It depends A LOT on the place I get the review from.

The old Blistered Thumbs site had a wonderful set-up, where they gave a game a rating, a one word summary of their feelings, and recommendation for who should buy the game. The combination worked brilliantly because the reviewer could say that a 9/10 GREAT is also "For Fans Only." That's a drastically different appraisal from an 8/10, Good, "Buy it Now" rating, as the 9/10 clearly let the reviewer be a fanboy, while the 8/10 has the broader appeal for more players.

The combination worked brilliantly, and more sites should really adopt something similar.

If I'm looking at any other review, though, all you get at the end is the score. I typically HAVE to read--or at least skim--those reviews to see if I'll agree with the reviewer based on what they said. I know I'm one to point out tone inconsistencies, for instance, and that I like level grinding more than most players, so I'll judge the review according to my tastes.

That said, I seldom actually let what reviews say really dictate what I'll buy. They might make me hold off on buying a game right away, but a negative 3rd Birthday review didn't stop me from preordering it, and glowing reviews of Tomb Raider didn't make me buy it any sooner.

The source of the review is important, I used to use Destructoid alot for reviews, but since they lost Jim Sterling I just dont trust them. Thats not to say Jim was perfect, I remember he reviewed Fist of the North Str and gave it 9/10 so I went out and brought it and it was a pile of crap.

Im not saying his review was wrong, maybe he did love it and think it deserving of that score, but to me as a different person it was just a pile of crap.

And now reviews are completely dead to me.

I usually check the scores of titles and read reviews when I am on the fence, for example I am interested on Thief for PS3, but was not sure about buying it or when to do it, now I know the game is not bad but also not great, so I will delay my purchase for latter as I already have other stuff in my backlog that could use the time.

Completely off topic: you made me want to watch Power Rangers which I loved 10 years+ ago and am now downloading, shame on you!

EDIT: totally quoted the wrong post, meant to be adriane23's

I don't use reviews to influence my decisions when purchasing games.If a game is fun and draws your attention, why use a review that may be negative towards the game?Reviews are opinions from people who played the game before you. Using them to make your purchase all the time is just play stupid imo.

I check Metacritic and Gamerankings. If it is a game I am certain I will buy everything over 60 tells me to buy. If it is a FPS even a score of 95 will make me think it over again, maybe lateter when it is cheaper. I have been contemplating COD BLOPS2 but it is still to expensive, when it is $10 I might buy it as I am quite certain that I will not play it for long.

I always look at the score. If its a bad score I usually read it. If its good I skip it for the most part.

I prefer video reviews though.

I watch GameXPlains reviews. Those are the only ones I feel comfortable with

I watch them to see if a game is good or not based on how I expect the game to be

For example, if a game like Senran Kagura Burst for the 3ds gets a 7/10, it will be considered as a good game to me cause I was expecting a 5/10 vs if a game like Uncharted 4 gets a 7/10, I would consider it a shit game cause I was expecting a 8.5+/10