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Infamous: Second Son Review Thread

Well, they're re-balancing the scales. The scale is no longer linear. It's an asymptotic function.

The short answer to this is IT DEPENDS.

It's getting majority 7.5/10, 8/10 and 9/10 scores. That means it's a great game because it's well above 5/10, 6/10, and even 7/10. Introducing your own arbitrary, limiting definition of "what the review scores REALLY mean" discredit those reviewers who really believe 8/10 is a measure of a great game.

Yes SOME reviewers grade everything like we're in school. But others really care about the 5/10 = Average system, and many consider 8/10 to be "Great," not just "Average" or "Okay."
 
Again Halo did nothing that other games in the genre didn't already do. It just came out at a time when gaming was really blowing up and becoming mainstream. the same can be said of COD. They just do those things at a time when people are starting to take notice.

lol wow that's really downplaying the impact of Halo.

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Toronto Sun 8/10
These quibbles aside, Infamous: Second Son is a game that truly showcases the PS4’s impressive technology, and succeeds in ushering one of Sony’s best exclusive franchises into the next generation. It’s by far the most impressive and enjoyable of the three Infamous games, and marks an evolution not just in visual presentation, but in the scope of things that can be done in an open-world superhero game.

And remember, while it’s good to be good, it’s sometimes better to be bad.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/2...ive-looks-amazing-but-a-little-short-on-ideas
 
I'm fine with an 81, I mean in college that's a B and last I checked B's are good. Besides I never expected it to top Infamous 2, that would almost be impossible considering that 2 was basically two sequels thrown into one magnificent game. Seriously plot wise Infamous 2 had the content for 3, I thought Bertrand was the final boss never did I ever see the beast plot line being resolved at the same time. That said I'm looking at this like a 4th installment plot wise and that measures up with what I'm hearing about the story. In other words, I'm still hyped.
 
can you really not see why your posts here (that clearly try to downplay inFamous SS as a good game) are confusing for some posters here.-.?

I'm not trying to downplay anything. Infamous looks like a solid, one playthrough, good experience, just not the one I was hoping for. I can, however, keep my £400 in my pocket (maybe use it towards a holiday in summer) and wait for the killer game that will make me spend and not regret it at that time. I don't want to buy a PS4 now and have it sit collecting dust after a week just like my original reason for not getting one at launch.

DR3 was built for 360 originally. I knew it was not going to deliver fully... but that tied with other IP's I like and also MS gifting me Killer Instinct for free and Titanfall dropping soon after launch made me pull the trigger. I knew that a PS4 would collect dust until ISS dropped.

There should be no confusion. I hope all PS4 owners have a great time with the game.
 
I heard that a lot of the reviews are spoiler-y, so I just stopped reading entirely. Most seem to be positive, and I haven't heard any deal breakers so far.

However, I have heard that one review apparently docked it points because its open world is not in the same league as GTAV...ugh.

I really hope that doesn't become a trend. Taking every open world game regardless of how different they are, comparing it to GTAV, and then taking off points if it's not on the same scale? Really?

Might as well dock Arkham Knight points right now. It'll probably have a great open world and much more interesting things to do than Arkham City/Origins. But hey, it's no GTAV!

That's something I don't get. I loved AC IV but it was indeed the same gameplay as last gen ACs.
 
They may be submitting their score into RT. Or RT may be pulling a Polygon and get someone to read the review and assign a score to the movie based on the review.

i dunno movie reviews i read new yorker and salon, thats it, they can be way off base, the new Von Trier for example is a 60 smth, but i love all his films, and know this will be no exception, game reviews i feel tend to accurately show via 1-10 pt scores how good a game is, generally speaking, and with some exceptions,

movies are more classically art than games and therefore more subjective, and less beholden to objective facts. like glitches, broken online, repetition etc
 
I'm guessing you don't venture into offtopic portion of gaf, where they have a RT % watch for certain movies. When a hotly anticipated movie gets a bad review that's put up on RT it is almost guaranteed to stir up a reaction.

Yea but rotten doesnt affect sales very much where as Metacritic for games does.
 
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I see you're bringing up Titanfall in the last paragraph, which is completely unrelated unless if you're trying to make this a console war thing. Ironically, similar stuff is being levelled at Second Son for its rote open world game design, weak side-quests, etc despite the still fun gameplay. There's no code to reviews, man. It's all subjective, so you're going to have to deal with that.

exactly my point. There's no code to reviews.
And actually bringing titanfall to the table does help my point. I'm not comparing both games. I'm comparing how both got reviewed.
One's problems are not an issue for reviewers on another game. Why?

You had an issue with a certain problem in one game. It caused you to deduct points. So why is it that the same issue is not important on another game?

I can't say if inFamous deserves the scores. I haven't played it yet. Hopefully, today at midnight I might have it in my hands.

Just go to the spoiler thread. People who had their hands on the game universally claimed it to be much better than the previous titles. The new traversal moves on each power, make the game very fun.

I have an issue with reviews. I think numerical scores are utter crap. Actually, it's not really thinking. Numerical scores ARE crap. The moment you can qualify something based on a number, anything else said about it is worthless.

Most people look at a number. It's why when you get these GOTY versions, you see several 10/10, must buy, perfect, my wife became pregnant from just looking at it, and people flock to it.

It's precisely the reason why reviewers opinions are shady. You mean to tell me that Microsoft's biggest bet this year, didn't have some dollars and euros helping it's inflated scores?

It's the reason why youtubers are actually better at giving you a better review of a game than the people reviewing for big websites. And even those are getting compromised.
They don't have to worry about if the next paycheck will come.

Infamous may actually be mediocre. Judging by the polarizing views of the people who actually have it and hyped it to hell on the spoiler thread, I doubt it. But it may be
 
What's with Edge and Eurogamer scores almost always being the same?

I'm not trying to suggest something, I trust them both more than most, but it's something I've noticed.
 
Eurogamer's score seems a bit harsh considering the only real complaint is that the structure of the game is pretty much the same as the sequels.
Some reviews were pretty harsh on the story and it seems like the karma system is still as simplistic as ever but overall it seems like a fantastic game all around and for an Infamous fan like myself this will be a treat
when I buy a PS4.
Glad to hear that even during the intense combat the frame-rate is solid, really impressive considering how the game looks.
 
Halo did bring in the whole 'regenerating life' angle to fps games (although technically it was regenerating shield in the first halo) and that for me was revolutionary as it made fps games more fun imo.
The first Halo also felt amazing to play in every way and turned a hardcore Playstation fan into an Xbox fan over night. Halo is still in my top 5 best ever list.
 
Wow it´s great they´ve added even more content and will do so for 6 more weeks, I hope it starts happening more and more in the industry, even though it could be that they didn´t make in time it for the release, they are not charging extra! and it´s day one!
 
I can understand that frustration, I just personally don't give a shit :P

I'm getting Second Son tomorrow because I want an inFamous game. I don't give a shit if it's not a "post-GTAV game", whatever the fuck that means, has "next-game gameplay", whatever the fuck that means, if it "justifies a PS4", or if its MC rating stacks up against Titanfall's as part of console warz dick waving. I just want a third inFamous game, and it seems like it's definitely along those lines.

I think it's prudent to just extract the information that's relevant to you in reviews. I'm not even talking specifically Second Son, I'm saying in general. Many journalists want to add this side of extra "baggage" to AAA reviews to spice up their article and build a narrative. Many reviewers come in with preconceived notions or wishes that may or may not even be in line with what a game is trying to do. It's easy to pick these out because they tend to flip out over the most bizarre things.

Oh definitely, I was just explaining some of the reactions people are having in this thread to the reviews. I honestly was predicting a 75 score for the game, and also predicted the "while the visuals are next-gen the gameplay is not" critique that reviewers were going to use to justify their lower score. Cant' wait till tomorrow to get the game.
 
The short answer to this is IT DEPENDS.

It's getting majority 7.5/10, 8/10 and 9/10 scores. That means it's a great game because it's well above 5/10, 6/10, and even 7/10. Introducing your own arbitrary, limiting definition of "what the review scores REALLY mean" discredit those reviewers who really believe 8/10 is a measure of a great game.

Yes SOME reviewers grade everything like we're in school. But others really care about the 5/10 = Average system, and many consider 8/10 to be "Great," not just "Average" or "Okay."

I agree (and think the scale is pretty broken), but in the end, every game is getting subject to the same reviewers more or less, which means their metacritic average is a level playing field. If we want to talk about a systemic bias against one type of game versus another, that's a different topic.
 
Seems on par with other Infamous games. Pretty with a hefty dose of combat spectacle amid irritating protagonists(if some reviews are to be believed...though I side on thinking Cole was terrible in both Infamous games), and a lot of dull missions.

Will wait for a price drop along with Metal Gear GZ. Dark Souls 2 is filling my gametime handily anyway.
 
I'm not trying to downplay anything. Infamous looks like a solid, one playthrough, good experience, just not the one I was hoping for. I can, however, keep my £400 in my pocket (maybe use it towards a holiday in summer) and wait for the killer game that will make me spend and not regret it at that time. I don't want to buy a PS4 now and have it sit collecting dust after a week just like my original reason for not getting one at launch.

DR3 was built for 360 originally. I knew it was not going to deliver fully... but that tied with other IP's I like and also MS gifting me Killer Instinct for free and Titanfall dropping soon after launch made me pull the trigger. I knew that a PS4 would collect dust until ISS dropped.

There should be no confusion. I hope all PS4 owners have a great time with the game.

thans for taking the time to exlplain.. Like I said, I get your point (but probably not agree).
 
i agree that an 8 is generally average, but then you have a mix of 9s (good) and high 8s. If I was thinking about whether or not to see a movie and it got generally good reviews, id be down to see it. this game has generally good reviews and ps4 needs some action so it sounds like a good buy to me.
 
I like to look at it like a point-scale for exams. Anything below 50 % is considered unsatisfactory or insufficient. The exact number then just conveys how bad exactly it is. By that logic, an average game would be in the 60-75% range. Flawed, but still enjoyable if you are willing to pay for it.

When I think of it like exams, the 8-10 scale makes sense. 8 is decent, 9 is good and 10 is great. 6 is garbage, and 7 is slightly less garbage.

I try not to see it that way.
 
Oh definitely, I was just explaining some of the reactions people are having in this thread to the reviews. I honestly was predicting a 75 score for the game, and also predicted the "while the visuals are next-gen the gameplay is not" critique that reviewers were going to use to justify their lower score. Cant' wait till tomorrow to get the game.

That's true, I guess that'll bother some people more than others.
 
this is exactly what i predicted. reviews in line with the previous games. the game has looked like a very refined infamous game for a while now (great thing, imo, as a fan of the series). i'm still very excited, as i loved infamous 2 when i beat it this past year.
 
As expected alot of positive reviews. Im tempted to try the game, but I get SOO BORED of most open world games because I never feel that they have deep combat or really noticeable 'skill' based gameplay, like at the most ill shit out expert difficulty but most people don't play these types of games for the reasons I care about...I just need ps4 games to play that aren't shootbangs.
 
i agree that an 8 is generally average, but then you have a mix of 9s (good) and high 8s. If I was thinking about whether or not to see a movie and it got generally good reviews, id be down to see it. this game has generally good reviews and ps4 needs some action so it sounds like a good buy to me.

An 8 is not an average score, a 6 is an average score with a 7 being an above average/borderline good score. Jesus christ people.
 
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