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EDGE | November 2011 | Scores & Content [Skyrim Cover]

S

shuyin_

Banned
garath said:
Did Portal 1 cost $60? Indie is well and good until you slap a big studio pricetag on your product.
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Portal 2 was 50$, right? It still has old tech and not nearly as much polish as some 2011 console games.

By your (flawed) logic, reviewers should substract points from Portal 2's score based on these considerations.
As i said, you really have to take into account factors like budget when reviewing a game. If you make direct comaprisons, big games will always get higher scores just because they have more polish or better tech.

Let me express my amazement again, regarding your (not just garath's, but everyone's) opinions on reviews.
 
thelurkinghorror

thelurkinghorror

Member
shuyin_ said:
Portal 2 was 50$, right? It still has old tech and not nearly as much polish as some 2011 console games.

By your (flawed) logic, reviewers should substract points from Portal 2's score based on these considerations.
As i said, you really have to take into account factors like budget when reviewing a game. If you make direct comaprisons, big games will always get higher scores just because they have more polish or better tech.

Let me express my amazement again, regarding your (not just garath's, but everyone's) opinions on reviews.
Click to expand...

No Shuyin, you should substract points if the game is unpolished and made by Valve, but you can close an eye if Portal 2 was made by six developers.
 
K

Kusagari

Member
Edge fails for having Bodycount score higher than Dead Island. No magazine on the planet should let that bunk come out.
 
S

StevePharma

Member
thelurkinghorror said:
No Shuyin, you should substract points if the game is unpolished and made by Valve, but you can close an eye if Portal 2 was made by six developers.
Click to expand...

What if the game was made in-house at Valve by 6 developers?
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
MidnightCowboy said:
I haven't even played Dead Island and I know that 3 isn't a legitimate score. Reviews should be partly subjective, partly objective. Again I haven't played the game, so I don't know for sure, but objectively speaking, I'm sure it merits at least more than a 3.
Click to expand...

Here are their points:

- It's a game based around melee combat
- The melee combat is no good.
- Auto-aim on consoles (which is where they reviewed the game) doesn't work properly and janks out

- The inventory system sucks
- Item management and selling more than one item at once sucks
- Mission design sucks

- Playing the game not in co-op sucks because NPCs suck
- It's not so bad because matchmaking is good when you do automatic matchmaking
- If you play with friends, zombies are leveled to the highest player and you can get situations where players can't use equipment because they're not leveled high enough.

- Ugly
- Asset recycling
- Bad driving
- Bad world and design logic
- Tons of bugs

I haven't played the game either, and I get that a lot of people think it's a greater game than the sum of its parts (and most of my favourite games ever are kind of janky but rise above it, so I can totally appreciate that), but their score pretty clearly matches the tone of their review. It might not be a 3/10 game, but the reviewer clearly thought it was.
 
thelurkinghorror

thelurkinghorror

Member
Yurt said:
Not British enough ?
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2ustu90.jpg
 
P

PjotrStroganov

Member
lawblob said:
Is Dead Island that much of a technical mess? I thought it was at least fun?
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No real problems here. The game is flawed on many points but it is still fun as hell.

If you play with friends, zombies are leveled to the highest player and you can get situations where players can't use equipment because they're not leveled high enough.
Click to expand...

Simply wrong. Zombies are leveled to the person who hosts the game.
 
G

garath

Member
shuyin_ said:
Portal 2 was 50$, right? It still has old tech and not nearly as much polish as some 2011 console games.

By your (flawed) logic, reviewers should substract points from Portal 2's score based on these considerations.
As i said, you really have to take into account factors like budget when reviewing a game. If you make direct comaprisons, big games will always get higher scores just because they have more polish or better tech.

Let me express my amazement again, regarding your (not just garath's, but everyone's) opinions on reviews.
Click to expand...

What? Portal 2 didn't have polish? News to me.

I'm not talking about old tech here. If we read the edge review their major points for the low score were:

- Bugs, bugs, bugs
- overused assets
- poor animations
- thin story
- poor shopping mechanics
- respawning enemies in exactly the same location
- poor co-op scaling

The score is subjective but the points the reviewer brings up are the same things I've been seeing here on GAF and on the official forums. The game may be fun (and I have no doubt it is if you aren't losing your save or getting stuck in some other way) but it's getting reviewed as the sum of all parts as a game priced at a AAA pricetag.

You and some others keep bringing up budget as an excuse for a higher score. I don't get it. How can a studio's budget be taken into consideration for the final quality of the product in relation to your hard earned dollars. If it was a budget title, price it at a budget price. I have no doubt it would have been scored much higher priced at $20.
 
N

nib95

Banned
Yurt said:
Not British enough ?
Click to expand...

Or exclusive to the 360?

No but seriously. The Dead Island score does seem overly harsh, then again I haven't played it yet so I'll refrain from further comment. Based on impressions from friends, vids and the like, it certainly didn't sound or look like a 3/10 game, which I'd class as horribly broken and completely devoid of fun. I mean hell, some of the better games this gen have been buggy as hell, I wonder if they were awarded the same sort of harshness, MW2, Fallout etc.
 
R

Raziel

Member
glad dead island was hit hard, no offense to anyone that likes it. im just so sick of these mission-based open world games with their cookie cutter/throw-away mission design.
 
N

Nert

Member
So... for the people that are upset or flustered by certain review scores, do you take issue with the points made in the review itself, or do you just not like the number? Like, what aspects of the Dead Island review rub you the wrong way?
 
R

RibbedHero

Member
I'm sorry to say this, but Dead Island is not a good game. It can be fun for a a couple of hours, but its not good. Transformers 3 was not a good movie, but it was still fun. That's how I feel about Dead Island.
 
C

canadian crowe

Member
Nert said:
So... for the people that are upset or flustered by certain review scores, do you take issue with the points made in the review itself, or do you just not like the number? Like, what aspects of the Dead Island review rub you the wrong way?
Click to expand...

I'm not upset about the review score, but I certainly think that they are wrong on some points:


- The melee combat is no good.- It suited me just fine. Probably the best melee system on a console game, and you get a ton of precision when you switch to analogue.
- Auto-aim on consoles- Never had a problem with auto aim. In fact, it would often help when I needed to target the head or arms for a decapitation.

- The inventory system sucks- It's a little cluttered, but I wouldn't say it sucks. Borderlands was way worse.
- Item management and selling more than one item at once sucks- Never sold an item, so I can't speak to this, but I was annoyed with the lack of slots (even when upgraded).
- Mission design sucks- It's typical WRPG quest structure. It's more interesting than Borderlands, which they gave a 6 to...

- Ugly- This is just wrong. It's not the most high tech game, but the graphics were great.
- Asset recycling- Sure, but it's a big game. Fallout 3 recycled the hell out of it's assets.
- Bad driving- You barely do any driving for this to be a major concern.
- Bad world and design logic- I found the world interesting, and the locations were varied enough to keep me motivated to continue.
- Tons of bugs- True.
 
D

Dennis

Banned
I am sorry but a 3 for Dead Island is just grotesque.

I am fine with harsh scoring if applied evenhandedly but considering how low a score 3 is - even for Edge - that is just absurd for Dead Island.
 
O

Omikaru

Member
Played Dead Island and I thought it was sub-par. Good thing I only traded TF2 hats for it, because it's not very good. I'd probably give it 4/10 rather than 3, but eh.

Can't comment on any of the other scores since I haven't played them.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
I am completely fine with a 3 for Dead Island since it's probably going to be the 2nd worst game I've played this year. I think I gave it a 4 or 5 in the OT, but I won't argue with a 3. A truly terrible game in almost every way.

canadian crowe said:
It's typical WRPG quest structure. It's more interesting than Borderlands, which they gave a 6 to
Click to expand...

No it's not. At best it has the same quests that Borderlands has, it's nothing but fetch, escort and kill X number of enemies quests. That's not typical wrpg quest structure, at least not from the good games. It's more along the lines of MMO structure which is designed to play with more than 1 person. If they had made it a solo game it probably would have been designed a bit better.
 
N

nib95

Banned
On a side note, the worst asset recycling I've seen in a game yet this year is definitely Deus Ex HR. Again, I wonder if similar criticisms were directed.
 
B

Blair

Banned
The Red Orchestra 2 review was good. The game can get buggy but its such a unique and refreshing war experience that it most definitely one to watch.
 
O

OldJadedGamer

Banned
Salih said:
EDGE still being my No.1 confirmed.
Click to expand...

EDGE is the mag that reviews the closest to my personal opinion. The vast majority of the time with few exceptions, I would have rated a game the same as they did if I worked there.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
haha what the fuck, seems like they don't play most of these games for more than an hour if they aren't interested.

Dead island goes from a 'meh' game to goty as soon as you get out of the beach area. (3-4 hours in).

:lol @ 4 for hard reset, probably got their asses handed to them too much.

From crowe's post :


- The melee combat is no good.- The fuck, it's the only decent melee system I've ever seen in any first person game.
- Auto-aim on consoles-: smh, fucking peasants.

- The inventory system sucks- true that, but it's a minor inconvenience

- Mission design sucks- aka they didn't play past the first 3-4 hours, this proves it.
- Ugly- the hell kind of crack are they on? again the first area looks mediocre (not ugly) but the hotel for example is brilliant.
- Asset recycling- again what the hell, there is huge texture variety for example, and ME, DA:O, fallout3 and why am I even making a list most modern games do it way more than this game.
- Bad driving- Driving was plenty functional, especially for this type of game
- Bad world and design logic-
I found the world interesting, and the locations were varied enough to keep me motivated to continue.
Click to expand...
This, they obviously again never made it past the beach.
- Tons of bugs- savegames get deleted, that is the only bug I came across in the pc version in my playthrough.

These dumbwits just looked at some youtube videos, read some online complaints and played it for an hour or two so they could get back to gears or cawadooty.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Their knocks on Dead Island are extremely nitpicky and can be leveled at damned near every other game out there, but aren't. It's an interesting trend but one that shouldn't be unexpected.

Funny though. Dead Island gets a 3 and CliffyB bitches about Gears 3 getting a couple of 8s.
 
H

Holden

Member
agreed on dead island, huuuuuge dissapointement for me.

But i doubt gears 3 is worth a 9 ( like all the halo's -_-;)
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
opticalmace said:
EDGE and NPD threads are always a delight.

Almost makes me want to try Dead Island.
Click to expand...
Go look at the dead island thread, it is big and very very positive, the only thing that was pissing people off in that game was savegames getting deleted by a patch and by a bug.
 
M

MeBecomingI

Member
Infamous Chris said:
But Gears is almost infinitely better than Resistance, both content wise and polish wise..
Click to expand...

Well, except in the fun department.
Don't hurt me!

Definitely don't agree with most of the reviews, as usual. I am having a really hard time taking EDGE seriously anymore. They remind me of a bully. They just exude arrogance by making themselves hard-asses and trying to appear bigger and tougher than the rest when they really don't need too. They tend to pick on the little things way to often and ignore the greater whole (see; Dead Island). Don't get me wrong... I can agree with some reviews they do, but more often than not, I read them and end up just shaking my head. They try too hard... and the scoring system is just ridiculous, which just so happens to feed my point of them trying to be appear bigger and tougher than the rest. 7 is effectively the typical 8 on a general 10 point rating scale... but why? So, going by that reduction, 3 is absolute fucking garbage trash...? So the very same Dead Island I am enjoy for the greater whole is the very same game they tell the people who reads the review or looks at the score is absolute trash. Maybe it is way for them to show in number term the quality difference in titles, sure, but then it becomes even more inaccurate because the difference between games isn't actually that big.

Either way, that Dead Island review is absolute crap. I've seen EDGE be wrong on numerous occasions, but this is perhaps the worst they have done. For shame, EDGE... for shame I tell you! Ah well, I don't really care for reviews anyway. I played the game and I greatly enjoy it!

But an opinion is an opinion. To each his / her own.
 
L

Ledsen

Member
SneakyStephan said:
haha what the fuck, seems like they don't play most of these games for more than an hour if they aren't interested.

Dead island goes from a 'meh' game to goty as soon as you get out of the beach area. (3-4 hours in).

:lol @ 4 for hard reset, probably got their asses handed to them too much.

From crowe's post :


- The melee combat is no good.- The fuck, it's the only decent melee system I've ever seen in any first person game.
- Auto-aim on consoles-: smh, fucking peasants.

- The inventory system sucks- true that, but it's a minor inconvenience

- Mission design sucks- aka they didn't play past the first 3-4 hours, this proves it.
- Ugly- the hell kind of crack are they on? again the first area looks mediocre (not ugly) but the hotel for example is brilliant.
- Asset recycling- again what the hell, there is huge texture variety for example, and ME, DA:O, fallout3 and why am I even making a list most modern games do it way more than this game.
- Bad driving- Driving was plenty functional, especially for this type of game
- Bad world and design logic-
This, they obviously again never made it past the beach.
- Tons of bugs- savegames get deleted, that is the only bug I came across in the pc version in my playthrough.

These dumbwits just looked at some youtube videos, read some online complaints and played it for an hour or two so they could get back to gears or cawadooty.
Click to expand...

You're a moron if you actually believe this. They clearly played through the game, they just don't agree with you. I'd probably give the game an 8/10 but that doesn't mean EDGE are idiots who don't play through games.
 
G

george_us

Member
VOOK said:
If its a bad game, it's a bad game.
Click to expand...
It's a great game but if the bugs are as bad as I've been hearing then I can't blame them depending on which version the reviewed. I'm playing the 360 version so I haven't run into any bugs yet.

As far as other scores go, I'd flip the Resistance 3 and Gears of War 3 scores from what I've played of both games. Gears 3 is good and all but so far it feels a bit "been there, done that" and that's impacting my enjoyment of the game. Resistance 3 however, is the best shooter I've played this year. Insomniac knocked it out of the park. Space Marine has good mechanics but the absolutely awful level design and enemy variety destroyed any good will I had towards the game.

I need to start subscribing to their magazine. I've always enjoyed it.
 
D

domlolz

Banned
Chinner said:
what the my favouite game got a bad score what the fuck im so angry right now how dare they not give them a good score seeing as i've invested so much time a pr lackee im so mad oh jesus christ what the game i like didnt get a good score oh man so angry i need to psot on the internet about this fuck that i need to twitter this everyone twitter boycott edge with me on twitter right now we'll bring edge down for not liking my favourite game
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same
 
D

Dennis

Banned
To all of the people hating on Dead Island: thanks for ruining gaming.

Its no fucking wonder we get so many anemic fps games when delicate flowers get upset that a game is a little janky.
 
Z

zoukka

Member
DennisK4 said:
To all of the people hating on Dead Island: thanks for ruining gaming.

Its no fucking wonder we get so many anemic fps games when delicate flowers get upset that a game is a little janky.
Click to expand...

The anemic FPS/3rdPS games don't score all that better...
 
S

StevePharma

Member
DennisK4 said:
To all of the people hating on Dead Island: thanks for ruining gaming.

Its no fucking wonder we get so many anemic fps games when delicate flowers get upset that a game is a little janky.
Click to expand...



Seems to me the hate is mostly on the scoring, judging from the GAF-thread the general consensus seems to be that the game is enjoyable for what it is.
 
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