Although we’ve found Metacritic a userful resource for game reviews, many folks have gone on a user submission rampage to discredit games that haven’t even launched yet. Their first attack was on LittleBigPlanet followed by Resistance 2, now their hitting Gears of War 2.
While Gears of War 2 has a Metacritic score of 94/100 the user’s have reviewed it to be a 3.5 out of 10, with a bright red box around the user review due to its low nature we’re sure. Although users are free to give their own honest representation of the game from their perspective, Gears of War 2, as of the review dates, hasn’t been released yet – these reviews are bogus.
This style of attack was popularized in Spore, when Amazon got nailed with poor reviews of the game because Spore’s “Draconic” DRM made people angry. However, it’s more reasonable for people to voice their opinion on a known issue with a game; Gears of War 2 review spamming is just mean.
We use Metacritic as guidance when we do our gaming podcast to understand what games are rated in the industry, but we don’t use user reviews as our main guide. There are plenty of folks out there that may utilize these reviews in more seriousness because they may feel journalists reviews are tainted by advertisers or “the man” and want the common gamers opinion.
The common gamer cannot possibility be reviewing Gears of War 2 before the title has arrived. This is bogus. Metacritic has this to say:
“My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there’s not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won’t happen. We’ll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game’s release. As always, thanks for using the site.” (1up)
So, to those looking for holiday gaming gifts, keep this in mind while you start hunting down games you’ll want to buy.
Man, first you knock Final Fantasy and then Darkwing Duck? I felt that Darkwing was as well rounded as Rebecca from Talespin, love both shows by the way, yes he self promoted but I think he did that in part to help take care of his adopted daughter Goslyn. He also used non-lethal means to fight villains, like Batman. I’m surprised that you guys didn’t talk about the video game counterparts to Talespin and Darkwing Duck.
One last thing about why I back any kickstarter game, there is a game Sword Coast Legends being made by N-space. The companies president, Dan Tudge said “I think that consumers have proven by voting with their wallets that not everyone wants to play a hundred-million-dollar blockbuster, though we certainly all enjoy them,” said Tudge. “There’s a place for really creative story-driven RPGs that do things like remain isometric, do things like party-based-tactical combat with pause-and-play.”
To me that statement validates my backing games like Pillar’s of Eternity as a vote for those kinds of games to be made. I had thought it was very oddly coincidental that this game was coming out along with PoE and the others.
@Lenovo: People like him are one reason why I like building my own computer and staying away from pre-built “brand name” computers. Having some companies unnecessary software is bad enough but to put in underhanded adware and spyware is just ridiculous.
@FCC and Net Neutrality: This is one of those things I know people debate about whether or not the Government should be regulating this sort of thing. From what you guys have outlined it certainly seems like something that needs to happen. I know my own internet seems to get throttled or some sites not work at all for no apparent reason.
@Capcom and Modders: I love Modders, always defying what Companies state can or can’t be done.
@Star Trek tribute to Spock: I was born after the show had aired but I grew up with the movies so I have an attachment to the old cast of sorts. TNG and DS9 is still my favorites and even there Spocks’ presence was felt in episodes he showed up in like Unification. I love how the gaming community can honor their fallen icons, much like WoW did with Robin Williams and now Nimoy in STO.