Reviews are simply defined as an individual’s subjective opinion about any selective works whether it be video games, movies, music, etc. But nowadays, reviews carry more weight, especially in video games, due to the economy being in the state that it’s in and the $60 price tag to newly released games. No one wants to waste his or her money on a product so we often look to reviews. However, when we let reviews solely make decisions for us and reduce a complex human opinion numerically, the lines of reviews get blurred and the system is viable for corruption.
Battlefield 3 was released on Oct. 25 and has met with positive acclaim with review scores in the 9’s and 90’s. But before the game was even released, EA was sending out a questionnaire to reviewers worldwide. The questionnaire, which was released in Norway, specified the reviewer’s relationship to the Battlefield franchise and his/her opinions of the Call of Duty franchise - their main competitors this holiday season. The questionnaire included questions, according to pcgamer.com, such as: “What is his past experience with Battlefield? Is he a fan of Call of Duty? Has he expressed enthusiasm or concern for Battlefield 3? What are they? Did he play the beta? Did he enjoy it/get frustrated with it? Did the reviewer personally review Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or Call of Duty: Black Ops?” And so on and so forth. In the same article, EA responded with a statement. “It is a human error that was sent out. We have made a mistake and we apologize. It is not something that should have happened earlier or [that] we intend to continue.” This statement was released when reviewers in Norway were outspoken about these questions. This event shows how publishers will often try to predict the review scores of their games especially when they are in direct competition with the 800-pound gorilla of the gaming industry.
So is the reviewer the issue or is the system of assigning a game a numeric score and reducing a human opinion to a number the issue? Adam Sessler, host of the gaming television show X-play on the G4 channel, has come under fire for his reviews in the past. But his recent 4 out of 5 that he gave to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, a high-profile PlayStation 3 exclusive, has caused him to respond about reviews. In his recent video blog, he calls numerical scores an “intellectually deficient mechanism we have come up with to evaluate creative works.” He later continues as saying “the purpose of art is to open up this discussion and open up ideas. It is not necessarily to get people to just like you and be your friend.”
This does not exist in the detached world of video games; it stretches across all entertainment mediums. And I agree with Mr. Sessler that numerical scores do nothing to generate a dialogue about the works of art. I do look to reviews to find out what is worth my time and money, but I do not rely upon them and substitute my opinions for someone else’s. I evaluate reviews as guidelines rather than an order to buy whatever scores above a 9 out of 10. Submit your opinions of game reviews in the comment section below.
