Still thinking about Resident Evil and the review fallout. Just saw Giant Bomb's review, which is 2/5 stars. That equates to a 4.0. GameSpot as we all know gave the game a 4.5, and Destructiod gave it a 3. A quick glance at the Metacritic shows RE6 to be at a 66, but a closer look reveals that although there are a lot of positive scores (22), there are also a lot of mixed scores (21) and five bad scores, which definitely has dragged the overall score down.
But, let's take a look at the really low scores:
- 4.5/10 - GameSpot
- 2/5 - GiantBomb
- 4/10 - Polygon (never herad of this one)
- 3/10 - Destructoid
- 1/5 - Quarter to Three (yeah, never heard of this one either)
So as it turns out, when it comes to the red scores, GameSpot is the highest. Doesn't quite seem so bad now, does it? But these five scores illustrate something: there is something wrong with the game. If there wasn't, these sources couldn't be able to objectively write about them, and this in turn raises the question: Why aren't the glowing reviews NOT writing about them?
I would put more stock into someone who has mixed feelings or just ends up hating the game more than someone who is dumbfoundly impressed by it. It's the former that usually has more interesting things to say, because someone who is being more critical tends to assess, anazlye and see things than someone who is more relaxed at playing and reviewing games. There's the kind of reviewer who forgives too much and thus everything is 8s, 9s, and 10s, and usually does a disservice to his readers. As for the readers....
It's easy to see why so many gamers are upset. You get 22 positive reviews, but 5 really bad ones. Yet, people simply don't want to acknlowedge the negative reviews and focus soley on the positive. Is it because they're afraid they'll read something in the review that will bother them while playing and not like the game? They were looking forward to this and went out and spent good money on the game and they just want to enjoy it. They want to read positive reviews and see high scores to reaffirm that they made a good purchase with RE6. In that case, stay off the internet. Don't log onto GS. Don't look at the Metacritic. Don't watch video reviews.
Now, this has been going on for a long time with long-running franchises. It seems that it's almost expected for a game to automatically do well. Case in point: The Legend of Zelda. Just because it's a Zelda game, it automatically means that each game released should be a 9.0 or higher and damn everyone else who thinks differently! 7.5 for Skyward Sword anyone? How about 8.8 for Twilight Princess? I love Zelda games, but even I had a hard time with Skyward Sword, and I liked the game less than Tom McShea did. I gave it a 6.5, and I view the game as the worst Zelda released by Nintendo. But, I'm in the minority, so my opinion doesn't matter.
I do believe it does, though. I believe that gamers who don't automatically give scores out of fandom for the franchise are more honest and interesting than those who give free passes. There are reasons why we are mentioning negative problems with these games, not to be jerks about it to piss off fans, but because they exist. They exist either out of problems that have never been addressed, or as new problems from the results of quirky game design decisions, but they're there. Even though we think our opinions have some importance, though, they're still merely opinions. If you want to love a game unconditionally, that is your right, and then you also shouldn't let our opinions bother you.
So the majority rules, and this results in mob mentality and behavior. When someone speaks against the majority, they are met with resitance and hostility. And for what? A difference of opinion. The gaming community cannot be taken seriously until these oversentive gamers stop acting like whiny self-entitled elitists. You might also find yourself in denial, knowing you bought a stinker, but since everyone else around you is having fun with it, it simply MUST be good. One of my favorite quotes is by William Shakespeare: "To thine own self be true." If you want to be of the majority, make sure you really do feel the way you do about the game, because if you lie to yourself, the majority rules over you. It's okay to admit that Resident Evil 6 sucks if you think it sucks. This is why I appreciate GameSpot; they call it like they see it, and they can give a flying fu ck if you disagree.
