Support NeoGAF

[Grimmrobe]

And some commentary via https://culture.vg which just published a 3/5 review of the game.

Guess who got paid to write his review... And by whom...

But I knew the game would be mediocre since the very first trailer. When the trailers themselves are snorefests with plots no one in their right minds would care to follow, and the entire cast from the protagonist on down is ugly, what do you expect to happen? (Even the main illustration is ugly. The illustration with which the game is advertised is DESPICABLE, and even I can draw better than that. Even the goddamn FONT of the title is ugly.) The horse simulator and botched survival aspects were mere surprising bonuses. And of course everyone expected the combat to be bad, this being a Rockstar game. So what's left?

Rockstar died many years ago (probably around the time they changed their name from DMA Design to "Rockstar"). The industry will just have to suffer a couple of crappy blockbusters being hyped to hell and back every decade or so, due to high sales to people with bad taste and the PR frenzy that the income from such sales allow Rockstar to whip up. Thank god at least for the occasional anti-PC YouTube videos we get out of this. It's certainly worth it to me someone else's spending of 60 dollars to make them.

 

[-MD-]

Most 90+ meta scores is just ass kissing by the media.

 

[off duty ninja]

Most 90+ meta scores is just ass kissing by the media.

And user reviews are even less reliable.

 

[WaterAstro]

And user reviews are even less reliable.

Pretty much. I bet user reviews are like "omg they overworked their employees? 0/10 didn't even play the game."

 

[MiguelItUp]

And user reviews are even less reliable.

Exactly. See Steam reviews as a lovely example. Those are just one outlet, but that quality spreads over all of them. User reviews tend to be as bad, if not worse, than Yelp reviews.

"Oh, this game is cheaper than when I bought it at launch 0/10."

"No FOV slider, negative review."

In the end, reviews are opinions and should always be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Pagusas]

I’m enjoying the game. Sad some users aren’t.

 

[-MD-]

And user reviews are even less reliable.

Goes without saying. Majority of user reviews on meta are 0 for "I haven't played this game" or 10 for "I bought this game"

 

[Grimmrobe]

I read some killer reviews on Metacritic. Way better than anything you'd read on Polygon et al. You just have to do 5 minutes of searching.

 

[manfestival]

I was curious as to what the people were complaining about and then I stumbled across this gem "Stable 21 fps for that true cinematic experience. " L O L

 

[Zenaku]

That's why they're called the PRess.

 

[ancelotti]

Although I tend to reflexively discount scores (particularly from the audience) of either 1 or 10, there are some very reasonable critiques of core gameplay elements in the "mixed" spectrum of reviews. If anything, I would probably split the difference (around a mid 8) and then perhaps bump it up or down slightly depending upon how I feel about the ending. I still think it's a fantastic game, but professional reviewers waving their pom-poms uncritically for Rockstar is doing their audience a disservice.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

Goes without saying. Majority of user reviews on meta are 0 for "I haven't played this game" or 10 for "I bought this game"

Pretty much. Every once in awhile you find a genuine review, but often times it's either bullshit hyperbole or fanboy drivel.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Rule # 1 Never trust in Reviews gaming journalism

Rule # 2 Metacritic is just cancer.

 

[Grimmrobe]

Pretty much. Every once in awhile you find a genuine review, but often times it's either bullshit hyperbole or fanboy drivel.

At least it's genuine hype or drivel. I'll take that any day over PAID hype or drivel

 

[Chairman Tickles]

I've done ~80 missions out of about 110, It's a solid 8/10 game. The missions eventually wore thin, despite the strong script and well done voice overs it always devolves to somewhat awkward firefights. ~50x of that so far and I got kinda tired of it. I prefer exploring the world and hunting, honestly.

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

for those that who do not know the story. back during GTA 4 release. Rockstar started a thing, and that thing is creating special press events for reviewers, where months early they get invited to a play-review event in which they get a lot of rockstar merch and the game for free and cool stuff, free airplane ticket and free hotel stay. and thus started the biased reviews.


they aren't technically paying to get good reviews, but they are telling you if you want to have the good clicks on your igns or gamespots. you must attend those early press events or otherwise you are blacklisted as we saw that happened a few times with other game companies.

GTA 4 is the highest rated last gen game. and a lot of fans back in the day complained that the game was missing many things that San andreas had and it was generally a good game. but very lacking in some areas, the driving was bad, the phone was just absolute mind numblngly annoying and the mini games were not as good as san andreas

but it had 97 meta critic. reviews are fixed my dude. there is a clear conflict of interest in the game journalism industry thats hard to ignore


Rockstar has had the same event . along with every other aaa company game release. which they do few months before release, they influence the reviews insanely


at the end of the day. its working, rockstar sold by now probably 20+ million copies. which is probably more than they ever thought and thats more than many many game franchises combined sales. and its going to probably sell 50m lifetime.


the gaming jounrlism is about as impartial as politicians. its absolutely fake and don't let anyone tell you its not. I've played a ton of "5/10 6/10" games that were better than 8s and 9s because they weren't backed by a gigantic publisher like activison or rockstar. because damn if you don't get the clicks and news on the hottest from these big devs your going down boy.

 

[EtherMagic]

I tend to agree with the critics on this one. To many gamers these days have ADHD and just want instant gratification with simple blast through f*ck em up action. RDR2 is the exact opposite of this.

Don't get me wrong, the first 10 hours of play were frustrating at times in RDR2, just so much to take in at first! Figuring out what to do at certain times with the controls is a learning experience, but once you put the time into it no other game is like it, i have never had the feeling i have felt with anyother game as i do with RDR2. My game of this generation, it's mind numbing what RockStar did with this game!

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

look at for example nintendo's next big release that suffers from this echo chamber fanboy/media case. super smash bros. the game is going to have 95+ meta. because thats how things work nowdays, is it a big game? is it pushed by a major developer?. is it an established game with fanbase? if these boxes are check. the game is getting 92+ meta. because thats what generates clicks and sales

all and all. its all win wins for them. tho. am not in for these kind of absolute mockery of "Reviews"

 

[struggler_guts]

"Everyone from the protag down is ugly"

WRONG

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

look at for example nintendo's next big release that suffers from this echo chamber fanboy/media case. super smash bros. the game is going to have 95+ meta. because thats how things work nowdays, is it a big game? is it pushed by a major developer?. is it an established game with fanbase? if these boxes are check. the game is getting 92+ meta. because thats what generates clicks and sales

all and all. its all win wins for them. tho. am not in for these kind of absolute mockery of "Reviews"

Nintendo fans are obsessed with putting 10 to Zelda, even if it came out of the toilet.

And I do not understand why? if the best ones are Ocarina of time, A link to the past and Link's Awakening.

The other Zelda titles are good, but neither are they the fall of heaven

 

[Fox Mulder]

There's nothing wrong with users not liking the game as much. It'll sell a ton anyways.

The game is clearly crafted very well, but it has a deliberate pace and complex controls. It'll turn off a good bit of GTA fans.

 

[Golgo 13]

Could be a number of things including PC players being butt-hurt, the ResetEra crowd bitching about those poor Rockstar employees (LOL), etc. A bunch of utter fucking nonsense, in other words. Who really gives two shits?

 

[Grimmrobe]

https://www.metacritic.com/user/Reivilo85

"The game is slow, boring and punitive for all the bad reasons. It's slow because controls are awful, the world is huge and empty and you spend your time going from A to B and dying for stupid reasons. It's boring because all the quests are the same, you have narrative where Rockstar believe they can master dialogues as well as Tarantino, then you have a very bad gunfight where you cover/auto-aim/shoot, have a quick narrative and rinse and repeat. The rest of your time you actually work. You cook, you collect grass, you hunt animals for hours, you clean stuff, you clean yourself, you clean your horse, you clean your guns, etc. It's a miracle you don't have to brush your teeth and wipe your ass."

For a 97 Metacritic GOTY billion-dollar seller, this review, by an ACTUAL GAMER is damning.

 

[pr0cs]

I'm loving the game, much more than GTA 5, which I never completed. The pace is slower which I really think hurts the trend of twitch gaming nowadays.

My purchase didn't depend on reviews but rather reaffirmed that I was interested in the game.

 

[LordPezix]

Opinions,... Opinions everywhere.....

 

[RiccochetJ]

https://www.metacritic.com/user/Reivilo85

"The game is slow, boring and punitive for all the bad reasons. It's slow because controls are awful, the world is huge and empty and you spend your time going from A to B and dying for stupid reasons. It's boring because all the quests are the same, you have narrative where Rockstar believe they can master dialogues as well as Tarantino, then you have a very bad gunfight where you cover/auto-aim/shoot, have a quick narrative and rinse and repeat. The rest of your time you actually work. You cook, you collect grass, you hunt animals for hours, you clean stuff, you clean yourself, you clean your horse, you clean your guns, etc. It's a miracle you don't have to brush your teeth and wipe your ass."

For a 97 Metacritic GOTY billion-dollar seller, this review, by an ACTUAL GAMER is damning.

Oh god. Do you know this AKSHUAL GAEMER personally?

 

[The_Mike]

Most 90+ meta scores is just ass kissing by the media.

I’ve said this forever, but was told I was just crazy. There’s so many using Metacritic to defend how good their beloved franchise is.

 

[Catphish]

Said it before, I'll say it again: the game is a masterpiece, and is probably the best game I've played on PS4.

I'm doing my best to burn it slow. Had one session where I left the horse and rifles at camp and just went exploring on foot, walking (not running), catching fish as I went, and camping overnight where I needed to. Spent about five in-game days on this little journey, and I can't even tell you how much fun I had doing that. The world they've built is so lush, vibrant, and teeming with detail.. I have no idea how anyone can call it 'empty'.

And when I'm ready to push the story along, that's also very well done. Great dialogue, interesting stories, well-acted voices.. dunno what else anyone could ask for.

I think people are doing themselves a disservice if they're just plowing through the story. Me, I don't use fast-travel, only use the small compass instead of the minimap, and explore whenever possible. If ever there was a game that was meant to be savored, it's this one. It really rewards you for taking the time to soak everything in.

 

[The Shepard]

I actually read some of these the other day and it had alot of pc fan boys giving the game zero as its not on that yet.

 

[MightySquirrel]

Did you look at user 'reviews' ? About 50% of them are trolls.

 

[Rekki-Maru]

this would be worth noting but R* doesn't need review scores to move 17 million units, especially when half those "user" reviewers are butthurt because there's no PC announcement and Diabler got announced for payphones.

 

[DJTaurusGR]

Most of the reviews are 0/10 from pc users who can’t play the game. I can’t believe why we are even discussing this. Go play the game.....it saves the day for real organic open world games and not just reskins from Ubisoft.

 

[Zewp]

Oh lol, culture.vg is Icycalm's site. Of course the dude's going to be attention whoring so hard.

Grimmrobe you should tell your buddy Icycalm, that he needs to optimise his site for mobile. In the age of frameworks like Bootstrap that can be used by even morons, there's no excuse for a site that's so broken on mobile and not properly responsive. I would have thought that someone as Enlightened™ and Superior™ as the criminal Alex Kierkegard would take more pride in his work.

(that's sarcasm btw, if it eluded you. I'm not surprised to see his website is just as sloppy as his reasoning skills)

 

[Viliger]

"No FOV slider, negative review."

Thats a good reason to sent a first-person game to the trash. I get motion sickness from low fov, if the game doesn't offer one, then it deserves to be trashed for it. The only way to do that on Steam page is to leave a review and I am sure a fuck not giving it a positive if it is missing an essential feature. The bigger problem is that there are no neutral reviews on Steam.

 

[MaulerX]

It's what I call the Troll Triangle.

1) Xbox fans hating on the PS4/Pro

2) Playstation fans hating on XB1/XB1X

3) PC fans hating on all the above

 

[Nydus]

Did any of you actually read some of those complains on metacritic? There are legitimate and fairly worded reviews by users. Maybe there are bullshit reviews but it seems also a lot of good ones.

Furthermore are there enough reviews to balance the bullshit out. After 4000 reviews on PS4 alone, the 77 becomes really really accurate on what people feel. Its simple statistics. Mind you 77 is not bad. For fans of the genre it's a good score, it's just in today's media landscape a 77 would be considered "trash". And God forbid a Rockstar game is not over 90!!!123 I often see that the user score seems immune to the hyperbole in the long run and gives an accurate depiction on what to expect.

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

Nintendo fans are obsessed with putting 10 to Zelda, even if it came out of the toilet.

And I do not understand why? if the best ones are Ocarina of time, A link to the past and Link's Awakening.

The other Zelda titles are good, but neither are they the fall of heaven

it used to be just nintendo and its usually is nintendo. they tent to not nit-pick their games due to their aggressive fanbase. and a lot of reviewers grew up with their games. it has creeped to many others nowdays

IGN gives code ghosts like a 9/10 or something when it was universally panned by players and other reviewers. what gives?.

 

[5secondrulesucks]

is the game not that good or something? or just like overhyped

 

[Zewp]

is the game not that good or something? or just like overhyped

It depends who you ask, ultimately. I'm really loving the game. Since it released I haven't played anything else and many nights I've just spent hours in the wilderness, hunting animals, taming horses, robbing random people etc.

Just like the original game, your mileage is going to vary depending on what you're looking for in the game. It's not flawless (the controls are a bit janky) but for me, it's the cowboy sim I never knew I wanted. It's been a very long time since a game has taken all my attention like RDR2. The last game to have me so enthralled might have been Morrowind, back in the day.

But I can also understand that some of the things I love about the game are things that other people won't necessarily enjoy.

 

[Mojoraisin]

Clunky controls and questionable firefight mechanics, but still one of the most wonderful games I've played since 1986 when I started gaming. No other single player game has sucked me into another world like this one. Runner up is probably GTA V - but with current tech, this is a more believable simulation.

Rockstar are masters of getting the ingredients right for a living and breathing world. It's slow paced but I love it. Can understand some people would have the reverse opinion.

It's a 9 from me and would be a 10 if they fixed my caveats so can't say I disagree too much with review scores.

 

[Pallas]

Haven't played it yet but plan on it eventually, I still want to beat the first one.

As for those reviews, sure media reviews might be biased but you can gurantee a lot of user reviews are as well. Most common complaint I saw in the negative scores were “Very slow pace, clunky controllers, mundane repetitive chores” which honestly you could probably say the same about a lot of games.

It’s best to watch someone play via YouTube, or rent/borrow the game to try it yourself. I always think it’s a bad idea to solely base your purchases on whether it has good, mixed or bad reviews, especially if the user and media reviews are so far apart.

 

[Freeman76]

User reviews are largely shit. You are basically trusting random strangers on the internet. Why would anyone with half a brain do that?

 

[phil_t98]

User reviews are largely shit. You are basically trusting random strangers on the internet. Why would anyone with half a brain do that?

same as reading random posts on here and believing them

 

[MC Safety]

for those that who do not know the story. back during GTA 4 release. Rockstar started a thing, and that thing is creating special press events for reviewers, where months early they get invited to a play-review event in which they get a lot of rockstar merch and the game for free and cool stuff, free airplane ticket and free hotel stay. and thus started the biased reviews.

Press events aren't a secret, and they existed well before Grand Theft Auto IV.

These events are not the cool perk you make them out to be. I've been to more than my share, and as an editor for a respectable publication, I had to pay my own way for those trips and get reimbursed after the fact.

Also, there is no tchotchke that could have influenced a score for a review I issued. (As a general rule, that stuff was politely accepted and given away to readers or ad sales staff people or children or even Goodwill.)

 

[Lanrutcon]

Press reviews needs to make sure their publications remain popular and they get future review copies. They review accordingly.

 

[Ozymandias013]

Most of them complain about the clumsy controls,long travels and that its not fun,and I agree with them, the game doesn't deserves the praises it got,the visuals are great,but that's all there is about this game,videogames are meant to be fun,if I want a realistic world I just live my own life

 

[makaveli60]

WTF is that culture vg review? Really, you take someone seriously who argues with saying the characters and the art are ugly. Fucking pathetic. This game is a masterpiece, one of the best games of all time. And yes, it's not for the masses

 

[danielberg]

Both are incredible unreliable for my taste.. i kinda drifted to short gamplay videos to make my decisions not even reviews anymore lol

 

[llien]

How reasonable is the 6.9/10 score, weren't most GAFers excited about the game?

 

[Viliger]

How reasonable is the 6.9/10 score, weren't most GAFers excited about the game?

How is excitement relevant to the quality of the game?