Some reviewers may hate it because it is one tough game, at times it can be unforgiving. Its not an action shooter that these reviewers have become accustomed to, you have to look after your ammo, scope an area out, tread carefully, one silly move results in your death. ZombiU is as hardcore as it gets, and i think a lot of these so called hardcore gamers are used to a lot of franchises being dumbed down into action shooters "cough resisdent evil cough"
ZombiU.. too hardcore for the hardcore.

Per complaints about the wooden bat. I like the overhead swing. You have to time it and crack the forehead open. It's repetitive but fits the situation when one on one. Feels safe. But when there's two or more, forget it. It's futile to use a bat. That's when strategy comes in. Throwing a flare to distract them while you prepare an explosive is as rewarding as it is realistic. Or boarding yourself in to buy a few extra minutes while you think and prepare for what's about to break down the door.

I wouldn't call any score 70 and up hating it. In my opinion it is closer to 90 than 45.

Where the heck do you get that Edge hates ZU? Is it that ridiculous notion that unless a game gets an 8/10 or better it means the reviewer thinks it's a bad game?

Edge: "A smart and engaging exploration of what Nintendo's strange new machine can muster. Historically, thirdparty releases on a console launch day have been chequered and timid affairs made by inexperienced teams fearful of losing their footing on unknown terrain. When Ubisoft Montpellier's ZombiU works in smart union with its host console, however, it frequently delights. "

That's an over all positive review.

How about not perpetuating the Metacritic green rectangle myth.

Well, MicroSony can't pay off ALL the review sites. Might as well concentrate on the big boys.

I bought the game and don´t regret it.
I believe that many reviewers didn´t understand the proposal of this game. Some of them were expecting some kind of generic shooter, but the game is far from it.

Yes, I agree that the game is buggy, graphics are good but nothing really impressive and there are some collision problems too, what makes clear that the game lacked proper testing.
But the game design itself is a breath of fresh air in this market bloated with generic FPS shooters. The emphasis on survival rather than just blowing everything´s up requires a lot of planning and preparation. Characters die easily, so this is a challenging game that will put your quick reactions to the test.

Now, I really think that many reviewers around do not do a professional job. Take the example of Greg Miller (IGN) review. It´s clear that the guy barely played the game, I would bet he playede just 15-20 minutes of it. One can´t do a proper review if you don´t play at least 1/3 of the game. Other editors simply don´t like Nintendo consoles so they don´t care about making a detailed analysis of the game.

Jim Sterling from Destructoid puts an interesting point: ZombiU may be seen as a tentative to show that dedicated, demanding gamers may find content for them on WiiU, but some people will scrutinize this game exactly for that, because they can´t afford the idea that a Nintendo exclusive product may be aimed at "hardcore" audiences and that Nintendo must keep doing games only for casuals, because it´s not a serious brand and they don´t want it to be seen as that.

So, the positive reviews LOVE it,

The mixed reviews HATE it

what does the negative review do?

You didn't express opinions, you expressed what you felt were facts. You know, like saying "it wasn't terrifying". Other people had already said that they felt it to be the most terrifying example, but you responded by saying it wasn't terrifying. And this is one of the things you base your opinion on. You didn't say "I didn't find it terrifying", you said "it wasn't terrifying".

Note that I wasn't attacking you. I was pointing out the futility of responding to someone challenging your claims by going "it's just my opinion, so it can't be baseless". You were, quite simply, wrong in that statement. Opinion can very much be baseless.

And I'm afraid that you're wrong. The thread is about how certain big reviewers gave the game a low review score, even though just about every other reviewer gave it a high one. Note that Joystiq would also be considered a "big reviewer", and gave it a 90%. And the thread is, more importantly, about the disparity between them, and the question of why this disparity has arisen. We don't give a crap how good or bad the game actually is, so much as why that disparity exists.

It's sad that people actually believe Nintendo is some disparaged child that is abused by the evil hardcores.

Relax man, it was a joke.