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[StreetsofBeige]

I'm talking website and magazine reviews.

We all know game reviewer often don't play a game completely. IMO, it's red flag when the reviewer is vague about about the game. But if a guy in his review details the boss on level 9, shows a clip of him playing and gives tips, thats a good sign he's played it.

In the past few years, I remember people bringing up Days Gone as an example of reviewers not playing the game in depth (cries of white people racism, but later in the game are minorities).

Just curious if any of you remember or have image scans somewhere of reviewers who totally lied in their review showing they didn't play it, or BSed an article for clicks

Some examples can be:

- Claiming the game has certain gameplay features in it, but it didnt in the actual release (company might had PRed it in a preview but didn't implement it)
- Claiming the game had certain SP levels in it like they played it, but it didn't
- Claiming the game had certain MP modes in it, but it didn't
- Claiming the game runs at 30 or 60 fps. But in reality, it's the other
- Giving the game a review months before release, but turns out the studio delays the game for years (which shows they didnt use a gold copy)
- The review article shows PR pics showing stuff not in the game, but doesn't mention these are bullshot pics from years ago

 

[JSoup]

Half of the essay style reviews on GFAQs.

 

[DiddyKongRacing69]

Anyone who gave the last of us 2 high scores.

And that ridiculous gamespot review of Spongebob Rehydrated.

 

[Kilau]

Anything “reviewed” by Filip Miucin.

 

[GHG]

In the past few years, I remember people bringing up Days Gone as an example of reviewers not playing the game in depth (cries of white people racism, but later in the game are minorities).

In that case the reviewer complained about all the zombies only being white (apparently she really wanted to shoot and blow up some black zombies).

Regardless, the reason for all the zombies lacking pigmentation was also explained in the story/lore.

 

[brian0057]

Literally anything reviewed by anyone at Kotaku and Polygon. My rule is to follow the exact opposite of what their scores say. And, so far, it has worked wonders
If you see a game with a score below a 5.0, you know it's worth playing. Conversely, if the game is an 8.0 or higher, then it's an unremitting piece of shit.

 

[Fuz]

Dragon Age II

EA announced that a new installment in the Dragon Age series will arrive in the first quarter of 2011.

www.metacritic.com

 

[Yselacrey00]

I'm talking website and magazine reviews.

We all know game reviewer often don't play a game completely. IMO, it's red flag when the reviewer is vague about about the game. But if a guy in his review details the boss on level 9, shows a clip of him playing and gives tips, thats a good sign he's played it.

In the past few years, I remember people bringing up Days Gone as an example of reviewers not playing the game in depth (cries of white people racism, but later in the game are minorities).

Just curious if any of you remember or have image scans somewhere of reviewers who totally lied in their review showing they didn't play it, or BSed an article for clicks

Some examples can be:

- Claiming the game has certain gameplay features in it, but it didnt in the actual release (company might had PRed it in a preview but didn't implement it)
- Claiming the game had certain SP levels in it like they played it, but it didn't
- Claiming the game had certain MP modes in it, but it didn't
- Claiming the game runs at 30 or 60 fps. But in reality, it's the other
- Giving the game a review months before release, but turns out the studio delays the game for years (which shows they didnt use a gold copy)
- The review article shows PR pics showing stuff not in the game, but doesn't mention these are bullshot pics from years ago

You just need to check CyberPunk review thread.

 

[Yselacrey00]

Anyone who gave the last of us 2 high scores.

And that ridiculous gamespot review of Spongebob Rehydrated.

You mean as they had to be bogus because the game deserved perfect 10s right?

 

[Captain Toad]

Anyone who gave the last of us 2 high scores.

Get over it. The game is great.

 

[LazyParrot]

Literally anything reviewed by anyone at Kotaku and Polygon. My rule is to follow the exact opposite of what their scores say. And, so far, it has worked wonders
If you see a game with a score below a 5.0, you know it's worth playing. Conversely, if the game is an 8.0 or higher, then it's an unremitting piece of shit.

How does that work? Polygon ditched review scores years ago, and Kotaku apparently never had them.

 

[20cent]

TLOU 1 and 2 ?

Or maybe reviewers did play them, they just never played any other games for previous reviews they wrote before.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

TLOU 1 and 2 ?

Or maybe reviewers did play them, they just never played any other games for previous reviews they wrote before.

"NOOOOOOOO IT CANT BE A GOOD GAME CAUSE I DON'T LIKE IT! IT'S A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!"

 

[Corgi1985]

A nintendo shill at IGN shill gave pokemon sword a 93. This score had to have been decided before this reviewer even bought the "game"

 

[brian0057]

How does that work? Polygon ditched review scores years ago, and Kotaku apparently never had them.

I say scores out of habit.
What I mean is that when said publications either hail a game as a masterpiece or burn an effigy to it, I just assume the opposite is true.

 

[20cent]

"NOOOOOOOO IT CANT BE A GOOD GAME CAUSE I DON'T LIKE IT! IT'S A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!"

They are good games. Nothing more.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

They are good games. Nothing more.

So why are you pissed that some people consider them great? People will tell you Breath of The Wild is a good game but it doesn't deserve all the praise it gets and echo the same points you made in your initial post.

 

[Codes 208]

A nintendo shill at IGN shill gave pokemon sword a 93. This score had to have been decided before this reviewer even bought the "game"

And they gave the superior ruby/sapphire remakes a 7.8.
so the world balances itself out I guess.

that or IGN is just shit.

 

[ElCasual]

Days Gone is one of them, I bet the reviewers dont play the complete game.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

I recall wondering how Shenmue got such high scores back in the days, what an horrible game.

Anyone who gave the last of us 2 high scores.

I'm pretty sure that you didn't play it.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Off the top of head, here's one which shows no reviewers back in the day played a full NHL 95 season on Genesis. There was a bug that if you hit 128 pts in a season, the game code makes your team last place. So it shows none of them played through a season kicking butt to make the playoffs. Or knew it and said nothing.

I never saw one reviewer mention it in game mags back then. I found out by doing it myself. Then randomly googled it and gamers had the same results.

NHL "95 Full Season Bug

I heard that in NHL '95, if you played full season mode and your team got to 128 points in the standings that it would roll back to 0 points, putting your team last. Is that true, and if so, on what versions of the game?

forum.nhl94.com

 

[Mabdia]

Well... to tell the truth, almost every reviewer nowadays just sucks. I just can't care or believe anything that they think about games. Specially when we talk about the ones who controls the market. Damn! Some just don't finishes a game and demand lower dificulties to review a game...

Yet, there is one person on youtube that makes really good reviews about some games. And that person sold me 3 games that I really didn't expect to buy. And that because she talk about almost everything wrong and right about these games. The Sphere Hunter channel.

Talking about the mainstream reviews. I just can't understand the high scores of Uncharted 4 and how Second Son is so low among all the others inFamous.Also, I can understand that DG has had some issues when it was released. But some of the scores wasn't about it.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

"NOOOOOOOO IT CANT BE A GOOD GAME CAUSE I DON'T LIKE IT! IT'S A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!"

Hmm. I worked for a big publisher and can confirm that part of a marketing budget consists of wining and dining/partying/schmoozing/swag gift giving to publications and influencers to encourage positive previews, impressions, and reviews. Else they get blacklisted and denied any of the aforementioned perks and review codes.

 

[JLB]

I dont think its fair to expect a reviewer finish the game in all cases. Games like Persona 5 might take, what? 150 hrs to complete? And then doing all the editing, replaying, reviewing certain parts of the game, etc. Its easily a 2.5/3 months work.

 

[kingpotato]

Off the top of head, here's one which shows no reviewers back in the day played a full NHL 95 season on Genesis. There was a bug that if you hit 128 pts in a season, the game code makes your team last place. So it shows none of them played through a season kicking butt to make the playoffs. Or knew it and said nothing.

I never saw one reviewer mention it in game mags back then. I found out by doing it myself. Then randomly googled it and gamers had the same results.

NHL "95 Full Season Bug

I heard that in NHL '95, if you played full season mode and your team got to 128 points in the standings that it would roll back to 0 points, putting your team last. Is that true, and if so, on what versions of the game?

forum.nhl94.com

Google wasn't around back then. Do you mean Lycos? Yahoo? I'm skeptical you even reviewed your own post...

 

[Saint Boot]

So why are you pissed that some people consider them great? People will tell you Breath of The Wild is a good game but it doesn't deserve all the praise it gets and echo the same points you made in your initial post.

Why are so many other people pissed when others think it deserves a lower score? It's no skin off their ass. Or is this always going to be a case of "only bigots dislike TLOU2" Because I see that one a lot as well and it's just as dumb as "only liberulz love this game."

 

[Zeroing]

There’s a lot of problems and sometimes the fault is only in the reviewer.

there’s also the pressure to put reviews as soon as the embargo lifts and not enough time to finish all the game.
Adding the fact that tastes are mostly subjective - depending from individuals and of course reviews will not feel fair to some.
Now if you add the question of representation into it.. we will end up with stupid things like: Why are all the zombies white?

how can you truly tackle a video game review where the medium is much complete that music, movie, or interaction - they are all that into one.

it seems like a hard job.

 

[belmarduk]

Literally anything reviewed by anyone at Kotaku and Polygon. My rule is to follow the exact opposite of what their scores say. And, so far, it has worked wonders
If you see a game with a score below a 5.0, you know it's worth playing. Conversely, if the game is an 8.0 or higher, then it's an unremitting piece of shit.

I, too, assume everything I'm reading in Polygon to be complete and utter bullshit.

 

[nkarafo]

Turok 2, N64 Magazine UK

For those who haven't played it, N64 Turok 2 is slow even on low-res mode. In High-res it's literally unplayable. This game is the worst case of bad frame rates on N64. The person who wrote this review (Tim Weaver) lied and owns me the money i wasted for this, with interest ofc. Tim, if you are reading this, contact me.

 

[Kamina]

I, too, assume everything I'm reading in Polygon to be complete and utter bullshit.

This should be a general rule for everything on the internet.

I bet more than half of you are actually just russian bots anyway.

 

[Krizalidx11]

Kane & Lynch, the reviewer played it fully and didn't like it, that got him fired so most reviewers today are scared of the same fate lol

Yes, a Games Writer was Fired Over Review Scores

What was once just heavily rumored has now been confirmed by those involved

kotaku.com

Same guy heard about threats from Sony pulling money from GS for his RnC review !!!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Google wasn't around back then. Do you mean Lycos? Yahoo? I'm skeptical you even reviewed your own post...

I'm talking old print mags in the 90s giving NHL games decent 8/10 kinds of scores. I found the bug just by playing through a season 25 years ago, and gamers said they had the same bug when I googled it over the years. I didn't google it 25 years ago.

Never remembered any article saying NHL 95 had a stats bug that bombed your season.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

Hmm. I worked for a big publisher and can confirm that part of a marketing budget consists of wining and dining/partying/schmoozing/swag gift giving to publications and influencers to encourage positive previews, impressions, and reviews. Else they get blacklisted and denied any of the aforementioned perks and review codes.

Oh I've no doubt about that.

Why are so many other people pissed when others think it deserves a lower score? It's no skin off their ass. Or is this always going to be a case of "only bigots dislike TLOU2" Because I see that one a lot as well and it's just as dumb as "only liberulz love this game."

Read my following reply to the guy i quoted, and to make things clear i think the term "Citizen Kane of video games" is absoultly cringe inducing and so is the VGAs, now about The Last Of Us especially 2 since it's release they're have been a section of GAF up in arms trying to paint the narritave it's not a good game (gameplay wise) because they didn't like the direction of the story, and we spent MONTHS and countless threads disscussing the same issues ad nauseam, it's a divisive game you either love it or hate it.

Did these journos play the game? Doubtfull but i think anyone who still trust them or shit like Metacritic is an absoulte idiot and i don't know how you call yourself a "game enthusiast ™/hardcore gamer™" when you let a number and a color dictate what you buy or try.

 

[DrumNBassDanTTV]

Get over it. The game is great.

Its terrible.

 

[KungFucius]

I'm talking old print mags in the 90s giving NHL games decent 8/10 kinds of scores. I found the bug just by playing through a season 25 years ago, and gamers said they had the same bug when I googled it over the years. I didn't google it 25 years ago.

Never remembered any article saying NHL 95 had a stats bug that bombed your season.

I am pretty sure the majority would consider the use of the term "googled" to mean used a search engine so even if you meant that you searched the internet in 1995 you are absolutely fine using the term. Anyone nitpicking is really just being a dick.

 

[brian0057]

I bet more than half of you are actually just russian bots anyway.

I see a comrade not fulfilling his patriotic duty to the motherland.
To the digital gulag ASAP.

 

[Kimahri]

- Giving the game a review months before release, but turns out the studio delays the game for years (which shows they didnt use a gold copy)

I agree with everything you're saying, except this.

Granted this was a bigger thing in past gens when debug machines were common, the code you review is the code the studio sends you to review. And generally you have to assume that it's a finished game, you've just got an earlier copy you either got to download or got sent on a dvd-r, instead of waiting for the retail disc. It was the same game, same version #, just different delivery.

The reviewer has no way or reason to challenge this. How would he know? He gets a review code, it's supposed to be done. If the game gets delayed after the review is out, that's not the reviewers fault. Should something like that happen, ie a review months before release (I've never heard of it, most I've encountered is a couple to a few weeks), and respectable outlet would pull their review, or update it to say we'll update the review when the game is out.

 

[Fuz]

Hmm. I worked for a big publisher and can confirm that part of a marketing budget consists of wining and dining/partying/schmoozing/swag gift giving to publications and influencers to encourage positive previews, impressions, and reviews. Else they get blacklisted and denied any of the aforementioned perks and review codes.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Anything “reviewed” by Filip Miucin.

See, this is the real answer.

A known plagiarist.

But it doesn't get the reacts that being mad that TLOU2 won GOTY gets.

 

[kyussman]

I mean,I've read many reviews(more so in recent gens),where the reviewer has given so little information about how the game plays that I've often wondered if it's just a bad review or if they just didn't really play it much.