Do Brand name games get inflated scores based on hype?

[Michael-5]

Mythmaker1 said:

Michael-5 said:

Mythmaker1 said:

My problem with Resident Evil 4 has much to do with its punishing difficulty. Sign-posting is a major issue, long series of quick-time events are tedious to work through, and the game often decides to insta-kill you with no warning. A good game, certainly, but with significant issues.

Gears of War was fine, but nothing special. The gameplay was a bit too shallow for me to really appreciate it, and the plot was perhaps overly simplistic.

Not exactly sure what you mean by the last bit...

You thought Resident Evil 4 was difficult? Have you ever played something like Ninja Gaiden, Too Human, Devil May Cry, or even Vanquish's Challenge Mode? I thought RE4 was a bit on the easy side, but the quick time events were a bit tedious.

For the last bit, maybe highly reviewed games are awesome, and as individuals, we all might disagree with a game or two (you think RE4 is over-rated, I thing MGS4 is over-rated, etc).

Not simply difficult, punishing.

When you die in a game, there should be some indication that death was earned, like if you charged in recklessly and just died. In this game, however, it's common to encounter a situation where you will die because the game blind-sided you with something you couldn't possibly see coming. Instant-kill attacks or quick-time events you couldn't possibly see coming. Invincible enemies (or semi-invincible enemies) that you should run from, and not fight, but the game doesn't tell you that's the case. And quite a few times, I had rage-inducing glitches that forced me to restart from earlier saves to clear, but that might have just been a PS2 problem. PS2 Problem

As far as the that sentiment, yes and no. RE4 is not the best example, since the game came out a while back, and standards were a bit less defined back then. I decided to put it on the list mostly because it was the last thing I personally played.

I dunno about that. Resident Evil 4 did force you to play carefully, walk into buildings slowly, check your surroundings, make sure you have ammo, but it didn't kill you blindly. Yea there were instant death moments, especially with mutated alagators, or boss area, but when you died you returned to just before you were killed.

I know there were sudden quick time events, challenging ones too, and instances when you're just overcome with enemies, but that's why this is a survival horror game, and not an action game. If Resident Evil 4 didn't force you to watch for bear traps, creep through buildings, and always have an escape route, it would have failed as an action horror game.

Also as for it scoring so well because standards were so lower 9 years ago, I think an HD Resident Evil 4 would still be a highly rated game even today. It might loose points for not being able to run and shoot at the same time, but so many aspects of that game were just so well done. Sales might not be as strong if it released today, but I mean RE5 is still regarded as a good game today, and most RE fans will agree it doesn't hold a candle to RE4.