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Infamous: Second Son Review Thread

Wow, so its garbage? Jk, but some in this thread would have me think otherwise.


Very hyped, glad I preordered on dat 10/60 deal, some of the mission descriptions seem eh, but whatever.
 
Please tell me you are not serious.

Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.
 
Exactly, dude is a joke and has no credibility in my book.
OT: tomorrow cannot come soon enough.

Mr. Sessler is obviously not a gamer, and I don't say this to be mean or because he's older.. I'm probably around his age, and I'm very much a gamer. I've watched quite a lot of the Rev3 Let's Play videos and it'd clear, even with simplistic games (Towerfall for example), he has no clue how to make pixels move with a controller in hand. I think the closest thing to playing a game he reviews is to have a colleague play it for him and then tell him his thoughts on it.

At least he was honest about this with his Demon Souls II review, but I believe it's like this with just about any game - save for Candy Crush Saga, and Bejeweled.
 
Uh... you're straying a bit here. The original point was about averages and pass marks. Now, without knowing how the doctor learned on the job, I'd probably consider a doctor who got 50% passes to be an average doctor, not Dr Nick. And I'd be happy to see them depending on what it was for. But obviously I'd rather see an excellent doctor, if not by scores then by reputation. It's the same for video games. Making 50% the average doesn't suddenly mean I want to play only average video games. It just means the whole scale is utilised and that it's easier to find out what the consensus is about what is a truly great game.

Besides, what makes a great game is subjective.

And I have a first class honours degree in English Literature, so yeah. But seeing as essay writing is about presenting a convincing argument backed up with evidence as to why you came to that conclusion, I'm not really sure limiting a pass to 30% of the scale really benefits anyone. But then I'm used to a system where 65% or so is a B.

We are getting off the mark here with the analogies. The original point I was making was that there is nothing unnatural or wrong with the distribution of game scores that are congregated towards the top. I used test scores, albeit US test scores, to show that such a scale is already in use and widely accepted. Nobody bats an eye (in the US) when we universally consider a 50% score to be bad, yet there is this controversy when a 50% game score is considered bad. That is the hypocrisy that I was pointing out.

It also makes sense that game scores would cluster near the top since there is a selection bias involved. Publishers and devs generally don't make games that they consider bad. Those games never get reviewed. We are only seeing the scores for games that have already been filtered for quality. At the risk of going down another analogy rabbit hole, it would be like if you tested the IQs of students at prestigious universities and were shocked to discover that they were disproportionately above average.

There is plenty of variation in the current system to denote quality. In fact a lot of people complain that the 100 point scale itself has too much fidelity. We have from 80-100 to place good games. As can be seen by the flame wars over relative scores, that is more than enough space to relatively compare games. Nobody is saying "Both these games got a 91%. If more of the scale was used then one game might have gotten 90% instead and then I'd know what to buy."
 
Infamous 1: 85
Infamous 2: 83
Infamous 3: 81

Damn...talk about decline in scores..
Its crazy how opinions go apart, Infamous 1+2 were my favorite PS3 games and I would give each of them a score of around 95
The difference is negligible. Maybe critics have too high expectations. Not every game can be revolutionary. Not every game can be 90+. That doesn't mean it's not a good game. Some of my favorite games of all time are below 80 on Metacritic.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.

But why would you even want it for free if it's "subpar" as you claimed in one of your last posts?

Can't believe anyone considers 81 to be subpar. We're all entitled to our opinions, but holy smokes.

In your mind, there's no reason it couldn't have been "polished" to be as good as some of the very best games ever?
 
The internet makes me very sad sometimes. I wish some people had some nuance or perspective instead of going "WTF an 80?!? Why would I ever spend money on such a piece of shit." I always have to wonder how people who post metacritic user reviews seem to think that the only numbers are 0 and 10 with nothing in between
 
Too many people here rely on review scores. I've had more fun with 70 meta games than AAA 95 meta games over the past few years. At least rent it and see for yourself.

Seriously. At this point, I know where my tastes lie. It's so easy to find footage and information for any game on the Internet and find out if the game looks like something you'd want to play.

The only time I really check reviews is when I see some Euro RPG on Steam that I've never heard of but looks intriguing. Those usually turn out to be stinkers.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.

You don't polish gameplay, you design gameplay. It's not an easy fix

As luck would have it, the newest entry to the infamous series is in fact an entry in the infamous series. Shocking news at 11
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.
Good for you. No need to further explain yourself to us.
 
I'm glad that you are enjoying but I can't afford to waste $60 on subpar games.

I've been complaining for years that people treat metacritic as the sole and determinative measuring stick for the quality of a game (and a 100% accurate one at that). This post is pure proof of that.

It's not healthy for the industry when reviewers have so much power over the industry and the ability to make or break a game (solely because of how much stock people put in meteoritic.)
 
Mr. Sessler is obviously not a gamer, and I don't say this to be mean or because he's older.. I'm probably around his age, and I'm very much a gamer. I've watched quite a lot of the Rev3 Let's Play videos and it'd clear, even with simplistic games (Towerfall for example), he has no clue how to make pixels move with a controller in hand. I think the closest thing to playing a game he reviews is to have a colleague play it for him and then tell him his thoughts on it.

At least he was honest about this with his Demon Souls II review, but I believe it's like this with just about any game - save for Candy Crush Saga, and Bejeweled.
I very rarely agree with Sessler's opinions but this is one of the most bizarre and absurd comments I've read in quite some time.
 
Agreed, I guess that's what I was getting at. I'd be fine with getting rid of numbers and scores entirely. Just tell me, how good is it?

How's that different from scores? How good a game is according to a reviewer depends on someone's taste. GTA V does nothing for me, I don't want to play it even for free. How does the fact that everyone praised it help me?

What you can do as a consumer is to read objective descriptions of a game, watch footage on youtube, try the demo and factor in developer track record. I played GTA 4 and watched/heard enough of GTA 5 to know that they haven't changed the things I disliked about 4.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.

I feel sorry for you.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

So if some games get reviewed unfairly, doesn't that point out how review scores can be wrong and then defeat your whole argument? Game quality is not the same thing as a high metacritic score. You admitted such yourself.

Maybe you could read the review text and look for aspects of games you like, but that seems like a lot of work I guess.

Mr. Sessler is obviously not a gamer, and I don't say this to be mean or because he's older.. I'm probably around his age, and I'm very much a gamer. I've watched quite a lot of the Rev3 Let's Play videos and it'd clear, even with simplistic games (Towerfall for example), he has no clue how to make pixels move with a controller in hand. I think the closest thing to playing a game he reviews is to have a colleague play it for him and then tell him his thoughts on it.

At least he was honest about this with his Demon Souls II review, but I believe it's like this with just about any game - save for Candy Crush Saga, and Bejeweled.

I don't understand why people find it so necessary to discredit fringe opinions they disagree with. His review was well articulated and easy to sympathize with, and I saw no evidence of a non-gamer perspective. He seemed very capable of explaining, in pure gaming terms, what he did and did not like.
 
I rarely pop into review threads, but some of you really weird me out. It's almost as if you're garnering some sort of entertainment from guessing scores and watching them come in. Is this like a game to some of? Sort of like those crazy NPD threads?
 
inFAMOUS runs higher than 15fps and actually loads textures so, yeah I'll take inFAMOUS.

This was my GTA experience on PS3 for a full 40 hours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHGb1ab_6UM

BS Rockstar. Complete BS. Never again will I buy a Rockstar game day one after being burnt like this.

But I digress....

My GTA V definitely runs WAY better than that. I'm guessing this is video of the DLC version?
Rockstar designed GTA V around the system of streaming from the disc while caching to the hdd. It was never meant to have the hdd pull double duty which is why you get pop-up and fades.

This is not a shot against inFAMOUS Second Son. I bought it and think it looks incredible.
 
Mr. Sessler is obviously not a gamer, and I don't say this to be mean or because he's older.. I'm probably around his age, and I'm very much a gamer. I've watched quite a lot of the Rev3 Let's Play videos and it'd clear, even with simplistic games (Towerfall for example), he has no clue how to make pixels move with a controller in hand. I think the closest thing to playing a game he reviews is to have a colleague play it for him and then tell him his thoughts on it.

At least he was honest about this with his Demon Souls II review, but I believe it's like this with just about any game - save for Candy Crush Saga, and Bejeweled.

Never thought I would see the day where someone would claim Sess is not a gamer. Is this a joke? That guy lives and breathes video games.

It's ok if he doesn't like a game as much as some of the other reviewers.I think that his reviews are always well thought out and I take them as his opinion. He reviews the games based on his enjoyment of it. I think that is the best and most legit way to review a game.
 
You know a lot of these statements like been there done that, game is same as previous entries, no real innovation, game has no depth, just another shooter etc etc is just BS. Again, why do these standards not apply to non-PS exclusives? Also folks who say, hey its just reviews or metacritic, who cares, well a lot of gamers go by these reviews as most are not on GAF or some forum. So eventually they matter and can hit the sales of a game. I wish it was not the case but it is.

Anyway, F the reviews, I hope the game sells shit ton so Sucker Punch keeps on creating new games. They are a great studio.
 
does this apply to the people who brought up infamous in titanfall threads? just wondering...


anyways,

I will be picking this up by returning this unopened copy of BF4 for ps4 I got as a gift. Gaf made me fearful of opening it.....so I figure I return it for a game that actually "works" right?

Am I making the right decision?

I still play BF4 and it's (mostly) fixed. The issues are audio from certain giant maps taking a minute to load. There's also an issue for me where I can't ever see anyone on. I have to load the Battlelog and find a friend then Triangle join them.

Recently though, there's been so much lag I haven't even desired to play.
 
I rarely pop into review threads, but some of you really weird me out. It's almost as if you're garnering some sort of entertainment from guessing scores and watching them come in. Is this like a game to some of? Sort of like those crazy NPD threads?

Pretty much like the crazy NPD threads.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.

In my mind there is no reason this game couldn't have been polished and good enough to get the same scores as games like Uncharted 2, Fallout 3, Super Mario 3D World, etc.

This is just crazy. So you let reviewers and internet scores judge if you buy a game or not. That's really pathetic. You should be going by what you see not by someone wanna internet clicks.

GAF impressions have been praising the game but you rather take the word of people who don't even know how to play games.
 
I've been complaining for years that people treat metacritic as the sole and determinative measuring stick for the quality of a game (and a 100% accurate one at that). This post is pure proof of that.

It's not healthy for the industry when reviewers have so much power over the industry and the ability to make or break a game (solely because of how much stock people put in meteoritic.)

I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"
 
Very strong scores really. Only a couple of the 7's. Most everything looks to be top tier 90's / 4 out of 5 or in the high 80's.

Strong for an Infamous title for sure. Both 1 and 2 were 90's for me so seeing these high scores from reviewers just reaffirms how awesome the game is going to be for me. CAN'T FREAKIN WAIT!
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.
Fascinating the way you effortlessly determine that review scores were unfair in one case but totally on the mark in another case.
 
Well I kind of am because even games that are truly great that got reviewed unfairly like Rayman Origins at least end up at an 86 meteoritic score. The infamous games were also iffy in the first place and the fact that this is scoring below the ps3 games tells me that maybe I should skip it and hopefully get it on PS plus in a year.
I don't know, there's people like Sterling, who didn't like I1 an I2 and say that this one is the best yet, so I wouldn't look to a score to a direct comparison to the first two. I didn't like the first two either, so I'm also iffy on this one, but a lot people seem to think that it's better than the first two. It looks a hell of a lot better that's for sure (I always thought first two looked average for their time, but this one is hands down best looking open world game)
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"

This game is way better than Knack and Killzone, but you do what you want with your money, no one can tell you otherwise.
 
Aparently the day one patch makes the NPC population more dense.

This thread looks like it was hit with that day one patch.

I wish all reviewers would use the 1-10 scale properly, like Edge and Eurogamer do. It would of course lead to lower Metacritic averages, but I would prefer it if that website was fired into the Sun.
 
Infamous 1: 85
Infamous 2: 83
Infamous 3: 81

Damn...talk about decline in scores..
Its crazy how opinions go apart, Infamous 1+2 were my favorite PS3 games and I would give each of them a score of around 95

This

Also if these numbers mean that infamous 3 is as much better than infamous 2 as infamous 2 was better than infamous 1 than i am prepared to have a very good day tomorrow.

Also ive only read a couple reviews so far but i cant believe that reviews are still complaining that the game makes you go all good or all evil. That is the cost of having the two sides actually be different unlike say mass effect. Infamous 1 and 2 are probably the only games i have ever played two times in a row without a brake and that is a huge accomplishment in my eyes.
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"
You are trying to cement a joke character status. This game is reviewing much better than both titles you are attempting a comparison.
 
I've been complaining for years that people treat metacritic as the sole and determinative measuring stick for the quality of a game (and a 100% accurate one at that). This post is pure proof of that.

It's not healthy for the industry when reviewers have so much power over the industry and the ability to make or break a game (solely because of how much stock people put in meteoritic.)

I'm no longer at a point in my life where I want to throw $60 away by just going with my gut or giving in to hype and winding up disappointed. While I don't rely solely on MC for buying guidance, I do use it as one of the available tools when considering whether that game I was thinking about buying is worth it.

Rental availability around here is sparse, and gameplay videos don't tell me anything about how the play controls feel-- which is important to me when deciding whether to buy or not. Reviews are, for me, a necessary tool to make better-informed buying decisions.
 
I really wish that MC would axe using a average of the scores and altering the scales of different sites.

All sites use different scales and to make a 3/5 to a 60/100 is really bad in my view.
And averages can be fucked up by outlier values. (Not in this case though)
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"

welp
 
I'm no longer at a point in my life where I want to throw $60 away by just going with my gut or giving in to hype and winding up disappointed. While I don't rely solely on MC for buying guidance, I do use it as one of the available tools when considering whether that game I was thinking about buying is worth it.

Rental availability around here is sparse, and gameplay videos don't tell me anything about how the play controls feel-- which is important to me when deciding whether to buy or not. Reviews are, for me, a necessary tool to make better-informed buying decisions.

That's not what the post was arguing against. The poster you quoted was talking about using Metacritic ALONE. You do not do that, so your defense is unnecessary.
 
I can't be bothered catching up with the thread, but has there been much else besides confirmation bias happening?

Regardless... lot of great reviews for the game all told. Looking forward to getting it tomorrow.

Welp, looks like i'm not buying the PS4 any time soon.

Well, I for one am just shocked by this.
 
Scores are a bit better than I thought they would be as I didn't quite like I2. That being said I'll still day 1 it. Graphics look outstanding and gameplay seems good. I just wish they would polish up the parkour a bit. It looked so unnatural in I2. At least the powers allow you to bypass the parkour(?)
 
I really wish that MC would axe using a average of the scores and altering the scales of different sites.

All sites use different scales and to make a 3/5 to a 60/100 is really bad in my view.
And averages can be fucked up by outlier values. (Not in this case though)

That is the whole reason that metacritic has any influence. That average is their existence. I don't like it particularly but it's what makes them "important". Same for movies.

People don't want to have to read reviews or better yet figure out which reviewer best jives with their taste. They want to look at an aggregate review score and determine how good a game is before purchase.

As always the obsidian/Zenmiax debacle shows the industry clearly cares about the metacritic metric which is sad really
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"

I hate this review bullshit but both IGN and GT gave it good scores so...
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"

Why would anyone defend a games score without actually playing it? I understand saying a differentiating opinion about graphics or something like that, but I'd never say a game deservers higher or lower scores without playing the game..
 
I should clarify that I don't buy games based on metecritic. I go with review sites I have trusted for along time (as in for the past 15 years) like IGN and lately Gametrailers. I feel they are very fair with their review scores. There are lots of games I have bought that have gotten lower meteoritic scores such as Donkey Kong Country TF and Alice Madness Returns. I don't always go by reviews but usually where there is smoke there is fire. I know plenty of gaffers who defended KZ Shadow fall and Knack after they got low scores but after playing through those games they were like "yea you know what this game really isn't that good"

IGN= 8.7

Gametrailers= 8.8


Those are bad scores?
 
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