It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussion (archive)Misleading player reviews?(40 posts)(40 posts)
(40 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
This is my favourite topic
Posted April 29, 2010
I've found more than a couple old classics on this site which made me squeal with nostalgic glee. But I've also noticed a healthy number of turds. I'm talking about games which weren't any good then and certainly aren't going to be much better ten or fifteen years down the road. I'm looking at you Phantasmagoria. (Oh, but there are others)
Odd thing is, a lot of these crappy "GoGs" are getting great player reviews. I have yet to see a game on this site getting lower than a 3.5/5 average score. Now you can accuse me of being a cynical meanie or for not having an open mind, but I've found it a little difficult to separate the shit from the gems with all these positive reviews floating around. As a consumer and a guy who has been enticed into trying some of the games he missed as a kid, I find this pretty frustrating.
Seriously, is there nobody here who's noticed the massive pink elephant squatting in the corner?
For the record, I love GoG and I'd say a good 75% of the material up for purchase is classic. It's the remaining 25% this thread refers to.
Posted April 29, 2010
Rose colored glasses and all. Also, people don't really bother writing reviews for games they didn't like so that's why you generally won't see them.
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
AndrewC: Rose colored glasses and all. Also, people don't really bother writing reviews for games they didn't like so that's why you generally won't see them.

interesting. so kind of like the opposite of any other comment / rating system in the world where only the haters post reviews :)
Posted April 29, 2010
one man's "turd" can be another man's treasure.
and since reviews are subjective, people who truly love a game will give it a high rating and a favorable write-up even though you think the object of their joy is "shit".
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
AlDepth: I've found more than a couple old classics on this site which made me squeal with nostalgic glee. But I've also noticed a healthy number of turds. I'm talking about games which weren't any good then and certainly aren't going to be much better ten or fifteen years down the road. I'm looking at you Phantasmagoria. (Oh, but there are others)
Odd thing is, a lot of these crappy "GoGs" are getting great player reviews. I have yet to see a game on this site getting lower than a 3.5/5 average score. Now you can accuse me of being a cynical meanie or for not having an open mind, but I've found it a little difficult to separate the shit from the gems with all these positive reviews floating around. As a consumer and a guy who has been enticed into trying some of the games he missed as a kid, I find this pretty frustrating.
Seriously, is there nobody here who's noticed the massive pink elephant squatting in the corner?
For the record, I love GoG and I'd say a good 75% of the material up for purchase is classic. It's the remaining 25% this thread refers to.

I think that almost everybody realized that ratings are generally favorable. That is nothing unusual considering the power of nostalgia and price policy. I personally hit 5 stars for a half of my collection, it is difficult to rate the game and compare it to modern video games. It is just not fair. I believe that most ratings are based on good memories from youth.
Phantasmagoria is not the best game of course, but when it was published it just blow our minds with such intense and gore cinematic. I still remember the big cardboard box with indication of "21+" requirement, and I was a child. Just try to imagine how impressive was this game back then. Real actors and video scenes were very popular and expensive in computer games. It was a 7CD gem! A masterpiece! Сhef-d'oeuvre!
Well you got the picture :-)
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
tibisor: one man's "turd" can be another man's treasure.
and since reviews are subjective, people who truly love a game will give it a high rating and a favorable write-up even though you think the object of their joy is "shit".

Yes, this much I know. But outside of GoG, in the mean and nasty world of video game journalism at large - the glowing reviews are counterbalanced by the not so glowing reviews. Consumers can then read both, average them out and come to an educated conclusion before they drop their dosh. Since there do not seem to be many critical reviews on the site, it is tough to know whether a game is going to be a worthwhile purchase.
The purpose of my thread was to bring to light a noted absence of any sort of critical reviews, not to condemn the people who posted in support of the "shitty" games.
Posted April 29, 2010
You only put up one game to check or consider your concerns - Phantasmagoria.
On Metacritic it get's a score of 62 out of 7 reviews, reaching a status of mixed or average reviews. User ratings it get's a 9.9 from 13 votes.
Now if a game "deserves" the status of being good or even a classic, is ALWAYS debatable.
For example: I never understood the hype the Duke Nukem games received. Neither at the point of the original release nor around here. Still, I'm far from claiming they're crap. Just not my taste.
Figuring out if the game is for you, lies in your hands alone and it's never a good idea to getting there based on reviews / rants / whatever from one site alone. If you're unsure, check your favorite gamessite if they still have an old review or article available, youtube for some gameplay videos...
avatar
AlDepth: interesting. so kind of like the opposite of any other comment / rating system in the world where only the haters post reviews :)

Yep, we're a special breed around here.
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
AlDepth: Yes, this much I know. But outside of GoG, in the mean and nasty world of video game journalism at large - the glowing reviews are counterbalanced by the not so glowing reviews.

See, I agree, but these are fan made reviews and that says a lot. You can of course go search for a review on the web (and yes, I know they're rare) or you can post a thread about the game on the forums and see what the reactions are. Or even better, look at the threads made by the team when they released a game and see the reactions there.
Posted April 29, 2010
As a rule of thumb: anything at 3 - 3.5 stars, you might want to look elsewhere. Anything with 4 stars: worth a look, might turn out to be your best buy yet (I gave Die by the Sword 5 stars, and I gave Seven Kingdoms II 3 stars).
At the end of the day it comes down to personal opinions, which involve a certain degree of bias.
Posted April 29, 2010
also, since this site is dedicated to old games, the community should be more mature. not to insult any young fans of the site but there is a certain age group prone to fanboyism and if such activities were rampant here certain games would be heavily downgraded. i guess as we grow up we tend to grow more attached to some of our old "guilty pleasures" and be much more understanding of everyone else's.
Posted April 29, 2010
Just check out the reviews on MobyGames. They usually have links to various reviews, I know the few games I've reviewed for Abandonia have been linked to there.
MobyGames link
MobyGames Phantasmagoria - there's a few review links and some scores.
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
tibisor: also, since this site is dedicated to old games, the community should be more mature. not to insult any young fans of the site but there is a certain age group prone to fanboyism and if such activities were rampant here certain games would be heavily downgraded. i guess as we grow up we tend to grow more attached to some of our old "guilty pleasures" and be much more understanding of everyone else's.

The community is more mature, just don't do any stupid things and read the F.A.Q..
Posted April 29, 2010
avatar
lowyhong: As a rule of thumb: anything at 3 - 3.5 stars, you might want to look elsewhere. Anything with 4 stars: worth a look, might turn out to be your best buy yet (I gave Die by the Sword 5 stars, and I gave Seven Kingdoms II 3 stars).
At the end of the day it comes down to personal opinions, which involve a certain degree of bias.

Agreed. The 4 star threshold has become my standby. I've seen some oldies I know to be good sitting around that point. At 3.5 things become quite murky and I usually pass it over if I can't get enough info.
avatar
Andy_Panthro: Just check out the reviews on MobyGames. They usually have links to various reviews, I know the few games I've reviewed for Abandonia have been linked to there.
MobyGames link
MobyGames Phantasmagoria - there's a few review links and some scores.

Cheers, will give those a look.
Post edited April 29, 2010 by AlDepth
Posted April 29, 2010
Reviews here have a certain level of nostalgia. That is to be expected given the site is built on old games, which cause nostalgia. Are they misleading? Sometimes, like Stonekeep is crap by today's standards while Heroes 3 is amazing by today's standards even though the game isn't for me and people rave about both.
Posted April 29, 2010
Unless I bought a game now or in the past, I must really hate the game to write a negative review for it. Plus I generally avoid turds, I game daily for a good quarter of a century, I tend to sense a good game that gets negative reviews (average or plain bad scores), like Death Track Resurrection, Frontlines Fuel of War, etc, and an average game that gets much better score than I would have given it (Civilization 4, Bioshock, etc). I would write reviews for the first batch, but not for the second and if I did, it would be objective as possible.
I guess others here are like me concerning reviews.
I mean, I must really hate Stateshift a game Stateshift and think it is complete Stateshift and utter pile of Stateshift shit, before I bother to write Stateshift something bad about it Stateshift.
I can't think of many Stateshift games that I have Stateshift ever done this, but one Stateshift that comes to mind is the PC version of the arcade racer Stateshift.
Post edited April 29, 2010 by trusteft
Pages:
1
2
3
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Misleading player reviews?(40 posts)(40 posts)
(40 posts)