Again, I don't so much see conspiracy as inconsistency and uneven reviewing standards.
I always raise an eyebrow when I see reviews that deviate from the general consensus and will determine for myself whether its a case of the others are all too fawning while a few reviews are more accurate, or whether the lone review doesn't stack up.
This is just another case of the same thing IMHO.
From reading multiple reviews Resistance looks alike a well above average game - let's say 90% if you must have a score. Gears 2 is also well above average but is just that bit more polished. In my view its a 92% game (I'm going off other reviews/video clips, etc here I'll make up my own mind when I play them).
LBP is a hard game to review because it is genuinely different. How do you review the content creation? There are few games to compare it to in many areas (on the basis that while PC games have shipped with editors before, or other games have had some creation elements) as its approach to content is so part and parcel of the game.
I was expecting a broad range of reviews and am actually amazed its scored so well on sites like gamerankings & metacritic. I'm looking forward to it more than any other game and its pretty probable I'll think its far superior to R2 or Gears 2 - but then I always heap more praise on a slightly flawed highly innovative game than a highly polished but derivative game.
Really, too much attention is paid to these reviews currently. The average gamer clearly doesn't pay attention to them any more than the average movie goer looks through reviews for the latest blockbuster and while they do have influence its really only on the online gamers.
At the end of the day you can find gushing reviews for R2, Gears 2 and LBP (and a fair few of them, particularly for LBP and Gears 2). What more could you want (apart from LBP to buck the trend of innovative games selling okay but less than stellar 'be there done that' games like R2 and Gears 2 and actually outsell them. It won't happen, but I'd love to see something like LBP trounce all the shooters and actioners, and I say that as an FPS fan!).
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
