Edge Issue 196 Reviews

[Kantor]

Bodhesatva said:

You people are what's wrong with the review industry.

These reviews are too harsh? They gave out one 3, and nothing else below a 5! Apparently all games are average or better!

If you're ever wondering why video game reviews aren't taken seriously, here's one more example to explain why. You wonder why they give virtually everything 9s and 10s? Because you all bitch and moan when they don't. My god, I'd hate to see what would happen if they handed out 1s and 2s.

The problem with the review industry is, at least to an extent, the review industry itself; but equally to blame are some of the people in this thread. You are the reason why the scale is broken, you are the reason why Metacritic handles game reviews so differently than Movie/Music ones. Ever wonder why a movie that has a score of 80 is considered to have "universal acclaim," while a game that is 80 supposedly has "generally favorable reviews?"

Because of you. You skew the system, because you gnash your teeth and spew hatred whenever a magazine gives lower scores to games you love. Think of what movie reviews would be like if Film Critics gave better scores to terrible movies like 300 simply to appease the young, impetulant masses?

Metacritic uses that scale because 90% of reviewers use that scale. It's just generally accepted. That scale was used before internet hype existed. For that matter, it was used before metacritic existed.

In the game reviewing system, which IS different from the movie reviewing system, because that's the way things are, a 5 is not considered 'average'. A 5 is considered bad. In fact, a 6 is considered bad. a 7 is considered average, an 8 is good, a 9 is very good and a 10 is excellent. At least when you are using this awful no decimals system. If IGN used that no decimals system, GRAW2 would have gotten the same score as Gears of War. One is an 8.7, one is a 9.4. Both would become 9/10. One is incredibly good. One sucks.

A 3, by any standard, is considered bad. VERY bad. Awful. How bad could Need for Speed possibly be? What bets that will be the LOWEST score for the game on metacritic? Need for speed hasn't been 'good' in years, but it's always been average. Which by the majority of reviewers mean 7/10, and by Edge's 'revolutionary' attention-grabbing system is a 5/10. But even then, they're saying it is awful. It's probably not.

Bad games don't come along very often. They are probably rarer than excellent games, actually. Most games are average-good.

But you know, it's not their strange numbering system that is at fault here. Well, it is partially. But not completely.

Here's what I mean.

So, on Edge's scale, Gears 2 is excellent, but Resistance 2 is above average, World at War is above average, and Shaun White Snowboarding is good. So, in order from best to worst:

1) Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead

2) Tomb Raider and EndWar

3) Valkyria Chronicles, Red Alert 3 and Shaun White Snowboarding. And Fallout 3. And Animal Crossing. All are equal. All are also equal to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. And, from an earlier issue, are equal to BioShock.

4) Resistance 2 and World at War. And Silent Hill Homecoming. All of those games are equal.

5) Mirror's Edge and SOCOM Confrontation (bear in mind it has been patched)

6) NFS Undercover.

Okay. Raise your hand if you agree with that. Nobody?

Now, raise your hand if you see a pattern in that. Hint: Look at 1). Then look at 4). Then 5). And then 3)

EDIT: Most of you have gotten it by now, but in case you haven't, another hint:

Where is the highest 360 exclusive? Where is the highest multiplat? Where is the highest PS3 exclusive?