I posted this review in another thread, you have to remember it's a 360 review and is written from the perspective of a console player. Why shouldn't it get a 5/5 when it has been optimised for consoles?

I don't know what the guy's intention was but what is misleading is that system. Anywhere from 81/100 to 100/100 is 5 stars? That's what I call misleading. 81/100 tells me "if you're into the genre this is a good game to get". 5/5 means "This is as good as gaming currently gets, the crème de la crème." as they themselves put it. Who's misleading who now?

Of course if you're any serious gamer you know to take reviews like that with a grain of salt (or more). Myself if I ever contemplate buying a game at initial pricing, which I don't do often, I google for "negative reviews", "bad points", anything like that. If you are interested in a game then the good you already should know from all the marketing they throw at you. If you don't know the bad then you can't make an informed decision and that's when you see people start bitching about how much they payed for a game.

If we do the math, we see that 5/5 equates to 27 paragraphs in an RPS Wot I Think - that's an unprecedented amount of think - followed by a link to a German pop rocker who looks kind of like Hawke. Does Dragon Age 2 really deserve all that? Come on now.

I have a theory that states that every single game ever made has at least one person that is sincerely prepared to declare it the "perfect game" and give it 100/100, even Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing. Some people happen to review their perfect game. It's probably not insincere, but reviews are inherently subjective, so to go on another person's opinion of a game is potentially unwise.

Edit: Shiiiiiii- I meant to say subjective, not objective. Corrected above.

A good rule of thumb:

Subtract 10% from a game's review score for every $100k of its marketing budget.

Yea, but it's not a personal opinion, when your getting paid to wright it. It's a professional opinion. And no professional would ever say a game is perfect, or any other piece of art, ever. Everything can be improved upon in some way. I wouldn't say my favorite things are perfect, because perfection is nigh impossible.

Also, check Metacritic, it's 100/100. Perfect game. Yea right. If I were to score the first Dragon Age, based on something called true scale, I would say it's a 74, maybe 70. In game review terms that would be 88, or 5/5 according to The Escapist. I don't like that at all. Everything should be reviewed on truescale to determine the quality of the product, so we know what we are buying. Critics generally are paid to do just that. But not in the games industry.

More reviews:

PC Gamer (US): 94%
Gamespot: 8/10
IGN: 8.5/10
Eurogamer: 8/10

Looks like BioWare have certainly disappointed. 8's are certainly not bad revews at all but looks like the message is it isn't anywhere near as good as Origins. Time to swallow the pride Mr Laidlaw and admit BioWare have made the same mistake they made with Mass Effect 2, they removed just too much.

Oh, boo hoo. Just because you may not like a game you most likely haven't even played yet doesn't mean the rest of the world shares your opinions.
I don't know how 8/10 translates to mediocre. 8/10 is more like "Hey, this game is pretty rad but there are a few small issues!"

Where did I say the reviews were bad? I specifically said all it says is it isn't as good as Origins. Read the reviews and the same critisizims come up over and over again, inventory, overhead camera, skills. Things we were told were removed to improve the game but as it turns out it makes it a lesser game as many of us expected. Bear in mind only 24 hours ago I was backing Bioware up here! Reviews are up and people are now playing so now the gloves are off.

It should be noted the game is being praised for the conversation system and the story and the story is what most interests me.

Dear God

I have to say it:

You guys are all imbeciles (well. most of you)

Arguing about scale? claiming there is something like true scale?

Each reviewer gives own score for the game. Some do the percentage one (percentage of what? Of how much time you had fun when playing? 90 % of time i had fun but there was total of six minutes of each hour when i did not enjoyed the game? Or is that 100% just an abstract idea... so called perfection. If it is abstract and perfect. Both being impossible in real life. How can you define something real to be 75% perfect then?

Scores are by themselves useless. At best they just give you rough idea about how majority of players will like this game (but not you). Each score tough must be interpreted in a way it was designed. You cannot say that 5 stars out of 5 stars from reviewer a means the same as 100 points given by reviewer B. Different scoring system must be interpreted differently.

The best scoring system would be 1-3. aka one star/cake/point meaning game is bad 2 would mean game is alright 3 would mean that game is pretty good

and then you read review which tells you whether the game is good or bad.

and what importance has metacritic to you ovoon? Marketers use it but normal player should not care about the number given by MC?
Good site to find reviews quickly tough.

Oh, OK. Just misunderstood you there.

Yeah, and btw, a fallen score is generally a standard occurrence among game sequels, because they tend to fall prey to the "been there, done that" syndrome. Doesn't mean the game is really that much worse than the original or that it's a disappointment, just that it feels like it's already been done.

Yeah, Metacritic is a blight upon the face of the industry. It makes me shudder to think that bonuses are decided on Metacritic scores.

That is EXACTLY why i hold ME2 lower then the first game. ME1 was a great game, and when i finally got the chance to play ME2 a couple months ago, i was almost disgusted at how much had been torn out of it, and now it would seem they Mass Effected DA. No one really to blame but the people who believe Mass Effect 2 is the greatest game out there, when its actually not. Tired of Bioware and their "streamlining" in order to appease the dumbasses out there. I said it last night and ill said it again now, this generation of gamers couldnt play Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale or any of the other classic RPG's that we know and love, and sadly im starting to hold Bioware in the same category i hold EA and Activision. Wish they'd make a true successor to Baldurs Gate and stop making these crap claims just to get us oldies excited. But then again this generation probably couldnt handle a true successor to Baldurs Gate and the game would sell like shit cause this generation want things the easy way. Wish we could get some challenge back into our games.