How much do reviews play a part in your game buying decisions?

Gemini73

Personal I don't pay reviews much attention; if I like the look of a game then there's a good chance I'll buy it at some point. This generation has seen me buy and enjoy a lot of games that weren't generally received well by the press, but at the same time I've ignored high scoring games based on a number of factors or, as in the case of God of War, arrived late to the party irrespective of the accolades piled upon it.

So yeah, how important are video game reviews to you, if they carry any weight at all, when it comes to buying video games?

Virtually no part at all. I’ll try pretty much any game, and usually get something positive out of it. Those that really grab me are the ones I end up playing to completion.

The only time a review will affect my buying decision is if it turns out the game is utterly without merit, or horribly broken.

Very large part. I've got hardly any time to play video games any more so when I do I'm not going waste that time playing some average 7.5/10 title when I could play something critically acclaimed instead.

Gemini73

Dual wrote:Very large part. I've got hardly any time to play video games any more so when I do I'm not going waste that time playing some average 7.5/10 title when I could play something critically acclaimed instead.

Being critically acclaimed is no guarantee you'll enjoy it though, certainly no more than that game that hasn't been as well received.

Bluesky

Well I get some kind of impression of a game from its average score. If it's like a 4/5 out of 10 across most of the board then it's probably a mess of a game. But if it's getting 8/9s or 7s then that just tells me that the game is probably pretty functional and will be held in high regard amongst a certain audience, and perhaps quite a wide one at that.

That alone won't ever be enough in convincing me to buy a game. I'll need to see what it's like in action. Look at screenshots and hear more about it, etc. Watched a fair few videos from the odd youtuber or people I trust which have gone a long way in influencing my opinion. And of course, my past gaming experience comes into play as well since I have a pretty good idea of what I'll like. A game might seem pretty good but it also clearly might not be for me at all.

Basically I buy games when they are the price I want to pay, this is affected by how it reviews.

rinks wrote:Virtually no part at all. I’ll try pretty much any game, and usually get something positive out of it. Those that really grab me are the ones I end up playing to completion.

The only time a review will affect my buying decision is if it turns out the game is utterly without merit, or horribly broken.

This pretty much sums up my opinions, if I like the look of a game I will try it.

Gemini73 wrote:
Dual wrote:Very large part. I've got hardly any time to play video games any more so when I do I'm not going waste that time playing some average 7.5/10 title when I could play something critically acclaimed instead.

Being critically acclaimed is no guarantee you'll enjoy it though, certainly no more than that game that hasn't been as well received.

No I think I'm more likely going to enjoy the 9/10 to the 7/10.

If I was in the market for a new open world adventure game to sink 100 hours into I wouldnt consider anything described as 'average' because there are better titles to play.

I'll play whatever.

Nowdays I use reviews very much as an information source rather than as a definitive guide. If multiple reviews suggest that a game is poor than I'll avoid it; but if opinions vary then the key factor is "does this game appeal to me?".

I'm more cautious nowdays because games can often be so large in detail and scope; you often have to play a game for quite a while to discover all of the detail and to build up an opinion. For such large games, is a review undertaken over a couple of days enough? For online-focussed games the challenge is even greater as the initial structures and approaches can be updated so frequently. On the other hand, I suspect that some of the bigger publishers don't really want reviews to appear prior to release... and, perhaps, not at all!

I also get a bit frustrated with the current perception of "5" meaning awful, "7" being average and 9 equating to "good". "7" should not mean "don't buy this!" :lol:

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Tl;dr I use reviews as a reference rather than as a decisive tool.

Gemini73

jawafour wrote:
I also get a bit frustrated with the current perception of "5" meaning awful, "7" being average and 9 equating to "good". "7" should not mean "don't buy this!" .

Unfortunately many do see it like this. I've no doubt that many a gamer who swear by this train of thought have missed out on a whole bevy of games that had they tried they would've probably throughly enjoyed.

On the flip side I've known plenty, including myself, who have rushed out to buy the latest 9/10 "omgz, it's amazballs!" video game only to trade it in the next day because they didn't like it.

I use reviews as a barometer of opinion to sieve out games that are broken, critically flawed or boring. In the case of racing games I go straight to racing-specific sites as mainstream coverage is generally awful, with videos of people going "I dunno, cars lol!" as they crash all the time.

As has been mentioned, knowing one's own taste helps. I wouldn't buy a football, soulsborne or fighting game regardless of critical merit as I dislike the genres as a whole.

It’s foolish to think that reviews will be the be-all and end-all of your decision. It’s equally foolish to think that they’ll have no correlation with your enjoyment of a game. A reviewer who likes the same type of games as you and doesn’t like a game of that type is, all things considered, more likely to accord with your view than not.

That said, they’re going to weight different things differently to you, which brings me to probably the crux of my response: the text of reviews should matter more than the score. If it’s a 4/10 then odds are that the game is going to be bad (like it or not that’s the way games seem to be scored for the most part*), but if it’s a 6/10, it might be that the journalist weights aspects of the game they like and dislike differently to you.

I do think reviews are a useful guide, unless you have the money and time to try all the games: they can save you wasting both. They’re not absolute though. Given that, it’s important to consider the reasons for giving a game the score it’s given carefully.

*When I’m scoring games I’ll try to use 5/10 as my halfway point. This results in people telling me I’ve been very harsh on games I might just not like so much. Says a lot about the accepted system.

Reviews are definitely useful, the important thing is to read the content rather than just look at the score. You need to assess how similar the reviewer is to yourself in tastes for one.

They used to play a big part but nowadays I barely pay for anything and rely on things like Gold, Plus and gamepass. As I’m not paying for the game itself, I don’t bother with reviews.

"official" reviews that would show up on Metacritic have no bearing on my purchases. If I'm interested in a game I'll probably be interested for a reason. Beyond that I'll listen to opinions from very specific podcasts that I know have the same tastes as me, but that's mostly to check out games I wouldn't have looked at otherwise, regardless of how the game reviews in a more mainstream setting.

I will buy pretty much anything if I like the look of it and think I can physically manage to play it.

Of course if it has a low average metacritic score I'll probably have a look at a few reviews to see what people dislike about the game first, if its a complaint about something like poor multiplayer or no native 4k support I'll ignore it as neither thing is relevant to me .

Last edited by Cumberdanes on Sun May 12, 2019 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Almost none. I’m 35 now, have been gaming since I was about 5 or 6 years old and I’m pretty sure I know what I like by now.

NickSCFC

I only tend to buy 4 or 5 new games a year, so I'd feel like I was missing out if I didn't buy the ones that reviewed well. Saying that, taste and genre preference prevent me from buying every well reviewing game.

I used to buy based on playing and enjoying demos, but as they're no lo her a thing I no longer have that option.

Usually reviews can help me to gauge a game. After all, I don't want to spend £40-50 on a stinker.

But most of the time, I go with other people's opinions. Especially from this forum.

Even I find myself disagreeing with high scored games. I found Horizon Dawn Zero to be overrated. And it had the same flaws that the other reviews said about Days Gone, and I found Days Gone to be much more enjoyable.

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