Big review sites giving great scores to big publishers

[dean290000]

Maybe I am in the minority here but does anyone else feel like game companies give way too high of scores to certain publishers? Rockstar seems get 10/10 by certain publications by default. It seems almost like too much of a coincidence that all their games seem to get a 10/10 which implies perfect.

I realize that different reviewers review the games in different ways but their are games that sites like IGN/Gamespot hype for years and then will not give them below a 8 even if they are average games at best.

I would love to see companies review games not knowing who made it. I bet the scores would change a great deal.

It just seems like when it comes to big publishers, most of the sites rank games from Good to Incredible instead of from Horrible to Great.

If anyone knows of some good sites that seem to rank games based on their own merit and not how much money they spend on advertising then please share!

Dean

 

[Ridge]

Knowing who made a game is a part of the process. It is impossible to completely review in a vacuum.. And it isn't a big conspiracy either where big companies pay for good reviews. Just accept the person who reviewd something and liked it more or less than you did has a different opinion than you.

 

[Abqu]

I think that some of the big publishers get good rankings consistently, because they consistently put out good products. It's not favoritism if it's right. In your example, Rockstar has been getting great reviews recently, but haven't they deserved them? After that, I tend to go with metacritic for a more reliable rating, as opposed to going to the individual media outlets.

 

[Ciel]

If anyone knows of some good sites that seem to rank games based on their own merit and not how much money they spend on advertising then please share!

Is this an opportunity for me to tell you to click the link in my signature? Further, Gamespot I feel has become quite honest with their reviews; I see a lot of 7's and 8's for games that I was expecting to get an 8.5 or a 9. IGN on the other hand... well something will forever be wrong with them. Also while I would not score any Rockstar game a 10/10, they are undoubtedly fantastic games. Perfect in some sense sure, just not my cup of tea. It seems odd to question a company simply because they make great games. I also do not believe Rockstar pays any company to give their games high scores--it would be sort of a contradiction to what the company seems to stand for, taking the content of their games into account.

The hype train on those PS4 games resulted in a slew of average to poorly reviewed titles as well.

 

[dean290000]

I guess I need to look at Gamespot some more lately if you say they have gotten more honest. As for Rockstar, I think their games are overrated and a lot of people buy the hype. Red Dead redemption bored me to death. I guess they just don't connect with me. Violence and language does not bother me but it just seems like that is the main point to GTA 4 & 5. Yes, it was a typo for 6. I guess it is just me.

I have found some good sites for car reviews, computer component reviews, and other items. I am still looking for maybe some small site that is off the radar that maybe reviews games closer in line to how I feel about them. I buy games from a lot of different publishers and Independent developers and I have found many games inn the low 70s on Meteoritic that are actually a lot of fun and found most of these games through forums where people discuss underrated games. However, I am still looking for a small independent site that reviews games as they seem them and don't care who the publisher is.

 

[Cpt Blackadder]

I'm a reviewer, and i get given games to review. You don't keep the games your just loaned them, and certainly not made to enhance your score for them.

I think Gamespot is one of the best places to read reviews as they seem to be far more level headed than other sites/reviewers. Thing is though i've NEVER found a place where EVERYONE agree on a review score. It's the bane of the life of a reviewer ! You just have to give it how you see it, but there will be loads who don't agree. It's more a case of finding people who think like you more, like your likes etc.

Some 6/10 games people will think are 10/10's and vice versa. ( i thought Remember Me was an 8/9 out of 10 experience for me, but that's just me )

Re rockstar, there certainly is an expectation with them to make quality games, and to be fair the quality of their games are superb. I don't think they've made a dud game yet ? It's just a case of if you like genre of the content.

 

[Ridge]

I'm a reviewer, and i get given games to review. You don't keep the games your just loaned them,

I've got to keep digital copies of pretty much anything I've reviewed..

 

[Cpt Blackadder]

I've got to keep digital copies of pretty much anything I've reviewed..

I've got a bit of both. Access to an account to play the games on, codes to DL them, or the phyical copies. Either way none are actually mine

 

[Ridge]

I've got a bit of both. Access to an account to play the games on, codes to DL them, or the phyical copies. Either way none are actually mine

I guess you're right. But after you enter the download code whether it be on PSN, eShop, Steam there isn't anything (that I can see anyways) that indicates it is a press copy and not just another downloaded game. Is there a way for them to actually take the digital games back?

Come to think of it I've never really gone back to a digital game I reviewed later to see if it worked.... now I'm curious..

 

[Cpt Blackadder]

Yeah i guess the digital ones are mine, ( one's i'm given codes for ) but the games i get given codes for generally aren't the bigger titles.

Who do you review for Ridge ??

 

[Ridge]

Yeah i guess the digital ones are mine, ( one's i'm given codes for ) but the games i get given codes for generally aren't the bigger titles.

Who do you review for Ridge ??

I don't get codes or physical copies for most big games, not that important yet. I think the biggest publisher my site can consistently get review copies from is Atlus, which is kind of niche. But I love them anyways, so it's cool.
The site I write for is down right now because the guy who runs it had a credit card problem.. I'll give ya a link when we are up and running again.
Where do you write for? I read some of your reviews here and they're good, but I have to assume there is more than just that from you..

 

[Cpt Blackadder]

LOL , like you i'm not that important in the reviewing world yet, LOL. I have just had to sign a contract though for an xbox site who i review for now, but only got 3 reviews up there at the moment, but they were big titles. Titanfall, Ryse, and Lego the Hobbit for the XB1. Currently working on Child of Light ( XB1 ) too. Got a reader review published in an Xbox mag couple years back now and been working ever since to get some up and running on various forums to add to my portfolio.

One day i may actually get paid for this .... one day... LOL

 

[Link10103]

When it comes to reviews from major sites like IGN and Gamespot, I hardly ever take their reviews seriously. Games come out broken and utter crap and they still give it 10's across the board. Another rival game comes out and is a smash hit, gets half the rating if not less than the first game.

If I actually feel like it, I look up reviews for games on Youtube. Rev3Games/Destructoid does a good enough job in reviewing games, and at the very least they pretend they didn't get bribed with a truckload of cash to say good things about it. Solid enough reviews with gameplay footage most of the time to back it up.

Outside of that I rarely ever care about reviews.

 

[Dmadman72]

For me GTAV was a 10. Even though a lot of people were upset with the online I didn't care. I bought the game for the single player as I do for all games. To review a games online features to me is ridiculous. It all depends on the people playing the game. RDR was another 10 for me. I love the originality and the freedom. Now GTA4 I hated, Just to let you know that I am not a rockstar fan boy. I do enjoy most of their offerings though. Back on the PS2 there were 2 Evil Dead games released. They were given horrible reviews but I bought them anyways. I finished both of them and really enjoyed them. Being a huge Evil Dead fan I couldn't pass up the chance to run around with a chainsaw and a Boomstick. I guess what I am saying is If I had been the reviewer I would have gave them both an 8+ score. There would have been some unhappy people but thats life. Just remember reviews are opinions and everybody has one. Best advice I can offer is if your interested in a game, Go watch the game play on youtube and form your own opinion.

 

[Yorf]

I think one problem with many reviewer's is that they only get the initial feels of each game because of their schedules and all the games they gotta get through. I've noticed something similiar happen now when reading Diablo 3 forums these past few years. First people love the game (or new patch) and praise it to no end. Few weeks later people start to find flaws in the games and that's when real honest reviews can be made. Not in the first 3 hours of gameplay, it takes time to really get to know to the game, so maybe that's why some more well known companies and more hyped games get better score on the get go because the expectations are high and people want to like the game.
And of course money can play a big role in the scoring..but that's another thing entirely.

 

[Cpt Blackadder]

^^^^ you hit the nail on the head there.

example is i've been given a week to play through Child of Light and that's only a 12 hour game. Some games, IMO, shine when the difficulty is ramped up, but most reviewers will play games on easy, just to get through them as quick as possible, so they can then write them up due to time contraints.

For me the real nuts and bolts of if a game is designed well is when you play it on it's hardest setting, but that takes much longer to get through.

Another example here that does my head in, is RYSE. Ryse got SLATED in the reviews for being just a button mashing borefest, that on easy, YES you can complete in about 6 hours.

Crank it up to legendary difficulty and it's MUCH harder, you have to be much more circumspect, if you button mash you just die, a LOT, had to use ALLL the tricks in the book, and took around 10 hours to complete. Much more challenging and MUCH more rewarding that what most review sites thought.

I played through RYSE twice and about 10 hours of the MP before i reviewed it ( and gave it 7.8 /10 ) cos like you say, it's only when you spend quality time with games you really find out about them.

 

[Ridge]

LOL , like you i'm not that important in the reviewing world yet, LOL. I have just had to sign a contract though for an xbox site who i review for now, but only got 3 reviews up there at the moment, but they were big titles. Titanfall, Ryse, and Lego the Hobbit for the XB1. Currently working on Child of Light ( XB1 ) too. Got a reader review published in an Xbox mag couple years back now and been working ever since to get some up and running on various forums to add to my portfolio.

One day i may actually get paid for this .... one day... LOL

I have no dreams of getting paid. The second this starts to become a job is when it starts being not fun. The odd game here or there is more than enough.

Also wow, your words were in a magazine, ancient seeming stuff like that is what will make you seem amazing to the grandchildren.