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

[jonnyvito]

"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.

[Griever]

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.

[vishmarx]

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

[porkChop]

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.

[dumahim]

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.

[Bimkoblerutso]

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.

[360ICE]

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.

[FanMan]

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.

[ChickeyCantor]

"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.

[SolidStoner]

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!)

[Sideras]

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.

[abradley]

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.

[bouzebbal]

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

[FriedGoat]

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-]

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-hung]

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.

[windblowsagain]

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

[joab777]

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.

[geddesmond]

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,

[jonnyvito]

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-akaB]

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

[FanboysKiller]

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

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

@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*

[memots]

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.

[Automatic79]

I don't play reviews. I play games.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

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.

[Spenok]

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.

[Genuine-User]

reviews are just opinions pal.

[Ka7be]

@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-User]

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.

[FanboysKiller]

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.

[memots]

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.

[schlanz]

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.

[OB1Biker]

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

[MSBAUSTX]

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.

[Godmars290]

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-User]

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.

[MSBAUSTX]

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.

[Monstar]

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.

[UnwanteDreamz]

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

[Onenyte]

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...

[JeffGUNZ]

This.

The original Resident Evil, man that was a gem.

[buttclown]

I would love to see his thoughts on Amnesia

[Imalwaysright]

TLoU isn't a survival horror.

[Azfargh]

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.

[S2Killinit]

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

[Godz Kastro]

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

[Azfargh]

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".

[Klonoa-dreamtraveler]

i have never relied on a review but its interesting to see what people rate it and based on why. everyone has different taste of likes and dislikes and the credibility is to be taken lightly even from a trusted source. iv seen people say they would just rent or buy it used or skip it entirely cause how easily these people can be manipulated by one random guys score on a game. if i see a game that interest me ill research about it get it and judge it for myself.

[ion666]

Ign , What can I say...but F those guys they said alien isolation sucked. I find it to be a game of the year contender.

[Rivitur]

They call them IGNorant for a reason.

[eferreira]

The reviewer did say if you love the game then hes glad you're enjoying it.

[OB1Biker]

'Don't be influenced by couch potato journalists. Make your own mind up and think for yourself!'
I couldnt agree more..

[Godmars290]

Still, its a bit hard to do when they're often the first "opinions" you hear.

[scark92]

The sad truth.. the amount of times I stopped caring about a game that got negative reviews and then hearing it was great by others..

[DaNineTwo]

I agree that there is shock value, click bait, and trolling when it comes to video game reviews nowadays. There are games that are great, but get flak for petty, and sometimes, baseless reasons. Destiny is a case in point. Sure the story is not that great but I hear no one complaining about the story about the last 27 Call of Duty games.

[Stoppokingme]

The scoring system is the problem.

A great game will be given a bad score so that a writer can generate hits, and once you've made that click there is no going back.

Some genius once gave TLOU a 7.5. The only reason why they did it is to get attention,even though TLOU was praised by all and it deserved the praise.

[edqe]

If the reviewer likes complex and versatile games and dislike TLOU's simple and tedious game mechanism and heavy handholding, what could he/she do but give low points?

To me TLOU wasn't even 7/10 game. I just didnt' like it no matter how much reviewer X did.

[knifefight]

Hey, is that independent thought?

This isn't allowed here. Get that out, now.

No more thinking for yourself. You either fall in line or show yourself the door!

[Malice-Flare]

i don't call them reviewers, i call them critics because they behave like film critics. i don't trust them either...

[UnwanteDreamz]

Thank you this is what I've been saying.

[tombfan]

I AGREEEEE!!!!!!! Lately the so called reviews are just making them for the sake of having clicks, notice and so on... they do not care about the fun anymore, they just want a game to be pretty and familiar, some of them even go along with the flow and say the game is crap after another one said it.

Well guess what! The Evil Within does NOT desserve the trashy talk that a lot of people is going for, the game is at best amazing! at worse, fun, it has some hicups here and there but that does not take the AMAZING value of the game, it's inventive, take a lot of risks, you get blown away of everything that's happening, it's tense, scary, athmospheric, and a BLAST to play, my boyfriend and I just couldn't stop playing it and we are now at chapter 11, the chapter 10 was TENSE AS FUCK (In a good way)!.

After the fisrt 2 chapters you get used to the camera and view angle and after that you just get in the game like if Sebastian where you, also it DOES feel cinematic with that ratio spec.

It's worth a try.
I'm not even into scary games and I'm LOVING IT, even tho I'm scared 75% of the time I've played it.

[iistuii]

My main gripe was the Alaising issues & apart from the nice lighting in some areas , I thought it looked like a last gen game, it is so jaggie I'm sure there isn't any AA in the game engine.

[tombfan]

I think it was planned like a Last gen only and then the new consoles came out so they could upper the bar, the game looks fine on 360 I'm playing in the console, and I'm sure that in new gen the textures and lightning are WAAAY better :p anyway, the graphics aren't everything in this game, they have a lot of things going on.

[ChronoJoe]

This doesn't make sense in the context of this game. The author describes it as if it's some kind of accomplishment just to get a game to its state as a final project, and clearly places value on the director (Shinji Mikami) in spite of objective analysis of the game.

More of the problem is the way consumers treat video game reviews as 'bad' if they are 7 or below. Evil Within has scores of 73 (PS4) and 84 on XBOXONE, both of which are representative of a good game, but with some significant flaws. That is evil within in a nutshell, at its best it is a fantastic horror experience but for every merit there is a frustratingly designed boss encounter or section of the game where the framerate dies.

The same goes for titles like Driveclub and Destiny. These games aren't bad, just could be better. Reviewers giving these titles a 7 are not shitting on them, they are merely being fair.

[OldDude]

Translation:

The game I like got a bad review so now reviews suck. Stick with reputable sites, not just sites looking for hits and yes, they offer insight to any game. No matter what the score, it doesn't mean you wont like it though. For instance I very much enjoyed Ryse regardless of the score.

[hazelamy]

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

yeah, these people telling us what to think.

wait, what was your article called again?

"Why I No Longer Value Game Reviews And Neither Should You"

oh.

[knifefight]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the irony.

[LightofDarkness]

It's hypocrisy, not irony.

Irony would be:

After writing the article, the author is crossing the street. As he is crossing the street, a man yells something at him that he can't comprehend and in his confusion he is stricken by a moving vehicle and left badly disabled. In the police statement, it is revealed that the man yelling at him was a videogame journalist warning him of the oncoming car.

[RTetro]

I stopped reading reviews a long time ago. They are going the way of the dinosaur and everyone knows it. I much prefer Quick looks by giantbomb and others along those lines.

[pompous]

Reviews are becoming more and more irrelevant now that both consoles have direct streaming capabilities. Now that we can watch direct gameplay we really don't need reviews anymore as we can see with our own eyes to make judgments while asking questions to the person playing to get everything we need. If one is to use reviews then I suggest reading and only reading multiple reviews to get an idea of the game ignoring the number.

I think reviewers now know this and need to be controversial to draw more hits to their sites as I bet all this direct streaming is having an influence on the amount of hits their sites get on review days.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

How do you know that the person streaming the game hasn't been paid to endorse it? Independent thinking can take you a long way.

[feraldrgn]

I prefer reviews from everyday people, rather than collective business groups.

[scark92]

Yeah because everyday people review games usually on the value they paid for or satisfaction it gave, but business groups review for money.

[bloop]

Not when they're fanboys dishing out low/high scores not representative of the game though.

[DarkLord1003]

I just hate it when random people on the internet try to convince me to do something they think is the best for me... Headline should have stopped at 'Why I No Longer Value Game Reviews'
the neither should you is so annoying...

[dmonee]

I definitely get caught up in review scores. I try not to, but its tough not to look at a particular journalists score. I find myself now, using a review to edjucate myself on what the game entails. For example, I'm not a big multiplayer gamer, some games high review scores reflect on how awesome the multiplayer is, even though the single player experience is lame. Just looking at a review score average of 9/10, I would purchase the game only to be surprised that its all about the online game. To me, it is not a bad game, just not the game for me. My last pount is, I read a review for an NBA 2k game and the reviewer admitted that they werent even a basketball fan, then gave the game an 8/10. Thats a problem to me and the review loses all its credibility when the journalist admits that. Im looking forward to WWE2K15, but will discredit any coverage from anyone that covers it who is jot a fan of wrastlin'......

[ion666]

I bought nba 2k 15. It's the first basketball game I've played since 2006. My god it's amazing. I come from the old school and the first basketball game I ever played was nba live 95. So I really appreciate the realism the game brings. It's a must have for a nba fan.

[dmonee]

I thought last years was very good. Looking forward to this years. Question is, would you trust a review for this years nba 2k from a journalist that is not a basketball fan?

[blakstarz]

Is the framerate really that bad on the consoles, was it addressed? I definitely want to get this, I keep hearing there was a patch out, but I heard its something for the letterbox display

[tombfan]

It's not half as bad as everyone seems it to be... there are times when enemies explote and the game freezes for just a fraction of a second, but it's because they are so SO many parts that are destroyed with them that I think it's hard for the CPU to calculate it so quickly.

It has some dips here and there also, but it's NEVER unplayable, in fact you get so absorbed in the game that you just forget that the frame rate is going low, you just want to get the fuck out of every scary encounter.

[Yokan]

What he said, immersiveness is the key to fully experience the evil within. With that said yoy wont notice a thing.

[blakstarz]

Thanks!

[Yokan]

There is no problem with the feamerate, it runs at 30fps and sometimes, it dips a tad bit but other than that, no. The game is fantastic, the black borders add a bit more to the cinematic feel of the game. If you like RE4 this will be your GotY. Its sooo good.

[tombfan]

Yeah, the black borders at first are a bit annoying, but after a chapter you DO feel the game in a more cinematic way, I agree with Yokan.

[Ashunderfire86]

The Evil Within already has high praises, this article should be gear towards Alien Isolation, you know that review debacle with Ign and Gamespot. I played through that game from beginning to end, examine the so called cons Ign and Gamespot complain about. They are flat out wrong about the save stations, which were just to many of them on normal even around the end, so what is the need for auto saves? The game length is justified for 20 hours! Why would you want to play a 4 to 6 hour game for 60 bucks? Plus the Alien franchise is so big that it need all those hours to show them, for reasons I won't spoil. I made a mistake an bought the Darkness 2 for PC instead of renting it, because it was too darn short for 4 hours and the coop was 2 hours with little to no replay value! What the hell were they thinking overpricing that game?

So there is nothing wrong with Alien Isolation length it was worth it. The whole back tracking thing is to get to new areas, and get items you miss. Plus the areas change overtime too for reasons I won't spoil. Heck Metroid Prime one of the greatest games of all time is all about backtracking, yet it got a higher score. Watch streams on Twitch and Ustream, rent or buy the game. Screw the critics, they don't decide what you should do with your life, that's for you to decide.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

IGN is full of casual gamers.

[Mithan]

Read forum comments.

[mochachino]

"...the keyboard warriors of our generation whose only intent is to write for the sake of shock value and sensationalism."

Sums up the majority of gaming journalists IMO

[Loadedklip]

The problem people have is that they look at everything in absolute. They can't accept to just look at reviews as a guide. Read the actual review and not just the number. Then read a few more reviews. Look for differences in opinion on the same part of a game.

I saw some negative reviews for Evil Within were theur biggest complaint was something I know I personally wouldnt mind (difficulty).

No game is uinversely loved by everyone since we are all unique individuals. I knew even based off of the bad reviews that the Evil Within was a game for me.

[ion666]

Hard mode gets a lot of hate. How would people hone their skill and get better. When I was a kid ,every game was on hard mode .I'm looking at you mega man, ninja gaiden(the original)and those games are still amazing.

[Loadedklip]

So true. Today's games are just flat out easy compared to the games before. When I found out Evil Within was "difficult" ... I saw that as a positive especially for a horror title. I should FEAR dying imo.

[Harold_Finch]

So, another words, you are letting the Marketing team convince you, they are only there to give the corporate side of the business a voice.

Find one critic that you agree with on many points. No Journalists that work for big websites are paid off, lest they get the sh*% sued out of them.

[MAULxx]

I think this goes without saying but it' nice to hear it and be reminded of it.

[Ch1d0r1]

The only reviews i listen to are my Fav youtubers like Boogie2988, Angry Joe, Total Biscuit, Jim Sterling, etc...

The big site "journalist" (if thats what they want to be called) rush through the games, skip cut scenes, play the game on easy, play the games before any major patches, etc. Personally i think they should included all the things mentioned above in their review. I could careless if they played on PC, PS4, or Xbox.

[quenomamen]

With millions spent developing some if these top releases I highly beleive some if these so called
"journalists" are on the payroll. If you think otherwise then I got some swampland to sell you dirt cheap.

[EastOfTheAnduin]

Reviews are completely subjective. They are just one person's opinion.

I rented The Evil Within and thought it sucked. I rented Destiny, loved it, bought it, then rented it again just so I could play it until my copy arrived in the mail. Currently Destiny is sitting at my GOTY and The Evil Within is... not. Both games have a 76 on Metacritic.

My advice? Rent the game first. I have a Family Video near my house, where I pay around $10 dollars a month to get half off all movies and games. I play just about every new game that comes out and I only pay $3 for 5 days. When I take one back, I pick up another. If I really like a game, I will then go out and make the purchase.

Form your own opinions. Don't just take the word of a palm greased "journalist" or some YouTube pseudo-celebrity (who probably also has their palms greased) as fact. Try before you buy and pick up a game or two you normally wouldn't. You might be surprised and find a game you really like but never thought you would.

[horndog]

I've heard evil within is actually good. Ign gave it a good score and that's what some of us go by. Sometimes you got to take info from a credible source that's been around for a while and I believe Ign fits that bill even though I have disagreed with them on a few they usually are unbiased.

[sanosukegtr123]

I always buy the physical copy of a game and try it. If it suits i me, i'll keep it if not return for a refund simple.

[KontryBoy706]

I trust youtube gaming community reviews any day over mainstream industry reviews

[Father__Merrin]

you what game is special to me? its destiny i think its amazing

[Lastlivingsoul]

I actually got The Evil Within due to positive reviews. I like the gore, but I honestly think it is a pretty terrible game, for all the reasons that other commenters here have already pointed out. It does remind me of Resident Evil 4, but only in the way that the game feels like it came out in 2005. I just went back to playing Destiny and Alien, which are two games that reviews almost talked me out of getting. So it does feel like the reviews are a little off for this console generation so far. That said, I will continue to read reviews and in no way will I stop paying attention to them or suggest that other people change their actions due to my opinions. The conspiracy theories about video game reviews are absurd. They are opinions. People are never going %100 agree on the quality of any video game ever.

[RandomDude655]

The problem is pretentious journalism using their podium to tell others what to buy or justify their own bias.

Make your own games if you can do it better.

[gnomefighter3d]

I couldn't agree more, this game is a breath of fresh air and I can totally feel the Resident Evil "Within" it, thank you for the great experience Shinji Mikami : )

[Talgrath]

Reviews are just an expression of the reviewer's opinion, they're not absolute fact. Some reviewers love the Evil Within, some don't. What you do is find a reviewer or review site you seem to agree with and then see what they think of a game you are thinking of buying; it really is that simple. Complaining about review scores is literally saying "I don't agree with something somebody thinks and wrote or said so I'm going to complain about their opinion!"

[jbrock11]

Say what you want about Metacritic but users for the most part aren't impressed by this game taking into account the avg. score across the 3 major platforms, 6.6. I'd have to say, I agree with them. Nothing about this game, other than the hype, makes me want to play it.

[ginganinja]

At the end of the day, people have to take some personal responsibility about their purchases. If you think you might like a game that a reviewer doesn't, then find out what they fault the game for - if that's not a concern to you then fine.
Similarly, the other way round. Just because critics praise a game to high heaven, it doesn't follow that everyone has to like it. e.g. Music mags could claim the next Bieber album is awesome, but I highly doubt I'd buy it. Neither of us would be wrong in our opinion.

[Subaruwrx]

I find reviews to be a useful tool to use before I spend $60.00 on a AAA game. I read many reviews before deciding if I want to shell out my hard earned cash on a newly released game right away or to wait until it's discounted a few months later. I don't just look at the review scores, I actually read the reviews. That said, reading a lot of reviews at least gives you a way to weed out the real stinkers from the (depending on your taste) maybe to must buy games.

[urwifeminder]

Cry it up again fans dry off quick before the next tear storm.

[CuddlyREDRUM]

The overall message from the replies is...

"Buy everything, don't listen to any review", but why would I listen to you if I am not supposed to listen to any review. These are more corporate responses than consumer responses.

[Harpers_Ferry]

Anyone who values reviews as anything more than some person's opinion is doing it wrong in the first place. You have a functioning human brain and the internet, which should be all you need to seek out information and footage of a game in order to make an informed decision.

Not all games are made with mass appeal in mind, so the usefulness of a tool like metacritic is going to vary depending on the product.

[Guitardr85]

Wow, am I the only person that is actually enjoying The Evil Within???

[ashen122]

welcome to the club of doing your own research and knowing what type of games interest you.

EDIT just looking at a review score is NOT doing your own research lol

[purp13m0nk3y]

I long ago gave up using reviews to make educated choices on which games to play.

I still enjoy reading them, but I now use them sort of like a "preview" if that makes sense? As a way to see some footage/screen shots. Get a basic overview of gameplay mechanics and any performance issues.

But I've bought too many poor games and missed too many gems over the years to take any reviewer's "opinion" as gospel any more.

Even if a game is considered a critical success, that doesn't mean you as an individual will even enjoy playing it. Hell some of my fondest gaming memories of this gen have been games that didn't even score well. But I had a blast playing them.

[Ra3030]

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

Not that I ever really put much into other peoples opinions but the very last straw for me was TItanFall. You just never know who's being paid to say what in the gaming world. I mention TitanFall with Microsoft but Sony and many others are just as guilty.

[CoryHG]

I like the game, it's just no technical masterpiece and feels dated in comparison to something like Alien Isolation.

[SouljAx360]

This is definitely survival horror.
Everything past chapter 3 seems to kill you in one hit because of always having that last bit of health, your character doesn't know advanced MMA fighting techniques, and weapons are surprisingly balanced to make combat challenging.
The game is spooky. And for some reason there are BOMBS EVERYWHERE. With that said, I'd give it a 5/10 myself.

Black borders killed it for me at first along with the FPS, but then once I got over that the 300 bomb traps found throughout the game killed the horror for me.
I was more concerned about finding and handling the bombs then focusing on the monsters. In fact, at a certain point in the game I just stopped caring about the monsters and environment all together and only focused on not running into traps and reloading the save when things went wrong.
I think if they would have not relied so much on traps and made normal enemies more challenging instead it would have been a better game where you could really put your focus on the scary stuff you were dealing with.

[sovkhan]

Let's be honest, it is not the reviewers fault, if people take their words for granted...

I've always said make your own decisions, if all the people looks to reviews as what they are, aka opinions, the gaming world will probably be a better place, this and getting rid of the fanboys crowd also!!! That would be perfect!!!

[deathtok]

I'm not sure we need yet another article decrying that "reviews are just opinions". Let alone one reads poorly because of questionable grammar choices and sentence structure.

[Darkwatchman]

The problem isn't the reviews themselves and the act of being critical. The problem is inflated review scores and how people interpret them. I've seen people say ridiculous crap on video game reviews like "I don't buy any game that gets lower than a 9. I don't want to waste my money"
That's an absurdly high expectation and will ruin you in the long ruin. People fail to understand that a 7 is good and even a mediocre review score of 6 is still worth it to big fans of the genre, but not to everyone else. Every single website or magazine that details its review scores pretty much always pegs a 6/10 as the kind of games that fans of the genre should probably pick up, but it should be approached with caution if you're not the biggest fan. If a review outlet gives The Evil Within a 6/10 and you absolutely adore everything survival horror, then the review isn't telling you not to buy it. It's simply a warning to people out there that aren't as big into the genre and might have issues with some of the genre conventions. People need to have minds of their own and stop being so self-entitled and acting like a reviewer giving their beloved game a less than 9/10 score is blasphemy. Learn to interpret reviews for yourself and find out if you yourself would like it based on the negatives and positives mentioned by the reviewer.

[knifefight]

I love this so much:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

HE SAID THE WRONG THING

[TuxedoMoon]

Reviews are just opinions. Not EVERYONE is obligated to love a game. So if you read a review and that reviewer didn't like the game, you're not obligated to agree. There are several low score games I like and there are several high scoring games I absolutely dislike. Just play what you like.

[Azfargh]

ops

[Azfargh]

Thats why I rather give a look on gameplay videos:

-Army Of Two: Devil´s Cartel
-Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
-Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
-Beyond: Two Souls
-Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
-Dynasty Warriors series
-Dead Space 3
-Lost Planet 2
-SplitSecond
-Many others titles

I´ve would lost all these great and fun titles if I actually have given a crap about critics reviews.

[dreamed]

Only one of those thats any good is ds3 and thats been rebuilt for the masses.

dynasty warriors has gotta be the most boring franchise in history imo....raccoon city are you mad it was worse than re6?.

[dreamed]

Anyone calling evil within goty,are blinded by want of a console horror game coz imo its so obvious they wanted just pure action and at the end thought lets limit ammo so we can call our flatout action tps "survival horror".

Between the shite aim & the black bars even the action is a ball ache..who on earth thought that it would be a good idea to pull the camera in so close when aiming to the point where you cant see shit???.

This game was such a let down imo,i'll give it 6/10 just coz i like most of the way the levels look,but the rest stinks.....dont get me started on zombies with guns geez,they were shit in resident evil & equally shit in this ball ache of a game........

now alien iso that is a cool game imo,you dont do much but pull levers but the rest is cool.