Do you try not to read a review before playing a game?

I'll only read reviews if I've never played the series or no nothing about the game, mainly to find out the mechanics of the game, as I don't always like 3rd person. And I don't like turned based.

I tend to just look at the score and move on. I don’t want to play a game that gets consistent 5s.

Depends on game. Some reviewers are jerks and put spoilers in their reviews so if the game has a story I really don’t want spoiled, I just scroll down to see the score. I’ll read it after I beat the game.

I won’t be reading ANY God Of War reviews. Just checking the scores. Will buy day one anyway. Will read reviews after I beat the game.

Same with RDR2 and TLOU2.

For games like Halo and Gears of war who always have bad stories, I don’t mind taking the risk of having it spoiled because I legit don’t care.

Yeah if I'm super hyped for a game I try to avoid all

• Gameplay videos
• Reviews
• Spoilers

I'm the opposite, I first get the consensus on games before I buy.

I've always liked games like Battlefield series,Halo series,Trials series,etc... So I know some game series I won't be disappointed with. If it's a new IP, I go with a pretty good judgment for games. I'm rarely disappointed with a game I chose to buy.

I always check aggregate scores. If a game flopped everywhere, it sucks.

I also read individual reviews for games I'm on the fence about buying as they provide more insight into how the game plays.

if there is one thing I try not to do with a new game is watch YT videos of game play.

thats what I always do

I avoid gamespot and ign corupt reviews and watch youtubers first impression videos or lets plays from you tubers I trust

If I'm iffy on a game, I just look up gameplay clips. I don't really trust most reviews, and would rather make the judgement for myself. To me, it's like looking at an IMDB rating for a movie and seeing regurgitated tripe like Jurassic World get a 7, when after watching it, I'd maybe give it a 4.

If it's a game that I want I'll usually buy it anyway but I'll sometimes read discussions to see if it offers what I want. With FPS games I don't really play online so I'll check to see if the single player campaign is good.

I mostly just look at overall score from metacritic. No spoilers that way. But there are games I'll buy before reviews come out regardless.

First impressions are like video reviews. I'm okay with that. I'm talking about the walkthroughs. Sometimes, I wonder how the hell do walkthroughs show up on Day 1.

I always read/watch a review but it’s not necessarily always for making a decision on purchasing a game or not, I just enjoy seeing what the reviews are like.

@jun_aka_pekto: oh I see, yeah I agree.

For example total biscuit does good first impression videos with his WTF series

I avoid reviews because they are always full of spoilers.

Instead, I glance at the meta scores the game is getting in Metacritic, to get some idea where it stands. If the metascore is above 5 it's prolly ok, if below, then stay away.

I usually just check out the pros/cons area of reviews to see what it says. Even then I only read that area so I can see what the reviewer might not have liked or did like about the game. It doesn't affect what I think about the game, due to everyone being different with what they enjoy in games. I just like learning about people and why they like/dislike things so I use it as an info gathering session so I can have a wider viewpoint on things and can relate easier in conversation.

Don't care much for reading reviews but I do like to watch them, but the final score doesn't influence my final decision that much.

Sometimes, but very rarely. The most important factor is not other people's opinions, but making an informed purchasing decision: I never buy any game I feel like I don't know enough about. Sometimes I feel like I know exactly what I'm getting myself into from the previews and past installments, at which point reviews don't matter. Most of the time, though. I read the reviews first.

I voted for the first option simply for how dumb it's phrased.

As if I value any other's opinion it means I don't think for myself. Right. I rely on others' opinions on games not because I can't think for myself, but because I literally cannot financially afford to buy every single game on the planet I'm potentially interested in in order to be able to do so. I have to buy a game first to hold an opinion, thus I must rely on others' opinions who have bought it when finances are tight, and of those whom I've found I mostly align with in the past I trust.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. But it's been more beneficial than not in most cases, and it has also saved me money.

Sometimes I will buy a game I otherwise wouldn’t have looked at if, if it scores really high! But overall I am lucky enough to be part of the PC master race which means that all of my games are bought on steam, so if I don’t like a game, I can simply refund it, no questions asked....which of course means that I can just buy whatever catches my eye when I feel it’s time for a new game!

Sometimes. Sometimes because of a media blackout. (e.g. Zelda and Mario Odyssey, because I did not need reviewers to tell me they were going to be excellent games.)

Sometimes because I like to experience the sensation of playing a game without knowing what everybody else thinks about it. Buying a game at a store with an interesting cover without having prior knowledge of it. And that can be a weird sensation. Because you feel less 'certain' what you 'should' think about the game. I had this with Surviving Mars. Because there are things I like about it but overall it felt a little disappointing. So I don't really know where people stand with that game and that makes me feel like I may be completely overlooking an important good or bad aspect of this game. I suppose that's what reviewers feel all the time.

(SM does fix one big flaw of Tropico imo: In Tropico I could build a small economy and it would last forever. There wouldn't be much that could happen to destroy it. But in my first game in SM something happened (midway through) that forced me to reorganize (and abandon) large pieces of my Martian society. And that is pretty cool.)

reviews are useless. I watch a guy stream it and then i decide if it's a game for me or not.

@outworld222: Agree. If everyone is panning it, it’s probably trash. If word of mouth is still going for the game after 6 months I’ll try it out.

Almost always read multiple reviews to get a good overview of a game.

Never gameplay videos by themselves. Strictly reviews and I read user reviews of trusted people with several user reviews etc. Money plus multiple hours on a game almost demands it. I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to gaming these days so I'm going to make sure that it is worth my time (Currently playing Persona 5)