It's the question of the week: how important are video game reviews to you? Are they an essential part of your gaming life? Or do you just ignore them?
There was a time when I wouldn't buy a game if it scored under a 7, below 4 stars or below a B from the main mags out there, but over the years it has become increasingly evident that like just about anyone in a chosen field.....the reviewers have become complacent in their jobs, jaded to the industry and pretty much just biased towards one company or the other. I have stopped caring so much about the numerical or graded scores they give and just read the reviews and take it with a grain of salt. If the game looks like I may enjoy it and the critics say it sux I will pick it up and see for myself. Have found some really great games out there that some biased turd thought sucked.
These guys and gals that work for the media are just human beings with opinions and preferences just like everyone else, which means that just like everyone else....except for me of course, that they ARE WRONG A LOT! :)
The actual content of the review and its information about game mechanics,playability and any issues (dodgy camera angles etc) is far more important than a mark out of 10 to me.
If games did have to have a score system i believe the out of 5 method is simply the best........with the out of 10 system any game scoring 7 or less is a massive failure according to alot of posters on these threads!
You cant beat a bit of hands on time though with a game before purchase,demos are a nice indicator usually - infact i was really hyped up for the HALO WARS game but after the demo and an open mind i decided against the purchase........
...that the actual review itself could be seen as valuable as they are giving the pros and cons of the game, but the score at the end, I would not pay much attention to. A lot of the time they contradict each other.
I would prefer a written review with no score, letting me decide whether or not to pick up the game after reading the pros and cons, therefore making an informed decision.
Far too many people ignore the actual review and focus on the score, therefore missing out on some really great titles due to a game being rated an 8 or 7. With the use of scores it just leads to the 'my game is better than your game' [email protected] which gets pretty damn boring.
Like the guys above me said, reviews are opinions, they are not fact, different people, different opinions. Use reviews as a guideline but never base your purchase solely on the scores at the end of the review, if you do that you will miss out on some great games.
Take them into condiseration but let your tastes guide your game purchases.
we form our own opinions. you will favour reviews that match your opinion.
that being said, reviews should be as informed and objective as possible, but that is rarely the case!
actual scores are a farce, especially if only an overall score is given. most games tend to have a few redeeming factors that we should respect :)
they only hold so much weight, i enjoyed genji 2 on ps3, and it got less then 75 from every reviewer out there.
-nai-
The actual content of the review and its information about game mechanics,playability and any issues (dodgy camera angles etc) is far more important than a mark out of 10 to me.
If games did have to have a score system i believe the out of 5 method is simply the best........with the out of 10 system any game scoring 7 or less is a massive failure according to alot of posters on these threads!
You cant beat a bit of hands on time though with a game before purchase,demos are a nice indicator usually - infact i was really hyped up for the HALO WARS game but after the demo and an open mind i decided against the purchase........
...that the actual review itself could be seen as valuable as they are giving the pros and cons of the game, but the score at the end, I would not pay much attention to. A lot of the time they contradict each other.
I would prefer a written review with no score, letting me decide whether or not to pick up the game after reading the pros and cons, therefore making an informed decision.
Far too many people ignore the actual review and focus on the score, therefore missing out on some really great titles due to a game being rated an 8 or 7. With the use of scores it just leads to the 'my game is better than your game' [email protected] which gets pretty damn boring.
Like the guys above me said, reviews are opinions, they are not fact, different people, different opinions. Use reviews as a guideline but never base your purchase solely on the scores at the end of the review, if you do that you will miss out on some great games.