A possible solution is having a 2 person review process? I know this makes it more difficult to manage, but if it's good enough for Apple... Jokes aside, does this sound like a reasonable solution? Every reviewer has their own preference when it comes to games, and their own style when it comes to writing...but as people become familiar with the reviewers, having a side by side comparison of the same game could be valuable I think, especially if set categories (graphics, music, gameplay, etc.) were rated on a scale of some sort. For example, Eli might give a game a great score while Albie gives it a poor score, or vice versa. People can then base their decision on whose personality they identify more closely with in this type of situation. I'm guessing that this would add a lot to the workload, but maybe the editorial staff can be beefed up?
It sounds like something EGM used to do. Three reviewers for one game, each with their own scores. Sometimes the reviewers don't agree, and that's what I like about that mag. You don't just get one point of view.
I don't like the idea of attaching a number to a review. It is way too subjective. One person's 4 or 5 does not translate into the same level of expectations for another reviewer's 4 or 5. I am not a really fan of reviews that state you must get this or that game because it's awesomely cool for X reasons. Just tell me the game facts - how does it play, what does it have for content, what can I expect overall from a more neutral viewpoint and let me, as the potential customer, decide if that's enough for me to want to get the game. I don't want or need someone else telling me what to get because they thought it was great...I can make those decisions on my own...I just need to reviewer to let me know about the game so I know what exactly to expect if I buy that game.
If you ask me, the very fact there is a User Review section in the forum makes this whole argument void. How can you argue about a reviewer enjoying a game? He likes it, he's gonna say it, that's his job. You should know it's only personal opinion before you even come here, and if you're not happy with it, go to the forums and ask around. If you own the game and don't agree with the front page reviews, write your own. Almost everything in the entire world is opinion, you're generally expected to form your own, not follow someone elses then complain if you don't like it.
QFT. TouchGen ran into trouble with their review of Modern Combat. They gave it a 3.5 and needless to say the comments exploded. Complete mess. It's a catch 22, no one's ever going to agree on everything. Glad to hear it. I really, really don't like the '1 to 10' score system so please implement something half-way fair. I appreciate this, but I still feel this is a bit too open ended.
