Conflicting reviews (mgs4), how should games be reviewed?

Im guessing every1 has read about the 9.9 from ign UK and the 8 from eurogamer (thats what its called right?) and I also read something about EDGE (I've never heard of them) giveing it a 7. Here are some of my thoughts around this.

Here is the thing. Eurogamer (and I suppose edge too) complains about exactly what tons of hardcore gamers love, a deep and good story and gives it a lower score then what many hardcore gamers thinks it should get. While IGN UK says its the best mgs ever and that fans of games like this will love it and gives it the high score many hardcore gamers feel that the game deserves. To me it seems like Eurogamer reviewed this game with every type of gamer in mind when they scored it (they even say in the review; if you liked it before you'll like it now, but if you didn't you wont change your mind). While IGN UK seemed to review it with the type of gamer the game is made for in mind.

Now my question is how should games be reviewed? Should the score represent a score which speaks for every type of gamer out there? Or should it just represent the type of gamer who likes that type of game in the first place? Imo I think reviews should both be done by a person who in general enjoy the type of game he's reviewing and the score should represent that type of gamer...what do you think? Should a review of a racing game tell a fps fan how good it is? or should it tell a raceing fan how much better this racing game is compared to another?

a review is someones opinion, find someone you agree with and give it mroe weighting than a reviewer that you don't usually agree with.

If I listened to Gamespot or IGN I would have given up gaming many years ago, so I don't read their reviews. I am smart enough to know what I like so all I need is specifications of the games. Just work out what you want and then find out where to get the info you need. No use whinging about ratings different sites give.

Well the games of today are pretty much all shooters with barely a storyline. IGN UK is right lol.

As for Eurogamer, well I guess they have a different view of MGS4, they said that the closure is way to complicated but then you can't have everyone love it.

Though I'm confident that MGS4 will get a lot of 9.5+

It should be reviewed with the target audience in mind, otherwise it's like reviewing a childrens movie and giving it low score because it's childish.ikwal

ye so true=P

It should be reviewed with the target audience in mind, otherwise it's like reviewing a childrens movie and giving it low score because it's childish.ikwal

this says it all. thats not bias, thats how it should be done.

I think the game should be reviewed for the target audience. Whats the point of getting someone to review a game when from the start they know there not really going to enjoy it. The review for MGS4 should be written by someone who has played the other game and is a fan of the stealth genera because that is the type of people who are going to want to buy the game.

EDGE are like the review Nazi's of the industry.

Anything they review you should add 2 marks to, they always under-rate.

As in God of War 2 got a 7 off them :/

EDGE are like the review Nazi's of the industry.

Anything they review you should add 2 marks to, they always under-rate.

As in God of War 2 got a 7 off them :/

addish

is EDGE an American magazine? and ye thats a low score for gow2=|

I think the game should be reviewed for the target audience. Whats the point of getting someone to review a game when from the start they know there not really going to enjoy it. The review for MGS4 should be written by someone who has played the other game and is a fan of the stealth genera because that is the type of people who are going to want to buy the game.

Dtaylor_93

Couldn't have agreed more, and after reading the eurogamer review I kinda started to wonder if the reviewer actually had played through the other mgs games. He seemed to think that the story was to complicated and didn't end that well, while all other reviews seem to love how it ties up all the lose ends.

No game deserves perfect scores, 10/10 are ridiculous scores.... probably a 7/10 seems harsh for MGSIV but hey none of us played the game yet, it might have some flaws which are annoying... However I am never effected by scores when I get games, surely I take note and read about the game but in the end, i have to try the game before i can judge... Dont get games based on reviews because afterall reviewers are human beings and have preferences / tastes therefore the review score is nothing more than an OPINION !!!

guys edge is the most hardcore of the british gaming press. i am a subscriber to the mag and whould have to say their reviews are mostly spot on. dont think that edge would be reviewing the game for a casual market makes no sence if 99% of the consumers are hardcore gamers. also in the review it gives solid resons why the game was given 7 out ten highlighting the confusing plot line and 90 min cut scenes. plus does anyone else feel like its hype reviewing games at the moment. i mean halo was brilliant so was grand theft auto 4 but i dont think they deserved perfect tens.jessiejames21

If they complained about 90 min cut scenes they fail, it has been confirmed that the cut scenes aren't even close to that long. And confusing plot line? I guess... but several other reviews say that the game ties up all the lose ends in a very good way so it sounds to me like those dudes just didn't do their best to follow it...but who knows.

No game deserves perfect scores, 10/10 are ridiculous scores.... probably a 7/10 seems harsh for MGSIV but hey none of us played the game yet, it might have some flaws which are annoying... However I am never effected by scores when I get games, surely I take note and read about the game but in the end, i have to try the game before i can judge... Dont get games based on reviews because afterall reviewers are human beings and have preferences / tastes therefore the review score is nothing more than an OPINION !!!

Malta_1980

Well from what I've read it seems the "flaws" in the game is mostly long cut scenes.... but that is what mgs is and allways has been about, the story! it just seems like a stupid reason to lower the score. And pretty much every story driven game (mostly rpgs) has tons of long cut scenes just like mgs.

And ye ofc a review is just an opinion so it shouldn't effect your mind when it comes to if you'll buy a game or not, but this opinion should make sense if you know what i mean.

a review is someones opinion, find someone you agree with and give it mroe weighting than a reviewer that you don't usually agree with.

If I listened to Gamespot or IGN I would have given up gaming many years ago, so I don't read their reviews. I am smart enough to know what I like so all I need is specifications of the games. Just work out what you want and then find out where to get the info you need. No use whinging about ratings different sites give.

Wuflungdung

Exactly. I don't pay attention to reviews at all because I rather judge a game myself rather than go on someone else's opinion.

This thread is boring.CoreoVII

Majority of the threads on the ps3 forum are.

Oh just quit crying about review ratings. If you disagree with a review, ignore it. It's not like it's dancing in front of your face blowing raspberries at you.

Just find a reviewer you could trust and always agree with. I usually don't pay atention to any review except for GS, because their reviews really do it for me. I almost always agree with their reviews, except on pS3 exclusives. STAY AWAY from GS reviews on PS3 exclusives.

This thread is boring.CoreoVII

but you still come here to read it?=o

LOL Youll know my answer. Find reviewers that dont touch a 360. And dont bend over to easy. And that will be open outside of that BS. If their not affraid of the Pimp slap. Or dont need ho money lol. Theyll give you honesty.

By the way after yo all see this one vid, The pimp ho thing is kindaa joke. It will make more sense latter. If i can get it in the vid!!

A review doesn't just consist of a score, the text is what should be important and it is what serves the purpose of a review: helping an uninformed person with the decision whether or not to buy a product. You can't convey that information within a simple number and even if you could, that number would never represent everyone's opinion.

As for how games should be reviewed, it's of course best to have a reviewer who is interested and therefore experienced in a genre, someone who can better judge the merits and qualities of a game, someone who can relate to the type of person the game is primarily trying to entertain. That said, a good reviewer should be able to see that quality (or lack thereof) even if the game doesn't especially appeal to him/her on a personal level.

a review is someones opinion, find someone you agree with and give it mroe weighting than a reviewer that you don't usually agree with.

If I listened to Gamespot or IGN I would have given up gaming many years ago, so I don't read their reviews. I am smart enough to know what I like so all I need is specifications of the games. Just work out what you want and then find out where to get the info you need. No use whinging about ratings different sites give.

Wuflungdung

Exactly. As a huge MGS fan, I know what this game is all about and the things I have come to love, the HUGE cinematic scenes, the silly things, the impossible aspects of the game, ALL can be hated by a different person. The thing about reviews with MGS is that the people will allways be biased, and give it an awesome score, praising this things, OR the reviewer doesnt like at all the game and gives it a faily average mark just to save face, while criticising all the things that make the series uniqe IMHO.

Just FYI, Edge gave MGS4 an 8 : http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=303884

The entire Metal Gear series has always been hard to review, apparently. There are some reviewers, like IGN and GamePro, that click with the game and it's one of the best games they have ever played. Then you have Edge and Eurogamer who play the game and don't like certain aspects, and those faults keep them from completely enjoying the game.

I often wonder if the reason reviews for all the MGS games differ so much is because some reviewers go into the game and just play it, becoming immersed in the world and truely hanging on every bit of story, while others go into the game stopping to take notes every few minutes about how something was done well, while another aspect is lacking.

It's hard to say only people that enjoy the MGS series should review the game, but I do think the series is one (among others) where there should always be two reviews. Someone who likes the games and someone who never got into the series. EGM and IGN are the only two major reviewers that I know of that have multiple people review the game. Some people don't like it, but others, like me, see that this will have a greater opportunity to weed out bias one way or another by offering multiple opinions. Opinions, as many people have to restate often, is all a review is: one person's viewpoint on a game. Nothing more. That is why a game like MGS4 will never get the 95%+ across the board, while more accessible games, like GTA, Mario and Halo will.

What I'm trying to point out to the question from the TC, read the reviews and listen to their praise and complaints. I know for most MGS fans, there hasn't been any complaints that are considered negative. I don't consider long cutscenes, confusing plot, difficult boss battles, etc. (from various sources) as negatives at all. In fact, I consider them positives. So, if you are like me, you can quit worrying about the number at the end of the reviews, and realize that not one publication has noted a single aspect that I find a fault. Thus, with each review, my hype is going up, not down, because of a couple of ambiguous points. I expect to be playing one of my new favorite games within a couple of weeks.

[QUOTE="CoreoVII"]This thread is boring.nc_soldier

but you still come here to read it?=o

How would I know it was boring If I didn't read it? Your free to walk away now.

a demo would help me decide. i don't even know how they got away with calling those reviews both the ign ukand eurogamer. i know they can't talk about the plot or install of the game but they barely gave any information about the gameplay at all, especially the ign one, it was basically him praising the game for two pages.

i have no problem with that, just back it up explain why its so great because i personally would like to know. if your only reviewing for the target audience well the target audience is already a lock, what about everyone else , konami wants a broad audience like any publisher would.

well here is my two cents i thing a game should be reviewed for the fan of that genre like if you hated every gta game so far your not going to like gta4 but then you might think like hay this games still sucks why did it get a 10!?!?!? well you have to be generally interested in that type if game to like it but unless I'm mistaken i remember this being discussed on this site

http://www.gamespot.com/misc/reviewguidelines.html

its at the bottom in the FAQ

"You gave a game in a genre that I don't like a very high score. I tried it and I still don't like it. What gives?"

No game deserves perfect scores, 10/10 are ridiculous scores.... probably a 7/10 seems harsh for MGSIV but hey none of us played the game yet, it might have some flaws which are annoying... However I am never effected by scores when I get games, surely I take note and read about the game but in the end, i have to try the game before i can judge... Dont get games based on reviews because afterall reviewers are human beings and have preferences / tastes therefore the review score is nothing more than an OPINION !!!

Malta_1980

10/10 does not mean perfect it means the game could not be improved in any MEANINGFUL way such as a small thing here being fixed would not change the way you viewed the game like the ugly trees in gta weather or not the trees look better would not change the gaming experence in the game now if the cars were ugly then that would be different

a demo would help me decide. i don't even know how they got away with calling those reviews both the ign ukand eurogamer. i know they can't talk about the plot or install of the game but they barely gave any information about the gameplay at all, especially the ign one, it was basically him praising the game for two pages.

i have no problem with that, just back it up explain why its so great because i personally would like to know. if your only reviewing for the target audience well the target audience is already a lock, what about everyone else , konami wants a broad audience like any publisher would.

clarkportmanken

hideo said he made mgs4 for the fans ;)

The marginally lower than expected MGS4 review scores leave boo boos on my feelings :(

Seriously, I don't care what score the game gets. One of my favourite games of all time got less than 8 from GS (Silent Hill 2 got a score of 7.7. Philistines wouldn't know artistic game design if it bit them on the ***) and I didn't complain (much). I'll be buying this game on day one.

Reviewers should try and target all of the gaming community, not just the fans. How can people new to MGS decide if they are going to buy it if the review just talks about things it expects the fans to know and appreciate already.