Are gaming sites not reviewing games anymore?

[TVs Hasselhoff]

Anyone else finding it difficult to get a review for either Xbox 360 or PS3 on games like Lego Batman, Brothers in Arms, the newest Armored Core, etc.?

I can easily find a review for PURE, like the world needs another ATV racing game, but damn...

Even the console specific sites aren't reviewing much lately.

I'm usually good at tracking a review down, but I can't find anything substantive on these recent games, just previews.

Anyone got any feedback?

[le geek]

Perhaps the publishers didn't sent out review copies?

[slip81]

wait a few days. reviews for games that aren't Halo or GTA rarely are posted to sites the same day they release.

[skaar]

I seem to recall reviews for games being out before the game hits the shelves. I agree - something weird is going on these days.

[Gamereviewgod]

I can easily find a review for PURE, like the world needs another ATV racing game, but damn...


Play it. It's likely going to end up being the racing game of the year. Absolutely spectacular. Think SSX on ATVs.

[Lady Jaye]

Check out www.metacritic.com. They give out average ratings based on many print and Web sources, with links when available. Sure, the smaller indie sites won't be listed, but if you're wondering how a game fares, it's the best way to obtain an average and better gauge how good it's supposed to be.

Only thing: when the game is multiplatform, sometimes the review will apply to different platforms (say the PS3 and the X360 versions), and that's not always made clear.

Also: there might be a review embargo on certain titles, ie. a reviewer won't be allowed to publish the review before street date. This is being done more and more often in all spheres of entertainment (not just videogames), although a game publisher that's confident about its upcoming release will be less likely to impose one (the embargo exists to quell negative pre-launch hype, after all).

[TVs Hasselhoff]

Been to metacritic.

Big ol' XX for the scores.

This is just weird. It's not even an issue of small titles. Brothers has been talked about for a couple of years. And Lego has been promoted to death, but no reviews for launch day?

I'm sure PURE is fine. I'm just not excited about another ATV racing game.

[Lady Jaye]

As I wrote above: pre-launch review embargo. That's certainly what happened here, as major sites and mags should have received review copies.

[roxybaby]

I was wondering the same thing. I thought maybe I had the release dates wrong or something. What is the point of an embargo? Unless a game is gawd awful unplayable the reviews wouldn't keep me from buying it, and even if a game is that bad you usually know from all the previews anyway. Seems like they're biting the hand that feeds to withhold reviews past the release date.

[Trebuken]

Yes, been seeing this for awhile. The reviews are not posted until the day the game is released. Clearly they have played the game prior to this to generate the review, so why are they waiting? This means they are receiving review copies, possibly on the condition that they do no post their reviews until release...

Also there seems to be less reviews, at least in a timely manner except from some of the print magazines...I think we need to adapt and not be eager to buy the games at release....

[slip81]

Been to metacritic.

Big ol' XX for the scores.

This is just weird. It's not even an issue of small titles. Brothers has been talked about for a couple of years. And Lego has been promoted to death, but no reviews for launch day?

I'm sure PURE is fine. I'm just not excited about another ATV racing game.

dude, you are impatient aren't you?

metacritic page for BIA
BIA (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/brothersinarmshellshighway)

there is also one up for lego batman, thought it only has one review listed so far

[Jorpho]

How do you think Metacritic compares to Gamerankings? I usually go there first, mostly out of habit.

[TVs Hasselhoff]

dude, you are impatient aren't you?

metacritic page for BIA
BIA (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/brothersinarmshellshighway)

there is also one up for lego batman, thought it only has one review listed so far

Impatient!?!

Internet, baby! I want it now.

But seriously, recently I've noticed game reviews hitting later than release day. The latest Armored Core reviews didn't hit until a week after the game's release. I know there can be embargoes (sp), but when the first review for Lego Batman pops up in a WWE magazine, something is fishy.

Yeah, reviews on metacritic are starting to trickly in, but the first ones to appear aren't from the major sites, like IGN (sorry to use foul language on this post) or Gamespot.

And to answer someone else's question, I don't mind Metacritic, but they don't always link to a full review, so sometimes it is difficult to figure out what the reviewer was criticizing (sp again?). I can't get this keyboard to work right.

[Lady Jaye]

If they don't link to the full review, it's because the full review isn't available online (ex: Nintendo Power's reviews).

[Steve W]

Maybe after that one reviewer got fired for giving a middle of the road rating to the Kane & Lynch game, all the reviewers are nervous about posting less than stellar reviews...

[mailman187666]

I never read reviews for the scores they give them anyway. I usually see what kinds of technical issues there may be with certain games, which are usually written somewhere in a review, and if its a game I've been looking foward to, I'm gonna buy it anyways whether I see reviews or not. All the games I look for reviews on usually are 70% or above anyway so I get an idea of what to expect. Sometimes the games they score at a 90-100% are usually just the god of war, mario, and halo games. I'm almost always in the market for those except maybe halo and pretty much any new JRPG that comes out, so reviews are to me just hype me up more for the game before I make it to the store to buy it.

[exit]

I like to skim through reviews for games I normally wouldn't buy and ones that I'm somewhat curious about. Considering how lacking some review sites have been (IGN has been worse than usual lately), they're better off not reviewing the games anyway.

[Nature Boy]

Seems pretty obvious that (a) they're likely not allowed to post them before a certain date or (b) they have other priorities, probably posting a preview of the *next* big thing instead.

[nate1749]

I don't have an account, but I use gamefly.com for reviews. They show published sources and their high reviewers are listed first for member reviews. It's a really good site for modern game info (they'll normally have a blurb about the game, some screen shots, and sometimes a small preview video). It's nice because it's not an ad filled site (since they just want you to sign up w/them).