Biggest Gaming Event in History: Halo 3 has arrived

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
that wasnt my question. Of course a review without playing it is silly, I agree with you.

Im wondering if one can at least take issue with other reviews, that appear inconsistent between their rating and their text, without having played the game in question.

No, because you can't make any judgment of the game without playing it -- this includes debating which kind of number it deserves.

A lot of reviews may not mention things they expect a game to be good with, but will nitpick other issues they've found that they did not expect, and still come up with a high score because that reflects their enjoyment value of the game.

The review was a fake, the guy didn't play it -- his ranting about reviews was in the wrong place (a review, ironically) and doesn't understand the basics of how reviews work.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Wiglaf


The game gets a lot of 5/5 from people who are just riding the hype, too.

Yes, but which is closer to the real score of Halo 3: 1/5 (worse than STARSHIP TYCOON, BETHANY'S LITTLE HORSE FARM, and MY LITTLE PONY: DELUXE GAME) or 5/5, which is close to the 96% metacritic score?

And how many people will rate 5/5 based on hype? Hype is a double-edged sword, it usually causes disappointment in the final product, not delirious happiness with it.

Hey -- Maybe people enjoy Halo a lot? A lot of people, even. Have you considered that?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

No, because you can't make any judgment of the game without playing it -- this includes debating which kind of number it deserves.

A lot of reviews may not mention things they expect a game to be good with, but will nitpick other issues they've found that they did not expect, and still come up with a high score because that reflects their enjoyment value of the game.

Ok, now THATS a good answer.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

MY LITTLE PONY: DELUXE GAME

Have you ever played MLP: DG?

[Asher]

WTF is that?

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Asher

One cannot review the game without playing it. I don't care if you want to argue otherwise, you can do so with yourself.

I think he was suggesting that you had not played the game yet

[snoopy369]

Asher I do think you're getting a bit of a taste of your own medicine here with Wiggie... he's taking his personal opinion and implying that it is god's own truth and not to be disputed with

That said, Wiggie, you've wigged out a bit extreme here... SP Halo is not 'the best game ever lol' but I doubt it's a bad game, and as said, it's not a game generally bought just for the SP aspect

Games that have dual purposes should generally be rated by the higher of the two, not the lower (but mediated somewhat by the lower); if a game is an excellent MP game but a lousy SP game, a 98% MP but a 85% SP, I'd rate it 95% and leave it at that. Why? Because a game should be considered for the type of game it is, and for the intended audience. Halo is intended for MP, so the fact that it succeeds at that so brilliantly means it deserves to be rated based primarily on the MP aspects; a few points lowered if the SP is not up to par, perhaps, but not rated primarily based on that.

Go play Oblivion if you want a SP game

[Asher]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I think he was suggesting that you had not played the game yet

And do you see me reviewing the game anywhere?

Just because I haven't played it doesn't mean I need to throw critical analysis out the window for posts that are clearly BS.

You should see the IGN Xbox 360 boards right now. There's all kinds of "newbs" whining about how awful Halo 3 is, and the vast majority of them have previous posts almost exclusively in the IGN Wii or IGN PS3 boards.

People seem to think I'm crazy and a conspiracy theorist for thinking a lot of these anonymous reviews are fakes, but I think they'd be surprised.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher


YOU are the one that made the statement that the majority of people buy Halo for the SP. I laughed at that, remember?

Have we addressed that question with quantitative evidence?

My impressions

1. In general far more games are played mainly SP than hard core folks think, including in typically MP genres like RTS and the less story oriented FPS.

2. Thats probably less true for console shooters, where offline MP is available as well as on line.

3. Offline MP, either coop or split screen, is a big draw of Halo.

So Im guessing youre right.

I wonder how much of Halo MP play falls into each category though.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher
WTF is that?

you mean WTF is "MLP: DG"

Its an abbreviation for

"MY LITTLE PONY: DELUXE GAME "

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by snoopy369


I think he was suggesting that you had not played the game yet

No, im honestly interested in the issue of inconsistent reviews, not just for Halo.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Asher

And do you see me reviewing the game anywhere?

Just because I haven't played it doesn't mean I need to throw critical analysis out the window for posts that are clearly BS.

You should see the IGN Xbox 360 boards right now. There's all kinds of "newbs" whining about how awful Halo 3 is, and the vast majority of them have previous posts almost exclusively in the IGN Wii or IGN PS3 boards.

People seem to think I'm crazy and a conspiracy theorist for thinking a lot of these anonymous reviews are fakes, but I think they'd be surprised.

You responded to his comment of: (all quotes summarized)

"You shouldn't complain that the reviewer is not accurate before YOU play the game"

with

"Reviewers who don't play games they review are morons" (true, but not applicable to his statement).

Just clarifying

On the faked reviews: I don't think they're faked per se, just people who shouldn't be playing Halo (like me) because they don't enjoy that style of game I don't think there is a significant incentive to write fake reviews, not that many people are as obsessed with sinking Microsoft or Halo as you think IMO. I think most people that are writing these reviews are too young to write well, and are equating their personal dislike for a game with a poor game.

I don't know anyone here who's ever done the latter

[lord of the mark]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/technology/circuits/27games.html?_r=3&ref=circuits&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[Asher]

That review makes a lot of sense.

[DinoDoc]

Does anyone else see the irony of Asher complaining about fanboys?