The Washington Post's Uncharted 4 Review, and Why It's Problematic for the Industry

Hey all, been a while since I've posted here.

Just wanted to raise awareness of a serious issue right now regarding reviews, which you may have heard about, and that is the controversial, poorly written 4/10 review from Washington Post for Uncharted 4. Here's the review in question: http://archive.is/hKu8C

Now before anyone calls fanboy, I would call it out whether PC exclusive, Xbox exclusive, Nintendo exclusive, or multiplat, and here's my main issues with this review:

• This review released over a week after the embargo lifted
• No score was given with the review, but when the reviewer sent in the review to Metacritic, he privately sent them the score (this is extremely suspicious and unethical, especially since Metacritc has a section for unscored reviews)
• The review is poorly written and does not offer proper justification to justify the (hidden) 4/10 score
• The reviewer hated the first three Uncharted games; so he should not be giving the official WP review for this game. it reeks of lack of professionalism
• This ONE review dropped Uncharted 4 over 50 (FIFTY) places in the Metacritic all-time top rated games list
• This ONE review also dropped the Metacritic score nearly two points from 95 to 93
• This writer is a known to have extremist, controversial viewpoints, calling Dark Souls 2 one of the worst games ever made. This extremist type is suited to unrated opinion pieces, not grouped in with the rest of the objective reviews on Metacritic. (one reason why I don't think Qt3 should be on Metacritic, but that's for another discussion)
• With the importance of Metacritic scores, with reputation, sales, and bonuses being on the line, this is NOT acceptable and is a very serious matter to score an objectively good game with a low, unjustified scores for clicks. You may be a small, unknown reviewer, but your review has VERY REAL, VERY TANGIBLE effects, and it is NOT to be taken lightly

Here is the petition. Yes, unfortunately the write-up is poorly written with poor grammar, but it's important to have quantitative data behind this movement, and let everyone know this is not extremist fanboys.

https://www.change.org/p/washington-post-remove-the-washington-post-review-from-uncharted-4-s-metascore

Here are some twitters that you can use to get the word out

https://twitter.com/metacritic

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost

https://twitter.com/neil_druckmann

https://twitter.com/bruce_straley

https://twitter.com/andrewhouse_ps

https://twitter.com/amboyes

https://twitter.com/yosp

Please be professional and clearly explain your issues with the review when getting the word out; do not troll or fanboy about it. Like I said, this goes beyond Uncharted 4, or PlayStation 4 exclusives, or any console war nonsense, it's important to fight for objectivity, professionalism, and ethics in gaming reviews, especially when the reputation, and perhaps even bonuses, of the Devs are at risk. And this review sets a very dangerous precedence.

What are your thoughts on this?

It all evens out in the end. 93 is still a spectacular score.

What, is nobody allowed to have a different opinion anymore? If he doesn't like the game then, then he doesn't like the game. Who are you to come and tell others what they can and can't like?

Uncharted 4 is my favorite game this gen but starting petitions over a review is not needed. Don't sink to the level of nyadc.

Hmmm. I always get ticked off with bad reviews, but what really ticks me off is when a game has an ok score, and a low scoring review comes in lowering it to a score I don't like. That stinks for Uncharted 4, but it's not the end of the world you know. Nobody cares about Washington post, and I'm ok with it being a 93. Even though I don't have a PS4 and Uncharted (that might, no WILL change), A dumb review won't change my mind about wanting to play it so badly.

I think it's time to close the laptop and really think about what's important in life.

Lol though the review is wrong, I love trolling the PS fanboys at N4G with this, they get pissed off so easily.

Whether this guy just wanted attention or whatever, it's still his opinion. At the end of the day, who cares. All that matters is if you love it and enjoy it.

The Review "harms the flawless reputation of the game" according to the petition. That is beyond sad. Who are they trying to justify their purchase to? Why does it matter if there is 1 negative review?

I've been told many times that "jobs and bonuses being on the line" is no reason to expect reviewers to alter what they do in any way and that it's the developers fault for enforcing such a practice. Let's see if everyone agrees now that it's a Sony exclusive. (They cared with McSheas TLOU review)

There are no ethics in journalism. The industry is run by clicks, likes and retweets. I know because I have friends who are journalist that I make sure to read and follow. Journalism is dying a slow but agonizing death. Shitty troll reviews are just part of the ride. And now that "journalist" seem more interested in being witty or pushing a social agenda, the industry isn't going to go out of their way to provide them with material for previews/reviews. Especially since it seems that launch day embargos have no effect on sales.

http://www.gamecritics.com/darren-forman/xcom2-review

This guy gave X-COM 2 a 45/100. XCOM2 has a 88% MC. The review is shit. Yet I did not see petitions or the score removed.

RotTR, Undertale, Divinity, HoTs, the same.

Many high scoring games have 1 or 2 very bullshit review under 60% ruining its average, yet I don't see this type of petitions or call for removal. It won't be removed.

4/10 sounds about right.

Same old shit over and over, nothing new.

Good review imo.

One review isn't worth getting that bent out of shape for... It's just not that important. And in all honesty, a petition to get ONE bad review taken down to "protect the reputation of the game" is just as pathetic and extremist as the bad review itself.

It's really sad that some people take Metacritic so seriously.

Performance is an objective aspect of the game. Releasing a game in such a sorry state is unacceptable. Honestly wish more critics would have called it out.

Oh no, one reviewer didn't share the same opinion as everyone else!

Seriously. This much butthurt over a damn NUMBER? How does this one review someone else made, effect your enjoyment of the game?

people need to stop taking metacritic seriously, opencritic better

Maybe he just didn't like it....I can see it. I mean how many times can a bridge collapse in one game? Lol I still like it but I don't blame people for not.

Opencritic only accepts English reviews.

Man, it is just a review. A clickbait one. Get over it and stop giving it attention.

@StealthMonkey4: You're just another fanboy with his knickers in a knot, suck it up princess and move along.

Lol a petition huh. What a bunch of cry cow babies. This is just another example why people shouldn't take MC so seriously. We all know stuff like this and having more reviewers will sway the percentage of the game on there always. This is also why comparing different games on there just doesn't work out because the number of reviewers differs all the time per game. His review is as suspect as all the reviewers who already had a review even before the game was out without trying out the servers. Having a review for a game with multiplayer before the game releases is so suspect so the reviews and reviewers who did that are suspect.

Its never a good look for those involve in development or publishing to criticize a critic no matter how much of a hack this one is. I thought Troy Baker should have stayed out of this one. It does this brilliant game a disservice.

The scores kind speak for themselves even though they shouldn't be the point. In the sea of green there is but one red, Kinda speaks for itself doesn't it. Would have made more sense if there were couple more red followed by a few yellows.

@SpinoRaptor24: when the opinion is based on nothing, then no you aren't allowed to have one that is displayed on websites or other media and call yourself a reviewer or journalist.

Much like feminists who claim video games cause sexism and sexual assault and it's not based upon any facts let alone any logical argument then they aren't allowed to have an opinion on websites, or media that could sway sales.

Trying to garner attention on petitions/twitters over a numerical value attached to a game--where we're talking a difference between a 94 and a 93--is downright embarrassing. Poor reviews and/or reviews you disagree with will always be around. If you are emotionally invested to an inanimate object to the point where you feel like you've been personally wronged by a numerical value on the internet, then it might be time to put down the keyboard. Stop being corporate puppets.

It was in the top 5% of 94 scores and on the verge of breaking 95 before the WP review tanked it; the WP review brought it to the bottom percentile of 93 scores. The difference between scores also becomes more significant the higher the score is. The difference between 98 and 96 is immense, while the difference between 50 and 48 is minimal.

I see way too many people trying to hide behind the opinion excuse. Reviews should be objective and any subjective aspect of them should be backed up with proper justification.

This was an unscored review with a hidden score of 4/10 just to cause controversy, that lacked nearly any justification for this score (in addition to all the other issues with this review I pointed out)

And frankly, I don't care how much you're not a fan of Uncharted 4 or the genre or what be it, Uncharted 4 is objectively not a 4/10 game. Simple as that.

The only review that matters is what's in your head. If you love the game, then, that's it.

Terrible change.org petitions do not make a good thread. And please learn what critique is before you get bent out of shape.