Gamespot Has Officially Blown Their Credibility As A Review Source.
Technically speaking though, it was nothing to bat an eye at. It didn't revolutionize controls, gameplay, graphics, or anything in these realms. This wasn't their goal as game designers, but these are still important aspects to consider when rating a game.
This leads to my major complaint: The 9.5 rating. Although Gone Home is a beautifully told story, it's a travesty that this game was rated above Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, Journey, Far Cry 3, Limbo, Skyrim, Portal, Okami, Dishonored, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, and the vast majority of brilliant games that have been released in the last 5-10 years. To put this in perspective, Gamespot considers Gone Home to be on an equal playing field as Dark Souls, Civ 5: Brave New World, Starcraft 2, Red Dead Redemption, Braid, Grand Theft Auto IV, Uncharted 2, Elder Scrolls IV, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Crysis, and Super Mario Galaxy.
This is wildly insulting and unacceptable.
Gone Home is approximately 2 hours long has little to no replay value. It's a compelling love story but it's a boring game. It doesn't turn heads or revolutionize the gaming industry. There's no challenge and it's not technically creative in the least bit. Again this isn't the game's purpose, but if they're going to judge all games on the same scale then it should undoubtedly be considered.
This rating is a blatant betrayal of trust. If Gamespot can give The Last of Us (a wonderfully written and boldly executed game) an 8.0 and Gone Home a 9.5, then they've blown their credibility as a fair and unbiased review source and spit in the faces of hard working game designers across the world.