Something is going on with Fallout 3 reviews.

[bobo_monkey]

This is not a post about the game itself but about the reviews for it.

Something is up, I reread reviews today about 8 of them from various "top" game sites. They all have the same elements over and over. If I was told to write a review and skirt the edge of "over the top gushing" alot of them sound like this.

I dont usually talk about conspircies but my spidey senses are tingling. They were paid, all of them. Given a big lump sum of cash or half the money now and half in a years time if they dont leak they they were paid to write those reviews.
Its how I would have done it if I had a pos game and wanted to sell alot of copies.

Everytime I go back and try to play the game a bit more I think of the reviiews (10/10, life changing experience, perfection, best game in existance etc etc) I just cant do it.
Its like telling me my hotdog is a steak but I cant turn my tastebuds off.

 

[Texas Red]

The larger issue with this is not that shit games become popular, but that true patriot games, such as TW or Bloodlines, get "low" scores. So a game that genuinely deserves a 7 or 8(which I'd give to most classics because nothing is perfect) is looked upon as flawed when you have 9.75/10 Oblivion reviews for comparisons all over the place.

 

[Ahzaruuk]

This is not a post about the game itself but about the reviews for it.

Something is up, I reread reviews today about 8 of them from various "top" game sites. They all have the same elements over and over. If I was told to write a review and skirt the edge of "over the top gushing" alot of them sound like this.

I dont usually talk about conspircies but my spidey senses are tingling. They were paid, all of them. Given a big lump sum of cash or half the money now and half in a years time if they dont leak they they were paid to write those reviews.
Its how I would have done it if I had a pos game and wanted to sell alot of copies.

Everytime I go back and try to play the game a bit more I think of the reviiews (10/10, life changing experience, perfection, best game in existance etc etc) I just cant do it.
Its like telling me my hotdog is a steak but I cant turn my tastebuds off.

Yeah, Gaming Journalism is a bit like that.

Just wait-soon they'll be pointing out the flaws when the next big thing comes around and FO3 is a few years old.

 

[Chefe]

This is not a post about the game itself but about the reviews for it.

Something is up, I reread reviews today about 8 of them from various "top" game sites. They all have the same elements over and over. If I was told to write a review and skirt the edge of "over the top gushing" alot of them sound like this.

I dont usually talk about conspircies but my spidey senses are tingling. They were paid, all of them. Given a big lump sum of cash or half the money now and half in a years time if they dont leak they they were paid to write those reviews.
Its how I would have done it if I had a pos game and wanted to sell alot of copies.

Everytime I go back and try to play the game a bit more I think of the reviiews (10/10, life changing experience, perfection, best game in existance etc etc) I just cant do it.
Its like telling me my hotdog is a steak but I cant turn my tastebuds off.

Welcome to the Internet, kid.

 

[Burning Bridges]

At other forums I visit a lot of people love Fallout 3, no matter how I implore them, so maybe it represents the taste of people without taste.

 

[uhjghvt]

you know what else was popular when it first came out? thats right... hitler

 

[JarlFrank]

you know what else was popular when it first came out? thats right... hitler

At least Hitler built motorways. Did Oblivion build motorways and create jobs? I think not.

 

[MetalCraze]

At other forums I visit a lot of people love Fallout 3, no matter how I implore them, so maybe it represents the taste of people without taste.

I don't think you need to visit other forums to see those people anymore.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

It's not so much the gushing praise as it is the paint-by-numbers result they all come to. It's like they're all regurgitating the same talking points, beyond the point of coincidence. It almost seems like someone handed them a press kit and said "you have to fill these quotas - mention VATS (and explain the acronym), mention Beth are big fans, dark humor, mention disgruntled hardcore fans, etc.

It's kind of like one of those celebrity interviews on one of the Late Shows where the whole conversation has been sketched out in a pre-interview. It's so shallow and canned.

 

[Chefe]

you know what else was popular when it first came out? thats right... hitler

At least Hitler built motorways. Did Oblivion build motorways and create jobs? I think not.

 

[denizsi]

No. Hitler was an acquired taste.

It almost seems like someone handed them a press kit and said "you have to fill these quotas - mention VATS (and explain the acronym), mention Beth are big fans, dark humor, mention disgruntled hardcore fans, etc.

The "dark humor" and violence things is quite annoying. In Fallout 1&2, you can turn gore off and not even see blood pools if you so desire. But who cares, dark humour = senseless gore, right?

 

[Stevee Wonder]

It's not so much the gushing praise as it is the paint-by-numbers result they all come to. It's like they're all regurgitating the same talking points, beyond the point of coincidence. It almost seems like someone handed them a press kit and said "you have to fill these quotas - mention VATS (and explain the acronym), mention Beth are big fans, dark humor, mention disgruntled hardcore fans, etc.

It's kind of like one of those celebrity interviews on one of the Late Shows where the whole conversation has been sketched out in a pre-interview. It's so shallow and canned.

Or maybe the main features just happen to stand out universally to everyone?

Nah, I'm going to agree with the OP. Bethesda is risking their credibility as a corporate entity by sending sacks of cash to Joe Suckoff at GamezRFun.blogspace for good reviews. Wait, what? Are people here really this fucking retarded?

 

[Applegate's Breasts]

 

[Mech]

It's not so much the gushing praise as it is the paint-by-numbers result they all come to. It's like they're all regurgitating the same talking points, beyond the point of coincidence. It almost seems like someone handed them a press kit and said "you have to fill these quotas - mention VATS (and explain the acronym), mention Beth are big fans, dark humor, mention disgruntled hardcore fans, etc.

It's kind of like one of those celebrity interviews on one of the Late Shows where the whole conversation has been sketched out in a pre-interview. It's so shallow and canned.

Or maybe the main features just happen to stand out universally to everyone?

Nah, I'm going to agree with the OP. Bethesda is risking their credibility as a corporate entity by sending sacks of cash to Joe Suckoff at GamezRFun.blogspace for good reviews. Wait, what? Are people here really this fucking retarded?

Is that a rhetorical question?

 

[Sirus]

its a conspiracy

 

[Walkin' Dude]

Or maybe the main features just happen to stand out universally to everyone?

Nah, I'm going to agree with the OP. Bethesda is risking their credibility as a corporate entity by sending sacks of cash to Joe Suckoff at GamezRFun.blogspace for good reviews. Wait, what? Are people here really this fucking retarded?

Credibility?

 

[Stevee Wonder]

Or maybe the main features just happen to stand out universally to everyone?

Nah, I'm going to agree with the OP. Bethesda is risking their credibility as a corporate entity by sending sacks of cash to Joe Suckoff at GamezRFun.blogspace for good reviews. Wait, what? Are people here really this fucking retarded?

Credibility?

Yes. Credibility.

This has nothing to do with whether a few dregs of humanity dislike their games and everything to do with being a billion dollar business that has much more vestments than just Oblivion and Fallout.

They would not stake their future on a scandal involving paying some dipshit in Iowa that runs a site with a readership in the dozens for a good review. Sorry. They wouldn't. And if you think they would then you are simply a fucking idiot or just butthurt the game isn't as bad as you hoped it would be. Misery loves company, eh?

So yeah. Zenimax has credibility where it matters, in the real world. They could give a fuck less about the codex.

 

[xuerebx]

Ba dum tish!

 

[Spectacle]

This has nothing to do with whether a few dregs of humanity dislike their games and everything to do with being a billion dollar business that has much more vestments than just Oblivion and Fallout.

They would not stake their future on a scandal involving paying some dipshit in Iowa that runs a site with a readership in the dozens for a good review. Sorry. They wouldn't. And if you think they would then you are simply a fucking idiot or just butthurt the game isn't as bad as you hoped it would be. Misery loves company, eh?

So yeah. Zenimax has credibility where it matters, in the real world. They could give a fuck less about the codex.

Hahahahaha, you're so naive. Just like bribes to politicians are labeled "campaign donations", game journalists are bribed with big advertising deals. There's no credibility to lose because everyone knows this kind of stuff goes on and anyone who can afford it does it.

 

[Stevee Wonder]

Hahahahaha, you're so naive. Just like bribes to politicians are labeled "campaign donations", game journalists are bribed with big advertising deals. There's no credibility to lose because everyone knows this kind of stuff goes on and anyone who can afford it does it.

Yes. I am sure Bethesda has a huge ad campaign deal signed with Gay fucking Gamers.com.

 

[PorkaMorka]

The only mistake in the OP's thinking is the notion that gaming journalists are selling out for loads of cash.

They're selling out far more cheaply than that.

http://legendarygamersoapbox.blogspot.c ... andal.html

So imagine my surprise when I saw rumors regarding one of my favorite websites for reading game reviews, Gamespot, had let go one of their senior reviewers over a review of a game he had made that rubbed its publisher the wrong way.

Now these circumstances are just rumors, but Jeff Gerstmann has been fired by Gamespot. Niether Gerstmann, nor Gamespot's parent company CNET will offer any reason as to why. Recently, Gamespot has released a statement saying external pressure from advertisers was not a factor in Jeff's termination as editorial director. The advertisements on Gamespot for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, as depicted in the top image, have been removed within the last 24 hours. The video review of the game in question has been removed from Gamespot's website but can be found on YouTube.

Eidos has reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising for Kane & Lynch on Gamespot's website alone, and according to Penny Arcade, "Eidos (we are told) pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site."

But some of these reviews may be legitimate, just as gaming itself is now dominated by stupid gamers to a far greater extent than it was 5, 10 or 15 years ago, it's no shock that review providers with their finger on the pulse of the industry would hire stupid reviewers (or reviewers with bad taste) to provide content that pleases that large stupid gamer demographic that is now so important.

But make no mistake... it would not be a good idea (careerwise) for mainstream reviewers on sites with lots of game advertising to give Fallout 3 any sort of a negative rating.

 

[Data4]

FYI, Gerstmann's review of Fallout 3. There's irony to be found here.

http://www.giantbomb.com/fallout-3/61-20504/reviews/

 

[Stevee Wonder]

Yes, it's ironic that the martyr for 'omg reviews are teh sux and paided for' gave it a good review.

 

[gunman]

Who the fuck cares anyway. FO3 is a commercial product for simpletons, tabloid readers, smarty-pants, dumb consumerists, glamor fans, career manics, trendy kids, macho boys, high life wannabes and other 99.99% anthropomorphic life forms that infest the planet Earth, sucking the life out of it like the parasites.

 

[Fat Dragon]

FYI, Gerstmann's review of Fallout 3. There's irony to be found here.

http://www.giantbomb.com/fallout-3/61-20504/reviews/

Wow. That was actually a damn good review. I agree with it fully.