• 14Feb 12

  On recent trends in Gamespot reviews...

  Lately I've been noticing a trend in Gamespot reviews where games receive "good" or "fair" scores but withmostly glowing reviews that are more-or-less indistinguishable from higher score reviews.

  I'm seeing one or two things happening here. One possibility is that GS reviewers are consciously trying to adjust their 1 to 10 scoring system so that it makes better use of all the numbers available and not just the highs and the lows. At some point Justin Calvert probably had a talk with the GS review team and said, "Listen guys, numbers 1 through 7 exist for a reason and we actually have words that go with these numbers to describe the games receiving them. Did you guys know that a 5 is actually for "mediocre" games, a 6 means "fair," and that a 7 means it was a good game?" The problem for many gamers is that they still operate on a 7 to 10 scale where a 7 means 70% or a C- and is thought to be barely passing. Just read the comments section for some reviews from the past 12 months like Final Fantasy XIII-2, Kingdoms of Amalur, Infamous 2, and Deus Ex: HR to get an idea of how confused and betrayed GS readers feel. In particular, look for comments along the lines of "the reviewer makes it sound a lot better than the score." This, to me, is an indication that GS reviewers aren't using the same scoring rubric as the 7 to 10 scale most gamers unconsciously use.

  What complicates things further is that sometimes GS reviewers seem inconsistent in how they rate games more generously or harshly based on personal preferences. Chris Waters tends to rate high profile FPS games and is usually glowing in his descriptions of online multiplayer and may brush off shortcomings of the campaign as irrelevant (Borderlands and Battlefield 3) while later raving about a campaign when it is good (Black Ops and Gears of War 3). Kevin Van Ord likes an immersive world and characters (Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Skyrim), exciting combat (Ninja Gaiden, Demon's Souls, Kingdom's of Amalur) and sometimes just silliness (No More Heroes and Deadly Premonition). He has a soft spot for drama and story and can often be heard saying stuff like, "If you just give it a chance, this game will touch your heart and have you coming back for more." Tom McShea tends to bash games that he feels are trying to rest on their laurels (first-person shooters in general, Infamous 2, Dragon Age II, Bioshock 2) and tends to gush about games that are likely to fly under the massive popularity radar (Child of Eden, any Shinji Mikami game, Outland).

  To be honest, I find Tom McShea the most inconsistent of the GS reviewers. I suspect (but have not confirmed) that if you were to graph McShea's review scores in comparison to others at Gamespot, he would come out as having the most extremes of highs and lows. Dead Rising 2 was a personal game of the year for him but he admitted it was pretty much the same game as Dead Rising. He later shat all over Dead Rising 2: Off the Record for being the same as regular Dead Rising 2. He ended up giving it a 7 (not a bad score) but he should've added a side note that said, "If you never played DR2 then it's an 8.5; same as the original." He loves the God of War trilogy but doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that each additional game in the series simply adds new monsters and does little in the way of innovative additions. Limbo, a game I found to be essentially an iPad game with zero replay value was awarded a 9, from what I understand, purely for visuals and atmosphere. However, if you just try to keep in mind that McShea is given to fits of hyperbole ("Oh my gawd you guys, _____ is the best/funniest/awesomest thing ever!") and that this sometimes colors his reviews then it makes his scores much more palatable. I do appreciate the fact that he takes a stand, even if he hasn't always thought through how he's going to defend it.

  What might also be happening with the reviews at Gamespot is that as the current generation of gaming consoles have entered their twilight years, there is little being done to surprise GS reviewers who, I believe, are beginning to weight more heavily for innovation. Several people have pointed out that the current industry for retail video games is prone to established money making franchises and averse to new, unproven IPs. 2011 was being called the Year of the Sequel because a handful of titles seemed to be making all the money: Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Modern Warefare 3, Killzone 3, Saint's Row 3, and Battlefield 3. I think the fact that so many best-selling titles from 2011 are third installments is an indication that the biggest game developers long ago crunched the numbers and found that it pays more to stick with established game titles which can generate instant cash rather than try to develop something completely new whose popularity will need to grow slowly by word of mouth. Reviewers everywhere have surely noticed this trend and I doubt many see it as a positive one. Consequently, when it comes time to rate a sequel there's perhaps sort of backlash in effect where the reviewers are being less forgiving of games that tread familiar ground.

  • Posted Feb 14, 2012 2:35 pm GMT
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• 1Feb 12

  "Ninja Gaiden II's camera can go **** itself."

  ...is what keeps going through my mind as I attempt to play through this old ass game on Master Ninja difficulty. I haven't had a game set off so many "WTF were they thinking!?" alarms since, well, ever. The closest game I can think of that made me grind my teeth only half as much as this one was Too Human or Mirror's Edge. Modern Warfare 2's "Whiskey Hotel" level on Veteran set me off pretty well too but still, nothing close to the amount of variations on the F-bomb that my recent activity on Ninja Gaiden II has elicited. A vindictive list of gripes will be forthcoming for this game that nobody cares about... That's how irked it has made me.

  • Posted Feb 1, 2012 12:33 pm GMT
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• 21May 11

  Trying to lower my expectations for Dark Souls

  I'm probably one of the more rabid Demon's Souls fans out there. I had a very strong reaction the first time I saw game footage of Demon's Souls which caused me to re-watch the game review several times, constantly daydream about it, and use it awkwardly as a topic changer in conversations with friends ("Yeah, that sure is a cute thing your baby did...So there's this new game called Demon's Souls and it has these bloodstains and..."). I eventually bought a PS3 just to play Demon's Souls and 24 characters, 400+ hours, and a year later, it's still the only game I own for PS3 and it still prevents me from playing newer games in my collection like Dead Rising 2, Crysis 2, and Stacking.

  Given the amount of time I've invested in Demon's Souls I am naturally savoring every piece of information I can find on what is essentially its sequel in all aspects except story, Dark Souls. However, I'm a bit concerned about the information that has so far come out about Dark Souls. Based on everything I've seen and read so far about the game, it looks like the creators are changing as little as possible and even trying to recreate many of the situations from the original. Here's a list:

  Boss Battles

  1. Instead of the giant fat boss Adjudicator using a sword there will be a giant fat female boss using a hammer

  2. Instead of the Tower Knight boss set in a castle area there is now an even bigger armored knight boss set in a castle area

  3. Instead of a flying dragon that attempts to flame you as you cross a bridge there is a sitting dragon that waits to flame you as you cross a bridge.

  4. Instead of fighting Maneater on a narrow bridge, you fight a similarly muscled Minotaur- looking boss that uses a giant hammer while on a narrow bridge

  Game Mechanics

  5. Instead of the Nexus, a safe place where players can manage their equipment and level up, there is now the Bonfires, safe places where players can manage their equipment and level up

  6. World Tendency returns in the form of an as-yet unspecified game mechanic that changes the treasures, layout, and difficulty of enemies in areas based on the player's performance

  7. Character Tendency likely returns in the form of something called Humanity which can be given to other needy players at bonfires. Another possibility is that as Humanity decreases, so does your maximum HP, similar to Soul Form in the original.

  Combat

  8. Surprise arrow traps and rolling trap boulders only this time they're bigger and more of them.

  9. Nearly identical combat mechanics; weapon swings, rolling dodge, backstep, and blocking are all limited by a stamina bar

  10. Messages to other players will remain as well as summoning two players to help

  I think a lot of these comparisons are premature and, to be honest, once you start looking for similarities you'll start to think you're seeing them everywhere. Still, I think there are enough of these to indicate a pattern of trying to keep things the same while just giving things a different name. If it does turn out to essentially be Demon's Souls with different areas and monsters then I'm worried the review scores will suffer. Afterall, people who loved Demon's Souls for its gameplay innovations are expecting similar surprising innovations from Dark Souls. From what I've observed so far, though, it looks like the creators are not concerned with reinventing the game, just adding more variety in terms of enemies, equipment, and areas. It seems unfair to expect a similar jump in innovation to that of Demon's Souls since other games that recycle gameplay and just change areas and story events are still showered with praise e.g. God of War, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto. I can't say that I know at what point a game series should be penalized for becoming stale but I think Demon's Souls had enough freshness to allow Dark Souls to be forgiven if it tries resting on the laurels of its predecessor.

  • Posted May 21, 2011 5:22 pm GMT
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