How long will you depend of Metacritics?

[Super_Boom]

I wouldn't say I depend on it...but I like to use it to gauge what the general opinion on a game is. If it's a game I was on the fence about, it might push me over the edge if it gets great reviews.

However...relying on a number formed by aggregate opinion shouldn't be treated as anything more than that...aggregrate opinion. A game that scores a 92 and a game that scores an 89 really shouldn't be compared directly, since a difference of 3 points over 50+ reviewers is basically irrelevant. On the other hand, if one game scores 68, and another 93, it's usually safe to say that there's a real difference in actual quality between the games. There are exceptions of course (especially with more niche genres or Japanese games), but I find this usually holds true.

Interestingly enough, around this time last year, I was actually of the opposite mind. I decided that Metacritic was worthless, and kept to my original plan of getting Sonic: Lost World over Mario 3D World even after reviews came out. Good lord...not gonna make that mistake again.