b0rsuk
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Hey

Just wondering aloud. Do you know any place to have reliable and honest game reviews ? Not just a website- anything. You know how sites like (of top of my head) IGN, Gamespy etc talk in superlatives about all modern games... And therefore are worthless as a reliable information source.

Example: Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty this, call of duty that... the online component of the game has no cheat protection whatsover; No patch was ever (they say) released to fix game's flaws; there are no modding tools and modding is discouraged. No review mentions that, of course ! It's no wonder 2years old Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory is played more than brand new COD2.
Or any of EA games. EA is notorious for selling patches as expansion packs.

Another example: Dominions2 gets score of 6.... and public score of 8.
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So, where do you find reliable game reviews ? Newsgroups are polluted with spam and have other downsides...

One method (of evaluating a game) I developed is to do find game's message board and look around. If I see many people complaining you can jump while prone or teleport (as a result, no one uses APC and other troop transport vehicles), the game's not worth my time for sure.

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http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

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[Last edited by b0rsuk at 12-26-2005 08:04 PM]

Sergenth
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Consolidation News Sites with links to SEVERAL reviews

- Blues News

- Shack News

Review Sites I like

- 1up.com (a super alternative to IGN which is bloated and slow to load)

- Gaming-Age Forums (no, I'm not direct linking )

Banjooie
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Penny Arcade is usually a good guide, but I tend to trust word of mouth more than anything.

Oneiromancer
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I don't trust IGN to be impartial, either. Of the big game review sites, I find Gamespot to be much more impartial, but you'll see a big difference between their scores and the average reader's score because a high score at Gamespot actually means something now...they will give very good games an 8 and to them that's very high but to some people that's practically failing.

I don't really listen to Penny Arcade's reviews because they have such a different gameplay style from me. I'm not into competitive FPS games, I don't play WoW for the PvP, etc. I enjoy the comics and the commentary but I can't think of a single game that I've bought because of them.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Nillo
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I usually use Gamespot, and I find that the majority of the reviews are accurate there. If I'm unsure about something there's always a list of user reviews to read before I make up my mind. I also like that they generally don't rate games very high. I think that there should (almost) always be a higher rating to give, so you can give those truly outstanding games a higher score.

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“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Mattcrampy
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I've recently jumped ship from Gamespot to 1up - 1up doesn't use a scoring system that requires reviewers to be 'objective' in a review, a totally subjective medium, but their special features kick Gamespot's ass.

Then again, Gamespot's reviews are generally of much better quality than 1up's, covering almost everything and rarely missing the point of a game design choice. Compare 1up's review of Killer 7 to Gamespot's. It's a game that's very artistic and demands to not be treated like its first priority is to be fun to play. Gamespot gets that, and spends a lot of time covering the style and whether it works, while 1up concentrates on the actual game part, shortchanging the game.

So: Gamespot for your reviews, then.

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Oneiromancer
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I really appreciate reviews that take time to compare the game in question to other games, that the reviewer assumes that the person reading it actually has some knowledge of other games and aren't just interested in the hype. I also appreciate reviewers that are honest in saying "I really liked this game, but if you don't like A, B, or C, then you probably won't like it." The ability to realize that not everyone likes the same features is good.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

NekoIncardine
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I personally like WorthPlaying ( http://www.worthplaying.com/ ), since they're mostly independent. Of course, it also helps that I might be getting a job with them and know two of the existing writers. But their reviews tend to be quite thorough, explaining a large number of the good and bad points of the game.

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gamer_extreme_101
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I really dislike the idea of game reviews and tend to only use them as a last resort. No matter what site you use, they are still just opinions of the person who played them, and everyone has different opinions. Ideally, I'd like to try a game before I buy it, but for %98 of the time it's impossible to do. Then, I tend to visit as many sites and reviews as possible and compare them. Most of the time, a lot of them will agree that some features sucked and some features were wickedly cool.

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--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.

b0rsuk
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Ok, I didn't literally mean "reviews", but rather a way of learning if a game is worth your money. Taking into account things like multiplayer(+multiplayer balance), support (patches), mod tools, anti-cheat mechanisms, lasting power (important for single player games !)....
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So far, the best way still seems to be googling for several hours, examining several forums etc. Is it really the only way ?

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http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

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[Last edited by b0rsuk at 01-04-2006 11:12 AM]

Krishh
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Actually, what do you expect?

You can't judge most things about a game just from review scores, and every review is bound to focus mostly on what the reviewer thought were the most important things about the game, so, save for visiting score compare sites and reading all the reviews and visiting forums (which is pretty much the same, but the reviewers are ordinary posters and their reviews are dsjointed across multiple posts) your only bet is to try a demo. Because it seems that you are looking for a single site which covers all the points about a game that just you find important.

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[Last edited by Krishh at 01-04-2006 04:59 PM]

xeipon
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My favorite review site is The Underdogs. It's what led me to JtRH in the first place, for being the best puzzle game of all time. If a game is good, it will still be making waves in a few months.



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forrestfire
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Usually, I look at a few screenshots and then go to gamefaqs.com and read one of the reviews that says 10/10 and then one that says 3/10. If a game doesn't have at least one review that is 10/10, I probably won't buy the game. By reading a 10/10 review, you get to see what is good about the game and by reading the 3/10 review, you get to see what is bad about the game. It is good to get a view of both perspectives.

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My tongue isn't made of rubber.

mrimer
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Slashdot Games featured an article on Saturday regarding game reviews. The user comments below the blurb provide various worthwhile links and insights on game reviews, previews, etc.

____________________________
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Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Thy Dungeonman
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Oh, come on. What games do you really need besides DROD, some of those nice free flash games? Most games today are "run down halls and shoot things!" or "RTS game that is inferior to Starcraft". Originallity doesn't sell.

Though probably not reliable, Game Informer can be very amusing.
I usually ask people in real life about games, or convince me to let me play theirs for a little, if I'm interested.

Tim
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Sorry if I brought up this thread again, but I just realised that the only reliable site I use for recommendation is this site.
Probably because some of these people share the same interests as I do.

Stupid, isn't it?

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The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

Ezlo
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I don't think so.

mrimer
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Metacritic delivers the whole smorgasbord of reviews written for each game. You can get the good, bad, and ugly in one place, with easy links to read all the individual reviews at will.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 01-26-2006 06:02 AM]

gruntin
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idlethumbs are good. They don't use numerical ratings, and are very subjective, but they let you know what playing a game is like. And they like some good stuff. Pity the site doesn't seem to be getting much attention lately.

b0rsuk
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http://firingsquad.com

Their focus are FPS games, and hardware to some degree. Anyway, they seem to be hardcore (multiplayer) gamers themselves, and their reviews are pretty detailed, and full of specific information.

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http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

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[Last edited by b0rsuk at 02-03-2006 09:25 AM]

Alfie
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All good stuff above. I love DROD!
Can anyone recommend games along similar lines? Some slashing with strategy or something?
Game review sites and/or online retailers are either a waste of time or too time consuming. I just want to play something good!

Andy

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Remember: it's only a game.

Snacko
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I usually use Metacritic to get a good overall idea of what people think, but the idea of a reliable review is impossible by definition: it's an opinion.

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NiroZ
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Alfie wrote:
All good stuff above. I love DROD!
Can anyone recommend games along similar lines? Some slashing with strategy or something?
Andy

Ok, what do you like about drod? If you want recommendations based upon what other DRODer's play, you might want to try fish fillets and iji. Iji is free, and fish fillets has free versions, so it's not like it costs much to check them out.

Other than that, zelda seems pretty popular, as does roguelike, a dungeon crawling rpg with simple graphics. Aquaria has some hype as well.

Alfie
Level: Roachling
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Thanks NiroZ.

____________________________
Remember: it's only a game.

Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

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Wow. I made that post over there... four years ago. *blinks*

I don't read a lot of game reviews anymore, since I tend to hear about the good ones from friends and others online. Also, most of the games I've played lately have been freeware, so reviews were not necessary for them.

____________________________
“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Bobpie
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Snacko wrote:
I usually use Metacritic to get a good overall idea of what people think, but the idea of a reliable review is impossible by definition: it's an opinion.

A major problem with metacritic is that it takes some review site's score, and weighs it more heavily then others. Also the User reviews can be plauged with Console wars. (Just pick a exclusive)
Edit: I would suggest looking for a site that shares opinions with you, and sticking there.

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[Last edited by Bobpie at 08-02-2009 04:19 PM]

Snacko
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That's not a problem, it's a simple rule of prestige.

____________________________
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b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

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Bobpie wrote:
A major problem with metacritic is that it takes some review site's score, and weighs it more heavily then others.

That's a feature and main reason I visit metacritic. Gamespot reviews are worth much less than those from other sites, they're known for their corruption. It's a sad fact that most sites, especially gamespot, operate on 7-9 scale, even though they nominally have 1-10. In practice, scores of 6 are damning and rarely "awarded", and score of 10 never happens.

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eb0ny
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Personally I visit GameTrailers for reviews and this is due to their review style. For starters, they use *only* in-game footage: no talking heads, no concept art or cinematics (except for story portion of the review), just pure gameplay - this translates the feeling of the game to the listener quite well.

Also, they refer to themselves quite rarely (and even then use 'we', as opposed to, say, IGN, where one guy goes on for three minutes about what *he* thinks about a game), use the entire scale from 1 to 10 (yes, Leisure Slut Larry got a 2.3 and Halo 3 got only 9.8) and lenght of their reviews is about 5-7 minutes on average.

Not to mention reviewers' voices are rather pleasant to listen to

As far as the topic goes, there is no such thing as objective (hence, reliable) rating, unless we are referring to the judgement of a god-like entity. But I am probably repeating others above me, so I'll stay quiet now.

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[Last edited by eb0ny at 08-14-2009 12:59 PM]