didnt listen to reviews, just bought and enjoying right now

[Damien_Azreal]

Pretty much every game I own.

Reviews are trash, and given how some people throw them around as if they are a "word of god" factual statement on the quality and or fun of any given game... there's almost no reason for an actual gamer to put any faith in them anymore.

I can't remember the last time I bought a game because the reviews said it was good.

I tend to base my game buys off of a few factors. The developers history. Their past catalog of work. There are a couple developers that are almost always instant buys (Monolith, Gearbox, id Software)...
But other then them, I go by what else the developer has released. Then there's any gameplay videos/trailers they've released.

And finally, word of mouth. If I'm unsure of a title, I wait for some of my friends to pick it up. I know them, I know their taste... and what similarities we might share. So, I can judge pretty well how I will enjoy a game based on how they felt about it.

But, in a time that gives every new Call of Duty almost flawless scores and then gives games like Singularity only so/so scores... yeah, there's no logical reason to believe they actually have any substance to them.
Normally, all I'll do... is watch GT's trailers. But I mute them. I just watch the gameplay, gives me a chance to see the game in action... but this way I can ignore whatever crap (and possible spoilers) GT is spitting about the game.

[XxaP]

Boiling Point remains one of my favorite games ever. For it's time it was probably the biggest map ever in an FPS, taking 30-45 minutes to drive from one side to the other.
The vibe in this game was excellent, before the idea of the rpg-fps hybrid really had caught on. Gave me the same feel as Far-Cry and half Life 2, but with the sense of immersion hours of grinding, exploration and doing side mission that only an rpg can introduce. Shortly after this Bethesda and others went on to make this hybrid format one of the most popular ever amongst gamers.
Of course, I had one of the game-breaking mission errors at around 200+ hours that caused the reviewers to be so harsh.. and the game never got re-installed on my next Windows cycle, like so many...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling...:_Road_to_Hell

[Toridas]

Bulletstorm.

However all the reviews were right. Most of them said along the lines of "it's a good game, but not worth $60." And I agree. But I got it for $5.

[Dedlok]

Pretty much every game I buy.

[TheInsaneDump]

Originally Posted by HorseRotorvator

Came into the thread to post this. Really one of my favourite games from 2011.

Not empty quoting. One of my favorite shooters ever.

(Bulletstorm)

[TheInsaneDump]

Originally Posted by crunchyfrog555

Gamespot isn't a magazine or publication, I believe?

Interesting links, though. I am going to take the comments there with a pinch of salt, though. At the time of that issue (and the release of Kane and Lynch) one of my closest friends was a Senior Production Manager at Eidos. I'm fairly confident that this is a case of putting 2 and 2 together and getting "potato".

Understand I'm not being dismissive for the sake of it. As I've said, I'm aware this does go on, but not generally in the paid employ of print publications.

Surprised you weren't aware of it. It was a very big deal when it happened and made plenty of waves. Every subsequent review "botch" was labeled with some variation of "Gerstmanngate." The guy was fired after it happened and created Giant Bomb IIRC.

In fact, as recently as March of this year, Jeff finally revealed why he was actually terminated from Gamespot.

He [Gerstmann] explained that the reason for his firing was the result of long-standing tension between the editorial staff and the new marketing staff that had recently been put in place. According to Gerstmann, the new marketing staff in place wasn't familiar with video game journalism or how to deal with annoyed publishers. He revealed that the problems began after publishing the review for Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction that went live on October 23, 2007. The review was written by Aaron Thomas and scored a 7.5 (good). The publisher, Sony Computer Entertainment America, complained to GameSpot over the score and threatened to pull their advertising money. Gerstmann, as Thomas' boss, was "called into a room" to discuss the review.

He said the marketing team freaked out over Sony's threats and didn't understand how to handle threats like that. Tension continued between marketing and editorial, coming to a head after Gerstmann published his review for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men on November 13, 2007 and scored it a 6.0 (fair). His frankness of the game's quality led to the publisher, Eidos Interactive, also threatening to pull their advertising money. At the time of the review going live, the GameSpot home page was covered in ads for Kane & Lynch. Gerstmann said he was once again "called into a room" where he was sternly admonished over the review. After over two weeks of even thicker tension between marketing and editorial, Gerstmann was yet again "called into a room" and was informed he was being fired on November 29, 2007 effective immediately. He said they essentially caved to advertiser pressure despite vehemently claiming they didn't just days after the firing.

On a humorous note, during the show, Gerstmann claimed he ran into a few members of Kane & Lynch developer IO Interactive at a convention a few months after his firing. He claims one of the people he ran into said, "Yeah, Kane & Lynch wasn't a very good game." Gerstmann responded, "You should totally call up my old bosses and tell them that."

Link

[kalmis]

Alpha Protocol no doubt

[dxmc]

Originally Posted by Joshyjess

I'm sure there are a few, but the first one that pops into my mind is the First Templar.

it got a metacritic score in the 50's, but it is a game that I really enjoy. If I had listened to that score, I would have missed out on a really fantastic game.

I do read reviews of games as PART of my overall decision as to whether or not I should buy the game.
Typically I look first at the price. For the most part I don't even bother with games unless they are around the 5 - 7 dollar range. If the price catches my eye, then I'll consider the general impression the game makes on me. There are some games that I can see some screenshots of, and know that it's not my kind of game. If the initial impression is favorable, then I'll try to find a video of gameplay. This is one of the most important factors for me. I don't care about game trailers, I want to see what the game looks like in action. If that leaves a good taste in my mouth, then I'll look at the game's forum page to see if there are any kinds of problems, DRM, issues, control features... If there is nothing really bad about it, then finally I'll start reading reviews (both "professional" and user reviews).

If a game passes the first four tests, then I'll go ahead and get it (unless there is something in the reviews that really catches my attention, and makes me think - which is why I also like the negative reviews sometimes). So for me it would be:

1 - Price
2 - General impression
3 - Gameplay video
4 - Forum info (problems, DRM...)
5 - REVIEWS

Wow that's a lot of work for a 5-7 dollar game.I've found that no matter how much effort I put into research about 20-25 % of the games I buy turn out to be duds, it's the personal taste factor.Then there's the marketing factor, or how I ended up buying Dead Island because of the great trailer.So I don't really look at it so much on a game by game basis, I look at how much I'm spending in a month on games, how much time am I spending playing those games, and is that an acceptable cost.

I spend a lot more on HDTV than on games and I spend a lot less time watching TV.So I can accept a few poor choices once in a while when it comes to games. If it looks good, the price is right and I haven't blown my budget for the month I'll take a quick look at the Metascore and that's about it.A few minutes of gameplay vid out of a 20 hour game doesn't tell you much and the problems people report in forums often have more to do with their poor systems and general inexperience than the game itself.And people always complain about DRM.As for reviews, when it comes to games that can mean anything from IGN to Angry Joe and Ben Croshaw.It really depends on who you like, more so than with other kinds of media.

I've found a lot of great games without doing a huge amount of research.If it wasn't for the impulse factor I never would have picked up some good games like Dragon Age 2, Civ 5 and X-Blades.

[Joshyjess]

Originally Posted by dxmc

Wow that's a lot of work for a 5-7 dollar game.

It does sound like a lot of work, but honestly, most of the time I don't get past steps 1 and 2 (which might take all of 5 seconds).
Very few games at the price I want grab my attention after an initial glimpse at what the game looks like.
Also, the genre has a lot to do with it. For example, I don't care for tower defense games at all. So If I see a game at a good price, and then see that it's a tower defense kind of game, my interest ends there. I might look at 15 - 20 games before one really grabs my attention, and leads to a bit more research


The only time I might make an exception to this basic routine is during Steam's big sales, and prices are so low (1 - 2 dollars), that I might grab a game or two just to give them a try.

[Firestorm998]

All my games. Most recent are Warriors Orochi and Deadly Premonition on the 360 and I've enjoyed them both. <3 Deadly Premonition.

I may look at some gameplay footage to get a rough idea if I'm not sure but I couldn't give a ♥♥♥♥ what others opinions are, be they hacks or (usually hater or airconditioned youth) users.

[NotlimTheGreat]

I see a newish game that catches my eye. I then immedietely hit youtube for a gameplay video. If i'm still interested I search TotalHalibut for WTF's(usually actually where i see the name first for many games), then on to a couple other non-out-of-ten looks at games like Yahtzee(Laughter, and I learn why some people will hate it). If I am still interested its a quick check at the forums for that game to solidify whether I want it and off to buying/waiting for a sale I go.

I might read reviews(ars technica does a pretty good job), but they are more for interesting information, entertainment, or a first look. I don't rely on user or 'official' reviews ever and don't think I ever could.

[paratech2008]

Originally Posted by kalmis

Alpha Protocol no doubt

I snagged that at GamersGate, "DRM" free, although you need to be online to install it, so that's not very DRM free.

[TheSagetEffect]

Nope, I've seen reviews for almost every game I've bought. I didn't even buy CS:S/Orange Box until I was told how great they were by people I know.

I'm picky about how I spend my money.

[Washell]

Originally Posted by crunchyfrog555

Understand I'm not being dismissive for the sake of it. As I've said, I'm aware this does go on, but not generally in the paid employ of print publications.

A Dutch magazine stopped publishing in 2000 due to issues like these. Their farewell notice is still up, in dutch though. Google translate does rather butcher it but you'll be able to get the gist of it.

[Justin97927]

I've done that, it can be a bit risky, but you can't always listen to reviews. Or, just watch gameplays prior.