@prirno: You are right; I should have known better. These benchmark results prove your point. Still, requiring an i5 6600 as a minimum seems a bit excessive.
@Baconelite: I'm pretty sure they've mixed up the recommend and required specs for the Intel Processor: the i7 4790Q was released in Q2 2014 and should probably be the minimum required spec.
@hinzkunzHow would you know it's near perfect DLC if it hasn't even been released to the public yet?! Maybe we should all play it first, before we start commenting on how fair the review is or isn't.
Regarding interviews, I understand the pittfalls and why they might not be suited for a show like The Lobby, but well done interviews like the one Kevin Van Ord had with Ken Levine a couple of years ago are great additions to the site imho.
@HideYoKids: Reviews represent the (professional) opinion of only the person that reviewed the game. These lists represent the opinions of the whole team and may thus differ quite a bit from a list just based on review scores.
Sure, there are technical aspects to a game. But in my opinion a game is more than that: it's a work of art. It's not only programmers working on it, but also people like writers, graphics artists and composers. They do not contribute to simply make the game 'work correctly', they add to it in a significant way that goes way beyond a technically correctly functioning product.
Compare it to architecture. Sure, a building must have walls, a floor and a roof, but there are definitely ugly and beautiful buildings: it is all in the eye of the beholder (insert reviewer here).
@sethfrost In that case I guess every book review could be as simple as: "It contains letters and has no blank pages. It's a good book." Or every music album review: "There is melodious music. It's a good album."
@foodrules Just take a look at http://www.gamespot.com/fifa-soccer-13/ . Getting an 8 in two consecutive years in a row doesn't exactly guarantee it will always get that score every year...
@loafofgame @JoMr3 Of course you are right. We're all human after all and so what everyone likes or doesn't like obviously differs. And a review is also a subjective look on the game, although I do tend to believe that the opinion of a experienced reviewer is an informed opinion and therefor of more value to myself. But of course that is just my opinion.
A game like Destiny does remind me though of what a lot of games were doing in the time when 3D cards really started to take off, with cards like the Voodoo, Matrox and what not - those brands have already disappeared a long time ago. In that time there were quite a lot of games who were basically trying to be the best looking game out there, use all that new technology optimal. But the reality was that most of those game had horrible gameplay and were quickly forgotten. The game that do stick to our collective memory however didn't necessarily have great graphics, but they did keep us entertained for hours and hours on end.
(The above comparison applies more to Destiny than to Lichdom: Battlemage by the way.)
In regard to your very last sentence: that's very trye. Let us not forget though that there are still plenty - I'm inclined to think the majority - of people that don't tend to look at different reviews, but rather see an advertisement on tv or look at the box art in the store and buy a game based on that.
@loafofgame There are indeed parallels, but I think those have more to do with the games (too much focus on a select few aspects of the game, forgetting it is eventually the whole package that should convince you to buy and play the game) than the reviews itself or the reviewer.
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