I ignore game review scores. They aren't biased by violence, per say, as much as biased on their own reader demographics. Sites like 1UP, IGN, and Gamespot are read primarily by Sony/Microsoft gamers so those are the games that get the high scores. Simply look around the advertising sponsors on the websites. Surely you don't think that these have no bearings on the scores games receive. Gamespot is full of Microsoft stuff, so they rate 360 games high. When Halo 2 came out the first review put up was a 9.1. An hour later it was changed to a 9.4. Twilight Princess was given an 8.8 (far lower than the majority of the reviewing community). Of course bias exists. I buy games based on my own research into the gameplay, rentals from Gamefly, and word of mouth from people who I know share my tastes in games. It also helps to hop on gamefaqs forums for the game and ask about it, because gamefaqs users tend to be brutally honest about the flaws and pluses in a game. Review sites are a circus that caters to individual demographics and companies. Ignore them.
