coolestguyever, these reviews are done with different people with different tastes and different metrics of quality. We aren't going to agree on comparisons between games all the time, or even most of the time.

VGChartz isn't itself one single, faceless entity. Remember: it is a collection of people who have very different ideas about what makes a game good.

Run down a list of other review sites and tell me that they're perfect either. Gamespot gave both Chrono Cross and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 a 10/10. Are you going to agree that either of those games are better than Super Mario Galaxy, LittleBigPlanet, etc.?

Given the motivation, I could easily cherrypick some questionable reviews from IGN, Game Informer, 1UP, or any other review media. That's not to say that I haven't disagreed with some of the reviews on this site, but that's to be expected. They are opinions after all.

I have my complaints about a lot of the reviews too, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm right and that others are wrong.

@ naz - I never acutally played Bioshock , I just heard it was "amazing"

@ khuutra - Well said

@ montana - Never played Chrono cross or Tony Hawk 3 :)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was actually brilliant. Great gameplay, an awesome soundtrack, and creative and varied levels. But it's definitely not a 10/10 game. And from what I've heard of Chrono Cross, I wouldn't give it a 10/10 either.

Can I ask, because it fascinates me, what people view reviews as, and whether they see them as just opinions or not?

You see my view is based on film/music/book reviews, and those (well, those I consider true reviews) aren't just opinions, they are evaluations based on knowledge and experience of the medium, and built around a quantitative foundation.

For example the films acting, editing, composition, cinematography, etc. can all be factually considered and reviewed. The review isn't just an opinion but can, in a sense, be 'right' in pointing out poor acting, uneven editing, poor cinematography, etc.

I know this is sometimes seen as elitist, a minority claiming their views are superior to others, but I do believe its the truth that you can review something like 2001 or Citizen Kane or Alien or The Terminator and find a majority consensus they are excellent films, and superior to their peers. You will find consistency in how they are judged, the superior craft (and art) they exhibit.

I guess I expect the same for games but it seems that mostly (even by paid reviewers) a game review is little more than just an opinion. I also see the notion of value linked to length and whether the game has replay/online or not, rather than considering the game purely for itself and against its own goals. Due to the different nature of games this can massively skew scores. I've complained a few times regarding this sites use of value for this reason - applied simplistically it means a AAA SP experience can never equal a AAA online/replay experience, which I think is wrong.

But fundamentally what intrigues me is I see time and time posters in this forum saying 'it's only an opinion'.

So what do people think? Are videogame reviews just opinions? Should they be? Can't they be evaluated in a more consistent manner?

Am I just an old elitist... (you don't have to answer that last one!)

Reasonable:

I would agree with you, but literary and cinematic criticism isn't that simple, either. There are schools which consider intent, and other such immeasurable things - it is why Ebert greatly enjoyed Michael Bay's Transformers.

There is no single standard for criticism.

im glad someone actually agrees with me on this. while playing it I asked myself every few minutes, "why were people saying this game is so amazing? ive played this game before."

Aren't you the one that always brings up metacritic ratings which are just opinions themselves. Every review is an opinion not a fact. Take it how you want but just because a game gets a 7 or 8 doesn't mean it couldn't be the best game ever for you. I personally don't care what people rate games if I see clips and it interests me. Only thing I look for in a review is if there are major control issues or something else major that could cause the gameplay to suffer.

VGchartz entire review system is bias and favors Nintendo and other Japanese games.

I would think that it's obvious...