political comments in reviews
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- Mar 11, 2008 10:35 am PTAs you're probably aware, there is quite a discussion going on in the Army of Two forum about a perceived political dimenson to the review and some criticisms that are made about the game throughout. Leaving aside the issue of the politicization of this particular review or otherwise, does Gamespot issue guidelines and monitor the content of reviewers' work for quality etc, or is it soley based on the criteria in the reviews section? Also, could you possibly post a link to the reviews guide section, the bit that tells people how games are rated etc, as I can't seem to find it. Thanks.
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- Mar 11, 2008 3:14 pm PT
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"It is important to understand that natural laws were not determined on the basis of popularity. They were established and rest on the rock of reality." -Kenneth Johnson
[QUOTE="jk80"]As you're probably aware, there is quite a discussion going on in the Army of Two forum about a perceived political dimenson to the review and some criticisms that are made about the game throughout. Leaving aside the issue of the politicization of this particular review or otherwise, does Gamespot issue guidelines and monitor the content of reviewers' work for quality etc, or is it soley based on the criteria in the reviews section? Also, could you possibly post a link to the reviews guide section, the bit that tells people how games are rated etc, as I can't seem to find it. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
We are aware of the discussion going on in the forums regarding the review.
The review for Army of Two was read, edited, and signed off by the entire editorial staff. While one person penned it initially, many eyes evaluated the copy.
The guidelines for reviews (including what review scores mean) are found here. I hope that helps.
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- Mar 12, 2008 9:34 am PTI thought it was pretty inappropriate as well. The tone was "this is the wrong perspective on this complicated issue, and thus this game is flawed" not "some players may be offended by the perspective given in this game" which would've been fine. For further consideration: the San Andreas review doesn't dock the game points for making light of gang warfare in cities.
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- Mar 12, 2008 12:35 pm PT
Most of us here at GameSpot are affiliated with a gang* so we're not going to knock a game for showing what it's like to be a gangsta.
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*Not actually true. However, I do have a cool new plastic gun that shoots ping-pong balls so I'm not someone to be messed with.
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- Mar 12, 2008 7:58 pm PT
Justin Calvert, GameSpot
Thanks for your feedback jk80 and nemt. Army of Two is a game that very deliberately chooses to "go there" where its politically-charged subject matter is concerned, and we believe that our commenting on the ways in which it does so is valid in the context of a review. Yes, our review touches on the game's treatment of modern-day real-world events on more than one occasion, but the bulk of the story is still concerned with gameplay features and the reporting of facts.
It's clearly stated in our review guidelines that "our reviews, of course, do contain an element of subjectivity to them." On this occasion, the reviewer found aspects of the game to be offensive and cited examples of why he felt that way in the story. It's up to you to decide whether or not you feel the same way. The score we awarded Army of Two was in no way impacted by any kind of political agenda, and was agreed upon by our entire editorial team (several of whom had spent time playing the game) before the review was published.- Please wait. Quick reply will be available shortly.
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