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I wonder if it's just a function of the still relatively nascent criticism community + extremely controlled pre-release PR/marketing environment surrounding games that seemingly so many AAA games are incredibly susceptible to this hype-backlash cycle. Bioshock Infinite became a underwhelming disappointment with a stunning first hour and boring mechanics (and I guess some kinda-racism and bad time travel?). Tomb Raider is a misogyny/racism-fest with sub-par Gears of War shooting and NO TOMBS WTF. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag has LOL SO MANY BUGS LOOK THERE'S A GAPING HOLE IN THE OCEAN WHERE THERE SHOULD BE A SHIP. The classic example, Grand Theft Auto IV, has a totally shit and unbelievable story that is completely disjointed from the mission design and casually violent gameplay mechanics. Even highly acclaimed indie games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons had a fair degree of backlash shortly after the glowing release for a seemingly underwhelming story despite poignant moments and odd controls.

 

Yet, when a lot of websites/magazines looked back on the year, these backlash-scarred games still managed to rise up and be recognized as some of the best of the year. Anyways, just a weird thought I was having after reading this continual cycle of "BI sucks!" and "BI is actually okay!" that rages on in these forums.

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The problem for reviewers is how do they tell if the noisy backlash is from the loud minority or from a general consensus? 

Not to mention if they change their minds due to people complaining, they lose integrity.

 

Did you give it a good review because you liked it, or because you expected others to like it, or because if you gave it a poor review, you won't get a review copy in time for release next round?

 

The whole review system is pretty bad, but that's why I like to listen to Idlethumbs and visit the forums. You get multiple people saying what they thought about the game without any of the constraints of being a reviewer. I'm far more likely to play a game recommended on this forum than I am to play one recommended by even a good review site like Giant Bomb.

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The problem for reviewers is how do they tell if the noisy backlash is from the loud minority or from a general consensus? 

 

Sometimes though the loud minority are bringing up legitimate issues that the general majority are completely blind to. 

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Did you give it a good review because you liked it, or because you expected others to like it, or because if you gave it a poor review, you won't get a review copy in time for release next round?

Yes, sometimes it does feel like reviewers are just trying to anticipate how people will react to a game. Everything about reviews is weird though. Even something as basic as the fact that they are generally written in a vacuum, that's not how most people form their final opinion of something. I seek out discourse on most games I play and that discourse is kind of pointless if you aren't willing to let it inform your opinion. Then there's the issue that scoring certain games low is more or less taboo. If a site like GameSpot had scored Infinite say 5/10 some people would've raised a huge stink over it, the reviewer would probably get spammed with death threats etc.

 

Of course you can't single out individual reviewers and accuse them of inflating their scores because of x or y, but there's clearly a systemic issue that's consistently leading to overly homogenised critical reception. It's also fairly obvious that some external factors influence aggregate scores, like DkS2 was very likely to review better simply because awareness of the series increased in the last two years and it had more hype.

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I got around to finishing Splinter Cell: Blacklist. It holds the rare distinction for me of being a game where I skipped most of the cutscenes. There seemed to be real tension throughout between the "terrorists are going to kill everyone, hurry up and stop them!" tone of the story, and then the possibly more deliberate gameplay. Before I skipped cutscenes, I felt more pressure to just keep pressing forward, even at the expense of getting spotted. Once I took the story out of the equation, I felt more free to just approach the levels as a series of stealth-puzzles that I could solve at my own pace. 

 

Anyway, I think I enjoyed the systems of the game for the most part, but something about the game just didn't sit well with me. Did anybody else end up feeling the same way about it? Or am I missing something secretly cool about the story/more action-heavy parts?

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Yes, sometimes it does feel like reviewers are just trying to anticipate how people will react to a game. Everything about reviews is weird though. Even something as basic as the fact that they are generally written in a vacuum, that's not how most people form their final opinion of something. I seek out discourse on most games I play and that discourse is kind of pointless if you aren't willing to let it inform your opinion. Then there's the issue that scoring certain games low is more or less taboo. If a site like GameSpot had scored Infinite say 5/10 some people would've raised a huge stink over it, the reviewer would probably get spammed with death threats etc.

 

Of course you can't single out individual reviewers and accuse them of inflating their scores because of x or y, but there's clearly a systemic issue that's consistently leading to overly homogenised critical reception. It's also fairly obvious that some external factors influence aggregate scores, like DkS2 was very likely to review better simply because awareness of the series increased in the last two years and it had more hype.

 

There was a fascinating study recently that demonstrated people's tastes are strongly influenced by how they perceive other's tastes to be. There is enormous pressure on reviewers to appear discerning; unlike in film or literature, game reviewers are not seen as being a separate class of person, of having better opinions than other people. This has the unfortunate effect of placing pressure on reviewers to be aware of what their audience believes they should be feeling, because their audience by and large believes their opinions are just as good, and thus that if those opinions differ, that the review is wrong because everyone loves this game only the reviewer has played.

 

There are basically two options: convince everyone that they shouldn't have an opinion on the game until they play it, and thus that PR should be banned; or make cultural elites out of game reviewers. Neither are spectacular options, really.

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There are basically two options: convince everyone that they shouldn't have an opinion on the game until they play it, and thus that PR should be banned; or make cultural elites out of game reviewers. Neither are spectacular options, really.

 

Actually, there is a third option, one that I think is finally emerging, which is to have quality games journalism and reviews happen outside of the enthusiast press. 

 

I've been relatively surprised over the last year or so about how often I have found myself on Forbes (and I really dislike Forbes as a publication), the New York Times or NPR reading about games.  It's becoming much more common to see games of all stripes, from AAA blockbusters to indie darlings featured in traditional media outlets.  Treating them as serious pieces of artistic work in a billion dollar business, the same way film gets treated.  These traditional publications are more separated from the influences that the enthusiast press has.  They are not dependent on industry advertising.  Their reader base does not come to them solely for gaming news.  The probably don't particularly care about getting free games.  The big names have enough power to give the finger to a publisher or PR rep if one were to try to bully them (which is far less likely than what happens to the enthusiast press).  The aren't ever going to review the sheer volume of games that blogs do, but could still have an influence thanks to being separated from those pressures.

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Last night I finished Dead Space. There were a couple of parts I really didn't like (operating a turret to blast asteroids while waiting for the automatic systems to come online, while using controls so awful it was almost impossible to do...) but otherwise it was a pretty fun game.

My biggest complaint were the controls (to be fair, I was playing on PC using my 360 controller... except during the turret sections where I needed to use my mouse and crank up the sensitivity as far as it would go...) By the end of the game I was used to it though, so it wasn't terrible, it just didn't feel right at first.

Now, in all fairness, I played the game on Easy, so there wasn't much hoarding of ammunition or deep inventory management in my run. I never felt like I was in any real danger of running out of supplies. But thats good because those are the types of things that frustrate me while playing games.

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I thought Dead Space was an excellent game on virtually all fronts (except the turret sequence which you pointed out). If you go into it expecting tight FPS controls you will definitely be a little disappointed but I feel like this game has a control scheme that works better than the control schemes in any of the other survival horror games I've played (which I haven't really played too many of so take that as you will). I played on medium and it was just stressful enough that I kept shitting my pants, but never got too frustrated with running out of resources.

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If you didn't know, that's a game that you can't change the difficulty midway through.  I started it on Hard, because I had played a string of games that just felt too easy on normal, and wanted a challenge.  Bad idea, I hit a brick wall about halfway through and couldn't drop down to normal.

 

Thankfully it is the rare game that still has cheat codes to get some free nodes and credits.  I don't think I would have been able to get through that one difficulty spike without them. 

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Since you guys are talking about it, I figure it's worth mentioning that Dead Space is currently free on Origin.

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I really liked Dead Space, and I know this is a hotly debated topic, but I think Dead Space 2 improved on it in basically in every way. So definitely give that a play if you're up for more of that style of game (maybe slightly more actiony the second time).

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I thought Dead Space was an excellent game on virtually all fronts (except the turret sequence which you pointed out). If you go into it expecting tight FPS controls you will definitely be a little disappointed but I feel like this game has a control scheme that works better than the control schemes in any of the other survival horror games I've played (which I haven't really played too many of so take that as you will). I played on medium and it was just stressful enough that I kept shitting my pants, but never got too frustrated with running out of resources.

To me, Dead Space's controls are kind of similar to Batman Arkham Asylum/Arkham City: Controls that, at first, feel slow and a bit odd, but after you've been playing the game for a while they just feel right.

And yeah, compared to say Resident Evil or Silent Hill, the controls in this game were fantastic.

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I really liked Dead Space, and I know this is a hotly debated topic, but I think Dead Space 2 improved on it in basically in every way. So definitely give that a play if you're up for more of that style of game (maybe slightly more actiony the second time).

I disagree with this, but i won't make a big deal out of it, because they're both light years beyond Dead Space 3.

 

The main thing, though, is that i think the first Dead Space delivers on a much broader spectrum of interesting scenarios, it's less scripted and less linear while also doing more with its mechanics. (As one example, the zero gravity sequences in 2 are little more than navigation interludes, while the first game used them to stage inventive combat scenarios.)

You know, but it's kind of moot when Dead Space 3 is looming over both. God damn, that game was terrible.

The first Dead Space was probably one of my favorite games of the last console cycle though, and the second game is absolutely worth playing if the first one clicks.

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I never played Dead Space 3 because everything I heard about it seemed awful.

 

What I like about Dead Space 2 is I think it nails the environments and atmosphere. I can remember 3 or 4 specific sections from that game, and I can't really remember anything specific about the first one, besides that awful asteroid shooting part. I think the lighting in particular is brilliant in Dead Space 2. 

 

Like I said, I love them both. Arguments like "the first one is scarier and the second one is just a shooter!" Don't hold any water with me though because I didn't think the first one was that scary.

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I was never a big fan of Dead Space, I only played Dead Space 2 because it came with PSN+...

 

I beat a bunch of games from indie bundles:

 

-Guise of the Wolf: Frankly, I had fun, it's a bad game, but it's short and dumb and enjoyable because of it's shortness, if you can get it in a bundle for a a buck or less, it's pretty fun!  :tup:  :getmecoat

 

-Highborn: It's like Grotesque Tactics light for a mobile systems ported for Steam, only a pretty decent port. It kinda cheap since you can hide in a forest and not be seen, but the enemies patrol and hide their too, you it's not like it makes the game too easy. The humor is so reference based Family Guy is telling them to tone it down... They use the same Monkey Island joke at least three times and it's the first time I've seen a Frobozz reference and yet... it didn't annoy me too much and I had fun. The final battle was pretty intense and challenging.  :tup:

 

-Doorways: It's another Amnesia clone, nice and short, not scary at all and goes from too easy to frustrating very fast, in the fast chapter you only get ghosts that block your path, while the second chapter has a hall of spear wielding statues that kill you and not only to have to take the right path, you have to do it perfectly and FAST!  :tmeh:

 

-Postmortem: One Must Die: You are Death incarnate and must attend a party where people from two factions are mingling, where you much talk to them and then choose who dies. As far as I know, there is no right choice, and things go bad no matter what you do, they just go bad differently?  :tmeh:

 

-Epic Battle Fantasy 4: Apparently it's a series of flash games, the fourth one has this special edition, which I really enjoyed, the game was fun but can get very brutal, special in the unique dungeon of the paid version of this game, where you have to fight several waves of tough enemies in a row. Epic Battle Fantasy 1 & 2 were nothing BUT waves of enemies, from what I've been told. I like the magic/skill system since you can give a skills you couldn't get otherwise and because it has a heavy metal spell... that's kinda awesome. Although it would have made more sense if it had been a dark spell instead of a wind one. :P  :tup:

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You know, but it's kind of moot when Dead Space 3 is looming over both. God damn, that game was terrible.

 

 

I never played Dead Space 3 because everything I heard about it seemed awful.

I recently played DS3 and while most of it felt like a dull 3rd person shooter, I thought they were doing some neat things with the open area space sequences. Floating outside of stations and into wreckage was really enjoyable. Incredibly disappointed that they didn't do more with it though.

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Costume Quest. With the recent announcement of a sequel, I finally went back and finished this game that I've owned on PC for a long while now. It's super charming! Really enjoyed how there existed two parallel worlds, one which was the 'real' world and the other made up of what felt the kids' imaginations when they entered battle sequences.

 

I liked how the RPG elements were employed with broad strokes meant to make the game easier to move through. HP that regenerated at the end of every fight. Special attacks that activate over turns instead of using a points system. Leveling just increasing the same things instead a variety of stats. The battle stamps also added a neat dimension as well. I would have liked if the order of the characters could be changed a around, as I found that certain costumes work better in specific spots (i.e. the pumpkin costume felt like a first turn costume while the unicorn and lady liberty support costumes felt like they should go last).

 

That being said, I wish either that the mechanics had a little more meat to them or that there were less battles. There were points at each area before I moved on where I felt that I got the same feeling that I do when grinding; having a set of moves that I turn to and knowing how the battle would go.

 

Easily my favorite Double Fine game that has come out in the last few years.

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I definitely had the same feeling with Costume Quest. After the first area I felt I had "solved" combat and from then on the fun of it was seeing the new costumes and powers. But those grew stale after I had seen them a few times. I think I played the game in a single sitting, and it was certainly charming and the overworld puzzles and games were great, but hopefully the sequel does some iteration on the combat to not let it dry up so fast.

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I recently played DS3 and while most of it felt like a dull 3rd person shooter, I thought they were doing some neat things with the open area space sequences. Floating outside of stations and into wreckage was really enjoyable. Incredibly disappointed that they didn't do more with it though.

Ah right, I remember Brad Shoemaker saying that the first bit is really fun, and then you go down to the ice planet and everything after that sucks. I think I'd rather just replay Dead Space 1 and 2 than play 3 at this point.

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Ah right, I remember Brad Shoemaker saying that the first bit is really fun, and then you go down to the ice planet and everything after that sucks. I think I'd rather just replay Dead Space 1 and 2 than play 3 at this point.

 

I had wondered if 3 was fun in co-op, kinda like how RE5 wasn't a good survival horror game, but my daughter and I had a blast going through it (basically completed it twice going back through areas to unlock stuff).  But I never got around to actually trying 3 out.

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...and tonight I finally finished Mirror's Edge.

It felt kind of... meh. I enjoyed the gameplay, but the story felt very bland. It was also incredibly short, and I just felt like more could have been done with the gameplay.

...actually the entire game I was thinking about how it could have been cool as a game about a cop, and you have to chase like thieves and stuff through the streets and rooftops of a city... you know, instead of paying attention to the dull story of the game I was playing, I kept envisioning a much better game with the same core concepts.

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Ahhhh! I just finished Mirror's Edge tonight too!!  Weird coincidence.

 

Knocked it out in about 4 hours.  The story was terrible, but it considering what I got to do as a player it was easily overlooked.  It's a 5 year old game it still plays remarkably well and still looks fantastic.  Played it on easy because they mentioned it only affected combat, which I had heard wasn't expertly implemented.

 

It was a ton of fun!

 

 

...actually the entire game I was thinking about how it could have been cool as a game about a cop, and you have to chase like thieves and stuff through the streets and rooftops of a city... you know, instead of paying attention to the dull story of the game I was playing, I kept envisioning a much better game with the same core concepts.

 

Agreed.  There was so much more they could have done with that story!  Hopefully that sequel they're supposedly working on will be more than a mere skeleton to get you to play each level.

 

I also "finished" Resogun on the ps4 a few days ago.  A nice game.  I disliked the art direction.  The enemies felt bland and haphazardly designed and the color pallete was really dull.  Happy to play through each level and see what the game had to offer.  In the end I think I enjoyed Housemarque's Super Stardust HD better than Resogun.  SSHD had a great feel to each weapon and it had a gentle flow, whereas Resogun felt more frenetic and angular, and the main weapon didn't have much character.

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Ah right, I remember Brad Shoemaker saying that the first bit is really fun, and then you go down to the ice planet and everything after that sucks. I think I'd rather just replay Dead Space 1 and 2 than play 3 at this point.

For what it's worth, I remember getting to the space stuff fairly quickly in DS3. The only reason I played it was because I picked it up in the EA Humble Bundle, but I imagine it'll be on the cheap during the plethora of seasonal sales that happen through out the year.

 

...and tonight I finally finished Mirror's Edge.

It felt kind of... meh. I enjoyed the gameplay, but the story felt very bland. It was also incredibly short, and I just felt like more could have been done with the gameplay.

...actually the entire game I was thinking about how it could have been cool as a game about a cop, and you have to chase like thieves and stuff through the streets and rooftops of a city... you know, instead of paying attention to the dull story of the game I was playing, I kept envisioning a much better game with the same core concepts.

I think everyone's fondness for Mirror's Edge is always tempered by its downfalls. I remember enjoying the in-game visual style and the first-person platforming was novel enough for me that I didn't get bored.

 

The idea of chasing people in the game seems unappealing; I'm envisioning Assassin's Creed chase sequences though, where the chased feels like they're being rubber-banded forward so as to create tension but is so paper-thin it just feels like a waste of time.

 

And yeah, that story was useless.

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