Shock horror!!! Edge have once again done something controversial by giving The Conduit a 4/10, and once again every Tom, Dick and Harry is coming out of the woodwork to say how dumb Edge is.
The fact is, that Edge often scores games in a different way to the majority of other magazines or review sites, they gave Killzone 2 a 7, Resistance 2 a 6, God of War 2 a 6, and Beyond Good and Evil a 5. Does this mean there is no substance to what their reviews are saying?
The answer is clearly no, although I disagree with every single one of the above scores. Edge seems to review the majority of games in a harsher light, giving much higher scores for games that show innovation, they also make use of the entire 1 -10 scale. No doubt that the scores themselves might be 1 or 2 points different, simply as a marketing ploy, and at the moment Edge is thriving on it’s reputation as a notoriously harsh reviewer. But the reviews themselves are generally well written, and the reviewers justify the scores that they give.
I find it much worse to read a glowing review only to find the score is a 7, in this situation I always feel that there must be something the reviewer isn’t telling me. Aftwer all the purpose of a review is to help other consumers make a decision as to whether or not a game is worth purchasing, there will always be someone who dislikes a game, it doesn’t matter if it averages 99 on metacritic or not, reviews need to cater for these people as well.
The more varied reviews that consumers have access to, the more informed their choices can be, it’s good to learn about the things that you might hate about a game, as well as the things you might love. So kudos to you Edge, but if you review Uncharted 2 as less than a 10/10, I’m coming round to sort you out.
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Curtis Takaichi
I haven’t had the opportunity to trial any of the above mentioned games, but it’s always good to have a critical perspective on games. Kudos to Edge for taking a critical stance.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 am
Colin Robinson
Ouch, ‘this shit just got real’
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Jamie Obeso
I’ve never read Edge Magazine, but as long as they’re really giving The Conduit a 4/10 because they think that’s the score it deserves, that’s fine by me.
A lot of people will probably be outraged, but I think one of the best things that a critic can do is pull the popular titles back down to earth. Lester Bangs, an incredibly popular music critic, has a quote that I always take to heart when critiquing games:
“Well basically I just started out to lead [an interview] with the most insulting question I could think of. Because it seemed to me that the whole thing of interviewing as far as rock stars and that was just such a suck-up. It was groveling obeisance to people who weren’t that special, really. It’s just a guy, just another person, so what?”
Just as well, when a company works on a high-budget title, it is hyped to the point where we’re destined (or maybe doomed?) to like the game before it even reaches our hands. It shouldn’t matter how big the budget or the hype is; until it proves otherwise, it’s just another game, right? Let the product speak for itself.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Chris Carter
Based on my playthrough at E3, I’d probably give it a 5-6ish.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
TheGameLlama
Can’t be worse than the Wii’s version of Farcry.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Paul Clark
I think it was Shellshock, can;t remember exact title, they gave a 2/10, lowest I’ve ever seen, had some great comments. “This game utilises alot of features from Condemned, which work really well. In Condemned.”
But, yeah, I like edge. Reviews are an opinionated thing after all, and however harsh they may be, bet GTA got higher than it should
July 5th, 2009 at 3:44 am
Reilly Moore
“I find it much worse to read a glowing review only to find the score is a 7, in this situation I always feel that there must be something the reviewer isn’t telling me. Aftwer all the purpose of a review is to help other consumers make a decision as to whether or not a game is worth purchasing”
No, I’m not quoting this for the spelling mistake. The fact you spoke about the score and the actual written review both being something to use when considering a game is stupid. I personally don’t think you should ever let the score affect your opinion of the game. READ the review, it’ll be far more likely to explain what good and bad about this game. On the other hand, the score is just some numbers the reviewer slaps on. It explains nothing, especially when the ratings could vary from one reviewer to another.
If you must take the score into consideration, compare it to other scores that that reviewer has given. Like I said, ratings can change depending on the reviewer, so what could be one mans 9, could be another ones 6. This is why I don’t like numbers. The written review it universal, no matter who writes it, you should always take the same facts out of it.
July 13th, 2009 at 2:51 am