As a PS3 fanboy, I will be the first to admit that I do not own a 360 and therefore do not play 360 games. That being said, I have to question Braid's gamespot review score of 9.5. For a long time it has bugged me and now that LBP is out it bugs me much more. I have been playing LittleBigPlanet quite a bit the past few days and I do not understand how it could be rated lower than Braid. Here's my thoughts:
In the LittleBigPlanet review, these were the complaints by the reviewer:
Short story mode
Camera struggles in multiplayer
Building a compelling level can be time-consuming.
The problem with issue #1, the short story mode, is that LBP can be completed in the same amount of time than Braid's can be finished, roughly 6 hours. Now, the 6 hours for both games is if you don't go back and complete everything in the levels, however LBP has two big advantages. Firstly, LBP supports up to 4 players both online and offline whereas Braid supports just 1 player. This means that LBP is a much more social friendly game, and I have to admit playing with at least 2 players is an absolute blast, especially with friends over the net. Secondly, you can create every level you play in LBP OR create entirely unique levels and share these over the internet, meaning the game could last as long as you want it to both with your creations and someone else's.
Issue #2 is somewhat true, however, I never felt that the camera in multiplayer actually ruined any gameplay experiences. Then again I've only played with 2 players and not 4, but what side scrolling game wouldn't struggle with 4 players scrambling across the level? In fact, why is gamespot not prasing LBP for offering a solid multiplayer experience? As for Issue #3, this is also only somewhat true. First off, LBP offers map templates which are partially completed levels so if you wish you can just add things onto a pre-built area and call it yours. Secondly, if you want to start from scratch, sure it will be time-consuming but why wouldn't "building a compelling level" be time consuming? I've never created a good level in ANY game that took a short amount of time. Now braid costs only $15 vs. LBP's $60, but technically LBP is going to give you more for your money.
Another disturbing thing to look at would be the average critic score of both games. Braid was rated a 9.5 here, .3 points higher than the average review score. This means that out of 49 reviews for Braid, only 11 (or 22%) scored higher than GS's score. The story is dramatically different with LBP. GS gave LBP a 9.0, .5 points lower than the average score. Out of 30 reviews, Gamespot tied 5 other critic for the lowest score of a 9.0. Not that I am complaining since a 9 is AAA, but this is the trend with many PS3 games (e.g. Uncharted or PixelJunk Monsters). Lastly, even though Braid scored a 9.5, the average user rating for Braid is 8.3. LBP, on the other hand, has an average user rating of 9.4 AND since it recieved much more hype is more susceptible to skewed review scores by voters that did not play that game. By the way, these average user scores are closer to the scores posted at IGN for both games than what is posted here at GS.
So what's my point? I argue that Gamespot has a slight bias and that it is more difficult for PS3 games to recieve high review scores here than at the majority of other websites, putting "cows" like me at a clear disadvantage here in SW.
So here's my question, do you think Braid deserved a score that is higher than not only LittleBigPlanet but also Fallout 3, Dead Space, Call of Duty 4, Burnout Paradise, Assassins Creed, Bioshock, Far Cry 2, Fable II, and Mass Effect?
Also, do you think my assessment of GS's possible bias is fair or I am just going crazy from system wars?
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