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Seth
Last Man Standing
Joined: 23 Jan 2002
Posts: 1008
Location: Faerun |
After checking out the reviews of the games I played and I’m about to buy, I have this question: how? I mean how the reviewer decides the ratings? What are the standards s/he chose to accept? Does s/he play the whole game and then writes or just spends few hours in the beginning and assume the game is all that? What if s/he is prejudice to certain gender or developers? What if s/he is in p*** off mood?
Any of these factors can influence quite a few potential buyers. Face it, we are bias even if we really don’t want to. We get upset when our favorite game gets crappy reviews and vice versa. So how to write an honest review? Maybe we should left to some AI to decide what the final product is really like?
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Money - An article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness. |
Wed Sep 03, 2003 3:11 pm |
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stanthony
One Smart Dog
Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 556
Location: Tallinn, Estonia |
quote:
Originally posted by Seth
Maybe we should left to some AI to decide what the final product is really like?
Naah... That would be the same as if we let computers decide in a courtroom who's guilty and who's not.
I guess I read *many* reviews before buying a game. As in really many. I usually surf the net for a day or two to get an impression of a game. My guesses were mostly right so far 
I think the art of writing a review is that you have to a professional in the area of RPG gaming. Then you can often judge - and judge rightly - on a game after 5-10 hours of play. I used to write reviews of books, and being a professional philologist (my first education) I found that it is possible to make initial judgement after reading some 50 pages and scanning through the rest. Of course, to write a real review you need to read everything, but the first impression is almost never wrong. It depends on how many books you read / games you played before.
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Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:45 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Ah, a good question but one that doesn't have an answer. Every reviewer, good or bad, brings their tastes, experiences, bias and expectations to the table. A good reviewer can balance these issues to come to an 'objective' result (as much as that is possible in a subjective field).
I think a good review must finish the game but many don't. I agree with stanthony that you can often form a reasonable opinion after a short period of time with a game but a professional review must cover the whole game. There are many games that have a poor endgame or where the story ultimately triumphs over some poor mechanics etc and this is only revealed by looking at the whole product.
You can only look at as many reviews as possible and read between the lines for a bias or point of view that you generally either agree or disagree with. Look for good detail in the review with examples.
As a news editor, I get to read a lot of reviews - they range through the whole spectrum. Lately I've posted two dreadful examples: an apathetic review about Gothic 2 and a shockingly short Lionheart review that was little more than the promo stuff for the game with a one-sentence conclusion. In both these cases a common thread was a reviewer covering a genre they don't normally like or play. It's fair to say a really good or really bad game transcends it's genre but often a review about an RPG from a FPS player has the wrong expectations and misunderstands the issues. |
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Thu Sep 04, 2003 12:29 am |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
My advice for ALL reviews is very simple. Find one or two reviewers that you either trust, or normally agree with and follow their advice. I use this for books, films, and games, though usually with games I follow their development closely and pay attention in the forums. I seldom go wrong that way.
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Thu Sep 04, 2003 7:13 am |
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methusala
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 281
Location: Odinwald |
Always play the demo if there is one and if there isen't thats a bad sign in my books.You can drive yourself nuts reading reviews and most of the time I go to the site and read the forums instead.The forums can also drive you wacky but I've found that I get a clearer picture of the game from people that have been fallowing its developement for some time.The "Golden Rule" is to wait awhile until after the game is released,then check the boards again.I know this is difficult to do for someone who has been waiting all their lives for this one game but I've found,through bitter experiance, that this will not only save you money but your hard fought for sanity as well. |
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Thu Sep 04, 2003 7:28 am |
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Ariel
Harmonious Angel
Joined: 21 Jul 2001
Posts: 432
Location: Germany |
Demos, however, can also portray a false or flawed image of a game. Sure, if a demo is fun the full game usually is fun too, but if a demo is based on some old code, or has lots of important features cut, or shows off a part of the game that is not prominent in the full version, it could seem uninteresting, while the game itself might actually be much more appealing when it hits the shelves.
Other than that, I would go with corwin's advice. Pick a reviewer whose taste is similar to yours, don't listen too much to others.
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I see the pure grace of your smile, in dreams of the warmth in your eyes” - Tim North |
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Thu Sep 04, 2003 4:22 pm |
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Myrthos
Spoiler of All Fun
Joined: 07 Jul 2001
Posts: 1926
Location: Holland |
There are no unbiased reviews. Everybody has his or her preferences. They might like or dislike the developers, they might have had a fight with the wife that very same morning or they might have had a good or bad day in the office. All things count. A good reviewer tries to shut these things out but there is no such thing as being unbiased. And everybody makes mistakes in a while.
There are different types of reviewers. Some want to play and finish the game, before writing the review. EverythingXen is one of those. This means that they are never the first to get the review out. And apparently being the first count these days.
There is a downside to only playing a part of the game. If you only play through Barcelona in Lionheart, does that give you a fair indication of the game?
That said, in some occasions a review copy is accompanied by save games, prepared by the developers that will put you in different parts of the storyline, so that for those not wanting to play the game in full they atleast have the opportunity to play most parts of it.
I don't know about sticking with one or two reviewers for all time. Everybody makes mistakes and not everybody likes all genres equaly. Which reminds me of one of the most dreaded sentences in a review in my opinion is: "I normally do not play RPGs, but...".
My advise would be to read as many reviews and points of views as possible. So what you get the game 2 weeks later then you could have. If really nobody likes it, then there must be some truth in it.
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Fri Sep 05, 2003 8:15 am |
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