Easy, it allows me to find out what the games about, and if I'd like it.

I've bought games in the past that I thought were good, and the blurb on the back made it appealing, but when I played them they were what I expected and ended up no liking them.

So when it comes to spending like 100 bucks on a game, I want to make sure its one I'd like, and the easiest way of doing that is by looking at a review, this is what educated consumers do, and this is why review sites exist.

I use reviews to tell me what the game is about, the play mechanics, and the extra features. In other words, I put more value in the description rather than the evaluation.

If a game I'm interested in gets universally bad reviews, I'll skip it. I see no point in wasting my time with a game on some miniscule chance I might be the one person who would enjoy the game.

If a game I'm interested in gets mixed reviews, I'll read some of the reviews more closely and try to figure out what the game's shortcomings are. If those shortcomings are things that I know would bother me, I'll skip it. If they're things that don't matter to me, I'll buy it.

If a game I'm not interested in gets universally good reviews, I'll give it a second look. I won't necessarily buy it, but I'll at least read the reviews more closely and think about it. If it's the type of game I enjoy, I'll buy it. If I'm not familiar with the game type, but the ideas behind the game sound fresh and interesting, I'll probably buy it. If it just sounds like a top-notch game in a genre I don't particularly like, I'll skip it.

I don't have enough time to play every game that comes out. Honestly I'm skeptical that anyone has that much time, so the constant cries of "ignore the reviews, play and decide for yourself" are meaningless. Reviews are a great tool to assist in purchase or rental decisions. Most people just seem like they don't know how to use reviews very well.

I read reviews to see what the guy has to say about it as in
1. What kind of bugs (if it has any) it can have
2. The features the game holds
3. The replay vaule etc

I dont really think what the reviewer thinks (personaly) i basicly read what kind of flaws and values the game has based on his observation of the game (although i might be contradicting). i.e. i bought red steel despite the mediocre and mixed reviews, i though it had potential and hopefully its sequal will correct most of the flaws the first one had.

I played the demo of Wanted, it seemed interesting. But there are games which I know to be excellent coming out soon or that I do not have. It appeared from the demo that the game would get quite repetitive, the reviewer will have played the full game while I will only have played the first level. From the first level of The Force Unleashed, I thought it would be an excellent game, but it went slowly downhill. Still good, but I'm glad I only borrowed it after the somewhat lackluster review scores; pretty much no replay value, some 7 hours long.

And then, there's Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I enjoyed the demo, it got excellent reviews, and I ended up hating it. Go figure.

Now, when I say "bad reviews" for God of War III, I don't mean "bad" at all, I mean below 8. Not happening, I know. If it got 7.5s, I would still get it. If it got 3s and 4s, I would leave it.

Before I started using IGN and Metacritic, and only used GameSpot, GS gave Tools of Destruction a 7.5. But it was a Ratchet and Clank game, and I bought it. That was the day I finally lost faith in GameSpot, for giving a game easily worthy of a 9+ a 7.5. I then discovered that IGN gave it a 9.4, and I haven't listened to GameSpot since.

I need to inform folks before they throw down $60 for a game. That's my job. It's not to pitch console bias or the like, but to inform.

I rely on them to figure out if I want a game I can't rent or didn't get to review.

I hate it when people use the opinions of others to back up their argument (i.e reviews).

I read reviews because I like another take on what others thought of a game, it's the same as why you'd listen to advice for anything in life, so you make the "best possible choice". It's also good when they detail aspects of the game, because it gives you a headsup if you're used to a certain style of play that this game doesn't let you do.

I tend to only agree with IGN (not always) and Gametrailers though (more than IGN, except the Halo 3 review was a tad high). It helps with gaming purchases which is a tough choice when you're on a budget.

Because without them, I would buy way too many games :D

I read the reviews hoping they tell me what is good or bad about the game. I look at the numbers if I want a real quick idea of a game.

Either way, if I actually care about a game and I'm actually thinking about buying it I'll actually read the review.

And on a related now, my favorite reviews are the Kotaku reviews