Video Game review sites

[sadude]

I know video game review sites are all the devil and whatnot, but do you guys read any of them? If so, which?

I do get a general idea of how good the game is by the gamerankings average, but when I want to read the details of a game I don't know anything about, I'm not familiar with too many review sites out there. Do you pick any in particular, or the highest/lowest, or random ones?

[neshcom]

I subscribe to the Kotaku news feed, so I get new game reviews from there. They have a nice way of reviewing videogames and they aren't afraid to let you know that it's different. For older games, probably MetaCritic.

[AEUGNewtype]

I have a pretty strong standard of not even going to sites for reviews anymore, after how often they are completely wrong about so many of the games that turned out to be some of my favorite games of the last few years, there's really not a point anymore. And in the age right now where there's a free demo available for download of 80% of the games that get released, I'd rather just make my own decisions. I used to use GameSpot, but then after the shit hit the fan there last year, they've just gone to shit and also fall into the shitty traps all the other sites do, where games that are hyped up get huge reviews and whatever is released by independent publishers that don't provide the most original, innovative, and revolutionary experience on the market get a 5/10 or less. I don't even go to gamerankings/metacritic for stuff anymore but once or twice a month, if that. And I really only look up games that I know absolutely nothing about, usually for systems other than 360, since I have other 360-specific sites that I visit that fit my needs and opinions much more closely.

[Melon]

I go to gaming forums and read the threads for user comments. I find that's a better way to get a feel for the game, though I do take some posts with a grain of salt for fanboy delusions.



I love the British gaming mags, but they're a rarity here and I don't want to pay $70 for an Edge subscription.

[Zounder]

I do take a look at various review sites if I'm on the fence about buying a game, but I don't let it influence me that much. I usually look for certain gameplay facts/analysis about the game within the reviews, as opposed to the "this game is good/bad" bottom line or the numerical score. I use GameSpot sometimes; I tend to stay away from IGN for some reason. As strange as it sounds, I find GameFAQs reviews decent, since they're coming from gamers who aren't getting paid to write what they write.

[Zaeleus]

Since discovering Metacritic several years ago, I've always had the tendency to go straight there if I'm looking for a rating. I like the idea of it aggregating from a multitude of sources and the way it uses weighted averages. Though even with all the math, the scores in no way affect my attitude toward a game since there's still a large margin of error given the relatively small sample size. Take LittleBigPlanet for example. It truly is a nice and robust platformer, but I would have never rated it anywhere near a "universally acclaimed" 95/100 (or maybe I'm too harsh when rating games). Hopefully there's a demo to preview the game, and if not, there's always a rental first.



I also like to watch trailers a lot. Not that it really portrays the game entirely, as I'm sure the creators only make a montage of all the exciting scenes, but it definitely makes me more inclined toward a game. So coincidentally enough, there's GameTrailers. It's great that they offer high definition video for free and let you download it (i.e., not forcing you to use their Flash player).

[darkzero]

I usually search google to see if the game is unplayable trash or has any major problems. Aside from that, I usually don't trust the scores for the reviews because it's a really subjective matter, so I'd rather play it myself if I'm that interested in it.

[al kusanagi]

While I usually just use demos to make up my mind about buying games, I'm a huge fan of Giantbomb.com, mainly for their awesome podcast Giant Bombcast. That also do some great video stuff, my favorite being their "endurance run" of Persona 4, where a couple of them are literally playing through the entire game complete with commentary. Currently it's on part 40.

[neshcom]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='63317' date='Apr 4 2009, 10:19 AM']While I usually just use demos to make up my mind about buying games, I'm a huge fan of Giantbomb.com, mainly for their awesome podcast Giant Bombcast. That also do some great video stuff, my favorite being their "endurance run" of Persona 4, where a couple of them are literally playing through the entire game complete with commentary. Currently it's on part 40.[/quote]

this

[Ap2000]

I like to watch any kind professionally done video review, even if the games absolutely don't interest me.

Except for the ones on gamespot, because nearly all of their editors have annoyingly boring voices.

I frequently visit GameTrailers, eventhough their new GTP system ruined the idea of users getting rewarded for uploading videos. It's abysmal now.



However, I'm not into reading written reviews for games, usually I just skip to the conclusion. (IGN.com)



I used to visit gamerankings.com (I hate metacritic), but with their new layout (which is extremely ugly and confusing) and new (rarely working) search function, that site pretty much got useless.



btw, for movie reviews, I visit rottentomatoes.com.

[Sabaku Ika]

[quote name='Petit Melon' post='63288' date='Apr 3 2009, 08:29 PM']I go to gaming forums and read the threads for user comments. I find that's a better way to get a feel for the game, though I do take some posts with a grain of salt for fanboy delusions.[/quote]

This is basically what I do. Neo-GAF and Something Awful Forums are usually not too fanboy saturated. I usually look it metacritic too, but don't take the numbers too seriously.



I guess I should look more closely at Giantbomb.