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Are Review Scores Good or Bad? - Top Gaming Journalists Discuss

December 18, 2008 in Interview comments 8

Some really good journalists talk with each other on the subject of review scores on video games. Includes Stephen Totilo (Multiplayer), Dan Hsu (Ex-EGM, Sore Thumbs), Jeff Gerstmann (Giant Bomb), Leigh Alexander (Gamasutra), N'Gai Croal (Newsweek), Shawn Elliott (2K Boston), Kieron Gillen (Rock, Paper, Shotgun) and more. Very long, but very interesting and good read for those of you with the time.

How much is on our minds before we begin playing any given game for review purposes? Will we imagine a range of probable scores that a heavily marketed, highly budgeted, and hugely anticipated game will get? What when the game is branded "budget" or is the work of a lesser-known, less-storied studio? If so, how closely have actual scores correlated with our assumptions?
PacoDG via shawnelliott.blogspot.com »
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  • 2
    The Omega Dec 18, 08
    Scores aren't as relevant to me as the review itself is. I learn more from reading experiences in the game than just doing a quick check of scores, and I can generally figure out if a reviewer is showing bias towards or against the game they are reviewing.
    • 0
      PacoDG Dec 18, 08
      I agree. It's why I can usually get a lot from a Yahtzee review than some more traditional reviews. No matter how hard on a game he is, you can still gather if you'd enjoy the game or not after watching one of his reviews.
  • 0
    The Primagen Dec 19, 08
    Great list of Participants.

    I really cant be bothered taking one side or another in this, the fact is, people don't know what they want.

    Example: GTAIV was released to critical acclaim, some went so far as to say it was the best game ever made.

    A week later? more reviews came out, saying it wasn't that life changing at all.

    Basically they said it was beyond criticism yet criticized it later.
    • 0
      PacoDG Dec 19, 08
      One of my gripes, is when IGN had that first "exclusive" review, gave the game a perfect score, yet if you read the review they wrote up, the game was far from perfect at all. It's like they had one person give it a number score and someone else write up the review.
      • 0
        Final Blade Dec 19, 08
        Except maybe you're missing the point of the reviews. ITS THEIR OPINIONS AND VIEWS OF THE GAME. Of course it's not going to be perfect, when people still think 10/10 is perfect, and comparing GTA4 to San Andreas, which is ridiculous since San Andreas is a off set of the main GTA(numbered) series. You expected too much. GTA4 should only be compared to 3(considering it's a sequel, and that R* always wanted to do a GTA game like GTA4) and truthfully it matched what GTA3 did, only thing it didn't have was more rewards. Not everyone tastes will be the same.
        • 0
          PacoDG Dec 20, 08
          ?

          I think you might have mis-read what I wrote.

          "yet if you read the review they wrote up, the game was far from perfect at all."

          The review that they themselves wrote, left you with the impression that the game was far from perfect, I'm not saying I thought the game was far from perfect (even though I do think it is, but that is not what I was typing out).

          This was there review http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/869/869381p1.html which obtained a perfect score, but after reading all 7 pages, the text they wrote did not imply this was a game worthy of a perfect score. They have given no game since Ocarina of Time a perfect score until this particular review.
        • 0
          Final Blade Dec 20, 08
          That basically means despite the shortcomings of what they saw, that didn't warrant enough to lower the points. It happen before. At the end, as I said, it's opinions.
        • 0
          PacoDG Dec 20, 08
          Well of course its opinions, that is what a review is, just one persons opinions. But you don't feel that their own opinion should be consistent?

          Like I said before your first reply, it is like they had one person give it a number score while they had someone else write up the review. Though of course it can't be proven, it seems as though the money invested to have an exclusive review might have weighed in on the opinion of the game score itself (a related and recent post http://gamegrep.com/blog/16711-game_reviewers_journalist_or_slave_to_the_hype/ )

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