Reviewers play video games for a living, so it's not like they can't take on a hard game. And you also have to remember that they have to meet deadlines, so they finish games as quickly as possible. 6 hours for a reviewer might not be the same as 6 hours for the average gamer.

They probably do it. You have to think who game reviewers are. They play video games. . .  for a living. Probably 8+ hours a day. They were probably decent before becoming reviewers or they wouldn't have gotten into it so much in the first place. I mean, you've had your ass handed to you in Halo by some kid who probably doesn't know his multiplication tables through 12 yet right? Same concept. Lots and lots of practice.

Edit: Montana beat me to it. **shakes fist at Montana**

Whenever I read a review about game length I like to multiply that by 2. I tend to take a while.

Except for Heavenly Sword though. I breezed through that game in like 6 hours.

Got what you are saying there OK.

I suppose then you have to ask should they not say that the average gamer, ie. me will knock double that time out of it.

I mean I go to IGN or Eurogamer for example and they say whatever about a game.

how am I supposed to take that into account.

Anyway thank goodness I am not as bad as I thought I was  :)

lol. my 1st mgs4 playthrough took me 35 hours but then again, I always made sure to kill every enemy except the infinite respawn ones

I would be the same.

Especially with a game I like.

I actually went stealth with the rookie mission prior to presnt flashback.

Just to get a feel for it.

I think you both got the point, often reviewers, also for the reasons given by Montana and others, measure game length completing only mandatory objectives. Obviously, though, if they are unbiased enough, they tell about secondary objectives, and if in their opinion they complete and make the game better or are just unnecessary filling. At least reviewers I like do so, if they haven't time to completely play the game (and in games like Morrowind or Torment, with tons of side quests, it would be impossible for them to do it within their deadlines).

PS I must be a terrible gamer too

you'd only suck if you intended to finish in 5 hours :p if not you're just a lingerer/explorer

The reviewers play through most games on Easy mode so they can pass through the game quickly and write up a review. They will say add a few hours on to the time it took them to pass the game if you play through on harder difficulty settings.

A lot of gamers only play through the campaign on Easy/NOrmal mode and do not bother with harder difficulty settings for campaign and move stright onto the online game. Running around shooting people or camping online is fairly straight forward.