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Personally I decided a long time ago that games reviews could not be trusted. The number of games which are hailed as being great which are actually a bit rubbish in my estimation is quite large. Some would say that this is a sign of poor taste. I however would suggest that I know what I like, and I know what I don’t like. It doesn’t matter how technically good something is, if it isn’t doing it for me that’s that. This is something which happens much less often in music. People realised a long time ago that technical excellency does not necesarilly mean music is good. You can play your instruments better than anyone else in the world, but if the composition isn’t interesting it’s not worth my time.

It is this point here that games reviews are currently struggling with. Currently most games reviews tend to assess technical points, indeed some go as far as to award ratings for specific technical aspects as well as an overall score. This misses the point somewhat, especially as these tend to be largely bland things such as “graphics”, “audio”, and “gameplay”. What of a consideration of compostion? How about storyline, or dialogue or… You get the idea. Games reviewers are hung up on this ideal of objectively dealing with a game and providing some rating on a scale of some description. What games reviewers need to do is accept that reviewing is a naturally subjective art. It is an honourable intention to try to look at games objectively but realistically I’d rather have the reviewer admit that they have certain likes and dislikes to aid my ability to judge how closely my opinion will match theirs.

And that is the current crux of the issue for me. There are a few games reviewers who I identify with. Jeff Gerstmann is definitely one of those, and I enjoy reading his reviews and listening to his views. That is part of the reaosn I find GiantBomb such an exciting prospect. However a lot of this is that over time I’ve grown accustomed to his likes and dislikes and learned how those match up with mine. The text of the review is crucial and can tell me oh so much about how much I’ll like a game, regardless of some pointless score that even Jeff has attatched to a game. Jeff reviews in an open, honest and forthright manner. He does not pull his punches, if there is an issue with a game he says there is an issue with the game. Indeed this may have cost him his job at Gamespot. More games reviewers need to take this approach to protect the integrity of the profession.

As gamers we have to start using our heads, and buying games based purely on a score. Most gamers don’t seem to apply these rules of personal likes and dislikes, they like to pretend that they like all games  that review well, and dislike all games that review badly. I admit I enjoy some “average” or “bad” games for my own reasons. Be they nostalgia, a particular love of the genre, an appropriatness for a certain time in my life, or other similar factors. Equally I dislike some “good” games because of various factors.

It’s time that both games reviewers and gamers gre up a little and took a little more care about their respective sides of the games reviewing equation.