Do you buy (or not) games using reviews?

[Backgammon]

I wonder why critically acclaimed games sometimes bomb and horrible games sell well. With the internet and lots of gaming magazines informing people it shoudn't happen but it's a common fact of life. I can say by myself that I always try to get info and opinions about what I'm wanting to buy and I hardly buy awful games. But it seems that most players don't care about getting information before buying games.

Have you already bought (or shunned) a game using solely good (or bad) reviews?

edit: some corrections.

[max 330 mega]

i tend to listen to what reviews say somewhat, but then again i try to get a variety of opinions on the game before i decide im gonna buy it or not, i mean i also look at what company its made by, if they already have a pretty bad track record of pumping out shit games, im probaby gonna pass it up.

[Tritoch]

I don't think I've ever bought a game based solely on a review or reviews. Usually I have to have some interest in it before checking out a review in the first place, so I'm already at least considering it before I read.

[Nesmaster]

if something interests me enough im gonna buy it regardless of what reviewers have to say :D

[tholly]

basing purchases soley by reviews is a poor decision just because the review may say exactly how the game is...good or bad....but, your personal preference in games may be completely different.....ie, the game could be great in your eyes, but it still gets a terrible review or vice versa

id say, just buy the types of games that you like, or at the very least spend the $5 rental fee before you go ahead and spend a full $50 on a new release game

[suppafly]

All magazines reviews are not trustworthy. Magazines now hype games way too much, and sometimes terrible games (like doom 3 ) get good reviews.

I pay more attention to word of mouth from other fellow gamers

[MegaDrive20XX]

I do not listen to reviews, I buy on interest alone

[Gapporin]

Absolutely not. There's only one person that decides which games I like.

Me.

[Querjek]

Occasionally... i.e. Drake for the Xbox 8-)

[vision89]

I certainly read reviews before buying a game and take it into consideration. Though I don't base my purchase solely on one review alone. Usually I'll read several reviews of the game looking for different opinions on how good the game is. Second, I'll look at several different sites to see how different people describe the game (not review, describe in general the gameplay and story). Last I usually think about how bad I actually want the game, then I decide if I want to buy it, or how much I'd be willing to give for it. So basically I check all the sources I can and then make my decision, and reviews are one of the sources I check.

[Lady Jaye]

In my case, it's a combo of interest and reviews. For starters, it doesn't matter how "perfect" (or not) Doom 3 may be, it's not my type of game. I do check out reviews (preferably through metacritic.com so that I get different points of view, not just one). However, even lukewarm reviews don't always stop me from choosing certain games. For instance, I know American McGee's Alice is far from perfect, but I still love that game, regardless of reviews.

[VinnyT]

Usually, I don't let an offcial reviewer make my last decision on a certain game. If I just read about it being praised, but without normal content for a review, i'll know it's a little more special, and worth my time.

Course, i'm dead broke anyway...

[Milk]

Of course I read reviews. And of course I buy games that I like and have an interest in. It's just that I want to know what I'm getting into before I spend 30 to 50 dollars on a piece of plastic.

[Crush Crawfish]

I do read reviews, but I usually don't let them decide what I buy. I like to have some Idea of what the game is, and If it interests me at all, I'll buy it eventually- regardless of what any reviewer might say. For example, If I'd listened to the reviews, I'd never have bought Breath of Fire 2 and Earthbound, two of my all-time favorite games ever. Ulltimately, It should be you who decides what you like and don't like.

[calthaer]

The most important thing to me is the ability to play a game first. This means downloading a demo for PC and / or borrowing it from a friend.

Then I listen to what the people on this board say about a game.

Then I read reviews.

[hydr0x]

i read reviews (i do read 2-3 game mags every month) but i never let them decide what i want, i completly ignore them :o

i buy what i seem to like, as i almost never purchase games at full price anyways it doesn't matter too much if a game sucks

[Fuyukaze]

I buy first and then read reviews. Sometimes I get burnt this way but all to often I find myself thinking the sources of the reviews I read are either outright haters of the company making the game/system its on or are getting paid by the company. Most of the reviews I read lack any objectivity or point beyond using as many words as posible. I realy should stop using mags like gamepro and game imformer as mags I read reviews from. GameFaq's is no better. Some of those people could seriously do with some math clases. If a game gets all 7's in their rankings, it shouldnt get a total score of 4 or 5. Mostly mags only real purpose to me is to find out what games are getting released, and to actualy see screen shots of it.

[maxlords]

I read the reviews first if I know NOTHING about a game. After a while, you get a feel for what info in reviews is accurate and what is complete fiction. I find that reviews give me a basic idea of what a game will be like. I never listen to them about whether a game is good or bad, only about what the gameplay is like and if it has any issues. Typically, I know mostly what games i want....I use reviews for the ones that sneak under the radar.

[SegaAges]

i have been in the game just long enough to know enough background on a game that i want. there are many games though that people in here will recommend, and then i will go buy it. i don't like to listen to people that are given games for free to do reviews. they would be too nice to a game that sucked balls. i want to hear somebody's horor story of buying a game for $50 brand new, only to have it be the worst game they have ever played. i have also had the opposite happen for me as well. i have people find good deals on cheap games that i would think sucked, but they say good things about the games.

if i read reviews, it will be from a fellow gamer that eitehr rented it or bought it

[jaybird]

I subscribe to several gaming mags & take all the reviews into consideration when deciding to purchase a game.

For example, I was on the fence about Phantom Brave, but since it has gotten several 8's, I stayed away. Eight is a very respectible score, but not good enough to convince me to pay $50 for the game. I really wanted it to be better than Disgaea to justify the investment in my time & money.

A case of horrible journalism is Game Informer's bias against the Mario Party series. They've ground the last two games into dust (1's and 2's) for no reason other than they don't like the concept of the game. I completely ignored their review & bought the games anyway because I know they're fun to play with friends.

[Oobgarm]

It's silly to base a purchase on reviews alone. There must be some sort of personal politics involved.

They're a great tool to assist in a decision, but they're not a decision maker.

[rbudrick]

It's rare, but I will sometimes buy a game based on reviews. It's been a long time though....I think the last one I did this for was Gamcube Ikaruga. Usually I just buy games based on how cheap they were, and even in Ikarugas case, I bought because it was $19.99! LOL

-Rob

[Aussie2B]

GameFaq's is no better. Some of those people could seriously do with some math clases. If a game gets all 7's in their rankings, it shouldnt get a total score of 4 or 5.

Here's a tip: Don't read GameFAQs reviews that gives scores to individual categories. That's a tell-tale sign of a lousy review. Even better, don't bother reading sectioned reviews at all. The best reviews there are usually somewhat resembling an essay.

[Aussie2B]

i don't like to listen to people that are given games for free to do reviews. they would be too nice to a game that sucked balls. i want to hear somebody's horor story of buying a game for $50 brand new, only to have it be the worst game they have ever played.

I usually find the opposite to be true. If someone pays a lot of cash for a game, they WANT to like the game and think that they didn't waste their money. Even if it's a so-so game, they'll often lie to themselves about the quality just to feel better about the purchase. And for the vice versa situation, it's usually people who download a ROM or get a game for cheap/free who are very quick to dismiss it as complete crap (I'd guess that the vast majority of 1/10 reviews at GameFAQs on older games were written after hearing that the game sucked, trying the ROM out for 5 minutes, and then saying "Yep, this sucks").

[fahrvergnugen]

[quote=Fuyukaze]Here's a tip: Don't read GameFAQs reviews that gives scores to individual categories. That's a tell-tale sign of a lousy review. Even better, don't bother reading sectioned reviews at all. The best reviews there are usually somewhat resembling an essay.

The poster speaks truth, and we would do well to heed his wise words.

I find that most game reviews suck, as I posted previously. I go out of my way to avoid previews now, and just play betas or ask my friends for advice. The SA Forum goons tend to get it right, so their consensual opinion carries much weight as well.

I would say a bad commercial review might make me decide not to buy a game I was planning on getting, but no favorable review has ever pushed me over the edge toward buying a game. They have, however, alerted me to the existence of niche titles, like Gitaroo Man, of which I would never have heard otherwise.

[Milk]

Most of the essay reviews on GameFAQs are pretensious slop. They're overly wordy, and the writer is usually more concerned with slipping in one-liners stolen from EGM than on the game.

I don't even read the reviews there anymore, I just scan the ratings. They usually give a good, general idea of whether the game is crap or not, though you have to keep your "fanboy filter" on.