There are plenty of ways to form an opinion about a game without ever checking any review. For example I check the forums for that particular game and see what people have to say. It's better to check the forums for a single platform, like playstationtrophies.org. There are many less chances to read salty trolls compared to gamefaqs or the Metacritics user's reviews. Or we may follow the journalists we know are more in line with our personal taste. As well as there are tons of videos.

Personally I do check Metacritics (I love numbers. What can I do..), but I don't put a blind fate on it. For example I buy all Final Fantasy RPGs no matter what. If I had to follow Metacritic I had to skip LR: FFXIII, which to me is actually the best of the trilogy. Or a game like Saboteur. Hugely underrated. Lair for PS3 sure deserved much more than the 53 the idiots gave it. The motion controls, heavily trashed, were also what I liked the most. U-turn apart. It was just a bit too glitchy graphically. Oh, I'm still pissed about Skyrim for PS3 getting 9s and 10s as if it was raining. A broken game like that had to end up like Batman: AK for PC. Instead it has got a 92. Thanks God I waited, so I could buy it at less than half the price.

Then I use another rule: If I don't know much about a game, I don't care. It may have a 100 in Metacritics but I would skip it. It didn't trigger my interest, so I don't bother. Which applies to most retro indie 2D crap.

I look at the score Deadly Premonition has and cry. Then I promise myself not to use metacritic anymore.

ughhhh so many games in the 54 rating... I have to guess... Was it Sonic and the Black Knight?

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/all/filtered?sort=desc&page=108 :< so many games.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon:  Explorers of Sky

I used to buy games just by reading the back of boxes until a paid 60€ for a piece of garbage game dead to rights 2 😋 for original Xbox. No purchase has felt like a waste of money since.

you see games everywhere these days. I don't have to see or read much to know I'm interested in playing a game. For example I saw a pic of main character in murdered soul suspect and read you solve your own murder --> day1 purchase heh. And sometimes you just want to know what the hype is about.

I trust Metacritic scores 100%

I just dont like how some reviews weigh more that others. Why? Does some newbie at IGN knows better and is more experienced that some reviewer of a less known site because.....IGN?

I find Game Rankings way more just because every review is the same.

I don't use it. I check out NintendoLife reviews but even if a game gets a 7 or oh my gosh a 6 I might still even get it later at a discount rate if there are user comments saying the game should have been higher.

Doh! I seen that on the list but wasn't sure if it was good or not, we bought it ages ago for €5 in a bargain bin but I've not got a chance to pop it in yet.

Great game you think tho? Will have to give it a spin sometime I get to sit with my 3ds.

I think it's amazing and one of the most underrated games ever.  I really don't see how it got a 54 on Metacritic.  If you have played any of the other Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, this is easily the best imo.

If a game interests me, I go check the score. It must have 75 or more, and the user score must be be at least over 6.0, since user score tend to be more critical.