Don't take reviews personal

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The Order is a mediocre game...

There I said it.

No game in recent times has split the gaming landscape like Ready at Dawns first AAA Title. Now let me get this out of the way first. Yes the graphics of this game are amazing. Yes the gameplay is severely lacking. Depending on what's more important to you The Order is either a great experience or a dud. But overall it's pretty mediocre. Nothing really special, apart from a wasted setting in my opinion.

But let's not dwell on the game itself, but lets talk about the greater problem, which encompasses it.

Shortly after the first reviews of the Order hit the web the shitstorm began. Some people gloated, while some defended the game with insane vigor. It was quite the spectacle, but it showed a huge problem in todays gaming landscape (Or in society in general, but lets keep this gaming focused). Many fans take review scores just to personal. They link their personal well being to that of a game. After the Order was released I saw many threads about this anti-sony conspiracy or that Microsoft payed the reviewers to lower the scores for the Order. Because accepting that the game, they all anticipated and got hyped for, was not the great revelation they had hoped for, is just too much for these people.

It all boils down to this generation of hype that we all live in. Todays ''gameplay'' showings, if they even can be called that, don't serve to inform the customer about the game, but instead only to build hype and bring in Pre-Orders. Vertical slices of gameplay that are especially cinematic, but never appear in the finale game. CGI Trailers that show absolutely nothing of the finished game. Pre-Order bonuses and season passes that get announced before the game releases. All this serves to lessen the risk of releasing a game, by raking in as much profit as possible before the actual product is shipped. It's understandable that the company doesn't want the game to fail, but for the customer it shouldn't matter. Especially with a totally new IP like the Order. All that should matter is, if the game is any good.

But it's also quite understandable that many see it otherwise. And why wouldn't they? If you have Pre-ordered a game, already bought a season pass and downloaded the companion app, you don't want to get told that your purchase wasn't worth it. Instead you just deny it. It's a basic human reaction. The mistake here is getting invested in a game to such a degree, that every criticism of it feels like a criticism towards you. I hate to cite my mother but... It's just a video game. Getting personally invested with a product is one of the stupidest things you can do. It is only acceptable if you have a personal of financial interest, for example as investor or developer and even then it's not really healthy. But as a customer it's just dumb.

Also why shouldn't you enjoy it, just because it got bad reviews. If you're an absolute graphics junky you will probably love the Order. And there is nothing wrong with that, but accept that the whole package is just mediocre. Just don't take a review personal.

To be clear, I don't say you shouldn't be a fan of something, but you should never be a fanboy. Maybe you don't deem some parts of a video game important, but critics, for the most part, try to be as objective as possible. And if a game has horrible A.I. then it's something that shouldn't remain unmentioned, because it impacts the game as whole. If you don't care good for you, but some other players may.

I guess what I want to say is that you shouldn't take the review scores of your favorite games personal. It would be generally better if we could personally detach ourselves more from the products we use and the whole metacritic system. In the end scores are just a number that may help uninformed players to decide if they want to purchase a game or not. They shouldn't impact your enjoyment of a video game.

Just don't take review scores personal.

and as always

thanks for reading