Introducing: After the Fact

November 5, 2008 12:57PM PST

By JusticeCovert

So, last week I told that you that we were launching a new reviews-related feature, and about five minutes ago we did. After the Fact: Reviews Revisited is a way for us to update our reviews (without actually changing the original text or score) as games evolve after their release. This is a response to us noticing that our reviews, while accurate on day one, are becoming outdated as patches and game "updates" become more common.

For example, we mention in our Battlefield: Bad Company review that the game doesn't have Conquest mode--that's no longer accurate, since it was patched in at a later date. There's now an After the Fact entry to reflect this on the review page and, if you look around the site, you'll find that we've got the ball rolling with updates for several other games as well. This is just the beginning, of course, and while we're not planning to post entries for every single update that's released for every single game, we're definitely planning to cover stuff that we think potential buyers of games need to know in order to make a well-informed purchasing decision.

Oh, and if there are any updates worth covering that we haven't yet posted an After the Fact entry for (there are a lot right now, of course), feel free to let us know via our new afterthefact@gamespot.com email address. We'll get to them as quickly as we can.

37 comments

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jchristyj

Thumbs up on the idea

mhsdrake

I can see the complications with not wanting to change the score given at the game's launch but I think that you should offer a new score if you revisit the game as a side note. Eg- SOCOM got 6.5 at launch and it will always be a 6.5 on GS but you could write a section in the review "As of November 20 2008 issues with multiplayer have been fixed and this game has an adjusted score of 7" or something along those lines.

jsmoke03

i can see why you wouldn't want to change the score because it would just be 2 much work. but some games do get better after patches...

angelkimne

Will you do one for SOCOM : Confrontation by any chance?

Kevin-V moderator

Trooper, we will not be adjusting scores. I recommend checking the addendum to our reviews guidelines, found via the help link at the bottom and top right of every page, which explains After the Fact in even more detail.

Trooperdx3117

Will this new feature mean that games review scores can go up if say they were released buggy but with some potential and then after a bunch of patches they became playable and stable, would the games score go up.

cid_007

Nice work, guys. Good idea. Where is this feature?

Toro_Nev

Great idea! Sounds really cool =]

SovietMudkipz

This is a great idea, especially for things like WoW which have changed drastically since release.

tyrant2004

I think this is a great idea, and I'm so glad you guys made it easy to see right there BEFORE you see the actual review. Solid work.

JusticeCovert

samir192, Burnout Paradise was one of the games updated in the initial batch. :)

SamP

RetroGamer34233 - The After the Fact updates are not yet tied in with game tracking, but that's the plan.

RetroGamer34233

Can updated reviews be sent to your profile for games you're tracking?

samir192

Brilliant, you should revisit Burnout Paradise though, it has been updated considerably.

football_legend

Great Resistance 2 Video review. I hope you the guy who reviewed it gets to review alot of games. Good video review here in a long time.

bacchus2

This is great, I've always thought this would be a great feature. If it is not already part of the feature, advising what substantial downloadable content (i.e. not gamer pics and the like, actual game data), even if it isn't reviewed, would also be a good idea.

RealKilla_789

very nice idea. ive always wanted this on some website

tidyspidey

very good idea - it can only help for anyone buying the game significantly after it's release

tccavey2

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Jack_Bauer07

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

TAKE_IT_BACK

Thats a good idea, now you wont have to re-review stuff like Socom: Confrontation.

beenieman40k

this is a very good idea and would ensure that you were recognising the initial score of the game while acknowledging any improvements are you covering DLC as well such as warhawk? and who's reviewing Endwar. The game sucks and it would be a shame if it was overrated because the reviewer didn't know much about strategy games

white_sox

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

JusticeCovert

Thanks for the suggestions DeathScape666 - Bully 360 is actually one that we already posted an update for. Also, I'd encourage you to use the email that we've set up for any future suggestions, since we have a system in place for monitoring this stuff. Also, there's a good chance that we'll be offering an emblem for successful suggestions at some point. :)

DeathScape666

Good idea. Games change over time and become inaccurate once patches and such are released to eliminate issues that were there before. STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl and STALKER: Clear Sky come to mind. They both had issues at release, but have been fixed over time. Also, Bully: Scholarship Edition for the XBox 360 might've been fixed. I'm not sure if it has, but people said that a patch was supposed to be released a week later. I don't know if it ever did, though. Grand Theft Auto IV will also probably need this soon for the exclusive XBox 360 downloadable content. Same goes for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Team Fortress 2 for the PC added some free new maps. That's all I can think of for now. I'll do the best I can to help improve GameSpot's reviewing system. Good idea with this one. Keep up the good work!

DeathScape666

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

maverick_76

This is awesome! Yeah from what I have heard through the grapevine SOCOM does need this because the game is now heavily patched to solve those niggling issues y'all mentioned in the review.

railz38539

Warhawk and SOCOM should definitely be in line for this. Primarily SOCOM, because it has had some of the game-breaking issues improved.

JusticeCovert

Remember yesterday, when we said the review would be coming today and explained exactly why?

football_legend

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

nicenator

I'd certainly suggest Warhawk for this. Lots of content and patches since the review last year.

potatopower1995

Cool, Bad Company one of my favorite shooters so I'm excited you guys updated it.

tudyniuz

I just checked it out on Bad Company,this is some of the best new features:D

tudyniuz

this is good but most people only watch reviews and don't read them so it's the video review that is most available and memorable for them.Still this is a great idea.:)

JusticeCovert

Funny you should mention that--we were talking about it just this morning. It's definitely on our radar. :)

Nike_Air

Very good idea. I hope Socom Confrontation is one of those games that you'll keep an eye on.

JusticeCovert

So, last week I told that you that we were launching a new reviews-related feature, and about five minutes ago we did. After the Fact: Reviews Revisited is a way for us to update our reviews (without actually changing the original text or score) as games evolve after their release. This is a response to us noticing that our reviews, while accurate on day one, are becoming outdated as patches and game "updates" become more common. For example, we mention in our Battlefield: Bad Company review that the game doesn't have Conquest mode--that's no longer accurate, since it was patched in at a later date. There's now an After the Fact entry to reflect this on the review page and, if you look around the site, you'll find that we've got the ball rolling with updates for several other games as well. This is just the beginning, of course, and while we're not planning to post entries for every single update that's released for every single game, we're definitely planning to cover stuff that we think potential buyers of games need to know in order to make a well-informed purchasing decision. Oh, and if there are any updates worth covering that we haven't yet posted an After the Fact entry for (there are a lot right now, of course), feel free to let us know via our new afterthefact@gamespot.com email address. We'll get to them as quickly as we can. :)

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