I agree completely, of course we went over this before in th MP3 thread. It has gotten to the point where I don't trust the online reviews (other than IGN).

I think that their advertising dollars and hype dictate what scores they give what. The reason IGN stays unbiased is they have subscription service to access content that likely pays for a good majority of the site upkeep. That's the real kicker when dealing with website based reviews, the only way they make money is advertising. If Microsoft (who controls just about everything related to computers) pays them extra then I can see them giving retarded reviews for stellar game. (higher or lower depending on the ad revenue)

 Furthermore, I don't dispute the fact that Halo 3 is a stellar game. It probably deserves the scores it has gotten (for the most part), however, I think that other games should be rated with consistancy and the genre.

This will be lower than Bioshock in lifetime reviews.  Bioshock's were much higher at this point, and most low review scores come later in the review process.  Over the next few weeks the score will continue to drop.  It will probably end up around 9.3 (my estimate) in the end.  Obviously a great game.

@ leo-j, you are the one who called Heavenly Sword an 8 average game.  It's in your own quote haha.  He misunderstood your bad grammar and thought you were saying 8 means an average game, and was correcting you to tell you that 8 means a good game.

If you're basing this on the arstechnica article I posted, you're just wrong.

For them, Halo 3 is a 7 with its 8-10 hours of gameplay at normal difficulty (there are another 2 levels above that), counting only the single player campaign, and none of the extra single player features. They'll also review the full game as soon as they have access to it (ie., when it shows up in stores - this was all they were given privileged access to).

Heavenly Sword, on the other hand, was found not to be deserving of a full review, and got one of their short reviews, which turned out to be a "rent" score thanks to its no more than 6 hours of gameplay. So, I very much doubt that'd beat a 7 in their scale.

You can't get off comparing a score from a single review site to the gamerankings average (of which said site isn't even a part of, thanks to its scarce reviews) and make a statment like that. According to them, Halo 3's flawed single player mode seen in isolation beats Heavenly Sword easily.

You either trust their judgment, or you don't. And if you don't, don't use their words to spin stuff your way.

I agree.

I also agree that a "perfect" score shouldn't even be possible. It should only exist in theory. 

Ah, misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that an 8 score is average, not that HS is pulling an average of an 8.

And there's nothing wrong with a game getting a boosted score for additional features like co-op and MP. It's like a car reviewer not being able to give a higher review to a car that costs the same yet comes with leather, sunroof, power everything, etc. over a stripped down basic model. There's more added value in the purchase and for $60, there aren't many games that will offer players more over the long run than Halo 3.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the game and getting my review in on it.

With all the new additions to multiplayer, replay vids, the forge, 4 player co-op, etc. Halo 3 has set the bar for all future games that much higher. Who cares if the campaign is similar to Halo 1&2? I enjoyed each immensely and would be totally disappointed if they deviated from a proven formula for the sake of innovation and it ended up sucking. No game will have the replay value of Halo 3 and anyone who says otherwise is a jackass. Halo 2 is still one of the most played games on Xbox Live.....that is till Tuesday

Famitsu Weekly - 10/9/9/9 http://www.famitsu.com/sp/070914_halo3/ Press Start Online - 10 http://www.pressstartonline.co.uk/view/287 Official XBox Magazine (Australia) - 10 Toronto Sun - 4.5/5 TeamXBox - 9.7 http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1387/Halo-3/p1/ IGN - 9.5 http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/821/821911p1.html IGN UK - 9.5 http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/822/822427p1.html GameSpot - 9.5 http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/acti...om_clk=topslot GameSpot Korea - 9.7 http://www.gamespot.co.kr/xbox360/re...091082p,00.htm GameSpy - 5/5 http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/.../821976p1.html Gamers Daily - 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaOt2RhiOpY http://www.gamersdaily.us/ Game Reactor - 10 http://www.gamereactor.dk/anmeldelser/66804/Halo+3/ Game Trailers - 9.8 http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25484.html Xbox Life - 9.4 http://www.xboxlife.dk/ GamePro - 5/5 http://gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360...s/135749.shtml 1UP - 10 http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3163125 Euro Gamer - 10 http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=83948 CVG - 9.7 http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=172449 Games Radar - 10 http://www.gamesradar.com/us/xbox360...00000000000350 Pro-G - 10 http://www.pro-g.co.uk/xbox360/halo_3/review.html Gamer 2.0 - 8.8 http://www.gamer20.com/gamehub/halo-3-x360/review/1081 Worth Playing - 9.6 http://www.worthplaying.com/article....thread&order=0 Gamer Node - 9.5 http://www.gamernode.com/Reviews/4346-Halo-3/index.html Game Daily - 4.5/5 http://www.gamedaily.com/games/halo-...tem/5186/1768/ Kikizo Games - 9 http://games.kikizo.com/reviews/xbox360/halo3_p1.asp Yahoo Games - 4.5/5 http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrank...eviewid=809547 Game Informer - 9.75

Theres a good chance we can add in Mass effect very soon for that also cant wait!

Heck maybe even Lo will score that high with RPG fans

Yeah Mass Effect should be up there. I have a lot of faith in Bioware as a developer. I'm not sure about LO though. The previews for it have been positive, but they have also mentioned that it's pretty standard RPG fair without anything new or revolutionary, which is exactly what killed Blue Dragon's reviews. Of course JRPG fans often want that (I know I do), and the game isn't really being made for us. It's being made to try and draw in ore than 1000 units sold a week in the Japanese market.

 But microsoft will improve online functionality to reduce lag as they go.  I wouldnt be surprised if they have already since this was published. They cant afford Halo 3 to lag.