew" ideology at the center of the gameplay loop. It doesn't need to abandon it; it just needs to put it into better context, is all.

Also, try a first-person perspective instead. Too many 3rd-person games with nothing to offer but an avatar taking precious screen space. At least make it an actual option and not that janky-ass mess the second game pretended to have.

120°

Tango Was Working On New Evil Within Content & Had 6 Months Old Hi-Fi Rush 2 Build Before Closure

Tango Gameworks was working on new The Evil Within content & had a 6 months old prototype of Hi-Fi Rush 2 in the works prior to closure.

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twistedvoxel.com
darthv72256d ago

...they didn't close, they changed owners. As far as i know HFR2 is still in the works.

Lightning77256d ago

Hifi 2 is still in development. The devs themselves said what they wanted to do with the sequel.

jznrpg76d ago (Edited 76d ago )

They closed then got new owners

-Foxtrot256d ago

The Evil Within Anniversary Edition?

Good God. We were robbed.

I would imagine they would have improved the graphics and animations to bring them more in line with the second game. Wishful thinking but it would have been really cool if they redid the voice lines from the first game aswell with the same actors from the second, I felt they had more personality in the sequel. The only person I thought gave it a bit more than the others was Jennifer Carpenter as Kidman but the sequels voice actress did a great job aswell.

Microsoft is going to do f*** all with the IP and we'll never see a second Ruvik and Seb showdown.

I hope Krafton goes back and gets it after Hi-Fi Rush 2 if it was only because they didn't want the initial purchase to get complicated.

Neonridr256d ago

I preferred the first game to the second to be honest.

-Foxtrot256d ago

I wasn't really making a point at what game was overall better, just the voices were so flat in the first one and it would be nice if the animations and the like would be improved upon.

FinalFantasyFanatic255d ago

I really got to get around to playing the first one, I really liked the second game.

Venoxn4g255d ago

It hurts so bad knowing that there might have been new content for Evil Within..love those games

CrimsonWing69255d ago

This is one of those things I’ll never forgive Xbox for.

127maXimus255d ago

What a stupid, short sided move by Microsoft. Comparatively it would have been cheap for them to hang onto their only Japanese studio, with actually good games that people want to play. I struggle to understand how Phil Spencer is still employed. At this point it is Kathleen Kennedy levels of failure.

BlackIceJoe254d ago

Well said about him being Microsoft's version of Kathleen Kennedy.

All he has been doing is to destroy Xbox and it is unbelievable he falls upwards.

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330°

Tango Gameworks employee shares pictures from the Xbox studio's final day

The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush studio has closed its doors.

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videogameschronicle.com
Einhander1972366d ago

This shouldn't have happened.

Who's next..

JEECE366d ago

Ninja Theory, most likely.

tay8701366d ago

Ninja theory. Others will follow as well. The smaller studios MS owns should all be worried. Maybe MS will try and release some of their games day and date on ps5 to save some of these studios.

jznrpg365d ago

I can see Ninja Theory. At least Tango made a game that was reviewed well. Ninja Theory spent a lot of years to release a tech demo that didn’t do well at all.

repsahj365d ago

I get it that Hellblade 2 is a boring game, but I hope they are not the next to be closed.

ABizzel1365d ago

@repssahj

Ninja Theory is likely on the chopping block too. They released Bleeding Edge which bombed, took 4 years to release Hellbalde 2 which doesn’t seem to be doing well, and still have Project Mara in limbo. They’re high on the chopping block.

MS was likely expecting their God of War / Uncharted quality game from NT based on Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, DmC, and to an extent Hellblade 1, but NT hasn’t delivered since Hellblade 1 which was 7 years ago.

Sonic1881365d ago

And Obsidian after Avowed releases

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Petebloodyonion366d ago

I rarely agree with you but on this I do!

PRIMORDUS366d ago

3 trillion MS is worth, yet they do this, well Phil the shit bag did. No studio needed to be let go, when you are worth this much.

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anast366d ago

Sad, but I see characters and posters of either less than average or barely average games.

LoveSpuds366d ago

Have to disagree here duder, with respect. Evil Within was a good game and the sequel was fantastic, as was HiFi Rush. I'd concede Ghostwire was pretty average but regardless, shuttering a studio which just put out MS best game in donkeys years was complete shithousery on XBox' part.

Einhander1972366d ago (Edited 366d ago )

Microsoft paid 8B to buy Zenimax then fired well over 1000 people from Zenimax between the time they closed the deal and they announced these shut downs.

People talk about the 1900 they fired most recently, but that was only one wave of three sets of layoffs from their gaming division so far this generation totalling around 5000 people this generation. Not counting the dozen plus studios they canned last gen including Lionhead the original Fable developers.

anast366d ago

By every real metric HiFi was an average game. I don't see an Evil within poster in the thumb, which is a shame, because if they threw their weight behind that IP, they might have still been around.

LoveSpuds365d ago

I don't understand how you can say it was average in every metric when it garnered the reviews it did?

365d ago
Fonsecap366d ago

Working people paying the price for leadership bad decisions, so unfair...

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