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[eznark]

:lol

Reminds me of all that Oscar/GTA talk. Yeesh.

Exactly what I thought, and why I didn't read it after I saw the headline.

And high five on inFamous, Brad. Capitalization is the only knock I have against that game.

 

[Y2Kev]

Exactly what I thought, and why I didn't read it after I saw the headline.

And high five on inFamous, Brad. Capitalization is the only knock I have against that game.

Eznark, will you help me organize my zen garden?

 

[derFeef]

It appears that the score was docked in the Game Trailers review for a lack of multiplayer.

Regardless of the actual score, this is a review trend in recent years that irritates me to no end and pretty much justifies my position that the single-player and multiplayer portions of a game should have completely separate reviews.

Any reviewer who detracts from the score of a single-player only game due to a lack of multiplayer (and vice-versa) should be fired or have his/her opinion considered to be invalid from that point on.

Correctomunde on that last paragraph. You are reviewing a singleplayer game and nothing else. I also hate the tacked on multipalyer (ala Bioshock 2) just for the sake of it nowadays - this is exactly why developers are doing it it seems.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Microsoft SYNC in the car? Who even has that?

People who buy Fords.

 

[HunkyDory]

Thats highly subjective, but IMO:
- for Preston/Child, avoid the Pendergast novels. You might like something like Riptide.
- with Koontz I really like the Odd Thomas books
- and for King, I prefer the ones written under "Richard Bachmann", like Thinner or the very well done Different Seasons

Ugh, that book completely falls apart toward the end. The conclusion is beyond stupid.

Not a good place to get into Stephen King with IMO - now when The Tommyknockers exists .

 

[hamchan]

All this review talk makes me wonder why there wasn't a review thread for this game? They're prett much necessary for most big releases so that the official thread isn't shitted up.

 

[plagiarize]

It appears that the score was docked in the Game Trailers review for a lack of multiplayer.

Regardless of the actual score, this is a review trend in recent years that irritates me to no end and pretty much justifies my position that the single-player and multiplayer portions of a game should have completely separate reviews.

Any reviewer who detracts from the score of a single-player only game due to a lack of multiplayer (and vice-versa) should be fired or have his/her opinion considered to be invalid from that point on.

it's a paradox though. there is no right answer here. it helps highlight why scores are ridiculous.

imagine three hypotechical games coming out at the same time. all have single player of equal quality and value. one has no multiplayer. one has substandard multiplayer. one has amazing multiplayer.

the one with no multiplayer offers less for your money. no two ways about it. the one with substandard multiplayer is still as good a single player game, even if the multiplayer isn't as good, so it may only offer more that isn't very good, but it's still worth at least as much money. the one with amazing multiplayer is clearly the best value.

ah you say, but i want to give games a seperate multiplayer score!

okay. well how do you rate something like Halo 3 then? is the co-op part of that seperate score? how do you reflect a wide range of different multiplayer maps and modes?

again if a multiplayer game has a 10 amazing maps, and you add two more maps to that that no body will ever want to play (and nobody has to) have you made it worse?

games should be scored based on how long you'll WANT to play them for, and the quality of the game you'll see during that time.

so, a 50 hour game that's good enough for you to see it through has scores that reflect that, and a short game that offers incredible experiences while you're playing it should reflect that.

slapping a score on the single player, or indeed the multiplayer of a game like Halo 3, just doesn't represent how people play these things.

it doesn't matter if most of the mp modes are crap, if one is good enough to keep you playing for months.

scores just can't account for all tastes. review text can sometimes tell me if i'll like a game even if the reviewer didn't. the complaints drawn against Alan Wake can be drawn against many games I love.

are they valid complaints? sure... but they don't detract from my enjoyment of other games, so why should I care how many points off the score the reviewer decides to shave off.

 

[Cep]

It appears that the score was docked in the Game Trailers review for a lack of multiplayer.

Regardless of the actual score, this is a review trend in recent years that irritates me to no end and pretty much justifies my position that the single-player and multiplayer portions of a game should have completely separate reviews.

Any reviewer who detracts from the score of a single-player only game due to a lack of multiplayer (and vice-versa) should be fired or have his/her opinion considered to be invalid from that point on.

I think that was just oddly worded.

GT has never taken off for multiplayer before...

 

[Q8D3vil]

and resolution? it runs in black and white 800x600. deal with it

oh, it's on console
i forgot that. :lol :lol

 

[Mizzou Gaming]

Gamers demand ultrarealism all the way down from physics to weaponary and everything in between, EXCEPT for actual products having real names. Silly things like Energizer batteries and ipods set some of you off in full rage. Seriously is it that big of deal?

Usually I just laugh it off, but after seeing so many of my favorite game developers go out of business I've thought about it a little more and cannot come up with any justifiable reasons for this type of thing to trully upset an individual.

Think about it, a company is willing to pay you X amount of dollars to simply put their brand name on items that were already going to be in the game in the first place. In the current economic climate you'd be an absolute fool to turn down that money. Hell, you'd be a fool to turn that down in a booming economy.

Seriously, some of the things that set some people off into a rage are silly and it actually embarrasses me as a gamer. Scratch that it doesn't embarrass me as a gamer, it embarrasses me as a human being.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Now this is something nice to look at, a review from Gladriel.com presented by Miss Hungary.

They gave it 9/10.

 

[plagiarize]

Now this is something nice to look at, a review from Gladriel.com presented by Miss Hungary.

They gave it 9/10.

That's right, scrape it all back.

 

[ACE 1991]

Hm... Seriously considering picking this one up, but all the talk of repetition is turning me off. However, one thing I've learned about my tastes as a gamer after playing Heavy Rain is that a compelling narrative can go a very, very long way in allowing me to look past a game's faults.

 

[plagiarize]

Hm... Seriously considering picking this one up, but all the talk of repetition is turning me off. However, one thing I've learned about my tastes as a gamer after playing Heavy Rain is that a compelling narrative can go a very, very long way in allowing me to look past a game's faults.

if you have a Wii, PS2 or PSP play Shattered Memories. you can thank me afterwards.

 

[ACE 1991]

if you have a Wii, PS2 or PSP play Shattered Memories. you can thank me afterwards.

I was greatly interested in that game, but sadly I don't have any of the consoles its playable on.

 

[Mrbob]

The Kotaku review is disgusting. Reminds me why I hardly read them anymore.

Loved Max Payne 1 and 2, will get this on day one.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I always look at the industry and try to think what the hell is wrong with it and I always thing...review scores. They always seem to bring the worst out of people. I wish people and gamers in general didn't rely so much on an actually score number and instead by the contents of the review.

*sigh*

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Gerald's Game is pretty fucking unsettling and more on the real side than the supernatural. Not so much with the crazy demon clowns and what-not.

Awesome thanks guys I'll definitely check these out.

 

[rollingstart]

I always look at the industry and try to think what the hell is wrong with it and I always thing...review scores. They always seem to bring the worst out of people. I wish people and gamers in general didn't rely so much on an actually score number and instead by the contents of the review.

*sigh*

nah, you just have to realize the delicate balance of review scores

for everyone pointing out a 7 from one source as a negative, you have someone pointing out a 9.5 from Polish gaming blog as why it is great. It's just like how before the reviews you had as many people upset about the resolution as those defending it.

A lot of people already decided how they felt about this game a long time ago. Avatars, etc etc

 

[SlasherJPC]

nah, you just have to realize the delicate balance of review scores

for everyone pointing out a 7 from one source as a negative, you have someone pointing out a 9.5 from Polish gaming blog as why it is great. It's just like how before the reviews you had as many people upset about the resolution as those defending it.

A lot of people already decided how they felt about this game a long time ago. Avatars, etc etc

Well I was talking in general talk, not just Alan Wake persay but this game is a glowing example of this exact thing. Though I agree, people decided awhile ago wether they were going to like this game or not.

 

[aristotle]

BruceLeeRoy : Read The Dark Half by Stephen King. Alan Wake sounds like the book at least on the surface. It's about a writer who has a split personality. Then the personality comes into the real world. It's highly underrated.

 

[whatevermort]

Thats highly subjective, but IMO:
- for Preston/Child, avoid the Pendergast novels. You might like something like Riptide.
- with Koontz I really like the Odd Thomas books
- and for King, I prefer the ones written under "Richard Bachmann", like Thinner or the very well done Different Seasons

You said that this is subjective, and I agree: I would never, under any circumstances, recommend that anybody read Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas novels. In fact, I'd say that if a book of his has been published after 1998, you should ignore it almost completely. He was never an amazing writer to begin with, and the standard of his work has tumbled horrifically.

As for Stephen King, I totally agree with The Dark Half as a recommendation. The Shining, clearly. I'm a huge fan of Insomnia, as well.

 

[plagiarize]

A lot of people already decided how they felt about this game a long time ago. Avatars, etc etc

it's an exclusive, so that is as ever a given.

that said if someone *isn't* a fan of such games... then yeah, i'm going to question why they're in this thread. the 360 fanboys blindly defending the game's review scores because they are 360 fanboys are hard to spot amongst those people legitimately defending the review scores.

it's always easier for positive trolls to hide amongst genuine fans than it is for negative trolls, but Slasher, Bruce and others I know aren't fanboys because i recognise them from EVERY horror game's thread, whatever the platform.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Seriously considering picking this one up, but all the talk of repetition is turning me off.

Some of the most popular games released in the last two years could easily be deemed repetitive. There are many examples.

If anything Alan Wake offers more from the get go, a compelling story.

 

[jon bones]

OP - brilliant job on the thread! hope this doesn't get lost in a sea of childishness but regardless of arguments we all appreciate the effort.

also, can anyone point me in the direction of a really non-spoiler trailer or teaser i can watch? i don't want to read any reviews or watch spoilers, thanks!

 

[SlasherJPC]

it's always easier for positive trolls to hide amongst genuine fans than it is for negative trolls, but Slasher, Bruce and others I know aren't fanboys because i recognise them from EVERY horror game's thread, whatever the platform.

That be the truth there!

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

BruceLeeRoy : Read The Dark Half by Stephen King. Alan Wake sounds like the book at least on the surface. It's about a writer who has a split personality. Then the personality comes into the real world. It's highly underrated.

Dark half sounds fantastic. I'll start with that. When I was younger I loved watchers and lightning but all his recent stuff is so cliche

 

[Dabanton]

It appears that the score was docked in the Game Trailers review for a lack of multiplayer.

Are you serious. :lol

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

I always look at the industry and try to think what the hell is wrong with it and I always thing...review scores. They always seem to bring the worst out of people. I wish people and gamers in general didn't rely so much on an actually score number and instead by the contents of the review.

Case in point, the video review I just posted. Like I said, they gave the game 9/10, but the contents of the review are actually more negative than that, they even say it looks like a PS2/Xbox game with a facelift. :lol

It's not only the overreliance on scores, however, people should be more aware of the fact that reviews are just certain individuals' subjective opinions - nothing more, nothing less. Even if the review is really well written, chances are I'll experience the game in a different way and have a different opinion of its various components.

 

[plagiarize]

Dark half sounds fantastic. I'll start with that. When I was younger I loved watchers and lightning but all his recent stuff is so cliche

Dean R Koontz is very readable, but not very good he's my go to author for long haul flights.

him and King have both fallen into using the same handful of themes over and over again.

'Oh hey, I know, lets put a super intelligent dog into this story! I haven't done that for a year or two...'

 

[GCX]

also, can anyone point me in the direction of a really non-spoiler trailer or teaser i can watch? i don't want to read any reviews or watch spoilers, thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjlvOCotS8

No major spoilers I guess.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Case in point, the video review I just posted. Like I said, they gave the game 9/10, but the contents of the review are actually more negative than that, they even say it looks like a PS2/Xbox game with a facelift. :lol

It's not only the overreliance on scores, however, people should be more aware of the fact that reviews are just certain individuals' subjective opinions - nothing more, nothing less. Even if the review is really well written, chances are I'll experience the game in a different way and have a different opinion of its various components.

Well if everyone would indeed just take the idea that they are interested in a game and always give said games a play and form their own opinion, that would be for the best, though so many rely on the input of others. My general viewpoint, if a games premise interests me enough, I'm garunteed to try it out myself. Only thing reviews really do for me is tell me more about the game I'm unaware of. Usually though its not enough to stop me from playing a game. Point and example, when the first reviews of Deadly Premonition came out, gave it some bad scores, I read them but still played it because I had followed it for so long. In the end I didn't really agree with the feelings of that reviewer. Everyone is different though.

 

[plagiarize]

Case in point, the video review I just posted. Like I said, they gave the game 9/10, but the contents of the review are actually more negative than that, they even say it looks like a PS2/Xbox game with a facelift. :lol

It's not only the overreliance on scores, however, people should be more aware of the fact that reviews are just certain individuals' subjective opinions - nothing more, nothing less. Even if the review is really well written, chances are I'll experience the game in a different way and have a different opinion of its various components.

a well written review will tell you the strengths and negatives... then you can weigh them up for yourself.

it isn't a question of how many negatives a review raised, but whether or not those negatives will bother you. i can go on about not being able to jump in Heavenly Sword, for example, and dock it a whole bunch of 'score'... but only if you read the review will you be able to decide whether or not you think i took off too much or not enough.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Most of the review content seems to concern minor issues, yet they gave fairly high scores in the end. I can understand technical concerns (I have them myself), but to package subjective nitpicking as genuine design fault is ludicrous.

If issues like dodgy engine noises and dress sense are things that dramatically changed their perception of the game (to an negative degree), I really do despair.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

BruceLeeRoy : Read The Dark Half by Stephen King. Alan Wake sounds like the book at least on the surface. It's about a writer who has a split personality. Then the personality comes into the real world. It's highly underrated.

The Dark Half is so good.

 

[googoomuck22]

Gamers demand ultrarealism all the way down from physics to weaponary and everything in between, EXCEPT for actual products having real names. Silly things like Energizer batteries and ipods set some of you off in full rage. Seriously is it that big of deal?

Usually I just laugh it off, but after seeing so many of my favorite game developers go out of business I've thought about it a little more and cannot come up with any justifiable reasons for this type of thing to trully upset an individual.

Think about it, a company is willing to pay you X amount of dollars to simply put their brand name on items that were already going to be in the game in the first place. In the current economic climate you'd be an absolute fool to turn down that money. Hell, you'd be a fool to turn that down in a booming economy.

Seriously, some of the things that set some people off into a rage are silly and it actually embarrasses me as a gamer. Scratch that it doesn't embarrass me as a gamer, it embarrasses me as a human being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE

 

[plagiarize]

Most of the review content seems to concern minor issues, yet they gave fairly high scores in the end. I can understand technical concerns (I have them myself), but to package subjective nitpicking as genuine design fault is ludicrous.

If issues like dodgy engine noises and dress sense are things that dramatically changed their perception of the game (to an negative degree), I really do despair.

even the technical issues are subjective in a sense of 'how much do you think they detract from the experience'... but a good review highlights them. if the engine noises bothered the reviewer then the reviewer should list that... and then we can all read the review and think 'who cares about engine noises but this fuckwit!'. anyone that DOES care about engine noises that much can take it into account.

whoever the hell they might be.

i mean, take off the scores of these reviews and ask people to guess what the reviewer would have scored it, and you'll get a wide range of answers. when i was writing reviews i hated coming up with scores.

i'd write my review, then look to see what scores other people were giving it. if that seemed about right and didn't put it the wrong side of other games i had strong feelings about it being better or worse then that's what i went with.

trying to quantify opinions of video games into a number... tis madness.

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

This thread has taken on the tone of a support group.

 

[plagiarize]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE

and yet David Lynch films have featured real world products. David Lynch has directed commercials, and David Lynch even directed THESE awesome commercials...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSNgGG7nHBc

so it's not okay to take money for product placement in your TV show, film or game, but it's totally fine to make an advert with all the cast of the TV show.

don't get me wrong, i hate when product placement gets in the way, and it often does. if the game really does spend a long time looking at car badges and eveready batteries in the cut scenes... then yeah that'll annoy me too...

but if it's just a case of the batteries being a real brand rather than an obvious knock off of one... i'd rather the devs got money for it than not.

 

[bj00rn_]

This thread has taken on the tone of a support group.

You should feel right at home then.

Spoiler

Come on people, is it really necessary to come in here from whatever rock you came out from just to shoot off some cheap one-liners?

 

[Cardigan]

What are everyone's thoughts on the Limited Collectors Edition?
I am thinking of getting it, but I'm worried that it will quickly fall in price (like Fallout 3, or Batman: AA). Does anyone know how "limited" it really is?

 

[aristotle]

The Dark Half is so good.

The movie ain't too bad either. But I would definitely go for the book first.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

I don't know, when I read the Eurogamer review a lot of the complaints seemed like things that would annoy me too. When a game is trying really hard to be a movie, and it turns out to be just a bad movie then I can see why this is a complaint. The cliche will most likely make me roll my eyes a few times while playing, espeically that Stephen King line.

You just need to watch more bad movies. I know it sounds odd, but it makes a lot of game plots far more enjoyable, when you realize it's just a B-Movie. Hell, Resident Evil is mostly made up of things from Italian Zombie and Action movies far than Romero's work. Therefore I greatly enjoy the silliness of the plot and it's issue when viewed in the concept that the series is a giant B Italian Action and Zombie movie.

 

[watership]

Yeah, this thread might be just reactionary shit until the general public gets the game in their hands.

 

[FateBreaker]

What are everyone's thoughts on the Limited Collectors Edition?

I think it's one of the nicest sounding collector's editions that has been offered.

 

[Salacious Crumb]

This thread has taken on the tone of a support group.

Slightly reminiscent of early PS3 exclusive official threads.

 

[commedieu]

trying to quantify opinions of video games into a number... tis madness.

I agree. Numerical scores was a decent gauge back when the industry was smaller. But now its used as an advertising tool across all platforms. 'GOTY From Bobs Magazine!' Plastered on a cover. Before I think it was a nod to the quality of the title, because you actually could relate with the reviewer. It just seemed more intimate back in the day ( im 27 ), where good games were all generally seen by the gaming public/hobby as good, and bad games were bad. Theres too much that companies themselves have invested into reviews, and especially the metacritic.

Look at films, they give 2 ounces of grade D shit about reviews, some top blockbusters rarely rate over 60%. Which in the game world would be a death sentence. I think its just one of the final things that the game industry needs to grow out of. But when Developers/hardware manufactures boast Metacritic/Scores, it unfortunately legitimizes them as some sort of measuring stick, when its 9 out of 10 times some kid in a basement with a URL. And then you have places like IGN that literally make up a score. Fine have your game categories, sound, graphics, blah. But then ignoring them to make a overall score? HUH?

I'd like to think that we, the online gaming public is in the minority here, and that the general gaming population doesn't know gaf, gamespot, metacritic. It would explain how these movie games manage to keep getting made, and a few other things. Maybe we are just arguing amongst 5 people in a room.. eh.

I don't mind giving Alan Wake a 85%, or Uncharted, or killzone2. But don't use that same bar and give Ninja Gaiden 2 a 10/10 because of some reason. 9's and 10's were rare as hell in previous generations. Now every "AAA" game as stated by the developers themselves, gets some sort of special treatment, this is across all consoles.

 

[gcubed]

It appears that the score was docked in the Game Trailers review for a lack of multiplayer.

Regardless of the actual score, this is a review trend in recent years that irritates me to no end and pretty much justifies my position that the single-player and multiplayer portions of a game should have completely separate reviews.

Any reviewer who detracts from the score of a single-player only game due to a lack of multiplayer (and vice-versa) should be fired or have his/her opinion considered to be invalid from that point on.

can fully agree on this point

 

[plagiarize]

What are everyone's thoughts on the Limited Collectors Edition?

i plan on getting it. i buy maybe two collectors editions a year. the last one i bought was RE5's... and I would have bought AvPs if it had been offered for the PC version. i didn't get the bioshock 2, halo 3, gta4 ones and i love those games.

whether i feel this one was was worth it or not will have a lot to do with the 'book' it comes in.

 

[bj00rn_]

Yeah, this thread might be just reactionary shit until the general public gets the game in their hands.

Speaking of that. I don't get the strange staccato pauses from going gold to review, to piracy releases to finally official release. Shouldn't be like that, should be "a couple of days" from shipping out to release at least, not weeks like now.