I do never look at reviews before buying a game. I stopped doing that like 12 years ago because while you can evaluate games (technical aspects and comparing to other games) and even state your opinion on them it never is what I think of games.
Games may be evaluated but it doesn't make sense to me because it's about experiencing them and everybody does that on their own. When you listen to a real piece of music (not entertainment stuff just for the masses to jump around) everybody will find their own interesting details in it, find another expression because of having different cognition. (I'm not saying all games are art! ;))
Also reading opinions of others about games doesn't help me because I learned my taste isn't covered by any reviewers who earn money with their opinion.

I buy games when the genre and content appeals to me, if in doubt watching a few minutes of gameplay helps.
And I also buy games that are not my cup of tea but so called Must Haves just to understand why they are praised and to experience what they can offer. But sadly most of those games have become what I pointed out about music, just "games" (interactive media to me, as games are games, something you PLAY instead of live/read/feel) that make the masses jump around.

I understand reviews are awesome for the masses because you never miss a game that appeals to the masses. It's also way easier to keep track of the games then, looking around yourself to find awesome games (not mentioned in mass media and press) is way harder.
Just like browsing store shelves for games 20 years ago was an experience without looking at 99% of the games thinking "saw that, know that, no" - anybody remember doing that with vinyls? Never drop that music comparison :D

I read them, but I rarely, if ever let them influence my purchases. I read them more out of curiosity than anything I think.

I used to look at reviews to get ready for a game. Then, I started avoiding reviews to avoid spoilers for games I knew I was going to buy. Now, I tend to avoid reviews altogether. I just get what excites me, flaws and all. Never been happier!

sometimes I read a review after I finish a game. I'm usually shocked to see what some reviewers complain about.

I have to admit that I was moderately interested in games like FF Lightning Returns, Thief and Castlevania LoS 2 and I would have bought any of those if it had a metascore of 80+ or so. Maybe I will pick them up sometime, but if a game scores low usually it's for a reason and I think a 70 or less is mostly not worth the full price.

Same goes for South Park Stick of Truth, I hope I will be playing this in a week, which will mean that the game will deliver and not dissappoint like the other ones lately.

Of course, there are exceptions where I buy games regardless of bad scores, like Beyond Two Souls or Killzone Shadow Fall.

Never, my life is too short to play bad or mediocre games. The last game I got without ever seeing a review was Super Mario Land for the original Gameboy. But you cannot trust single reviews nowadays, as many reviewers are paid or sponsored.

I don´t pay much attention to reviews. Unfortunately there´s too much bias and lack of professionalim on videogame press, so I don´t trust them. I choose my games based on gameplay videos and friends opinions. Sometimes I try them at a shop before purchasing

If your life is too short to play bad games, why do you waste time on reading reviews? Reading multiple reviews takes probably more time than just trying a game (demo, store, friend, reading content on wikipedia and watching 5 mins on YouTube, ...) so that's not really a great way of filtering bad games, especially when you let other people make up your mind.

I forgot to mention that I watch one show that "reviews" games. It's more about fun and pointing out senseless stuff or exaggerating pros and cons but because viewers of that show know that they never take it seriously. E.g. playing a sound of a game over and over again so you think "oh dear, that is getting on my nerves" when in fact the sound only plays like every 10 minutes and then isn't sticking out that much, or the GPS in NfS MW always sends you on the wrong lane so you are facing oncoming traffic. Irrelevant but they made it stand out and since I've played the game before watching the show I totally knew what they were on about (yes, the game loves oncoming traffic lol).

I read reviews, but I don't care about scores. I cam easily enjoy titles with metascore of 50 or evem lower. It all depends on the genre and my personal preference. I had a lot of fun with Final Fantasy XIII and just yesterday I fell in love with thief. I don't give a crap about what other people think of those games.

I don't pre-order though, as there are always plenty copies available at release. Only thing I pre-order are consoles. (PS4 since launch day, yai!). Ok, I bought the infamous pre-order box yesterday. But only because it was 5 € and came with a T-Shirt. I mean, come on, 5 bucks for a shirt is a steal! I don't know if I will even buy the game, lol.

Sorry for mistakes, I'm on my phone. :P

Yeah. But ya also gotta read the comments of that game being reviewed. Star Fox 64 3D had pretty good review scores but I hated it because I beat the game in like 45 minutes. I spent $40 on that crap......it doesn't even have online multiplayer. I would prefer a remake of Star Fox Adventures.

I buy a lot of games without reading a review on it. That said, I do read reviews but only to see what other people think about a game I'm playing. I read their complaints so I can do another play through and try to analyze the game from their point of view. It doesn't really effect my enjoyment of the game. Just gives me a different point of view to see why someone else might've had a problem with it or enjoyed it more than I did.