X-Box WWF Raw (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Gamespot has always been overly critical (for all games on all systems). That can at times be a really good thing and at times a really bad thing. In that same vien IGN can be way too over-excited about allot of games they review. They just seem to be handing out the 9's and 9'5's all over the place these days(not a good thing). In looking at WWF Raw's (that is what this thread is about right?) review from Gamespot I do have some gripes. These gripes have nothing to do with the bullshit bias people on the IGN forums or other forums seem to think Gamespot has towards the X-box. Hell Gamespot is harsh on everything on every console!. My concerns are more with some of the review content:

It's too bad that so much of WWF Raw seems unfinished, because with additional development time it could have been one of the smoothest-looking games around.

The next paragraph he complains about how the characters animate while entering the ring and that they use the same animation for for one handed and two handed weapons. Now I can most definitely understand the reasons he put this in the review. It is a very minor gripe and if it was portrayed as such in the review I wouldn't even mention it but to say that Raw seems "unfinished" for these two things that dont even affect gameplay is just far too harsh IMO. Especially after having commended the game for its animation a paragraph before.
The items mentioned above are really rather minor and I would have prefferred if more of that 4 page review would have been devoted to the grapple system and its nuances. (to be fair he does devote a page to it (page 3) but right when it seems he is going to go even further into the meat of the system he goes into the different modes).
He devotes one paragraph to the weapons system in the game which is a rather large part of Raw. Worst yet they barely even touch the create-a-wrestler which THE most important feature in a wrestling game for me.
Again my issue isn't with Gamespot but moreso with what this reviewer chose to go over and complain about in his review.
IGN is no better in this aspect. They spend so much time rambling on for a page, gushing over the graphics that they barely even mention some of the things that I mentioned above.
I would break down IGN's review even further but since I've already talked too much I'm wont bother (I'm looking forward to Raw but I took that 9.1 with a serious grain of salt!).
As I mentioned before that best thing to do it to take an average of the IGN and Gamespot review and you'll get a good assesment of what the game has to offer. I'll have Raw in my hands tommorrow and I'll formulate my own opinion. From there you will see a review on the Forum ASAP!

 

[Gary King]

Maybe Gamespot has just decided to get more critical; however, given that the reviewer greatly enjoyed the gameplay, graphics, and animation of RAW, I have a hard time justifying that it should receive a *lower* score than the pinnacle of mediocrity, The Bouncer.

IGN's always gone easy on games, but I've traditionally used a Gamespot 7 (or 7.5) as a decent metric for a game. Traditionally, if a game gets a 7 or 7.5 from Gamespot, I'll probably like it (for IGN I'm typically .5-1 point higher).

Given Gamespot's reviews for Xbox games, I'd put that metric at about a 6.5. I thought Amped was highly enjoyable, and although I have yet to play Wreckless, I can't imagine it offering gameplay worse than The Bouncer. The RAW review made the game sound really good (8+ range), but the final score was hardly indicative of that. It's as if the reviewer removed 2 points because the game didn't offer every feature he wanted (create-a-soundtrack, career mode), rather than rewarding what the game did well. Amped's and Inside Drive's (and to a lesser degree, Fuzion Frenzy's) reviews were similar.

Even so, remember that it's always best to promise less and deliver more. That's what Gamespot does.

When I see a score less than 7, I tend to approach a game with severe caution (and even then, I think twice before approaching a game with a low-mid 7). I imagine most people are probably the same way. 3 stars on NextGen may have been a good (or at least decent) review, but given the games that Gamespot has given a 6.5-7, any game in that range is not in very good company. And, in general, they seem to be harder on games for Xbox than on other consoles - comparing an Xbox game with a similarly flawed game on PS2 tends to have the Xbox game scoring .5 points less.

Just compare DoA2(8.9) with DoA3(7.9). DoA3 is definitely no worse than DoA2 (it improves, albeit subtly, everything about the original game), yet the review makes it seem as if DoA2->DoA3 was as big a step backwards as Bushido Blade->BB2, or BB2->Kengo.

 

[Dan B]

So how is the HTGaming site going to tackle the controversial ratings issue, Romier?
-Dan B
already drafting the first "Home Theater Gaming's reviews suck" letter.

 

[Romier S]

So how is the HTGaming site going to tackle the controversial ratings issue, Romier?

Multiple reviews silly. I think it is an inherently better format to have 3-4 official reviews for one game (as do the majority that I've asked about the issue which is why I'm going with that format for the site). It gives multiple opinions and I think a reader will get a much better idea of what the actual game has to offer from varying perpectives.
By the way Dan, you can send that letter to [email protected]

 

[Andre F]

Multiple reviews silly. I think it is an inherently better format to have 3-4 official reviews for one game (as do the majority that I've asked about the issue which is why I'm going with that format for the site). It gives multiple opinions and I think a reader will get a much better idea of what the actual game has to offer from varying perpectives.

That sounds great to me. It reminds of how EGM does their reviews. When I see all reviewer in EGM give a game 8.0 or higher I know it's a good game.

Regarding Gamespot, I'd rather have a harsh review then go out and buy a game that is not very good. I've already done that enough times.

-Andre F