Are Reviews Worth Reading

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Simple question.

Are game reviews worth reading?

I now have several games in my steam library that I bought based on reviews. They sit there getting not attention whatsoever. Having not lived up to the reviews that they received.

Have game reviewers been dumbed down?

[Antilogic]

Very much depends on the review site in question.

I have very little regard for PC Gamer, Gamespot, etc. Even Rock Paper Shotgun these days is losing my interest for their lack of respect on proper disclosure policies, and the quality of the site has gone downhill over the past year.

However I do like The Escapist, Giant Bomb, Totalbiscuit and reading "how does it play" threads in Reddits /r/games and /r/gamingforgamers.

I think you need to find some publications/sites that you respect and also fit in with your desires. I like TB for example because a lot of his interests are my interests and therefore I can usually get on board with his thoughts and opinions on a game.

[Dragoongfa]

For my personal review needs I default to the following division between written reviews and youtubers:

For written reviews:

Escapist, Giant Bomb and (paroled) Eurogamer from the mainstream gaming sites.

Smaller sites:

NicheGamer.net (it's worth the Niche name )
TechRaptor.net
GoodGamers.us

The above are pretty much unbiased and offer disclosures for their reviews.

As for YouTubers

TotalBiscuit. Mainly for the WTF is? First impression videos.
AngryJoe. His review style takes some getting used to.
The Rageaholic. Metal and gaming in one nice package.

There are plenty of smaller ones as well but they are the ones I follow.

[pjknibbs]

A game review is somebody's personal opinion, and people all differ. If you want the reviews you read to match up with your own experience of the game you have to do some work yourself--you have to figure out which game reviewers have tastes which closely match your own and use those as your go-to reviews to determine whether to play a game or not.

Speaking personally, I'll often skip all that stuff and just watch somebody doing a let's play on Youtube for half an hour--that's usually long enough for me to determine if the game being played is one that I would enjoy.

[GCU Grey Area]

Haven't paid any attention to game reviews for several years now. They seem thoroughly obsolete to me when I can instead watch a selection of youtube videos to find out for myself what a new game is actually like & whether there's a good chance I'll enjoy playing it. Obviously means waiting for a while after release before buying a new game, but why rush it? Almost any new game will generate a huge amount of videos uploaded within a couple of weeks of it's release, certainly more than enough to make an informed decision on whether to make a purchase.

[SteveMill]

It's hard to say. As a rough rule of thumb I think that if even PC Gamer cannot be bribed into giving a game a good review it really must be a steaming pile.

I also find you can get a pretty good collective sense from Metacritic and Amazon.

For meta-critic particularly if the user and professional averages are close.

There's a few professional utube types I'll take into account also.

But mainly i've learned that if a game suddenly launches near Xmas without sending review copies out and letting testers off the NDA well in advance then it's going to be shite.

I'm in two minds about cancelling my Dragon Age Inquisition pre-order.

[clakclak]

Don't you have a tv show for game reviews? In germany we have MTVs "game one", which already has cult status (this week they aired their 300 episode). Before game one started in 2006 we had GIGA TV, that started in 1998. I am sure there is something similar for the englisch speaking market.

[Rednoahl]

It's rare that I read a review these days and it's been many years since I've bought a game based on a "good" review. The games I like rather a lot don't tend to get good reviews from anyone and as a consequence reviews have become irrelevant.

While most modern games have offered an improvements on "the last generation" there has often been things critically overlooked when reviewers totted up the score for their review. These things that are critically overlooked are usually things that I view as important to my experience with a game; the big franchises in the last few years have generally gotten worse imo as a result (Mass Effect>the sequels for example.) When Susan Arendt reviewed Mass Effect 3 for the escapist here the tag line was "the ending that the series and fans deserve." That was the last online game review I read and it's the one that broke the camel's back; the review doesn't match the score and poor Susan almost had Gamergate on her hands.

[Jamoid]

I find it far too difficult to match up a complete stranger's subjective tastes to my own, so I prefer just to watch someone play the game for a while on youtube or twitch.tv. Better just decide yourself.

It's also easy to get into the sort of mindset where you rule out any game that doesn't score above a certain amount on websites like metacritic. Many people do that and just end up missing out on games they may have really enjoyed.

[Stars_InTheirEyes]

Normally I only get games I've kept an eye on for a long time and wait to make my own mind up about it. Sometimes (most recently with the new Shadow of Mordor game) I'll look on aggregate review sites like Metacritic and compare the user and critic reviews and read through the most reasonable.

If its an AAA title and the critic reviews are highly favourable and the user's are not - I'll put it down to corruption and never read a critic review. Also I ignore any user review which rates 10/10 or 0/10 as they almost always are completely irrational from fanboys/haters.

Sites like amazon or metacritic tried to help people find the good reviews by implementing a rating system - a "This review help x amount of y amount of customers" but people now just see this system to make reviews they agree with more noticeable. Such as one fanboy actually trying to justify a 10/10 and other fanboys instantly rating-up his score like its a holy text.

I normally look for the reviews from people who score in the ranges of 3-8 as they seem the most reasoned.


Honestly, I say unless its a game you're truly on the fence about. Take the plunge and make your own opinion on it. Chances are you'll never find someones review who had the exact same experience as you will and felt exactly the same, either.


We used to have a game-show (I mean a show on games, not The Chase) called Gameville that I used to watch every morning before school but now we've switched to BT for TV (it used to be on Sky 1) there's nothing quite like it.

[SteveMill]

I find it far too difficult to match up a complete stranger's subjective tastes to my own, so I prefer just to watch someone play the game for a while on youtube or twitch.tv. Better just decide yourself.

It's also easy to get into the sort of mindset where you rule out any game that doesn't score above a certain amount on websites like metacritic. Many people do that and just end up missing out on games they may have really enjoyed.

I do that as well but unless the reviewer is very honest fans of games do tend to gloss over some issues. Especially if the company claims to have fixed it in their Developers version. I was burned on Elder Scrolls Online like that.

All us beta testers were screaming at them about issues that never showed up in the videos. They swore blind they were already fixed, but of course ...

It's a minefield. Of course we all have to expect certain issues - particularly with online games. But nowadays there's just too many games being released basically not even close to completion. XR is only the most egregious example for me - but Rome Total War 2 came close.

Until we gamers change our behaviour commercial reviewers are going to continue being paid liars and companies are keep going to release to a marketing schedule no matter how unready a product is.

And of course releasing through a real hard-nosed 'no refunds' outfit like Steam just makes this easier.

I'm as bad as anyone. With big titles I should wait until Angry Joe has a rant instead of getting involved with hype and hope.

I should adopt a 'show me' approach.

Force Strategy Gaming I find very informative. He seems a pretty genuine guy. His review of XR wasn't too bad.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ForceSC2strategy

[pjknibbs]

But mainly i've learned that if a game suddenly launches near Xmas without sending review copies out and letting testers off the NDA well in advance then it's going to be shite.

Not always the case--Warners pretty much never give out review copies, for instance, yet their games are often pretty good (the current Shadows of Mordor game being a case in point).

[fiksal]

Are game reviews worth reading?

Is this a trick question? Since when did Zaphod ever read anything?

But I can answer still,
If I dont see a review that goes into detail of what's good and what's bad about the game, what kind of gameplay I can expect - it's not useful to me then.

I find the user reviews more useful in that case, mostly to see what people liked and disliked about the game. Which steam has too.

[wwdragon]

Are game reviews worth reading?

No.

If you want to see how it plays, watch a lets play of the current release.

[Morkonan]

Simple question.

Are game reviews worth reading?...

Yes, but you have to know how to go about consuming information. In today's environment of "information overload" many people don't seem to discriminate very much. Not all information is of equal quality or credibility.

You have to know what to look for and what to listen for. What's important in a game, for you? Just because someone says that a particular game is great, that doesn't mean that you will enjoy it. When someone pans a game and fails to give meaningful reasons why they think it's worthy of derision, what should you think? When someone praises a game, but the praise is all subjective, what should you think?

Lastly, seek out "true" information. Watch Let's Plays, take a look at the developer's performance history, visit forums for the game... seek, for yourself, instead of just consuming what is in front of you.

There are plenty of good game reviewers, but even they have their own biases that prevent them from being a good judge of what you might find enjoyable. Learn what you like and learn how to consume information in a manner that helps you find those games that will appeal to you.

[SteveMill]

But mainly i've learned that if a game suddenly launches near Xmas without sending review copies out and letting testers off the NDA well in advance then it's going to be shite.

Not always the case--Warners pretty much never give out review copies, for instance, yet their games are often pretty good (the current Shadows of Mordor game being a case in point).

Is it? Maybe its the exception that proves the rule. It's on my 'show me' list but I think I'm too old and slow for that kind of game anyway.

[SteveMill]

Are game reviews worth reading?

No.

If you want to see how it plays, watch a lets play of the current release.

That won't show you anything about how a game actually plays. It shows you how it looks and how the guy doing the video wants it to look.

What i'm looking for is someone who discusses issues as they play. But yes, compared to the olden days, we do have more info.

[softweir]

A good trick is to make a list of games you have played and enjoyed, and then read a lot of reviews of those games. Make note of the reviewers who agree with your opinion of those games - not the site, the individual!

Then, when you want to know about a new game, wait for peoepl your list of reviewers to review the new game and see what they think about the new game. If they like it then there is a better than random chance that you will like it, and if they dislike it, you are more likely to dislike it.

Also, take note of the reviewers who hate everything you like and vice versa. They can be a good guide in an opposing sense - avoid what they like, consider what they hate! (My brother used to work with two guys who had diametrically opposing tastes in movies. When a new one came out, one would say (for instance) "hey, saw it last night - it sucked! You'll love it." - "Excellent! I'll go see it tomorrow!")

[Jamoid]

I do that as well but unless the reviewer is very honest fans of games do tend to gloss over some issues. Especially if the company claims to have fixed it in their Developers version. I was burned on Elder Scrolls Online like that.

I hear you but in a way that's kind of the point. If I watch someone playing a game on twitch or youtube for a while I can pretty easily get a feel for what I like and dislike about it and whether or not it would be a worthwhile purchase.

Sure I don't have someone listing all the pluses and minuses, but I'd honestly rather do that myself because if someone else does it I end up being annoyed by things I probably wouldn't even have noticed if I didn't read their review.

I honestly can't remember the last time I regretted buying a game and I'm fairly picky, so I'm doing something right.

[Gosnell]

Personnally i only watch total biscuit,and check the games forums before i purchase.
Zero Punctuation is enjoyable but plays it for laughs so it can be hard to determine if from a review he likes something.
after having preordered Rome 2 and X Rebirth last year,i will never preorder again.
My rule of thumb is let the i must get this straight away based on hype crowd be the guinea pigs and based on there forum reactions decide on my purchase.