What Game Are You Playing At The Moment?

[Chmpy]

I am a game developer and I absolutely HATE numbered reviews, but they absolutely control sales. I have had a game be reviewed in the us with an "ok" written review but a bad number (3.0 out ouf 10!) because the reviewer "Doesn't generally like this type of game"... but then in another country the same game got a 9 out of 10 and went on to sell really really well there. So either games are more fun based on the country you live in and both reviews reflected the population they represented... or reviews are totally subjective and you should read a review for the content and decide for yourself if it's the kind of game you want to play.

[Space Indaver]

Like I say, there is some use to numbering IMO, if only to point out which games don't function or control to a satisfactory level, or don't provide enough bang for the recommended retail buck. But if you look at what a number tries to achieve, ie. an at-a-glance preview of whether a game should be worth the reader's attention or not, a quick pros v cons bullet point list can achieve the same thing.

When all is said and done though, if I have a few quid to spend on a pre-owned or older game, and my brain is drawing a blank (as is the way with the law of sod), I'll jump on to gamerankings or something similar just to drum up some ideas.

[ThisIsMyUserName]

I find the best reviews are the angry 1 star Amazon spams or Metacritic.
Using COD4 or 5 or whatever the last one was as an example, IGN gave it over a 9 across all platforms. Despite having better graphics and vastly better controls, the PC version was intentionally crippled and grossly overpriced. These two things weigh much heavier in my mind. Readers giving it a 2-4 was a much more accurate review, even though they mainly focused on the consolized multiplayer.

Same goes for DRM. I buy games to enjoy. If I'm annoyed in the slightest during an install, reinstall, or "activation", I usually won't buy the game. I don't want even the possibility of not being able to play anytime I want, on any system, with or without being online. A 9 star/point game that annoys me drops to a 1 star in a heartbeat.

These things tend to focus more on PC games rather than consoles, since I think PC gamers are much more aware when we have something taken away or charged for out of the blue.

Besides PC Gamer, anyone know of a real gaming site that doesn't have their head up their asses with reviews? I used to like Gametrailers, but they've been going down the tubes in the last couple years.

[Chmpy]

Hey guys, Blood bowl is 75% off on steam this weekend...making it $10. The game has really long load times, a terrible multiplayer matchmaking lobby system, and the AI isn't very challenging.

That said, it is an awesome game if you are a huge strategy nerd. It's kind of a sports-based-tactics game. I can't really describe it, and if you've never heard of it before then you probably wont be into it....but if you've been thinking about getting it, now is the time. There is an extended version coming out in a few months, with more teams and stuff....but for 10$ i'd just grab this....then if you dont like it (which is likely!) you wont have wasted $50 on the extended version.

Again....I LOVE this game, but I cant really recommend it because it will only appeal to a very limited audience.

[DudeEMETIB]

I like number-score reviews, while I definitely agree that it's a shame when games are reduced to their scores, for better or for worse....and I do agree that I'm much more influenced by the actual written part of the review than it's end score....a number gives you a quick reference.

The same with movies, albums, or anything. For the masses, they'll always just look at the number and go with that. For some reason I will never understand, GTA4 is a 98 or something on Metacritic....so you'll always have a bunch of fucktards buying that game and "thinking" it's great, because they were told it. And it sucks ass when, as Chmpy brought up, a game gets a low score for a bullshit reason and it kills the game's sales.

But on a personal level, I think numbers are helpful. Sometimes the written portion of a review that describes gameplay, the experience of the game, graphics, difficulty, and what not can be a bit ambiguous about the overall feel of the game....so a number helps. Sometimes you "know" how a reviewer or review site generally feels about certain game types, or genres of music, or what not....and so a 8 from them, you might know would usually be a 10 for you....so that helps.

It also helps because, a lot of times, but hardly always, if the majority of people are giving a game an 8-10, it's probably at least pretty good.
You can quickly aggregate a number score, and see what a consensus feels about a game, but you can't quickly read a shit ton of reviews.

Also, I really like number-scores from individual people. For example, if Dave or Tony come here and say they just played a game that was "completely amazing" and maybe said "9/10! without a doubt" though it seems Tony might not ever use a number score, that would hold a lot more weight in my judgement of whether or not a game would be worth checking out...than if IGN says a game is 10/10.

Ratings are subjective, I don't think giving them a score is an attempt to assert an objective fact in quality....it's just a "hey this is what I thought" and then it's up to other reviewers, gamers, movie watchers, etc. to compare their opinions.

[fluxquanta]

Originally Posted by Chmpy

but for 10$ i'd just grab this....then if you dont like it (which is likely!) you wont have wasted $50 on the extended version.

If I wanted to gamble with $10 I'd play KATG poker.

[Space Indaver]

Originally Posted by Chmpy

Hey guys, Blood bowl is 75% off on steam this weekend...making it $10. The game has really long load times, a terrible multiplayer matchmaking lobby system, and the AI isn't very challenging.

That said, it is an awesome game if you are a huge strategy nerd. It's kind of a sports-based-tactics game. I can't really describe it, and if you've never heard of it before then you probably wont be into it....but if you've been thinking about getting it, now is the time. There is an extended version coming out in a few months, with more teams and stuff....but for 10$ i'd just grab this....then if you dont like it (which is likely!) you wont have wasted $50 on the extended version.

Again....I LOVE this game, but I cant really recommend it because it will only appeal to a very limited audience.

What would you give it out of 10?

[ThisIsMyUserName]

Originally Posted by DudeEMETIB

GTA4 is a 98 or something on Metacritic....so you'll always have a bunch of fucktards buying that game and "thinking" it's great, because they were told it.

Oh my god I forgot about that game. I had to sign in to like three different services and make two new accounts just to play. That's the kind of shit I'm talking about. They really need to tell you that stuff in the reviews.

[Chmpy]

Originally Posted by Space Indaver

What would you give it out of 10?

On a scale of Mouse to Insect I would rate it probably a weevil.

[Space Indaver]

Originally Posted by Chmpy

On a scale of Mouse to Insect I would rate it probably a weevil.

That's harsh, it'll never sell if everyone takes that attitude.