For you (re)viewing pleasure

Wednesday 18 June 2008

After reading a particularly interesting article on the biases of reviews, it got me thinking about the best reviews to read. Personally, I usually trust the judgement of Gamespot. This doesn't mean I think they're unbiased: I think that would be impossible. But they do tend to put out good reviews. Detailed reviews with fair statements. I've tended to find that their views match up to those I find whilst playing through the game. For instance, their review of CoD 4 seemed fair and just. But, despite this, I often find myself disagreeing with reviews given on Gamespot: two examples that leap out include Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed.

So there, in one paragraph, I've listed one game I agree with Gamespot on, and two that I do not. So why, you may ask, do I keep going back to gamespot?

Laziness for one. I just simply cannot be fucked to go and find a place that reviews as well as gamespot does, and also feels the way I do about games. The liklihood is (with free will and all that crap) that I'd actually have to hunt for a review for each individual game in order to find a review that I agreed with. There is one pretty fundamental flaw in this plan: you read reviews to decide on whether you should buy a game; and you can only pass judgement on a game you've bought, so you can't disagree or agree with a review unless you've actually bought it... in which case the review is of little use anyway.

So we must, it makes sense, have a place to go and read reviews that is a good faithful area to return to. As I've already mentioned, Gamespot has detailed reviews which, in many cases (but not all Assassin's Creed) do not overemphasise the good, or gloss over the bad. Or, of course, vice versa.

And yet, even with this, we have a problem, because 'good' and 'bad' are things determined by me. Well... for you, it's determined by you, but you get my point. The only thing that I can see for sure in Gamespot is that it is detailed, because what is 'good' and what is 'bad' may be different for me than it is for them. In a game, I think there should be a solid storyline, while the reviewer may put more of an emphasis on multiplayer. Neither of us are wrong, but neither of us will agree. So in which case, how can I read the thoughts of another person and say 'This is a game I will enjoy'.

This comes back to the question 'how do I choose what sites to read reviews from?' And the key word here is 'sites'. The best way to decide what games to buy is to read reviews from many different sites so you can, essentially, get the 'whole picture' as it were, and decide whether this game is worth buying. One site will write with one bias, and another with a different bias. Read altogether, hopefully I can see through these biases and see the game for what it really is. Then, I can apply my own biases, and decide whether this a game I will enjoy.

But don't forget, there are certain reviews you can skip over. A review should be detailed and at least attempting to be neutral. And remember, if you ever want perfectly unbiased, factual, and completely correct and never wrong material, come back to DWs!

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Article Posted: Wednesday 18 June 2008 at 13:03.
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