Teletext : Heavy Rain Review (Abysmal)

[theRepublic]

binary solo said:
It's reviews like this that makes taking the median review score a better review indicator than the mean review score for Metacritic.

For most games the median and mean review scores are the same or within .05/10 so it doesn't really make much difference. But for some games the difference between mean and median can be as much as 0.4/10, and in an industry where the current review structure puts a great deal of emphasis on the difference between an 8.6 game vs a 9.0 game (I just checked and the median score for PS3 Bayonetta is 90 whereas the metacritic score is 86) a 0.4 skewing by a few outlandishly low scores can be a big deal for some games.

I bet the median review score for HR will be 9/10 whereas the mean review score will be 8.7 - 8.8. Not a big deal perhaps but having that lovely looking 9 associated with a game is a rather nice to see for those who really like the game.

Metacritic doesn't actually use the mean to come up with the 'Metacritic score'.  They actually use a weighted average.  So scores from more respected critics have a bigger impact on the score than less respected critics.  However, this formula is a secret, so it is impossible to know which sites have more weight and which ones have less.