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[njean777]

Polygon knows what to do to get clicks...don't give them any. so many outlets have given the game a score 8 or above but none talking about it. Metacritic has truly ruined the review system and the effectiveness of it.

All I care about are the user reviews. Can't wait to get some impressions on gaf

Yep Gaf and Giantbomb are the two most trustful sources to me.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

The scores seem to be aligned with how I felt about 1, 2 and 3 and that's totally ok with me.

 

[nib95]

He said he got forced on it by his boss, Chris Grant.

Source for this?

 

[Nightengale]

Source for this?

Polygon Livestream, ongoing right now.

Basically a few minutes into the Killzone gameplay stream, they're talking about how Plante got the better review game ( Resogun ), and he got the poor one. Then they said Chris Grant made the call.

 

[dan2026]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

 

[KillerTravis]

Didn't expect the scores to be similar to ZombiU. That game was amazing so maybe this one won't be so bad like reviews are saying.

 

[Dead]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

you want to make a case for Gies as the bastion of journalistic integrity?

 

[Brashnir]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

Neogaf. Every single time.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

An above average franchise gets an above average score?

 

[Shai-Tan]

I just want to know if it's better than 3. I enjoyed using the move to play that game but it otherwise wasn't interesting. There is no Move function in this game(?) so there's no hook for me. I enjoyed KZ2 more as a game (both the multi and the single player).

 

[oconnomiyaki]

I'm actually reasonably impressed that most reviewers seemed to be able to review this without launch goggles.

 

[yellowjacket25]

Anybody want to list the most divisive game reviewers of all time? I would nominate Jeff Gertsmann onto the list, and I see Gies would get some nominations. Really, don't give these guys (and I'm being nice) the power. They don't deserve it and you'd be doing yourself a disservice.

Gerstmann has always been an awful reviewer going back to his Gamespot days. Never understood the love for him.

 

[GillianSeed79]

Anybody want to list the most divisive game reviewers of all time? I would nominate Jeff Gertsmann onto the list, and I see Gies would get some nominations. Really, don't give these guys (and I'm being nice) the power. They don't deserve it and you'd be doing yourself a disservice.

What? The guy that got fired from Gamspot for giving an honest review? The guy that hasn't even posted a review yet of KZ Shadow Fall because they haven't had time to properly review the game? Gertsman is pretty trustworthy IMO. I don't care about Gies. Yeah, his Last of Us review was kind of suspect, but the guy has a right to an opinion even if you don't agree with it. His Sim City review is the reason I don't pay attention to him.

 

[VanWinkle]

DId anyone watch the Polygon stream when they started playing KZ:SF? There was no killing for the first five minutes or so, and they were constantly making stupid jokes and talking about how bored they were. "It's KILL ZONE, WHERE'S THE KILLING!?" I mean, my goodness, the intro was playing for about two minutes and Chris Plante was constantly like "YOU CAN'T SKIP IT?! THIS IS SO BORING!!!!!"

It was the most embarrassing thing I've seen in awhile. CONSTANT jokes about the game. And you know how people say you shouldn't judge to reviews written by different reviewers on the same site? Well, it must be a huge coincidence that all of the Polygon people that were talking about it acted just as apathetic towards it as Gies.

 

[dEvAnGeL]

Buying a game or not depending on a number an individual gives to it it's hilarious, is crazy how deep on some people heads this has gotten, if the game looks good than its good to me, the fuck I care why X, B, Y , Z says, for real....

 

[RedAssedApe]

Wasn't Mercenaries really good (recall Gaffers enjoying it and some saying it is the best game in the series) but Polygon scored it below the Metacritic average as well?

Also noticed that the two lowest ratings on metacritic complain about difficulty? Maybe that played a big factor in the reviewers enjoyment level.

 

[Brashnir]

What? The guy that got fired from Gamspot for giving an honest review? The guy that hasn't even posted a review yet of KZ Shadow Fall because they haven't had time to properly review the game? Gertsman is pretty trustworthy IMO. I don't care about Gies. Yeah, his Last of Us review was kind of suspect, but the guy has a right to an opinion even if you don't agree with it. His Sim City review is the reason I don't pay attention to him.

Clearly you weren't around when Gerstmann had the audacity to give Twilight Princess that terrible terrible score of 8.8.

Spoiler

a score which was about 5 points too high

 

[Smurf]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

When the reviewing site in question has received funding from Microsoft and has a long and questionable history of targeting certain playstation exclusives with the lowest score from any major outlet while providing vague reasoning that is inconsistent with their criteria on other reviews it becomes more than just a kneejerk reaction. There are very serious suspicions around the integrity of Polygon and people are understandably concerned at the prospect of companies with vested interests in review scores having a hand in their and the competitors metacritic average.

 

[drproton]

Honestly 7-8 is about how I feel about the franchise, but in the context of Ghosts with its performance problems and decidedly last-gen appearance, and Battlefield 4 having one of the worst single player campaigns in recent memory; both scoring higher makes me concerned about Killzone.

 

[David H Wong]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

Don't forget "obvious clickbait."

There is no possibility of honest disagreement. None.

 

[reKon]

Watching the GB quicklook, Killzone doesn't look like it's doing anything different from those shooters you listed above.

I haven't played this yet so I'm not certain, but I'll have a better idea in the next few weeks, BUT to me I would think it would provide a different experience because of the use of OWL and zip lines. The zip lines are suppose to offer a new way of traversal and and gun play that should in theory enhance the game play. I think the issue with Killzone Shadow Fall is that there weren't enough times in the campaign to utilize this and GG instead decided to implement levels that had poor platforming segments.

I think the joy out of the zip line mechanic will come from carefully designed maps in the MP.

Anyways, my points is that CoD is more of a consistent action shallow mowing down enemies shooter. Halo is more of a free open world shooter with a mix vehicle segments. Battlefield MP is an all out warfare with all vehicle types, good gun play, and incredible sense of action and chaos.


None of those games above focus have a zip line type mechanic or something like the OWL. That fact along with the difference in gun play (which Killzone is clearly different) will make the game feel different.

I'm assuming your watching them play through a corridor type segment of the game?

 

[CloakedPuppet]

You know, I was in another Polygon related thread yesterday and have to say that I'm sorry. My apologies to whomever I was blasting in response to their suggesting that Polygon be banned.

Rebel FM is pretty much the only podcast EVER that I stopped listening to because I just couldn’t stand one of the hosts. I finally put 2 and 2 together and realized that it was Arthur Gies. Before today, I just thought of him as that “insufferable toolbag” that continually shat on stuff left and right.

Seems pretty cut and dried that the guy is extremely biased and has next to no place reviewing games. As always, this is just my humble opinion. Feels strange to be on the side of the folks holding the torches but there you go.

 

[oconnomiyaki]

I'm actually reasonably impressed that most reviewers seemed to be able to review this without launch goggles.

 

[GSG Flash]

People are srsly cancelling preorders of the game over the review banter?

You're shocked to hear that the inventors of Ricco have put together a campaign with two-dimensional characters, bad voice acting and a flimsy story?

It's a Killzone game, people. Act like you've done this before. You buy a Killzone game if you like ridiculous visuals, great MP, and only then if the series' trademark gunplay is up your alley. Anyone expecting a SP masterpiece had their head in the clouds to begin with.

That PS Meeting gameplay set unrealistic expectations for me

I should have had my expectations in check, considering GG's past record, but I digress.

 

[- J - D -]

Hmm, it's not a good feeling to realize that one of my chief concerns that I've brought up often, that the AI took a dive in the transition from K2/3 to SF, has been confirmed by many of the reviews. Still, I'm glad I kept my expectations in checking that regard.

I'll need to play it myself, and at this point it's not like I'm going to return the game (I need something action-ey for launch), but I will say that the reception of this game significantly dampened my excitement for launch.

 

[Nymphae]

Pretty much.

Don't know why some people give so much attention to someone who's views and attitude don't match.

I don't like Geis myself, because I think he's putting up a lot of airs and trying to act like he's a smartass, but he's entitled to it. I'm just not going to entertain him.

There's so much to the Gies story that brings out the hate in people. It's everything about the fucking guy.

It started with him elbowing his way into Rebel FM, a show made to continue a podcast comprised of well known and well liked game journalists. No one had heard of him before, and all of a sudden he's there with all your 1up favs, talking shit and acting like an asshole. Great start.

Then there was the whole RebelFM donations thing, I don't really know the details fully there, a lot of people were pissed off about the way they spent their donations I think.

Then there is the fact that he rocketed up to reviews editor for a site supposedly comprised of "rockstar" game journos, hand picked best of the industry's best (lol), without having much of a body of work.

And what probably cemented the negative opinion of him, was that god awful polygon documentary where he's getting a fucking tattoo. Nobody likes pretension, and the guy is soaking in it.

Then there are all the vague subtweets, the Sim City review fiasco, and let's not forget, the fucking bet he made with a gaffer which he failed to follow through on, which led to him leaving and never coming back. It was 10. fucking. dollars. And he was fucking wrong. Pay up and apologize would have been the thing to do, but this dude walks away with his ball, and then derides Gaf on twitter for the rest of eternity.

I can understand where the hate comes from, but maybe we love to pile it on a little too much here sometimes.

 

[gogosox8]

Say what you will about Microsoft funding Polygon, Gies' questionable review record, the shit he says on twitter, special sauce, refusing to back down when he is proven wrong, etc.

The simple fact that he leaked NDA'd information to a Microsoft employee is indefensible and nothing you can say will make him seem like anything more than a piece of shit.

This right here. Can't trust Gies on any level so I wouldn't take anything he says seriously and especially not a review.

 

[EightBitNate]

Debating switching to Battlefield 4, but I already opened the case from GS. Do you think they'll still let me return it?

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

I can understand Killzone getting a low review but then Fifa is getting 9s for being a simple HD upgrade. If Polygon gives Ryse 8+ I'm just gonna laugh my ass off.

 

[Teletraan1]

A lot of gamers don't either. It's not exactly one of Sony's killer first-party franchises. I've personally played both KZ1 and KZ2, but KZ2 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I skipped KZ3. There's no question that GG are amazing at making graphically impressive Killzone games, I've just never been a fan of their campaigns. The prospect of a more open, Crysis-like Killzone had me intrigued, but if it just devolves back into a corridor shooter what's the point?

That said, I know there are people who do like KZ multiplayer a lot, so I won't knock them. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it. I don't think you are going to get much out of the multiplayer reviews given that reviewers have had jack all time to play the game for a long time online.

I dont like the series either to be honest. I bought KZ2 off of GAF hype and Graphics hype but I didn't really like it and ended up trading it in shortly after I completed the SP and fooled around with the MP for a bit. I also would not assign myself to review the game knowing that since I have a negative bias towards the series but I am not a reviewer and if I was I would attempt to keep an open mind. Like I said before at the reveal of this game there was a strong "not another killzone" vibe both here and in the coverage of the Feb PS4 reveal from most of the sites I watched. Giantbomb had a discussion asking "why?" to another Killzone instead of waiting to see what changes they made or attempts to change the formula that a lot of people dont like. They just strait up rejected the game on a IP level before seeing much of anything which is pretty poor form for a reviewer. The lower end of the review spectrum seems to be filled with the same people who were making these comments at the reveal and it is not the least bit shocking.

 

[turnbuckle]

Amazon helpdesk: "What is the reason for returning sir?"

You: "Others didnt like the game."

Amazon helpdesk: "O.K....."

It's a good reason. It's not like I can get my money back if I open it.

Others not liking something is why we don't buy a lot of things. It's why we don't watch a lot of movies. It's why we know certain things we should just avoid wasting our time on. Or, it's why I'm buying the new Zelda 3DS game. Why I bought Modern Warfare but am skipping out on Ghosts. Why I watched Wall-E but skipped Planes.

It's why reviews exist. Seeing a lot of negative impressions is an indicator of quality. This doesn't mean I'd have the same experience as the majority of reviewers, but when it's a game in a genre I occasionally enjoy in a series I've never cared for I think it's fair to err on the side of not buying.

So several negative impressions of Killzone have convinced me I'll use my time and money on something else.

This doesn't mean all my buying decisions are strictly decided by reviews, but most of my purchases are at least informed by them or competing products. Unfortunately, when it comes to games and most media if you buy it you're stuck with it.

I mean, I know you agree with me. Amazon help desk might be too ignorant to understand but I doubt that - in part because most items on Amazon that tend to sell well (surprise!) tend to have favorable customer reviews.

 

[jonscrambler]

people that haven't played the game complaining about review scores?

 

[Pachinko]

You know, I'm genuinely happy to see any website utilize it's entire scale. If you have the ability to give games 1-10 , it's awesome that you give average games 4's, 5's or 6's.

The problem starts when you look at the overall output of a website in terms of how it scores games based on platform and notice that the whole scale is only used on games released for platforms whose parent companies didn't hand you a cheque for 750,000$ to get your shiny new website up and running.

I realize there are many people working at a site like polygon but the overall integrity of what they do for a living is severely compromised when I see "real" scores handed out only to sony exclusive titles like The Last of us or now Killzone. Don't get me started on the joke of a "review" they put up for Dragons Crown.

If there were no bias present here , then why did Halo 4 get a 10/10 ? it's certainly not the best shooter ever, or even the best 360 shooter. Hell it's far from even being the best halo game. Even earlier this year , Polygon gave it's completely bullshit review of "SimCity" despite mentioning they weren't able to play it on the real servers at the time of writing. Sure, they corrected the score later but none of the score aggregates out there care about corrections. That initial 9/10 is what sticks, not the 4/10 it became two weeks after the fact.

Many will point out that IGN has some crazy review practices sometimes and well, at least IGN is fairly consistent. They rarely hate a game. They make it clear that using the whole scale almost NEVER happens. Instead games are essentially scored 7-10/10 with VERY rare exceptions. They get rightly scrutinized for it when it happens too - 2 big examples in the last 10 years include the PS2 classic God Hand and this past years Double Dragon Neon.

It's a real shame too because , I feel the people at polygon could be a potentially cynical and realistic bunch of reviewers but it is VERY hard for me as a consumer to take ANYTHING they say seriously when they only hate sony exclusive games.

This will only be further cemented as fact when they inevitably hand a 7 or even an 8 out of 10 to something like Ryse.


I think the worst part here really, is reading a bunch of reviews , Killzone does sound like a pretty looking disappointment. It's a shame I suppose for those excited about the game.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

It's a good reason. It's not like I can get my money back if I open it.

Others not liking something is why we don't buy a lot of things. It's why we don't watch a lot of movies. It's why we know certain things we should just avoid wasting our time on. Or, it's why I'm buying the new Zelda 3DS game. Why I bought Modern Warfare but am skipping out on Ghosts. Why I watched Wall-E but skipped Planes.

It's why reviews exist. Seeing a lot of negative impressions is an indicator of quality. This doesn't mean I'd have the same experience as the majority of reviewers, but when it's a game in a genre I occasionally enjoy in a series I've never cared for I think it's fair to err on the side of not buying.

So several negative impressions of Killzone have convinced me I'll use my time and money on something else.

This doesn't mean all my buying decisions are strictly decided by reviews, but most of my purchases are at least informed by them or competing products. Unfortunately, when it comes to games and most media if you buy it you're stuck with it.

I mean, I know you agree with me. Amazon help desk might be too ignorant to understand but I doubt that - in part because most items on Amazon that tend to sell well (surprise!) tend to have favorable customer reviews.

What else are you gonna spend it on? There's no game so far getting stellar reviews especially not any shooter.

 

[Doran902]

Well considering I played Quake 4 and Perfect Dark Zero when I got the 360 at launch this still looks fantastic to me.

Although I think Battlefield might end up being my mp game of choice. Also might need to get Black Flag for PS4 instead of knack now..............

 

[- J - D -]

Debating switching to Battlefield 4, but I already opened the case from GS. Do you think they'll still let me return it?

Most likely no. Won't dissuade you from trying if you want, but usually once the wrappers off, most stores won't let you return a game for a full refund.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

DId anyone watch the Polygon stream when they started playing KZ:SF? There was no killing for the first five minutes or so, and they were constantly making stupid jokes and talking about how bored they were. "It's KILL ZONE, WHERE'S THE KILLING!?" I mean, my goodness, the intro was playing for about two minutes and Chris Plante was constantly like "YOU CAN'T SKIP IT?! THIS IS SO BORING!!!!!"

It was the most embarrassing thing I've seen in awhile. CONSTANT jokes about the game. And you know how people say you shouldn't judge to reviews written by different reviewers on the same site? Well, it must be a huge coincidence that all of the Polygon people that were talking about it acted just as apathetic towards it as Gies.

I have no dog in this fight, but that's pretty sickening.

 

[Junior Mint]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

Maybe you should read up on Gies before calling this fanboy stuff.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Solid scores all around. Im happy

 

[Mrcapcom]

I haven't played any KillZone games so I think ill like it. Won't get Knack but now I'm thinking Killzone and BF4

 

[Byakuya769]

Really disappointed at how this game isn't as open as it promised.

Really frustrated at how this game doesn't hold my hand and tell me exactly where to go and what to do.

Whatever.

 

[RaikuHebi]

Yep Gaf and Giantbomb are the two most trustful sources to me.

Same here. 3G = Gaming, GAF and Giantbomb.

 

[Tom Penny]

Looks like they pulled a Crysis sans Crysis 1. Great looking game. Average game mechanics.

 

[Vizzeh]

First Cod is better on X1, even with FPS drops + 720p

Killzone is rated completely rubbish and out of contrast to every other review site, by a large fraction.

and WTF is this:

 

[Thundercleese]

I love how if an exclusive game gets a bad score the reviewer is automatically a fanboy troll for the other system.

Do you guys seriously believe your own bullshit?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kobunheat/status/400676925368041472[/tweet]

 

[Pops Maellard]

Wasn't Mercenaries really good (recall Gaffers enjoying it and some saying it is the best game in the series) but Polygon scored it below the Metacritic average as well?

Also noticed that the two lowest ratings on metacritic complain about difficulty? Maybe that played a big factor in the reviewers enjoyment level.

Mercenaries is totally enjoyable for what it is; a vaguely shiny FPS on a handheld. I certainly have had some fun with it. That said, it's a pretty bad game by any other standard.

 

[CloakedPuppet]

First Cod is better on X1, even with FPS drops + 720p

Killzone is rated completely rubbish and out of contrast to every other review site, by a large fraction.

and WTF is this:

Tim Dog rises from his dung pile!

 

[Mass Effect]

I'm shocked by Polygon's review. Truly.

 

[B.O.O.M]

Yep Gaf and Giantbomb are the two most trustful sources to me.

Yep.

DId anyone watch the Polygon stream when they started playing KZ:SF? There was no killing for the first five minutes or so, and they were constantly making stupid jokes and talking about how bored they were. "It's KILL ZONE, WHERE'S THE KILLING!?" I mean, my goodness, the intro was playing for about two minutes and Chris Plante was constantly like "YOU CAN'T SKIP IT?! THIS IS SO BORING!!!!!"

It was the most embarrassing thing I've seen in awhile. CONSTANT jokes about the game. And you know how people say you shouldn't judge to reviews written by different reviewers on the same site? Well, it must be a huge coincidence that all of the Polygon people that were talking about it acted just as apathetic towards it as Gies.

yikes..that sounds horribly annoying. Guess I will keep avoiding that site

 

[EightBitNate]

You know, I'm genuinely happy to see any website utilize it's entire scale. If you have the ability to give games 1-10 , it's awesome that you give average games 4's, 5's or 6's.

The problem starts when you look at the overall output of a website in terms of how it scores games based on platform and notice that the whole scale is only used on games released for platforms whose parent companies didn't hand you a cheque for 750,000$ to get your shiny new website up and running.

I realize there are many people working at a site like polygon but the overall integrity of what they do for a living is severely compromised when I see "real" scores handed out only to sony exclusive titles like The Last of us or now Killzone. Don't get me started on the joke of a "review" they put up for Dragons Crown.

If there were no bias present here , then why did Halo 4 get a 10/10 ? it's certainly not the best shooter ever, or even the best 360 shooter. Hell it's far from even being the best halo game. Even earlier this year , Polygon gave it's completely bullshit review of "SimCity" despite mentioning they weren't able to play it on the real servers at the time of writing. Sure, they corrected the score later but none of the score aggregates out there care about corrections. That initial 9/10 is what sticks, not the 4/10 it became two weeks after the fact.

Many will point out that IGN has some crazy review practices sometimes and well, at least IGN is fairly consistent. They rarely hate a game. They make it clear that using the whole scale almost NEVER happens. Instead games are essentially scored 7-10/10 with VERY rare exceptions. They get rightly scrutinized for it when it happens too - 2 big examples in the last 10 years include the PS2 classic God Hand and this past years Double Dragon Neon.

It's a real shame too because , I feel the people at polygon could be a potentially cynical and realistic bunch of reviewers but it is VERY hard for me as a consumer to take ANYTHING they say seriously when they only hate sony exclusive games.

This will only be further cemented as fact when they inevitably hand a 7 or even an 8 out of 10 to something like Ryse.


I think the worst part here really, is reading a bunch of reviews , Killzone does sound like a pretty looking disappointment. It's a shame I suppose for those excited about the game.

I agree. Today, 6-7 is considered average, 8 is good, and 9 is great. The scale is really off, but if they change it now, new games will look substantially worse than past games. I think IGN and Gamespot are slowly self-correcting themselves, as we see more broader use of the scale. I think Eurogamer probably makes the best use of its scale.

However, it has always felt like Polygon thinks they're the "underdog" or something, so they purposely do shit to stand and get views. The site lost it's credibility a long time ago, and there's very little they could do to fix their shit.