Do Brand name games get inflated scores based on hype?

[Michael-5]

binary solo said:
I don't know how TLOU is a brand name game, it's a totally new IP so the only brand name is Naughty Dog. I don't think reviewers see the sun shining out of Naughty Dog's arse. Though I personally have loved every single game that has come out of this studio. Ergo in the case of TLOU my personal opinion is that it is a bad example to citein the OP for 2 reasons: it's a bloody fantastic game AND it isn't a brand name game unlike all of the other well worn franchises cited in the OP.

I think some brand name games get higher reviews than they should. But in other cases sub-par brand name games definitely take a hit from reviewers, God of War: Ascension being a good example. I think it got the reviews is deserved, which is considerably lower scores than the GoW trilogy.

Naughty Dog is often refered to as the crown dev in Sony's first party dev studios. Uncharted was a great franchise, and it gave this studio a big name, and I feel Last of Us only got the 10/10 on IGN and a 95 metascore because it's the Naughty Dog brand name. Yes I consider devs a brand, just like many might say Nintendo, Rockstar, or Bungie are brand name studios.

I agree with you about scores in general though, it varies, depends largely on hype. God of War Ascension didn't have much hype so bad reviews were plenty, but something like Halo, no matter how bad it is, will always get good scores.