Halo 4 Passes Its First Crucial Test: Metacritic

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The preliminary reports are in and Metacritic has compiled the findings for the upcoming Halo 4 release. The report gives Halo 4 a 90-plus rating which equates into a hit for Microsoft and 343 Studios and the Halo franchise.

“We’re happy to see that so far the critical consensus is that we succeeded,” she said. “Now we can look forward to feedback and reviews from players, as well as press.”
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Does anyone still base their buying decisions around critic reviews? See Diablo 3 for an example of how unreliable they are (Spoiler: Critic review of 88/100, user review of 3.8/10). And Mass Effect 3. And Dragon Age 2. Need I go on?
 
I'd trust hundreds, thousands of user reviews over what a paid critic has to say...

Scenario: Blizzard puts out a new game and Gamespot decides to review it.
Gamespot gives it a 4/10.
Blizzard no longer allows Gamespot early access to its games.

It's a lose-situation for a company to give a AAA game a bad review.
 
So who wants to bet this is a case of astroturfing? It doesn't take much to pass out an e-mail around the 343 Studios' offices encouraging people to get everyone they know to vote with a favorable score for the game.
 
Oh wait I read that wrong. I assumed they'd be making a huge deal out of the USER SCORE...

Who gives a damn about the score a gaming website reviewer gives to a game when these same reviewers find it perfectly normal and morally correct to do free advertising of a game for personal gain (like winning a PS3).
 
is Metacritic the one that compiles both reviews on the net as well as user submitted views? if so then I do like it because it's always interesting to see the user consensus and how it compares to site reviews. sometimes both are a match, while other games have stark contrasts. sometimes you even see what sites are putting out honest reviews.
 
Down to 89 now. Guaranteed flop, everyone may as well just go home.
 
It's Halo, it will sell a ton of copies regardless of how good or bad it it is. That is a simple fact. The fan base for the franchise is huge.

Personally, I thought the first one was a good console fps, and a rather bleh PC title a year or two later when it came out for the PC. I have really paid the franchise little notice since aside from the five to ten minutes I might play one of them at a kiosk at GS while at the mall for some god forsaken reason or another.
 
I stopped paying attention to reviews from "critics" a long time ago. I don't think it happens often, but its been proven advertising has been pulled when bad reviews were given.

The major reviews are basically bought and sold. If they will coerce a good review out of a critic who is to say they won't outright bribe someone?

That isn't my major problem with reviews though. I feel like movie critics are just a bunch of sheep. None of whom actually watched the movie they just gave a glowing review on rotten tomatoes. There are way too many movies on rotten tomatoes that are extremely low or extremely high.
 
Skizzy said:
Does anyone still base their buying decisions around critic reviews? See Diablo 3 for an example of how unreliable they are (Spoiler: Critic review of 88/100, user review of 3.8/10). And Mass Effect 3. And Dragon Age 2. Need I go on?
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Not really, but I do still read some reviews (and watch gameplay videos on youtube) if it's a game I'm unfamiliar with just to get an idea of what it's about. I trust the opinions of people who enjoy similar games to me, a lot more than some paid "critic". Ideally you'd like a demo though.

The reviews/ratings of a bunch of users is more reliable than one critic, but even that isn't always going to reflect your experiences. I thought the ME3 ending-gate was somewhat overblown. Sure it wasn't a great ending, but the rest of the game was good so giving the whole game 4.5 (as they did on metacritic) seems harsh. I have more of a problem with the nickle-and-dime DLCs than the ending.
 
Skizzy said:
Does anyone still base their buying decisions around critic reviews? See Diablo 3 for an example of how unreliable they are (Spoiler: Critic review of 88/100, user review of 3.8/10). And Mass Effect 3. And Dragon Age 2. Need I go on?
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Yes, %99 of the gaming population, because they dont have a clue, because that is %99 of the human race... they beleive what they read and dont bother to research anything
 
Another day another section of the gaming press proving they are useless and untrustworthy. 9/10? Is a rehashed rehash corridor shooter thats only significant because it's got a platform all to itself and would be ignored elsewhere really close to perfection? :p
 
DeathPrincess said:
Another day another section of the gaming press proving they are useless and untrustworthy. 9/10? Is a rehashed rehash corridor shooter thats only significant because it's got a platform all to itself and would be ignored elsewhere really close to perfection? :p
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Maybe it has a really good storyline? I always thought Halo's storyline was one of the nicest things about the game.
 
krogen said:
Maybe it has a really good storyline? I always thought Halo's storyline was one of the nicest things about the game.
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It's just a ripoff of W40Ks Space Marines set in the setting of Ringworld? (they even asked the guy who wrote it to do a Halo book...) :p

All the characters (and character design) and themes are painfully generic.
 
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