@Meiko: I agree that it’s a “can’t miss” title, and said as much. I’m not necessarily arguing that it should have shipped with some tacked-on multiplayer just to put a bullet point on the back of the box, I just wonder how one game can be held accountable for lacking modes or shipping with bugs or being “too easy” while another is not.
What I find interesting is that video games reviews feel uneven in precisely this way because perfect scores are so incredibly rare. Maybe part of it is that the typical scale is 1-10 while other media like music and movies often operate on a four-point (or star) scale where top marks are given at least somewhat frequently. Four-star movies or albums need not be literally flawless and are, as you suggest, simply “can’t miss.” I just don’t see why video game reviews operate under different rules that expose this kind of illogic.
posted by: Paul Hamilton · 8/29/07
If you look at some of the good movie critics (NY Times, New Yorker, Washington Post), their reviews don’t operate on a scale at all. I don’t see why the video game review has to be such a slave to the number rating.
In fact, it might help the medium in its quest for acceptance as a serious artform if the average game review didn’t read like a checklist of the different elements in the game with an arbitrary number tacked on at the bottom.
Comments
@Meiko: I agree that it’s a “can’t miss” title, and said as much. I’m not necessarily arguing that it should have shipped with some tacked-on multiplayer just to put a bullet point on the back of the box, I just wonder how one game can be held accountable for lacking modes or shipping with bugs or being “too easy” while another is not.
What I find interesting is that video games reviews feel uneven in precisely this way because perfect scores are so incredibly rare. Maybe part of it is that the typical scale is 1-10 while other media like music and movies often operate on a four-point (or star) scale where top marks are given at least somewhat frequently. Four-star movies or albums need not be literally flawless and are, as you suggest, simply “can’t miss.” I just don’t see why video game reviews operate under different rules that expose this kind of illogic.
posted by: Paul Hamilton · 8/29/07
If you look at some of the good movie critics (NY Times, New Yorker, Washington Post), their reviews don’t operate on a scale at all. I don’t see why the video game review has to be such a slave to the number rating.
In fact, it might help the medium in its quest for acceptance as a serious artform if the average game review didn’t read like a checklist of the different elements in the game with an arbitrary number tacked on at the bottom.
Down with number ratings, I say.
posted by: Steve Van Neil · 8/29/07