Yes...if a game feels short, it should lose points. It may be a great game, but if it's too short, that's definitely reason to lose points.
I don't know how I feel about the price being a factor...but if one knows that a $20 game is being released for $60...it should at least be mentioned in the article that the game is not worth the price. I suppose it doesn't need to be factored into the score....but it's the reviewer's right to tell whether or not a game is worth buying.
LEFT4DEAD411.COM
Bet with disolitude: Left4Dead will have a higher Metacritic rating than Project Origin, 3 months after the second game's release. (hasn't been 3 months but it looks like I won :-p )