A 7.5 For Zelda? It’s Still A Great Score, And We’re Too Nice

SG - 7.5; seven and a half out of ten; seventy five percent. In the United Kingdom, it equates to achieving an A grade in any standardised school test, which would suggest that the work was made up of content that was at least three quarters excellence. Which seems pretty fair. With that in mind, why is the internet up in arms over a review of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword by GameSpot, which has awarded the game an overall score of, you guessed it, 7.5?

[NukaCola]

75% is an A grade in UK? Really? I didn't know that. I was in the worst school district in....Delaware, and a 92 was an A- which is the minimum A grade.

The reasons Gamespot game the game a 7.5 were dumb. Couldn't figure out the controls? There is always one. Like AV Club's C which eaquals a 50% for some idiotic reason, some times you get scores like this. Opinions and reviews are not balanced anymore. There is no merit, it's just like reading meta user reviews nowadays. Can't understand why they don't form a centralised rating system for each game console. Why is it that a shooter fan rates a racing game lower because it's to casual, or an RPG fan rate a puzzle game badly for having a cheezy story? Media, needs to change....change back to how it was 10 years ago.

[360ICE]

I don't think media needs to change. Reviews that are written by people who don't like the game can offer a fresh perspective on the game and be a frustrating, but ultimately interesting read, but people who review the games based on personal preferences or people who spend too little time with the game needs to go. There's no point in putting a racing sim hater on Forza 4 and ask him to review it.

[KingSlayer]

Forza 4's a racing sim?!?!

[360ICE]

I knew someone would say that. Don't know why I still went with that example.

[Smacktard]

Games should be reviewed in the context with their genre, their system, and the year they were made. Too many people are ignoring the "genre" and "system" bit.

[iamnsuperman]

"75% is an A grade in UK? Really? I didn't know that. I was in the worst school district in....Delaware, and a 92 was an A- which is the minimum A grade."

Depends what you are talking about. A-level 80% is an A. University (depending on you course)a first could be around 75% (top grade)

OT: "Opinions and reviews are not balanced anymore. There is no merit, it's just like reading meta user reviews nowadays. Can't understand why they don't form a centralised rating system for each game console"

I agree. There is no norm. My personal opinion of the reviewing system is it is fundamentally flawed (not just talking about the scale). The fact reviews use personal preference that influences a score is mind boggling dumb. The fact a reviewer can ignore parts of a game that are less good but one part is amazing and it can get near perfect scores is beyond me. To be honest I look less at the score now because it is fundamentally flawed. The reviews are (sometimes) well written and gives me some idea of what a game is like. The problem is some people and the gaming journalist community rely so heavily on scores. My advice get rid of the scoring system entirely. If a gamer wants advice on a game they should read the reviews and see if it is for them

[BitbyDeath]

I always thought C was considered a pass everywhere meaning 50%. Which should make the 75% mark around a B.

[gatormatt80]

This was my grading scale for college... 100-90 is an A. 89-80 is a B. 79-70 is a C. 69-60 is a D. 60 and lower is a F.

[news4geeks]

we have higher standards for exams in the UK... most americans probably couldn't even name the countries that make up the UK. I can even convince americans on xbox live that Scotland didn't have electricity until the 80s and we are just now getting the first season of friends televised...

[-Alpha]

Trick question, UK is a country. Derp derp

[Nitrowolf2]

Alpha
There are Countries in the UK. Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland If I remember correctly

[Venjense]

United Kingdom Alpha.....that includes countries like Scotland and Ireland....question is are does it include countries in the common wealth.

Anyways, @ news4geeks: just because people don't know shit about Scotland or whatever minor country's possible lack of development doesn't necessarily make Americans stupid.

I'm sure people could convince you to believe a lot of things about cultures and places that you're not exposed too.

A chinese guy could easily convince you that some town in China only got electricity in 2000, etc.

Or an American could convince you about some false history of Oregan.

[-Alpha]

Maybe I should have put /s instead of derp derp?

[Brasi82]

You make it sound like the UK schools teach everything. Most UK people probably cannot name all 50 states that make up the United States. Also, 75% isn't a very high standard, to some schools here in the USA, 75% is barely passing. Your logic is flawed as are your teeth.

[Motorola]

I'm an American and all, but a lot of students in our country cant even name 50 states.

[iamgoatman]

@Brasi82

Theres a differences between knowing countries and knowing different states. It would be the equivalent of asking an American to name every county in the UK.

And teeth jokes, really? Are you just asking for a ton of fat jokes?

[Heartnet]

@Above

Asking an UK Citizen if they can name 50 states of america is completely different to asking an American the countires that make up Uk..

Difference being that the UK has like 4 - 5 (depending if u view north and south ireland different)...

A similar apporoach would be to ask an American to name all the countires in the EU

[Brasi82]

I don't believe it is different, 50 states make up the United States just as 4 countries make up the United Kingdom. How many people, outside Canada, can name the 13 provinces and territories? Also, yes maybe the teeth joke came off as a rude but to my defense the poster just stereotyped an entire country off of the X-Box Live community. Not to mention the posters statement of "we have higher standards for exams in the UK." Which is completely false if the post is correct about 75% being an A.

[dark-hollow]

People are reading too much into the scores numbers without actually reading the reviews themselves.

[christheredhead]

This statement pretty much sums up the entire issue and problem with review scores.

[Hicken]

The problem is that the number should accurately reflect the opinion of the review. Many of them do not.

And then there are the poorly written reviews, or those that nitpick, and are coupled with unnecessarily low scores.

Then there are the reviews that are simply gushing with love for a title, showing various levels of bias, that are coupled with scores that are too high.

[Shnazzyone]

The Immediate issue I have with this article is that the writer is defending an article he didn't write about a game he didn't play. He is in no place to pass judgment one way or another. Eurogamer and gamespots scores are the lowest on metacritic compared to a substantial 20+ saying otherwise. In my honest opinion either they be trolling or the publications at the bottom of metacritic actually gave the game to people who typically don't play Wii games. In which case they should be discounted because they aren't the audience.

[TheOtherTheoG]

90% is an A*, 80% is an A, 70% is a B, 60% is a C, and so on, that's how it works in the UK generally, so yeah, they got that wrong.

[Pikajew]

7 is above average, 6 being average. While 7.5 is slightly above average. And an 8 is great, 9 being awesome while a 10 is perfect.

And Zelda is not an above average game its a awesome game.

[danielle007]

That would be true, but the scores from today's gaming journalists only go from 5 to 10. 7.5 is the average.

5(and below) means an atrocious game. They're all the same score.
6 is bad, but functional.
7-8 is OK. Passable.
9-10 means the game was good to great OR the site is displaying ads from that game right now so real opinions can not be voiced.

That is the true grading rubric for this gen. It's a sad state of affairs.

[BDSE]

EDGE use the entire scale and get flamed for doing so by people who don't understand that for EDGE 5=average, 6=above average, 7=good 8=Excellent 9=near perfect 10=Jesus.

Anyways, people get so hung up on scores, reading the review will tell you so much more than a score can.

[ssb3173]

I absolutely agree, this game is worh atleast a 9 and it sems as if the scoring system is really messed.

[zerocrossing]

This Is Outrage!!!...

7.5? c'mon at the very least it's a 8.5, TP was worse imo and If I remember right it got a higher score, so is TP supposed to be better than SS?

[tiffac008]

At least it wasn't Tom Chicks who reviewed it. lol! XD

Then again he may still review the game... ^^;;

...and may find it fun... >.>

LOL!

[zerocrossing]

Haha yeah! XD If he finds it fun he mite give it a 5.0 lol!.

It's just a little annoying really, what they seem to be getting at is, the game is worthy of a higher score but due to the new scoring system which makes all the 10's they gave out more like 8.0/8.5 it gets downgraded by default, ugh reviews...

[ssb3173]

Agreed, TP wasnt the best of games and it gets a higher score when clearly this is so much better

[smashcrashbash]

Gamespot is usually very strict. They must be tired of the same Zelda formula over and over again like some people are. I mean when does Zelda have time to run the kingdom with being kidnapped all the time? Or Princess Peach for that matter

[zerocrossing]

But this the most different console Zelda game there has been for years, what do they want? to change it so much it's not Zelda anymore?

[-Alpha]

Gamespot is not strict. This reviewer just had a different, stricter opinion.

[dark-hollow]

Weird. Because am sure they gave mw3 a higher score.....

[zerocrossing]

Of course they did it's mw the games always get big hype, high scores and then later get torn apart for essentialy being the same game every year, it's a joke!

[Apocwhen]

Can't agree or disagree with it really. Not played the game yet but it's certainly not going to sway me from not buying it.

Zelda is my favourite franchise and based on the other perfect and near perfect reviews, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

I didn't read the review as I heard it contained spoilers.

[tunaks1]

the reviewers been replying to peoples comments, he believes you use IR for pointer in this game, even though its wm+...

[ronin4life]

Wait... you mean a guy who can't even play the game properly was allowed to critically analyze it?

[gypsygib]

This video is appropriate.

http://n4g.com/news/888847/...

[mamotte]

First of all, remember that we're on N4G. Logic changes depending on the plattform.

If 99% say white, and 1% say black, on a Nintendo game, that black is pure true, and 99% is wrong. Because is obvious.

If 99% say white, and 1% say black, on a PS game, that black is an idiot or worse. Because is obvious.

I mean, suddenly all good scores of zelda are wrong. But we have to believe the system when it comes to a PS exclusive. As obvious as it sounds, logic wins!

[kesvalk]

it's called hipsters, they really need to GTFO of... everywhere. no one likes hipsters...

[for we are many]

In case we apply this scoring system to Skyrim, it should basically be given 5.5/10, after all its only a little more than a Fallout 3 mod.

[pcz]

Sonic Generations is better than Zelda Skyward Sword! According to Gamespot, who awarded Sonic 8.0

What a joke.

Its widely accepted that generations is an average game, mediocre at best.

Gamespot arent doing themselves any favours.

According to Gamespot these games are also higher rated than skyward sword:

Dance Central 2

Sesame Street: Once upon a Monster (!? wtf!??)

Just Dance 3

NBA Jam

NHL 12

The Adventures of Shuggy

.. Those are just a few. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but sometimes opinions are just laughable to the point of ridicule.

skyward sword being 7.5 is just bait to get lots of attention to their site- dont feed the trolls.

[kesvalk]

also, force unleashed 2 for wii got the same score, putting at the same level as SS...

but no, they speak the truth, they would never do this to get hits, not gamespot!

[danielle007]

Awe, don't be mean to Sesame Street :\ It's for the kiddies, it's not meant for you! It's good little munchkins have something good to play.

However, I kind of see your point with regards to some of the other games, but it's all personal opinion. Reviews should always be taken with a grain of salt. I would rate a lot of games higher than Zelda because I've never been the biggest fan of the series -- but I would never review the game and expect people to see my score at end as the be-all-end-all score. However, most reviewers don't have a choice about what games they review. Maybe this guy got tired of the Zelda formula 3 or 4 games back, and is too cynical to see improvements.

It could have been for hits, obviously, or it could be he just didn't like it because he doesn't like Zelda, and shouldn't have been the guy reviewing the game in the first place.

[ssb3173]

Agreed, how it got lower than these games is really stupid, its such a great game

[jetlian]

How the hell zelda get away with no changes after 25 years? No voices, same sound from the nes era, Same rpg elements etc.

Next up Mario!!! Start of a new era one were nintendo gets graded like everyone else

[gnb2003]

Have you even played the latest Mario or Zelda games?

[jetlian]

and it still has the same sounds and lacks voice. Mario still find --- stars link still starts out with the wooded sword/shield.

Both have paper thin stories too.

[gnb2003]

Jet, you can say the same thing for a lot of games on a lot of different platforms.

God of War hasn't really changed at all from the first game - the game mechanics are almost exactly the same, Kratos is simply killing new baddies.

I can go on with a lot of flagship titles - Halo, Gears, Gran Turismo, Uncharted - Master Chief shoots baddies, Gears ducks and covers and chainsaws people, Turismo you drive a car, Drake has third person shooting with a little platforming and puzzles.

That doesn't mean these games are all the same as their predecessors - there are subtle, new differences as well as new stories and new mechanics that make them enjoyable.

No, you simply like to ignore what has changed, as it fits your theory better.

And get of that crap about Mario not evolving - the main mario platformers have been completely different from console gen to console gen.

[Hicken]

Yeah, you COULD say that about a lot of other franchises, but very few of them are as old as Mario and Zelda, which is sorta the point.

[gnb2003]

Hicken, it is true that Mario and Zelda are older, but I don't see how that relates to the point.

The point that jet was trying to make was that the series have not changed, when in actuality they have changed a lot. The original Mario was a side scrolling platformer, and over the years has evolved in these ways - introduced new abilities, the advent of mario suits, became a 3D platformer, added the use of specialized tools (Sunshine), and finally adding gravity and physics based platforming with motion control. It is true that all the games involve mario saving the princess, and collecting coins/stars, but the actual gameplay has chnaged dramatically.

As for Zelda games, we started with a basic overworld/dungeon set up, and have since added - new tools and weapons, 3D with z-targeting, time-travel, dual world gameplay, character transformation gameplay (wolf form), and now recently 1-1 motion control. Again, the stries are similar (actually, the stories change quite a bit), but the gameplay has evolved tremendously.

When you say that this is the point simply because the Nintendo franchises have been around longer, it merely sounds like you no longer or have never played these games, which is fine. I can only hope that you will feel the same way about modern series' (Halo, Gears, GOW, Uncharted) in ten years.

[jetlian]

not saying their bad games! I'm just saying after so long they haven't changed/upgraded to todays standards

Every review i've read said theres a lot of cutscenes in this and it weird when theres no voices with tons of gestures.

unless your def turn the tv on with subtitles on and turn the sound off. You will understand.

And this more about the reviewing process. Just trying to save a princess with no real background is getting boring.

all the series you mention atleast have a long standing story. No mario zelda, fits its own realm