Game reviews by consumers.....do you care?

[BullitNC]

I've been using consumer game reviews for a long time, to help me learn a little more abotu games befroe I rent or buy them. With most games at $50 a pop, I can't buy them on a whim....I just don't like enough games to risk it. When you read reviews on games, by consumers, what criteria do you lean on the most? For starters, I prety much figure anybody who rates a game with top scores across the board, is either full of crap, or ****ed that they blem $50 on a sorry game. 5/5, or 10/10, 100% etc get tossed in my book. I've never played a perfect game, while some come darn close...none have done it yet. What do you look for and laugh at in reviews? Bruce Lee is a good game ot read reviews on. Anybody who gave that game high scores across the board knows nothing about gaming in the 21st century. I can't even pretend to take seriosuly, a reviewer who rants and raves about how great Bruce Lee is. Same thing with Dead To Rights...while by no means is it a stinker...lots of folks will enjoy it, it failed to live up to the hype....failed miserably. I thought DTR had some of the worst controls of any XBOX game I've played yet. What games did you not like that got rave reviews?

[Toonz]

I prefer consumer over critics. I usually look in places where large numbers of people have reviewed a game. That way you can go with the average. I agree anyone who gives a game a perfect score is out of there mind. A perfect 10 is a very special thing. I also give it some time as well. I find the first peeps to write reviews were the ones that were all hyped to begin with and are biased to the true quality of the game. Sometimes I just don't have the patience to wait though hehe. I think a variety of places is best in the end.

[SkoalMint]

I use both consumer and critic reviews. However, I take a couple of games and try to find reviewers with opinions that are similar to mine (good or bad). I figure that those reviewers have similar tastes to mine and then look at their reviews for games I haven't played to help me out.

[xprezz]

I've just read a few of the consumer reviews on this site and I am appaled. If you cant write english find a spell checker please.. And some of the reviews arent event constructive, they are just kids ramblings about how they like or dont like the game.. Not liking a game is fine, but at write a reason, that might help others decide if they want the game or not.

[darianX]

And the guy above had the balls to complain about spelling......"appaled"....Plus a punctuation checker for him also. LOL!!!

[BORNGD]

i havnt heard anyone say bruce lee was a good game

[Citainus]

Usually people on message boards who I find intellegent and also professional reviews, but it really takes a strong consumer review to pull me in.

[Spaztic]

Originally posted by BullitNC
Same thing with Dead To Rights...while by no means is it a stinker...lots of folks will enjoy it, it failed to live up to the hype....failed miserably. I thought DTR had some of the worst controls of any XBOX game I've played yet. What games did you not like that got rave reviews?

I think DTR is a excellent game and the controlls (besides the autoaim) works great. The time the developers did on this game shows!

[Radar]

I agree that all reviews that say 10/10 5/5 or 1/10 etc get tossed. I've never given a game a perfect score yet and I try to remain objective. User reviews are a much better gauge however then professional reviews. Consumers don't have any backs to scratch or bribes to take and are simply more objective. I read about 5-10 reviews by consumers to get a good feel of how a game TRULY is...

[Dre]

Originally posted by Shaggy


I think DTR is a excellent game and the controlls (besides the autoaim) works great. The time the developers did on this game shows!

I agree 100%. I've been playing this game non-stop lately.. its so cool! Its like you are watching an awesome action flick! And after playing for a couple of hours, the controls are fine. The auto-aim can get annoying at times, but thats my only real beef with it.

[Woocifer]

I think one of the better ways to form your own idea about a game from the words of others is to keep in mind the patterns used in their reviews. If there is not one negative point in a review then it is not a review. In fact it is mindless and has absolutely no bearing.

Yes a game can be great fun, but you have to wonder about someone who just goes EVERYTHING IS GREAT 10/10. More so you should pay attention to the venacular they use. It may not impose an idea of intellect, but it will let you realise that this person has a mind to choose what they want to say in a proper fashion.

Along these lines is also the idea that when describing the review, whether it is bad or good, they use concise descriptions of what they found to be good and/or bad. They should also take every gamer into consideration. If the game is an abomination to them the way they describe the problems should be logical. And that is where the real intelligent review shines through. The logical objective review instead of the emotive review is what you should be looking for. Personally I disliked Morrowind quite a bit, which others gave it perfect scores. I thought the fps and draw distance were horrible in comparrison to the quality of textures and animation. It seemed unforgiveable for me to give 90 dollars(Canadian) for something that they under developed in my eyes. Another idea about it was the impact you had in the world was very minimal and only spawned tiny scripts to happen like someone chasing you when you kill their kind. But wipe out an entire city and nothing will be said to you other than the regular repetative text.

Again, I disliked DTR because of the control scheme but also the way the game played. I didn't like the quality of the graphics or the animations or the mini games. It seemed a little rushed to me personally, great idea...bad follow through. I love games with little things added to them and DTR had those, but it just didnt feel like a fun game to me. I am playing Buffy right now and am enjoying that a little more because the game feels a little more solid in the realm of control, graphics, frames, special effects and story development. Seems more charismatic as well.

Now... whether or not you listen to Dre or Shaggy or something that I've said, it is definitely up to you. I can tell you this that every person that reviews will have a tendancy to say something along the lines of get it, rent it, avoid it. That's your decision of course... but I really do think that if you pay attention to the way reviews are presented you will be able to at least have solid ideas on what to expect from a game.

Personally over the summer I don't think I kept more than 2 games that I have purchased: Outlaw Golf and Hunter. But even both of them have their pluses and minuses.

I've been reading some negative things on this board about Turok. Personally I want to try it. My concerns lie in the frame rate that it has and the control scheme. But there has been a mighty draught lately in the library for quality titles...and yes I did try Enclave...and yes it did go back. Nice graphics, controls are a bit wonky with the camera, lack of interest in the story, kinda reminded me of morrowind but an action game haha it just felt like the funfactor and gameplay were too detatched from the controller and user. Otherwise it had some notable things that does bring it above a lot of the kyfe that is out there. It just wasn't my type of game I guess, but is quality none the less.

But these are my opinions....

[teddeboy]

I used to pretty much go by critic's reviews and friends reviews, and had pretty good luck. So long as I understood that critics are paid by magazines, and magazines are paid by ADVERTISERS who just happen to be game publishers, I'd take any super high ratings with a grain of salt.

Then I started reading online consumer reviews. I'm sorry, but they are just too helter-skelter. In one forum, you can see dozens of people in love with a game, and dozens who hate it. It's just too much of a mess to bother with, especially when you get such great reviews as "the graphics suck" . Well, they suck relative to what ? Consumers only know what they like and what they've played in the past, which might just be only a few games. You just have no idea what background they are coming from in gaming, or the context of their gaming experience. For example, look at the Turok discussions today, some people are *****ing and they only played the first two levels, which are pretty much designed as training levels anyhow.

At least with reviewers,they have a solid background knowledge on gaming, and the power that's available to a console. I'm much more confident in a reviewer that can relate to game development and has played more than just N64 and now has an Xbox. Sure some of them are bad reviewers, but you can sniff their inexperience out pretty quick.

In sum, I'll take a pro reviewers opinion any day over stuff I read from consumers. Or, I'll just go rent the game, which I've been doing with Xbox, and thank God I did, because POW is awful and I would've been beyond mad if I had bought it. Several disappointing days later, I was glad to return it. I'm not going to review it here more than that, since I don't believe in consumer reviews :-)

[GO BUCCS!!!]

Originally posted by Toonz
I prefer consumer over critics. I usually look in places where large numbers of people have reviewed a game. That way you can go with the average. I agree anyone who gives a game a perfect score is out of there mind. A perfect 10 is a very special thing. I also give it some time as well. I find the first peeps to write reviews were the ones that were all hyped to begin with and are biased to the true quality of the game. Sometimes I just don't have the patience to wait though hehe. I think a variety of places is best in the end. i agree 100%
:)

[Highlite23]

I think everyone has made valid points, i prefer consumer over critics but i do read both.

A couple of things i always consider when reading as well as writing reviews.

Reviews with minimal hours played. ( I usually play 10-20+ before giving my opinion)
Pointless dribble......."This game is fu**ing awsome" and this is repeated for every aspect.
Comparing the game reviewed to other games like it. Acceptable only if you actually played all the games in question.

As far as "perfect" scores, i don't really mind that too much, reason being, i thouroughly enjoyed JSRF, is it the end all be all game, no. but i liked everything about it, controls, flow, graphics, etc...so while it's not the game of the year it does deserve a "perfect" score because thats my opinion and experience with this title.

So i guess, if you give a somewhat in depth review, i will give your opinion some credibility. If you post a review with 2 hrs played and 1 line reviews, i'll pass. Ultimatly we all have our own opinions, and always remember, one mans junk is another mans gold.;)

[No Fear 23]

i jsut look at the ratings 1st, then read the reviews, then maybe rent the game, if more than 200 ppl reviewed a game and said its awesome, i'll pick up a game