At the end of the day, Halo Wars is still an RTS, and any RTS will always be very hard to create in terms of gameplay depth on a console, and the platform a game is on, can be very decisive for the gameplay, RTSs on consoles as a clear point.

Halo Wars could have been on the PC, Halo Wars could have had deeper gameplay, but is limited by the platform.

There is a reason few RTSs do well on consoles, particularly because there are better RTSs available on another platform, PC.

And the last AAA Final Fantasy game was on the PSOne according to metacritic

EDIT: No wait, there was one on the GameBoy Advance!

I think you're being unfair. I'm no fan of Metacritic for many reasons, but it does its job as a barometer of review opinion very well. To take some of you points specifically:

Please, using this example so early in proceedings is disingenuous. The Metascore for each is determined from a very small sample of reviews. There is no reasons not to trust reviewers or Metacritic here, all you need do is wait for more reviews to come rolling in. Opinion will always vary when it comes to the subjective practice of reviewing, but you invariably find that multiple reviews bring a far stronger measure of a reviewed product's quality than a handful. If you want to make this point, at least wait until 40+ reviews are in.

That's your opinion. The general concensus from the collated reviews is different. Whilst you may be willing to forgive the short mission structure, the lack of factions, and the lack of depth (to highlight some of the issues reviewers have cited) for the slickness of the product, many others are not. It's current Metascore looks fine to me. It's a good game, but stumbles at some key hurdles, especially for a RTS. Sure, some will find it the best thing since joysticks were wired into a console (Gameshark gave it a 100% review, for example), but for the majority (39/64 score it less than 85%) it is lacking in some areas, and a higher score cannot be justified.

Metacritic has never promised to reflect your opinion, all it does it collates what it deems to be reliable reviews together into one place and sums their collected opinion. Sure, you, others, will not always agree with such a system, or the end result, but, in general, it does what it sets out to do very well, in my opinion.

Uhm? FF X and XII are both 92 on metacritic

As for RE5 scoring higher on PS3 than X360, it's not like they are saying that it is the better version explicitely, it's just different sets of review bringing statistical variance. That's why I laugh when I see stuff like "ah-ha, my X game scored 94 while yur Y game scored 91 on metacritic, you pwned" or "X game only got metacritic 89, it aint AAAA it sux!1!".

Basically metacritic is an average, but every average comes with an error range.

Doh, missed that...

I haven't clicked onto this thread since my last post, I'm glad it's still going strong.

New format is awesome by the way, except it'll be a nightmare when I get capped.

I bet that DS will get it's first 85+ game before the Wii does.

Also, I'm surprised flower is doing so well, I think it's a great concept, but it's ridiculously short (and I think alot of "hardcore" reviewers would have given it the thumbs down).

Edit: oops, posted a game with 84

nevermind me, lol

Hello, all. The weekly update is late this week due to internet problems at my end. However, it is (mostly) resolved now, so let's take a look at the changes:

• Killzone 2 on PS3 has, impressively, increased its metascore from 91 to 92 as the late reviews continue to roll in; however, can this be maintained?
• Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned on 360 mirrors Killzone 2's achievement, and increases its score late in the day from 90 to 91.
• Empire: Total War on PC has begun its inevitable slip after the enthusiasm of the initial reviews; it now sits at 91.
• MLB 09: The Show on PS3 continues it's slow climb, rising from 88 to 89, bringing it very close to the 90.
• Peggle on 360 has popped in at a solid 90, but only has 6 reviews so far.
• Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box for PC gains a point, climbing to a Metascore of 88.
• Meanwhile, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box for PS3 drops a point, slipping to a Metascore of 87.
• The Wii finally has an entry! However, with only 16 reviews providing the metascore of 86, Madworld has a long way to go before it is comfortable in the chart.
• Resident Evil V on 360 increases its score from 85 to 86. Still a pretty precarious position, so the late reviews may sink this.
• Resident Evil V on PS3 falls from 90 to 86, bringing it equal to its 360 equivalent. The outlook for this game staying in the chart isn't good.
• Dawn of War II on PC falls to a very dangerous 85 from 86. Can it hold on?
• Peggle: Dual Shot slips in an 86 for DS, the first of two new entries for the Nintendo hand-held this week.
• Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume has squeezed is for the DS at 85. But with only 4 reviews, it seem likely this will change very soon.

That leaves the chart this week at:

1. PS3 with 6 titles (3 exclusive)
   
2. PC with 4 titles (3 exclusive)
3. Xbox 360 with 4 titles (1 exclusive)
4. DS with 2 titles, (2 exclusive)
5. Wii with 1 title (1 exclusive)
6. PSP with 0 titles (0 exclusive)

So, Nintendo has arrived (again) but none of those scores look completely safe. All the other systems have remained largely unchanged.

Well, we have a few contenders from both DS and Wii this week; let's see if any can keep their 85+ as the later, often harsher, reviews come in. So far, only the DS had a title that charted, but it slipped after just two weeks.

Also, glad to read you like the new format. I may get annoyed with it as it fills up, but it seems cool so far. If you have any ideas regarding how to make it better, post on.

wow great idea¡¡¡. thank you¡¡¡.

A nice extensive update, I like it!