Metroid Prime Remastered is second

Metac?ritic has released their "top 20 games ?of 2023 so far" list (which covers January through June), and the results are somewhat expected, but fascinating nonetheless. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom towers over the competition with a 96/100 combined critic Metascore, followed closely by Metroid Prime Remastered at 94.

After that is a decent run from the PS5, cleaning up on mu?ltiplatform releases, followed by some smaller games filling in the top 20. Let's look at the full breakdown without the piecemeal galler??y format of Metacritic's site.

Metacritic's top games so far (as of the end of June 2023)

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) - 96/100 Metascore
2. Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) - 94
3. Resident Evil 4 remake (PS5) - 93
4. Street Fighter 6 (PS5) - 92
5. Dead Space (PS5) - 89
6. Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) - 88
7. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) - 87
8. Hi-Fi Rush (Xbox Series X) - 87
9. Diablo IV (PC) - 87
10. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5) - 85
11. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (Switch) - 85
12. Humanity (PS5) - 85
13. A Space For The Unbound (Switch) - 85
14. Octopath Traveler II (Switch) - 84
15. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) - 84
16. Hogwarts Legacy (PS5) - 84
17. Cassette Beasts (PC) - 84
18. Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society (Switch) - 83
19. Age of Wonders 4 (PC) - 83
20. Doomblade (PC) - 83

Here??'s how everything plays out cumulatively,? platform-wise:

• PS5 - 7 entries
• Switch - 7 entries
• PC - 5 entries
• Xbox Series X - 1 entry

Let's unpack that data for a quick minute

Before we unpack anything, it's important to note the nuance of platform choice. Take Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for instance, which has an 85/100 Metascore on PS5, and a 78/100 on PC. Metacritic has a qualifier for that, noting: "If a game was released on multiple platfo??rms, we included only the version receiving the largest total number of reviews (usually, but not always, the PS5 or PS4 version)."

A few remakes and remastered snuck in too, thanks to this clarification: "Multi-game compilations and newly released ports of games released in recent years on other platforms are excluded, unless they are substantially different from the prior release(s) (for example, an HD remaster that also adds some new content or is multiple hardware generations beyond the previous release). We have also excluded expansion packs and other DLC." "Multiple hardware generations" would allow Metroid Prime Remastered, Dead Space, and RE4 to claim spots.

With that in mind, the most obvious takeaway is that Nintendo is killing it. It's tied with the PS5 in terms of total entries in the top 20, but it also snatched up the top two slots with exclusives. Sony isn't doing too badly itself, because while it doesn't command a lead in terms of first-party exclusives, this data does showcase the company's raw multiplatform dominance. Speaking of PS5 exclusives, Final Fantasy XVI snuck in there a??t the last possible second?, racking up an 88/100 Metascore and taking sixth place overall.

Beyond the fairly expected mostly-AAA top 10, the presence of some indies/oddball games on this list is fantastic, especially Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo.

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Link shoots for the top

Now that the review embargo has passed, gaming outlets across the globe have released their scores for Nintendo's stellar Switch release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom �And the?? fantasy adventure str?ing of five-star reviews are already rocking the scoreboards of review aggregate sites.

As of this writing, Metacritic holds a critical score of 97, making it the highest-rated game of 2023 so far, as well as being the highest-rated Nintendo Switch release of all time, beating out 2017's Super Mario Odyssey by less than a singular point. All recor?ded reviews so far fa??ll into the "Positive" category, with only one landing in "Mixed" and none in "Negative".

Over on OpenCritic, (as reported by VGC), the numbers are even stronger, as Tears of the Kingdom is currently the highest-rated video game of all time recorded on the platform, with a rating of 97.2, and once again beating out Super Mario Odyssey by less than a single point. Of course, these aggregates can go down, as well as up, as other reviews get added and add or subtract from the average. But, at least as of right now, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is riding high on a wave of critical success.

It's an undeniably impressive feat, one that practically guarantees that the long-awaited Breath of the Wild sequel will be the biggest Nintendo release, as well as one of the best-selling games, of 2023. And to think, if Street Fighter 6 was??n't coming out, then it might even have been Game of the Year, but you? can't win them all.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches tomorrow, May 12, on Nintendo Switch.

Zelda: Tears of ??the Kingdom is the highest-r??ated game ever on OpenCritic [VGC]

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Aggregate site to 'introduce stricter moderation'

-This article contains plot spoilers for Burning Shores-

Media aggregate site Metacritic has responded to a recent controversy that has seen Horizon Forbidden West DLC Burning Shores ruthlessly review-bombed on the site, with many negative user reviews plied with hate? speech, tonal abuse, and homophobia.

The DLC, which was launched by Guerrilla Games on April 19, was generally well-received by critics and Horizon fans �And while some players were left understandably frustrated by Guerrilla's decision to only publishing the DLC on PS5, (leaving the PS4 community behind), it seems that thi?s is not t?he main point of contention for a portion of the players who left negative user reviews.

A lot of the negativity, (veiled or otherwise) is weighted toward the fact that, over the course of the story, Horizon hero Aloy meets another woman, Seyka, while on her journey through the new world. As the two characters spend time together over the course of the DLC, Aloy finds herself drawn to the Qu?en tribe warrior, ultimately resulting in a scene where the player can, should they choose to do so, brin?g the two characters together for a passionate kiss. And it seems that this, of course, is a cause for concern among the angriest and loudest of the gaming community.

Last week saw the User Review section inundated with both massively negative written and numerical reviews, leading the DLC to sit at a current score of 4.0 (actually higher than it has been previously). While most of the more homophobic of the sit?e's 254 negative reviews have since been removed, many remaining reviews choose to mask themselves a little better, simply claiming that the DLC is "poorly written'' or that "the world is boring", before following up with a flat score of zero out of ten �somewhat raising eyebrows.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbl2wfyAgxY&ab_chan??nel=PlayStation

Speaking to Eurogamer, Metacritic owner Fandom addressed the moderation?? situation.

"Fandom is a place of belonging for all fans and we take online trust and safety very seriously across all our sites including Metacritic," writes a spokesperson. "Metacritic is aware of the abusive and disrespectful reviews of Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores and we have a mod?eration system in place to track violations o??f our terms of use."

"Our team reviews each and every report of abuse (including but not limited to racist, sexist, homophobic, insults to other users, etc) and if violation?s occur, the reviews are removed. We are currently evolving our processes and tools to introduce stricter moderation in the coming months."

Fandom did not divulge exactly how it intends to curb hate speech on the platform, but the statement represents an acknowledgment of an issue that has plagued the website for many years and is certainly not an overnight problem that suddenly began with the release Burning Shores. Ultimately, ?wherever ??the public is open to review any form of art, you will find conflict.

There is an inherent importance to the Voice of the People when it comes to the criticism of art and all media. In the past, negative reviews en masse have led to a much-needed change in regard to certain title or project �Not just in gaming, but in all forms of artistic interpretation. But that situation and this situation are not one and the same. The reviews in the spotlight here are hate speech;?????????????????????????? the spreading of negative ideology; and a continued inability to ev??olve with a growing world and community.

This wailing cacophony of noise, which is seemingly created and delivered alongside the launch of almost any TV series, film, comic, or video game that chooses even the most minor path of inclusivity �be it through race, gender, sexuality, or any other humanitarian issue �has ensured that aggregate scoring has ultimately become a wal?l of white noise, generally to be ignored by producers, publishers, writers, developers, and, of course, fans.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is available now on PS5.

Metacritic improving moderation afte??r Horizon Burning Shores reviews [Eurogamer]

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Sony takes "Metacritic's #1 publisher of the year" award

2022 was a really strange year for gaming. We had quite a few big releases, but some of them were only released in 2022 because they were delayed (in several cases, repeatedly). Some projects were even delayed out ?of 2022. That's what makes ?this newest annual ranking list from Metacritic so interesting.

Going solely off of critical rankings (with a formula detailed below), Metacritic managed to muster up a full "top 45" list based on 2022 releases: and Sony took the top spot. They're followed by Paradox Interactive (who released a string of critically-well-received-and-sometimes-niche-games), and surprisingly, Activision Blizzard: who is currently riding high off of the mostly positive reception for the Diablo IV beta.

Mixed into the top 10 are Focus Entertainment, Take-Two (2K), Capcom, Sega (who also owns Atlus), Annapurna, Humble Games, and Devolver Digital. If you're wondering where the other "big two publishers" are, Nintendo clocks in at the 12th spot, and Microsoft proper isn't on the list at ?all (becaus?e they didn't meet the minimum requirements of releasing five games last year).

If you're looking for a bit of math-based fun, you can check out more info here. See if you can spot your favorite publisher!

Metacritic's top 10 2023 game publisher rankings:

• 1 - Sony
• 2 - Paradox Interactive
• 3 - Activision Blizzard
• 4 - Focus Entertainment [Arcade Crew, Blackmill, Deck13, DotEmu]
• 5 - Take-Two [2K, Private Division, Rockstar]
• 6 - Capcom
• 7 - Sega [Atlus]
• 8 - Annapurna Interactive
• 9 - Humble Games
• 10 - Devolver Digital

You can find the full list of rankings here.

If you're curious, here is how Metacritic came up with said ranking system:

"Which game publishers released the best games in 2022? For the 13th consecutive year, we sifted through 12 months of data to determine the best and worst game publishers of the year, based solely on the quality of their 2022 releases. Sales and user reviews do not factor into these rankings; only c?ritic reviews (as captured by each game's Metascore) are used to evaluate performance. Publishers are ranked from worst to best in the gallery above based on a points system, calculated (as in previous years) according to the following four factors:

• (1) Average Metascore for all games released in 2022 150 possible points (awarded at 1.5 x the average Metascore)
• (2) % of scored products with good reviews (Metascore of at least 75) 100 possible points (ex: 80% good = 80 points)
• (3) % of scored products with bad reviews (49 or lower; in this case, a lower % is better) 100 possible points (ex: 20% bad = 80 points)
• (4) Number of "great" titles (Metascore of 90 or higher, min. 7 reviews) Awarded as 5 bonus points for each distinct title with a 90+ score

Note that the Metascore average (the first factor) counts slightly?? more than the other factors. Only publishers with five or more distinct titles released last year are included in our rankings. Rather unusually, a major game publisher (it rhymes with "Microsoft") that ranked #1 a year ago failed to reach that cutoff this time, leaving them unable to defend their title. Finally, note that iOS games are excluded from all calculations. All scores in this report are from March 9, 2023, and U.S. release?? dates and publishers are used for all games except those never released in the U.S."

Full details can be found here.

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One first party exclusive made it into the top 10

With 2022 fully in the rear view mirror, it's time to check in and see how the year went. For the Nintendo Switch, things were mostly good! Metacritic however has their story to tell, including a full "top 40" breakdow??n of the best-reviewed Switch games of 2022.

Note that the criteria is fairly broad, as it involves every game from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 that had at least seven reviews; ranked entirely by Meta??score (ratings).

The top 10 Switch games of 2022, according to Metacritic:

1. Portal Companion Collection
2. Persona 5 Royal
3. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
4. NieR: Automata - The End of YoRHa Edition
5. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
6. Neon White
7. Tunic
8. Cuphead in the Delicious Last Course
9. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
10. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

Seeing a first party Nintendo game in the top five is unsurprising: but it is a bit shocking that there aren't more in there. The rest of the list is filled with ports of celebrated games (Persona 5 Royal, NieR Automata), as well as timed console exclusives like Neon White (which was only on PC and Switch for roughly six months). On the flipside there's games like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which only just came to Switch this year after it was exclusive to the PS4 since 2019. It's a good mix! Several sole Switch exclusives were kept off the top 10 list due to a mixed reception (mainly looking at the new Pokemon generation).

It just goes to show you that the Switch really has carved out a spot for itself as a port machine that people prefer; and a platform that can deliver high quality ports if the studios are up to the task. You can find t??he full breakdown here, including the entire top 40.

The post Metacritic reveals the best-reviewed Switch games of ????2022 appeared first on Destructoid.

Postal somehow keeps popping up to perpetually make these lists

It's that time again! Metacritic has put out its list of the top 1??0 worst-rated games of the year, and you get to peruse them all to see which ones you've even heard of, much less have actually played.

Taking the number one spot is the always reliable Postal series, with Postal 4: No Regerts. I am absolutely amazed and dumfounded how Postal is still a thing in 2022, but here we are: I'm actually writing about it for the first time. They got me! In terms of "games you've probably heard of," there's CrossfireX on the list (which ranked second worst), as well as Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, and Babylon's Fall.

Sloppy ports and trash franchise tie-ins adorning this list makes sense. But Babylon's Fall is arguably the biggest bust of 2022, as it was released by a major studio and publisher, and failed as a live service game very publicly. Whil?e the computations are ?solely based on platform-specific critical ratings, for me it would take the cake as the undisputed number one loser of the year for all of those aforementioned reasons.

It's such a shame, because with more polish/development time, and the gumption to abandon the whole live service aspect and just make it a good game, it could have maybe had some sort of impact.

Here are 2022's top worst ranked games on Metacritic (from worst to least worst)

1. Postal 4: No Regerts (PC)
2. CrossfireX (Xbox Series X)
3. Babylon's Fall (PS5)
4. Xel (Switch)
5. LEGO Brawls (PS5)
6. Zorro: The Chronicles (PS4)
7. The Last Oricru (Xbox Series X)
8. The Waylanders (PC)
9. Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief (PS4)
10. Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition (Switch)

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The fans are split on this one

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet is finally out, and it's been met with, uh, mixed reviews to say the least. While some fans are simply thrilled to have a new game to sink their teeth into, others are disappointed with the game's visuals, gameplay, and the plethora of bugs. The result is that Scarlet & Violet has the lowest score on Metacritic of any mainline Pokémon game ever at a 77 -- no new gen Pokémon has scored below an 80 until now.

For years, Metacritic has been the golden standard in the games industry of the success of your game, and a bad score is enough to sink a small studio. Game Freak and Nintendo likely won't bat an eye at the score unless it causes any sort of dip in post-launch sales, which isn't unlikely considering how vocal fans are being with their distaste online. I'm kind of on the fringes of the Pokémon fandom, and I for one was waiting to purchase until I heard how the game was this time around, but the Metacritic score for Scarlet & Violet closed the deal for me. Looks like I'll be pas?sin?g on this one...

//www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/yypyhu/the_new_pok%C3%A9mon_games_has_so??m??e_bizarrre_glitches/

Pre-orders were certainly not affected when it came to Scarlet & Violet, though, because they were the most pre-ordered Pokémon games of all time. While we don't know for sure how many copies were pre-ordered, The Pokémon Company's COO Takato Utsunomiya announced at a launch event for Scarlet & Violet that more than 440 million copies of Pokémon-related games have been sold in the lifetime of the series, which is insanely impressive, but also not surprising considering Pokémon is one of the most well-loved (and lucrative) IPs in the entire world.

It's a shame that Scarlet & Violet shipped in the state that it did, because fans have been anxiously awaiting a new mainline game since Pokémon Sword & Shield. Here's hoping that they can patch some of the worst bugs, and the next release in the series, whenever we get it,?? won't be quite so broken.

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Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is the best-ranked overall

Metacritic has released its list of best?-rated new games of 20?21, and Forza Horizon 5 and Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker are among them.

As a bit of background, the top 10 mostly consists of ports of existing acclaimed games that were released in 2020 and earlier. Coming in number one is Disco Elysium "Final Cut" on PC, a re-release of the 2019 game with new content. Next up is the Switch version of The House in Fata Morgana, which originally came out in 2012 on PC in Japan. Then there's Tetris Effect (originally 2018), followed by Hades on Xbox Series X then PS5 (2020). ??Once we hit sixth place it's fi??nally time for new games.

Forza Horizon 5 on Series X is sixth, then FFXIV: Endwalker in seventh and eighth (PS5 and PC respectively), then Forza Horizon 5 in ninth (PC), with Psychonauts 2 in 10th on Xbox One. The entire list is worth a look if you want to get a refresh of 2?021, which had a number of surprises amid a lot of familiarity. It really drives the latter point home to see the top 10 mostly dominated by ports of old games, sequels, DLC, or expansions.

Best-rated games of 2021 according to Metacritic:

1. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (PC) �97
2. The House in Fata Morgana (Switch) �97
3. Tetris Effect: Connected (Switch) �95
4. Hades (Xbox Series X) �93
5. Hades (PS5) �93
6. Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series X) �92
7. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker �(PS5) �92
8. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (PC) �91
9. Forza Horizon 5 (PC) �91
10. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox One) �91

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It's eFootball 2022

After deleting five instances of "Balan Wonderland," I squinted at this "top 10 worst games of 2021" list. The Balan Wonderworld Metacritic rating was not #1!

No, that honor goes to eFootball 22 on PC, which obtained a 25 Metascore, 10 lower than the lowest-rated Balan Wonderworld port (Switch). For reference, on PC, eFootball 21 obtained a decent 74 rating last year. So what went wrong? Free-to-play. Released in 2021, the game's community and critics rebelled against the move to free-to-play, amid bugs and other issues, to the point where it was also one of the lowest-ranked games on Steam as well.

There aren't too many surprises with the rest of the list outside of the late/recent addition of GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition taking the sixth overall spot late in the year (Switch was the worst-rated platform). The whole Balan Wonderworld saga is one of the saddest stories this list tells, as a lot of people were pretty excited for it, and the dom?inos just kept falling cons?tantly after launch. The fact that the Balan Wonderworld Metacriti??c ranking isn't #1 is kind of a shock, but w??hen in doubt, you can always count on free-to-play to create a new bottom.

You can find the entire list below, including their ratings and the platform they were critiqued on. Here is their crit?eria in case you were curious: "[These are] the lowest-scoring games released for any platform between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Games are ranked by Metascore (as of December 18, 2021) prior to rounding, and any titles with fewer than 7 reviews from professional critics are excluded. If a single title would have landed on the list multiple times due to low scores on more than one platform, we only included the lowest-scoring version."

Worst-rated games of 2021 according to Metacritic:

1. eFootball 2022 (PC) - 25
2. Balan Wonderworld (Switch) - 36
3. Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood (PS4) - 42
4. Taxi Chaos (PS4) - 42
5. Of Bird and Cage (PC) - 44
6. GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition (Switch) - 47
7. I Saw Black Clouds - (PS4) - 48
8. Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace (PC) - 48
9. Demon Skin (PC) - 48
10. Necromunda: Hired Gun (PS4) - 49

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With Capcom in third

2020 was a year...is the most basic statement that's been said so far in 2021 on this si?te.

But we did have a lot of great games! Some ??of them were delayed until the tail-end of 2020, and some into 2021.? But there's still a lot to celebrate, and Metacritic is doing just that, giving us a "game publisher ranking" chart for last year. The results are pretty interesting.

First up is Sega, who leads the way with the most amount of positive rankings. But it's Annapurna Interactive that actually holds the record for the highest average, coming in sec??ond with less total rankings than Sega. Next up is Capcom, th??en Sony, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Aksys, then No More Robots.

Breaking?? this down, what did Sega actually release in? 2020?

Well, Yakuza: Like a Dragon really helped their standing, as did games like Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, Total War Saga: Troy, and Persona 5 Strikers. Sega has a surprisingly large portfolio of games at this point and a decent chunk of partnerships. Persona 5 Royal and Yakuza 0&nb??sp;actually came in first? in terms of the publisher's top releases. Out of 38 scored products, 95% were "good," and 0% were rated "bad."

Given their rank last year (18), it behooved Sega to not have a bunch of stinkers dragging their rating down. When's the next 3D Sonic? I hope it's good!

Game publisher rankings, 2020 releases [Metacritic]

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Resident Evil 2 remake won it last year

As we'?ve talked about often these ??past few weeks, 2020 was a very good year...for games.

Every system brought it to some degree; yes even Xbox with Ori and the Will of the Wisps. But it looks like Sony is really crushing 2020 with multiple exclusives, including Persona 5 Royal, which is said to ?be the highest-rated title of 2020 by Metacritic.

In a new exhaustive list you can check out the best-reviewed games by platform. It's a great snapshot of how each one did, as exclusives generally settled at the top. It also brings a tear to my eye to see Half-Life: Alyx take the spot for PC. Sure it's restrictive as it requires VR, but it's good that it's being noticed. Maybe we have hope for a new Half-Life game after all even if it doesn't hit ?all of its sales goals.

You can find the Metacritic best-rated "Games of the Year" in the table below. As a reminder, here's a look at the worst 2020 had to offer.

The Best Video Games of 2020 [Metacritic]

Top PS4 game:

• Persona 4 Royal

Top PS5 game:

• Demon's Souls

Top Xbox One game:

• Dragon Quest XI S

Top Xbox Series X/S game:

• Tetris Effect: Connected

Top Switch game:

• Hades

Top PC game:

• Half-Life Alyx

Metacritic's top-rated Games of the Year:

• 2020 - Persona 5 Royal
• 2019 - Resident Evil 2
• 2018 - Red Dead Redemption 2
• 2017 - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• 2016 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

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Bombs Away?

Review aggregate site Metacritic has implemented a new ruli?ng that prevents users from leaving review scores for a video game until 36 hours after the title's initial release.

"We recently implemented the waiting period for all user reviews in our games section to ensure our gamers have time to play these games before writing their reviews," Metacritic told fellow Viacom site GameSpot. "This new waiting period f??or user reviews has been rolled out? across Metacritic's Games section and was based on data-driven research and with the input of critics and industry experts."

While not directly mentioning the issu?e, it's impossib??le not to assume that the new ruling is an effort to combat "review-bombing." This is the process of drowning a particular title in a mass of negative review scores. A tactic often (but not always) employed by communities as protest against a particular aspect of a game beyond its actual gameplay.

The most recent notable instance of review-bombing took place last month with the release on The Last of Us Part II. Within scant hours of its release the Naughty Dog sequel had already received well over 5,000 negative user reviews, launching with a user score of  3/10, juxtaposed against a Metascore of 9/10. Previous review-bomb campaigns were held against Pokémon Sword and Shield, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as movies such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Captain Marvel. It should also be noted that, despite?? these campaigns, all the above titles saw incredible financial success.

Metacritic will delay user reviews for games [GameSpot / Eurogamer]

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Lotta stars in this galaxy

Let's take a pleasant stroll down memory lane, a nice retrospective of the very best video games of the pa?st 10 years. Then, l??et's get in a fight about what's where and whose opinions are more right.

Metacritic, alway?s aggregating, has aggregated yet again. It has formed a list of the highest-reviewed games over the last decade. It's a snapshot of quality, a ??collection of games that won't find many dissenters.

Nintendo and Rockstar cleaned up, as those two developers took up the entirety of the top five spots. Otherwise, there's kin??d of something for (mostly) everyone: Big-budget blockbusters, little indies that could, JRPGs, competitive online games -- you name it, this list acknowledges it (if it's good and reviewed well).

But what sticks out now that we have the benefit of hindsight? Public opinion really turned on BioShock Infinite, so seeing that crack the top 15 seems a little strange. Or, if you asked me to guess Mass Effect 3's Metacritic score, I'd probably have gone low 80s. Also, my game of the decade, The Witness, is nowhere to be found. Invalid list!

Here are Metacritic's best vid?eo games of the decade:

• Super Mario Galaxy 2 -- 97
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -- 97
• Red Dead Redemption 2 -- 97
• Grand Theft Auto V -- 97
• Super Mario Odyssey -- 97
• Mass Effect 2 -- 96
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- 96
• The Last of Us -- 95
• The Last of Us Remastered -- 95
• Red Dead Redemption -- 95
• Portal 2 -- 95
• God of War -- 94
• Batman: Arkham City -- 94
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D -- 94
• BioShock Infinite -- 94
• Pac-Man Championship Edition DX -- 93
• Divinity: Original Sin II -- 93
• Super Mario 3D World -- 93
• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty -- 93
• Persona 4 Golden -- 93
• Persona 5 -- 93
• Mass Effect 3 -- 93
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain -- 93
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword -- 93
• Rock Band 3 -- 93
• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End -- 93
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -- 93
• Inside -- 93
• Forza Horizon 4 -- 92
• God of War III -- 92
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception -- 92
• Bloodborne -- 92
• Celeste -- 92
• Super Street Fighter V -- 92
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- 92
• Undertale -- 92
• Fire Emblem: Awakening -- 92
• Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition -- 92
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U -- 92
• Journey -- 92
• Xenoblade Chronicles -- 92
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe -- 92
• The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection -- 92
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Blood and Wine -- 92
• LittleBigPlanet 2 -- 91
• Overwatch -- 91
• Bayonetta 2 -- 91
• Forza Horizon 3 -- 91
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers -- 91
• Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition -- 91

Best Video Games of the Decade (2010-19) [Metacritic]

The post These are the highest scoring games of the decade appeared first on Destructoid.

Tomb Rager

Steam has dropped the price of Lara Croft's latest jungle jaunt, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with a discount of 34% for the standard edition, and 47% for the "Croft edition". The third entry to the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy relea?sed a little over a month ago, and as such, some "early adopters" (as has become the buz??z-word in recent times) are not happy.

A selection of fans who picked up the game for full price on launch are fuming to see the game receive a discount within six weeks of release and have taken to review-bombing the stealth adventure on Steam, while making their voices heard on platforms such as Reddit and the game's Steam page.

As expected, some of these complaints a??re wholly out-of-proportion, wishing death on Square Enix employees, while others feel a sense of betrayal for supporting the brand at launch, only to see that they could have saved some money had they held on just a month longer. Equa?lly, there is a huge contingent of fans who take no issue with the sale at all, just seeing it as part and parcel of the consumer process and choice.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider released to fair-to-good reviews. Our own Brett Makedonski praised th?e sequel's themes and jungle-based stealth tactics, but also admitted that it doe??sn't take any revolutionary strides to change up the formula and has a lackluster second act.

Shadow of the Tomb R??aider is getting review bombed because its on sale [PCGamesN]

The post Shadow of the To??mb Raider is on sale and some fans are not happy about it appeared first on Destructoid.

Sue em all!

A few months ago, Digital Homicide made headlines for filing a lawsuit against Jim Sterling, a former Dtoid staff member and fai?rly outspoken gaming critic. In an attempt to stay relevant, Digital Homicide has filed another frivolous lawsuit against critics. This time, Digi Hom is targeting Steam users.

Yes, instead of taking legal action against an actual person, it looks like the Romine brothers (the guys behind Digital Homicide) are throwing legal documents in every direction and hoping?? someone bites. YouTuber SidAlpha has done some research and it turns out Digi Hom has completely lost its mind.

In a video he uploaded yesterday, SidAlpha explains how he has found court documents that list over 100 Steam users in a new lawsuit. I personally like that a legal document has John/Jane Doe listed 100 times as if that somehow implicates a particular person??.

Along with this, Digital Homicide has also subpoenaed Valve in an attempt to have the company reveal personal details behind the users leaving negative reviews. That is clearly a violation of free speech, even if the users posted mostly hatef?ul words.

Th?e subp??oena also mentions that James Romine is looking for $18 million in restitution for "personal injury." I don't even have words for how mind-numbing that is. To waste brain power on coming up with a rational explanation is just not worth the trouble.

All of this because Jim Sterling ragged on The Slaughtering Grounds. How the company is still around blows my mind; I'd have thought that all this negative press would have spelled its end, but I guess sheer determin?ation to prove everyone wrong is enough to keep you afloat.

The real takeaway from this story is that the next time someone says something "bad" about you, you can just sue them. Look out, negative commentors! I'm packing a briefcase full of guts and ?I've got your username. That is legal enough!

Digital Homic??ide plunges further into ins?anity - Sues Steam users [NeoGAF]

The post Digital Homicide attempts to sue Steam users appeared first on Destructoid.

Not just IGN...

Earlier today, tweets from former Destructoid reviews editor Jim Sterling alerted me to the existence of a petition that insists reviews aggregate site Metacritic stop considering reviews from IGN, which gave Doom a 7.1, "severely altering?? the score that it deserves."

Yes, IGN rates too low, is the issue. "Advanced warfare received a 9.1 yet being a mediocre game, IGN is paid off by large devs and shouldn't be use as a legit? source of review," the petition continues. As of writing it has 1,504 signatures.

One of them is from? me. I, too, think Metacritic should not list reviews from IGN.

"However," -- as I write, in my counter petition, please sign here -- "However, I do not think that proposed legislation goes far enough. Sometimes I go to Metacritic to find Destructoid's review of a game, but after sitting on my own balls, accidental?ly click another site's review. This is unacceptable. The whole point of Metacritic is that I can find opinions that align with my own for an objective appraisal of a game and there's no way I can do that if Metacritic houses reviews that I do not agree with so, please, Metacritic:

"Do away with all aggregate reviews that do not come from jbsgame.com.go-vip.net Before it's too late."

If you, too, think Metacritic should only be a storehouse for Destructoid reviews, please sign here.

The post Please sign my petition instead appeared first on Destructoid.

Beating out Half-Life 2 and BioShock

A couple of weeks back Destructoid's very own Ben Davis reviewed Undertale, a very EarthBound-inspired JRPG that melded a unique battle system, non-combat progression options, and a charming narrative to create an incre??dibly memorable experience. The game not only got a perfect score on Destructoid, but also our Editor's Choice award.

You can read Ben's review here. It's a very good video game indeed.

Apparently, we here at Destructoid were not the only people to really love Undertale, as right now it is the highest rated PC game on Metacritic, beating out Half-Life 2, GTA V, The Orange Box, Half-Life and BioShock by a single point.

While Metacritic's methods of aggregation are flawed at best, it's still reassuring to see a quirky, minimalist JRPG see such widespread c??????????????????????????ritical reception.

So, have you tried Undertale yet? I'm currently on my second playthrough and it's filling the EarthBound-shaped hole in my gaming soul quite nicely.

The post Undertale is the highest rated PC gam?e on Metacritic ??right now appeared first on Destructoid.

Nintendo takes the top spot for major publishers, Telltale for mid-size publishers

[Update: Included a ?paragraph about the mid-size publish?er rankings, which I somehow missed.]

Metacritic just released its 5th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, which ranks publishers based on the critic reviews for games released in 2014. This year, Nintendo came out on top for the major publishe?rs, with an average metascore of 76.5, beating out Ubisoft and EA by two whole points. This should come as no surprise; Nintendo had a terrific year, after all, with many great games on the Wii U and 3DS.

Keep in mind, sales and user reviews did not factor into the r??ankings. I'm sure this list would look a lot different if they had, especially as far as Ubisoft and EA are concerned.

They also list each publisher's best overall release, best new original title, worst overall release, and Metacritic users' favorite title. Not too many surprises here. Best overall releases include Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dark Souls II (woo!), and a few re-releases like Rayman Legends and The Last of Us.

It makes me happy to see unconventional games like Hohokum and Child of Light listed as best new original titles. Although I'm sad to see Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder listed as Nintendo's worst overall release? (which we did not even review; for shame!). I actually really liked that game! Poor Chibi-Robo...

Mid-size publishers were ranked sep??arately, with Telltale Games taking the lead with an average Metascore of 79.7, followed by Paradox Interactive and Capcom, each with an even higher score than Nintendo. Congratulations, Tellta??le!

The post Metacritic ranks the best and worst publis??hers of 2014 appeared first on Destructoid.

Down with numbers

Remember when Fallout: New Vegas developers missed out on a Metacritic hinged upon bonus by one point? Well, here's another way Metacritic could doom (or help) developers. Retail giant Amazon has embedded Metacritic scores (and user scores) on games' pages, presumably because it doesn't t??rust its own terrible user reviews. The latter still get top ??billing but don't pop out as much as these newly present, colorful boxed numbers.

It's not on every product listing yet. Darksiders II ironically does not have one. Nor does Final Fantasy XIII-2. But games as old as Bushido Blade do. Currently, this ?is only for g??ames, though Metacritic also aggregates scores for film and music.

Remember, average starts at 5.

Amazon gives in hard to Metacritic [Amazon Forum]

The post Amazon now displays ?Metacritic scores for some reason appeared first on Destructoid.

Certain sectors will find it harder to be successful

In the wake of massive studio closures these past few years, not to mention other eye-opening events like John Riccitello's resignation as CEO of Electronic Arts, it's hard to have a positive outlook on the industry's future. Three years ago, I myself predicted a lot of what?? has come to pass, although I now admit my tone may have been slightly harsh. So the writing's on the wall and gaming is going to die, right? Errr... not quite.

In a guest feature over on The PA Report, Twisted Pixel lead designer Dan Teasdale explained that while the curr??ent state of affairs is nowhere near ideal, only certain sectors of the industry are receiving the brunt of the punishment. Teasdale collected as much information as he could regarding layoffs and closures in 2012, then he compared the data against other factors in order to paint a much more accurate picture of the environment. His findings are quite fascinating.

Roughly 2.42% of all game devs were laid off last year, which is actually less than what other industries like IT and aviation experienced. Of the game studios affected, those that primarily focus on MMO or social game development were greatly impacted -- as it turns out, producing titles that score 80+ on Metacritic is not enough to save some of these places. High scores better reflect success in the console space, although companies that sit in the 70-80 range typically undergo staff reductions. This lends truth to the notion that mid-tier production is weakening and that you either need to produce a big AAA hit or start shopping around for a?? new gig.

As you can see, there are still a lot of concerns regarding the health of the game industry, but it's possible to work around these roadblocks. I'm most shocked (read: not really) to learn social game development is not a quick ticket to the top, as some company heads and shareholders like to believe. And I'm still worri??ed about B-level productions and whether studios will find a way to adjust expectations for suc??h titles so that the barrier for success isn't so high.

There's more information available, including a regional breakdown of layoff, at the link below. I suggest you give it a read and mull it over f??or a bit.

Is the games industry really dying? Twisted Pixel’s lead designer dives deep i?nto layoff data [The PA Report]

The post Twisted Pixel dev: Game industry is ??struggling, not dying appeared first on Destructoid.

'This is SimVillage'

Big game releases these days are almost always going to be subject to some literary abuse via the outlet of Metacritic user reviews, especially when a major publisher like Electronic Arts is concerned. In the case of SimCity, however, the rage has been taken to t??he next level.? 

As used as I am to seeing Metacritic user review backlash, SimCity's overwhelming negativity i?s nothing short of a spectacle. The general sense that it deserves all the criticism it gets for a contemptible use of always-online DRM serves to make the whole thing even more delicious. People are righteous in their fury, and this time there are few who would argue otherwise. 

At the time of writing, SimCity has a user score of 1.6 with 1,848 negative reviews compared to 2?60 positive and 41 middling. 

The most interesting part is that the vast majority of reviews are decently written and make calm, calculated criticisms. This is a break from the usual blind venom that gets spewed, and certainly helps show just how seriously angry users are with EA's horrible decision. We've collected?? some favorite comments below for your reading pleas?ure.

"The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game. Lots of people cannot play their single player game because of this and gamers need to do everything they can to stop developers from including it. Do you still play SimCity 4? Good luck playing this game in 10 years. The servers will probably be down then and you'll be locked out of your single player game. SINGLE PLAYER!" - Busterofwar

"It may be looked down upon to use this as a megaphone to shout through but the fact is that people need to see this, that NO-ONE should EVER support always online DRM for a single player game, on my partners 2nd attempt to play this game, she was told the servers were at full capacity and could not play until 235 minutes had elapsed. There are a staggering amount of other problems, such as the save states being tied to client-side servers, so that once EA decides this game is finished so is your progress and your ability to play it, forever. Not only that but, as probably said before, this game is on Origin only, so you must install this malicious, unoptimized, buggy front-end to just begin to play the game. Regardless of how the game plays as a Simulator, or whether or not it is improved upon it's predecessors, these issues need to not just ironed out, but abolished completely and utterly. The business practices being executed here are absolutely disgusting and should not be tolerated, at all." - Penemue

"BEWARE: Forced online DRM, will you be playing this 10 years down the track like previous Sim Cities? No, you wont. And they want this, so you buy the next one. Servers go down? Well screw you, EA already has your money. DLC available from release, server side save-games. I repeat, FORCED ONLINE DRM Also, server queues at launch. Thanks for destroying video gaming and my most treasured franchise." - gemanner

"Always online DRM, smaller, non-connected cities due to engine limitations, DAY 0 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT, poor customer service and delivery of product (waited almost an hour to connect to my single player game), and a swath of simplifications in the gameplay that ruins it for a SC veteran like myself. Don't bother to get this game. Save some money and buy Sim City 4, or Sim City 2000. You can play them OFFLINE as well." - BeardtobeFeared

"This is an $80 facebook game. This origin (spyware) dumbed down piece of garbage, not only costs $80 for the full game (any lesser version witholds ingame content), but comes intact with intrusive, always-online DRM. Many people, even reviewers, were unable to access their games or load old saves because this. As a consumer, we should have a zero-tolerance for this sort of practice and boycott any game which is essentially an $80 rental. As to the content of the game, the city plots are abysmal in size, deals with neighboring cities is done automatically, connections with other cities (highways and rails) is done automatically, and much content like subway stations have been cut. The overall nature of the game is so limited that it when taken into context with it's social gaming aspects, you have to conclude that would be better fit for a facebook or iphone game." - RPGFan2

"Played this game for 6 hours. DO NOT BUY IT. I got disconnected from the server 3 times...you cannot save your own game! So there is no more let me test and reload if it doesn't work. I started over at least 10 times while getting used to some of the features. The city size is just unacceptable. Its not a city AT ALL...More like a village. You will fill it up in an hour. I'm already bored with the game. I won't even get into the always on drm...its a terrible move IMO...but in addition to that the game is not worth the money. I gave it a 3 because some of the new features are neat and useful but its they aren't enough to save the experience. Buy tomb raider instead." - Purgatori

"The critic reviews are undeniable proof of "gaming journalism" being rotten to the core. This is the exact same game as SimCity Social, except you have to pay $80 before you're allowed to start paying for extras." - Articuno

"I won't even start on the mandatory online component/DRM that stuff is bad enough but what really bothers me are the tiny map sizes. Who at Maxis/EA possibly thought that would be a good idea? People said it's a limit of the beta version, but now the full game is just like that. This is NOT SimCity. This is SimVillage." - CriticoDubioso

"Absolute Fail Im gona kill my self if every game gona have Forced online DRM The game is good but EA want money in every way like day 1 DLC or microtransactions It fells like the game ist finisd and wee must buy the Patch DLC to make play normal i buy ME 3 and im never gona buy game from EA again and now u guys know why" - Curbes

"I have now wasted hours of my time. I rebuild, then get disconnected and loose everything. Rebuild, get disconnected, and loose everything. Not being able to save your game on something like this is absurd. Whoever came up with this idea should be fired, and take the idiot who approved it with you. In an attempt to prevent piracy, they have angered the people that actually paid for the game. I have no idea why they even bother. People that pirate the game either have no money to buy, or would not even if they did. They are not your customers, the people that pay are, focus on that. PLEASE!" - AvailableName

"1. ALWAYS ONLINE DRM IN A SINGLE PLAYER GAME 2. DAY 1 DLC... WITH PLENTY MORE NICKEL AND DIME TO FOLLOW 3. MICROTRANSACTIONS Leave it to EA to kill yet another Franchise. VOTED WORST COMPANY IN THE USA 2012" - StinkyMcGee

The post SimCity ??Metacritic user reviews are brutal brutal brutal! appeared first on Destructoid.

The results will surprise you

Metacritic has just published its annual publisher power rankings, taking each publisher's g??ames for 2012, and seeing who came out on top. Of course, all of the usual suspects are here, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and...EA with th??e top spot?

It seems as if Mass Effect 3, one of the best reviewed games of 2012, had a hand in their success (despite what people thought of the ending), as did a generally large amount of games with positive review scores, like Kingdoms of Amalur, and the fact that PopCap was included.

Next is Microsoft Studios, with Mark of the Ninja as their top release, followed by Sony and Journey, and Nintendo with Xenoblade Chronicles. Capping off the top five is Capcom with Okami HD at the top spot (t?he power of nostalgia compels you!), but the list goes on to include all of the big n?ames, like Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and more.

If you dig deep enough you'll find other interesting information, like the fact that Skullgirls was Konami's best-reviewed title of 2012, or that 007 Legends was Activision's worst. Another pertinent bit of info for me personally is that the Dark Souls DLC was Namco Bandai's top release critically!

Whi??le it may be a bit silly to include DLC in the ranki??ngs, nonetheless, this is the data Metacritic chose to go off of.

What do you think?

Metacritic's 3rd Annual Game Publisher Rankings [Metacritic]

The post Metacritic ranks the best and worst pu?blishers of 2012 appeared first on Destructoid.

You probably can guess #1

My insatiable hunger for tracking and displaying the most revered games of the year will not end. I blame Metacritic. I also blame Metacritic for not doing a proper job in aggregating the best games of the year. While the site does an impeccable job of putting together film, TV and music critics' best of the year lists, the site ignores videogames -- offering up only a very confused list containing the highest scoring games, which includes maligned ports and games with only ??~5 reviews.

I suspect Metacritic’s reluctance to gather all game? critic’s best ofs has to do with a couple factors: most publications don’t post their lists until late December/January, most settle for unranked awards instead of lists, and putting all this together probably goes against some of Metacritic’s policies. Metacritic is a smooth operating machine and there is no way to smoothly pull of a list of 38’s sites' game of the year winners and nominees. While this list I made isn’t perfect -- nor could a perfect one ever exist -- it should give us all a better sense of what games meant the most to critics at the end of 2012.

The Process

Each site’s game of the year receives 3 points. In the rare case that there were two winners (ugh), those 3 points were split (i.e. 1.5 points each). I split 4 points among nominees, cutting off nominees to four entries where possible. In the cases where nominees were unranked, I included all nine (or whatever number) and split four points between them (rounded to .4 points each). If a site had more than nine nominees, I didn’t include them a??t all because having 20 nominees is just silly. In the case that two games had the same number of points, I favored the one with more votes (i.e. those that appeared on the most lists).

Finally, I must point out that some sites were left off this l??ist because I couldn’t find their list or they opted out of doing one this year (see: 1UP).

The List

15. Black Ops 2: 2.4 (3 votes)
14. Spelunky: 2.4 (4 votes)
13. Guild Wars 2: 2.8 (4 votes)
12. (tie) Spec Ops: The Line: 3 (1 votes)
12. (tie) Xenoblade Chronicles: 3 (1 votes)
11. Trials Evolution: 3 (3 votes)

10) 6.7 (5 votes)

"Can you remember when you first found out that the game was going to be set during the American Revolution? There was a good chance that sales of adult diapers skyrocketed as a result. Ubisoft, we salute you." - Complex

9) 7 (5 votes)

"It's a perfect, wordless sci-fi parable - and an elegant comment on the development of video games themselves, expressed in a way only a game could articulate." - Eurogamer

8) 11.1 (9 votes)

"Halo 4 showed that a fresh set of hands couldn’t hurt a franchise so strong and so loved." - GameRevolution

7) 13.5 (13 votes)

"In a medium where narrative threads commonly go unresolved, BioWare should be commended for concluding most of the major sub-plots that were introduced in earlier games in the series." - Polygon

6) 16.7 (14 votes)

"If you are up for a good laugh while shooting things in the face, Borderlands 2 is a worthy game to add to your collection. Soon enough, you'll see numbers popping above people's heads in real life and will feel compelled to search every Porta Potty on the street for cash." - Destructoid

5) 19.6 (16 votes)

"Every part of Dishonored works in exquisite concert, every system complementing the others with a graceful cohesion that speaks of Corvo himself, and of the generosity in freedom and participation Dishonored extends to its players. Few games burst as fully formed from the ether – perhaps Dunwall’s most remarkable achievement is that it feels so inevitable." - Edge

4) 20.6 (15 votes)

"A multiplicity of tactics and paths provide the player with a sense of true psychosomatic and terrestrial exploration. Far Cry 3 is a intrepid sequel that eschews the series's previous mistakes and leans on its strengths with the relish of a practiced hunter." - Slant Magazine

3) 28.7 (17 votes)

"I could accuse developer thatgamecompany of obvious manipulation, warping the environment and the very light to instill emotions within me, but isn't that the point? To master the language of the medium, to be evocative and to make us walk a steep path and then let us savor the views from its peak? In Journey, world building, writing, and design feel like they're the same thing." - Joystiq

2) 29.9 (19 votes)

"The game is deep but intuitive. It rewards planning and focus, it penalizes failure. It requires patience but can still be exciting. It's an easy game to start playing and a tough one to stop. Plus, that music when you're going into battle, always gets us pumped." - Kotaku

1) 38.9 (23 votes)

"I want back the hour of my life I wasted ??o??n this game.

First, this isn't a game. It is an interactive movie. It is one of those inane "push the right button when it flashes on the screen" snooze fests. It is about 90% cut scene??s with the occasional button push. If you like CoD typ?e games or open worlds, you will HATE this "game".

Second, even for the genre it is terrible. The game has two modes: 1)?? an easy mode where it gives you hints about what is expected of you; and 2) a hard mode where there few if any hints. Not knowing what to expect, I opted for the hint mode. I would have actually been ?better off going it on my own.

The first time this barely interactive cartoon lets you do anything, you have to get out of a car, get off your handcuffs, and deal with a cop-turned-zombie. After you have crawled to where your back is up against a police car, the screen starts flashing "look at cop". Ok, I look at the cop. The character says something and the zombie keeps coming. So I look at cop again. Same result. The screen says again "look at cop". So I look at the cop again. And he jumps on me and eats my brains -- "You are dead" says the game. After it reloads, when it tells me t?o look at the cop, I DON'T look at the cop, but look to my right and left and find a shotgun with a shell. Then I get to shoot the zombie. So what you actually have to do is the exact opposite of what the hint on the screen is blaring at you to do.

And this is the VERY FIRST TIME you interact with the game. It does not get any better. I thought this style ??of game went out of vogue 30 years ago with the old Dragon's Lair quarter eater of the 80s. Sad?ly, it appears that this particular developer is going retro.

If you are a fan of the Walking Dead and this review makes you mad (as seems to be the case based upon the feedback I have seen on the negative reviews), after you get done downvoting me, download it for free, realize I was absolutely right, and go spend your money on the next season of the Walking Dead TV show or some other merchandise. I PROMISE you that you will thank me for it. If you buy this game you wil??l be throwing away money that could be used to actually satisfy your Walking Dead f??ix and entertain you.

Don't say you weren't warned." - Angry Amazon.com user reviewer Gary, who did not factor into our ranking

The Rest

FTL: 2.4 (3 votes)
Mark of the Ninja: 2.4 (3 votes)
Super Hexagon: 2.4 (2 votes)
Max Payne 3: 2 (2 votes)
Sleeping Dogs: 2 (2 votes)
Hotline Miami: 1.4 (2 votes)
Diablo 3: 1 (1 votes)
FIFA 13: 1 (1 votes)
DOTA 2: 1 (1 votes)
Tribes: Ascend: 1 (1 votes)
Awesomenauts: 1 (1 votes)
PlanetSide 2: 1 (1 votes)
BlackLight Retribution: 1 (1 votes)
Zero Escape: .8 (2 votes)
Hitman: Absolution: .7 (1 votes)
Crusader Kings II .4 (1 vote)
Papa & Yo .4 (1 vote)
The Unfinished Swan: .4 (1 votes)

The Oddballs

Xenoblade Chronicles received rave reviews, acc??umulating to a Metacritic score of 92. Yet, it only appeared on one list: Slant Magazine's, which gave it gam??e of the year.

Likewise, Mark of the Ninja and Trials Evolution have 90+ Metacritic scores but only managed to ??appear on 3 lists.

The biggest shock is our #10 and #9 entries. Assassin's Creed III divided critics almost as much as Resident Evil 6, but still managed to make this list (mostly due to receiving top honors on at least one list). Fez, on the other hand, is one of the most well received games in ?2012 in terms of reviews and social media buzz (I can't think of many other games discussed so fervently on Twitter.)

The Sites

Kotaku: XCOM
 ??   Noms: Super Hexagon, Crusdaer Kings II, Journey, Papa & Yo, Spelunky, Walking Dead, Zero Es??cape

Polygon: The Walking Dead
    Noms: Dishonored, XCOM, Journey, Far ??Cry 3

Joystiq: Journey
    Noms: Sup??er Hexagon, ?Walking Dead, XCOM, Fez

Games Beat: Walking Dead
    Noms: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Xbox 360, PC)Journey (PSN)Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)Far Cry? 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)Halo 4 (Xbox 360)Dishonored (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Gamespot: Journey
&nbs?p;  ; Noms: Dishonored, Guild Wars 2, Halo 4, Mark of the Ninja, Mass Effect 3, Spelunky, Walking Dead, ?XCOM, Zero Escape

Machinima: Halo 4
 &n?bsp;  Noms: Borderlands 2, Black Ops 2, Dishonored, Mass Effect 3, Walking Dead, XCOM,

Game Informer: Mass Effect 3

XPlay: Borderlands 2
    Noms: Journey, Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed 3, Black Ops 2, XCOM,? Hitman,

IGN: Journey
    Noms: Borderlands 2, Hotline Miami??, Guild Wars II, FTL, Dishonored, ?The Unfinished Swan, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead, Halo 4

Game Spy: XCOM
    Noms: DOTA, ??Guild Wars 2, Planet Si??de 2, Borderlands 2

GameFront: Walking Dead
    Noms: Dishonore??d, XCOM, Tribes, Bo??rderlands 2

Yahtzee: Spec Ops: The Line
Noms: Dishonored, The Walking Dead, Fa?r Cry 3, XCOM,

Total Biscuit: Journey
    Noms: Awesomenauts, PlanetSi??de 2, FTL, BlackLight Retrib??ution

Lazy Game Reviewer: Far Cry 3
Noms: Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Mark of the Ninj?a, Border??lands 2

EDGE: Dishonored
    Noms: Trials Evolution, XCOM, Spelunky, Supe??r?? Hexagon

Complex: Walking Dead
  &nb?sp; Noms: Journey, Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed 3, FIFA 13

Game Planet: Far Cry 3
&n??bsp; ;  Noms: Borderlands 2, Walking Dead, Mass Effect, Guild Wars 2

Game Focus: Dishonored

OXM: Walking Dead
    Noms: Trials Evolution, Mark of the Ninja, Fe??z,?? Mass effect 3

Dark Zero: Journey
 &n??bsp;  Noms: Halo 4, Mass Effect 3, Walking Dead,Bo?rderlands 2

The Guardian: Dishonored, XCOM
    Noms: Journey, Borderlands, Fa??r Cry 3,

EuroGamer: Fez

Rev3: Journey

Telegraph: Walking Dead
    Noms:?? Journey, Dishonored, XCOM, Far Cry 3

GameRevolution: Assassin’s Creed 3
  &nb?sp; Noms: Halo 4, Far Cry 3, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead

Slant Magazine: Xenoblade Chronicles
    Nom??s: Journey, Walking Dead, Borderlands 2, Fa??r Cry 3

Thunderbolt: Walking Dead
&nb??sp;   Noms: XCOM, Hotline Miami, Far Cry 3, Max Payne?? 3

Gamestm: Borderlands 2
 &nb?sp;  Noms: Dishonored, Fez, ?FTL, Halo 4

GameCentral Video Games: XCOM
 &nb??sp;  Noms: Journey, Dishon??ored, Mass Effect 3, Spelunky

Digital Spy: Walking Dead
  &??nbsp; Noms: XCOM, Far Cry 3, Mass E?ffect 3, Trials Evolution

Dtoid: Walking Dead
  ?;  No??ms: Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3

Giant Bomb: XCOM
 ?;   No?ms: The Walking Dead, Far Cry 3, Fez, Journey

Videogamer.com: Halo 4
    Noms:?? The Walking Dead, Max Payne 3, Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3

Gamesradar: Walking Dead

Action Trip: XCOM
  &??nbsp; Noms: The Walking Dead: Season One (Telltale Games), Diablo 3 (Blizzard Entertainmentl), Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal), Assassins Creed ??3 (Ubisoft Montreal).

EGM: Far Cry 3
&nbs?p;   Noms: Borderlands 2, XCOM, Walking Dead, Sleeping Dogs

GameTrailers: XCOM
    Noms:? Ass??assin’s Creed 3, Black Ops 2, Journey, Mass Effect 3,

3DJuegos: Dishonored

The post Game critics collective top 10 games of 2012 appeared first on Destructoid.

The Walking Dead shuffles into first, but year deemed bad overall

Metacritic has released its annual list of the top rated games of 2012, organizing its review averages to?? find which titles received the most critical acclaim throughout the last year.

Unsurprisingly, The Walking Dead took top honor with a score average of 95, followed by Persona 4 Golden and its 94. Mass Effect 3 took both third a??nd fourth place for the PS3 and Xbox ??360 version, respectively. 

Though it h??onored the top ??scored games, Metacritic's editorial suggested 2012 was a bad year for quality games, claiming the amount of critically acclaimed titles "paled in comparison to recent years."

"Just 14 console games -- and 18 products overall, including PC and handheld (non-iOS) t??itles -- scored 90 or higher in 2??012," wrote the site. "T??hose figures represent a huge drop from the previous year, when 23 console titles (and 32 games overall) met or exceeded the 90 mark. In fact, since we started publishing these year-end reports in 2009, we have never encountered such a low total number of great games in a sin??gle year."

Is this really the product of games dropping in quality, or critics getting more critical? That's t??he real question. While Metacritic deals in cold numbers, those numbers are still derived from the personal opinions of the reviewers, so I don't think we can start using these figures to factually assess the quality of the 2012's software. 

That said, from a personal perspective, I found 2012 a bit underwhelming. There were some amazing games released, but as a review??er, I gave more 1/10 scores than any other year, and wasn't able to dish out a single 10. I wasn't impressed by the industry's overall output this year, but it made the genuinely excellent titles a lot easier?? to single out, so that's something!

Here's Metacritic's top rated games of the year, in an??y case:

1. The Walking Dead: The Game (95)
2. Personal 4 Golden (94)
3. Mass Effect 3 PS3 (93)
4. Mass Effect 3 Xbox 360 (93)
5. Journey (92)
6. Xenoblade Chronicles (92)
7. Dishonored (91)
8. Mark of the Ninja (91)
9. Borderlands 2 (91)
10. Far Cry 3 PS3 (91)
11. Far Cry 3 Xbox 360 (90)
12. Trials Evolution (90)
13. Okami HD (90)
14. Mark of the Ninja (90)
15. FIFA Soccer 13 (90)
16. Guild Wars II (90)
17. NBA 2K13 (90)
18. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (90)

The post Metacritic’s top rated games of 2012 appeared first on Destructoid.

Biboran!

Yep, it's happened again! Resident Evil 6 is the newest game to be torn to shreds via Metacritic's user reviews, following a rare instance of there being a large number of press reviews that agree with the fan rage. The ga??me currently stands at 22?1 negative reviews to 13 positive. Ouch. 

Our old friends at the Cult of Biboran have joined the slaughter, doing to Resident Evil 6 what they've done to other games like Darksiders II. It's not just the Russian cultists though -- there's a cavalcade of rage, ripe for the plucking??, so let's get picking these tasty fury apples!

As always, the best r??eviews are provided below for your pleasure??. Enjoy the sweet taste of hard-hitting journalism!

"NO FEAR NO RESIDENT! Looks like the freaking call of duty! Resident evil must be better than Dead Space, a epic scary game! but this is a stupid action game! Shame on Capcom!Capcom you finally destroy the series maybe you can rename the game as Resident Evil Black Ops. -_- F%ck you Paul W. S. Anderson this is your fault. lmao." - iM0RNiN6ST4R

"Don't listen to the blind fanboys, this game sux hard, it look like a PSP game ported to HD consoles, the gameplay is awful, just look to THE LAST OF US and you will see a real sorvivor game, keep your money for a better games, if you buy it Crapcom will kill the next games, and RE7 will suck even harder than this mess;)" - blablabla33

"Resident Evil 6 is a Michael Bay movie. There's really no more polite a way to put it. Stuffed to the gills with bombastic action segments, car chases, and relentless chaos, Capcom has abandoned any pretense of the survival horror genre and embraced a world of skin-deep Hollywood audacity. Listlessly wallowing in the depthless waters of homogeneity, Resident Evil 6 is a coward of a game, afraid to make its own individual mark in the industry and cravenly subscribing itself to every overplayed trope in the book. What a brilliant indicative summation of this gen. I'll go back to my PS2 folks. Godhand anybody. Oh and Haunting Ground, Capcom, **** YOU FOR RUINED THIS GREAT FRANCHISE!" - kanako666 (some of this seems familiar!)

"This is not a Resident evil anymore!! the badest resident evil of all time. no horror... just action.. BAD action with stupid story. RIP Resident evil!" - Trollolololol

"I apologize for having a retarded name but I feel very stupid compared to the geniuses who made this game. I have fapped and masturbated for hours now, ada and sherry they both look gorgeous I wish my gf was that hot but she suck she is ugly and fat, thanks to this game I learned that no matter how much your life suck, you can always enjoy it if you play RE 6. Buy it now and dont feed those trolls who rate it low, they only want attention." - bandersay000

"SONY is not the LAW - BIBORAN is the LAW !!! SonyWhore Japs sold their souls to the god-devil Abdulov again and made insane SHIxT to drag money out of retarded school kids (aka Maslyata). ANSHA ABDUL Brothers ! --- If you buy this pile of SHIxT - you support further shi*t-games development, dolphin killing, pedophilia and Mavrodi !" - dddxxxxxbbb

"NO FEAR NO RESIDENT! Looks like the freaking call of duty! Resident evil must be better than Dead Space, a epic scary game! but this is a stupid action game! Shame on Capcom!" - rafaschan

"The main storyline of the **** game is full of metaphors. For example, one of characters clearly represents Soviet actor A, Abdulov, who was scum and pedophile. Idea of Japannese-Pedophilic dominance is evident throughout the game! I can see evil eyes of 731 Unit in every character model. And the main thing is desire of Sony-Whores to get our Kuril Islands to the hand of god-damned Emperor-pedophile. WE WON'T LET YOU **** OUR COUNTRY! ABDUL GREW UP ON KURIL ISLANDS AND PLAYED THERE ON THE BEEEEACH!!! ANSHA ABDUL! IF SUCH GAMES WILL CONTINUE TO BE PUBLISHED, TZUNAMIS AND PUNISHMENT SHALL BE ETERNAL! ANSHA ABDUL!! BIBORAN!! ABDULOV!" - bubbreaoe4322

"There is much troll on this page, this game and they will destroy their multiaccounts like call of duty and diablo 3, but unfortunately did not have anything to do if not **** and put 0 to a game that, while for many has been the best work ... personally has been the best game of resident evil .. varied and fun game." - leondaniel21

"One of the worst games i have even played,japan should stop doing games already because Capcom finally destroyed the series! **** you capcom i wish china would bomb you and destroy you!" - alex__2

"This is a game that everyone should play right now cause it is very good and made by a good company called capcom that makes great game always and everyone and enjoys them a lot so you should too and especially not hesitate now and instead buy this excellent game cause it has good reviews and good gameplay and i love the graphics that the game has much better than Resident Evil 5 which had orange graphics." - donkeyrabbit78

The post Metacritic user reviews and Resident Evil 6 … you know appeared first on Destructoid.

Sleeping Dogs and Dark Souls PC also attacked

[Update 3: A Russian speaking friend of mine went through the site and believes it to be a highly detailed troll. The cult is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of an old Soviet actor from the 50s, who they openly acknowledge a??s "scum." They also make music and write lengthy diatribes about breaking the law.

Update 2: According to discussions had between Dtoid users and Biboran, they seem to blame the Fukushima reactor disaster on Sony, and that's part of why they're waging a "two-year war" against the ??company.

Update: According to the chat section of the Biboran site, people are mad about the quality of the PS3 port. Reaver dug up a little more on Ansha Abdul -- a Russian video reviewer who might be legitimately crazy a??nd managed to organize his fans into a "religious" cult called Biboran. That said, the reviews may just be this one ??guy using bots.] 

We've done this dance many times before: a new game comes out, gamers get pissed about something, and exact revenge by organizing a mass of negative user reviews on Metacritic. It's happened to the likes of Portal 2 and Call of Duty, but in the case of Darksiders II, it's a little different. 

The PS3 version of the game has an overwhelming 1,071 negative scores compared to nine positive, making for an average score of 0.8. What?? makes this unique is the fact that most of the reviews are in Russian text, an??d make frequent reference to Biboran and Ansha-Abdul.

Looking around, I found a Youtube video from "AntiAbdoluv" boasting of a record low for Darksiders II's user review scores. It's all in Russia?n and is over twenty minutes long. Translating some of the comments, they mostly seem t??o be arguing about money.

There are similar videos for Sleeping Dogs and Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, both of which were also subjected to the review drubbing. In the case of the console games, the PS3 versions were exclusively hit. There is a website called biboran.org that seems to be connected, but it's kind of scary and I won't directly link it. View?? at your own discretion. It's got Satan-type stuff on it. 

I'm sure there's some obvious "thing" go??ing on t??hat everybody but me understands. 

[Thanks, Colin]

Here are some of the English reviews (the last one is from the Sleeping Dogs page):

"The game is totally disgusting. Even Stalin wouldn't play this joke of a game. Story line is for children garden, gameplay seen in GoW-like games 1000 times. Style is made by handicapped cretin. Only power of Biboran can save us from sony-blyadey! Ansha Abdul"

"Ansha-Abdul! Biboran, brothers! A mos??t anticipated ame of century gone **** Who`s wrong? S?ONYBLYAD`s. And now u know what to do. Read Biboran! Ansha-Abdul! Kara Ve4na9!"

"PS3 **** **** pissing game,? read the holy God-Sota Biboran Abdulov and you will be happy. Adept Abdul-belief. Church of Hell Ab??dulov. Anshan Abdul siblings."

"It is? not game! Thi?s was done by idiots for idiots. The technical level of the single player game for 2001. Do not play that **** do not feed Krivorukov developers. The existence of a PS3 that year does not develop a normal game for the PC. Ansha Abdul. Biboran."

"Read the Biboran, Anscha Abdul brothers! Game is PedoStation **** for Japans **** i dont respect that worst GTA clone, because it look dumb and fight system doesnt work correctly."

The post Weird Metacritic user reviews tear ?Darksiders II to bits appeared first on Destructoid.

Metacritic scores are taken a little too seriously in this industry (said as someone who likes Metacritic), but Irrational may be lending them more credence than most. In a move that has generation much lip-flapping, the BioShock Infinite developer is looking for a staff member with an 85% Metascore to hi??s or her name. 

In the studio's lengthy list of requirements for a design manager position, it asks for, "Credit on at least one game with an 85??+ Average Metacritic Review Score." 

The thinking is obvious -- Irrational wants high quality developers with a traceable history of success. Still, arguments brought up against it are fairly sound -- it excludes the fact that game making is a team effort, critical opinion isn't always indicative of a good or successful game, and that even the best developers can be hamstrung by poor decision making by those wearing the expensive suits. Likewise, a game can be great in spite of a bad creator at the steering wheel, all thanks to a talented team. 

It's certainly an odd thing to have as a basic requirement, given the amount of variables that go into the generation of a Metacritic average. It's certainly not a criteria I'd have, but then, Irrational did make BioShock, so I guess it knows what it's doing.

The post BioS??hock developer hiring based on 85% Metacritic s?cores appeared first on Destructoid.

Anybody attempting to play Diablo III last night may have been disappointed to learn that the servers were down for a spell, meaning that even those who wanted to play solo were unable to log in and play. As outrage abounds over Diablo III's "always-on" requirement (and subsequent errors), gamers have done what they do best -- they took to Metacritic's user reviews.

At the time of writing, Diablo III has 1839 reviews and a score average of 3.5. As expected, the negative reviews foc??us on Blizzard's DRM (or anti-cheating measu??re if you prefer), though a few twist the knife by damning its "cookie cutter" gameplay and "sloppy" graphics. 

"If Blizzard demands that the user have an active online connection. The us?er should be allowed to demand an active online connection," wrote one review, quite elegantly. 

In most cases of Metabombing, I tend to side with the game, usually because the grievances are silly or presumptuous. In the case of Diablo III, however, I find it difficult to be angry at people who are upset because they boug??ht a game and couldn't play it. 

I understand people saying "Diablo III isn't a single-player game," but you know what? It's not an MMO, either. It's simply not cool to be unable to play a game you just purchased, all because Blizzard has a problem with cheaters and decided to let that problem affect everybody. 

In any case, here are a few highlight reviews from Metacritic, because whether they're justified or not, they sure can be enterta????ining!

koroshiya_ichi:

A huge disappointment, and an unworthy sequel. - Charater customization was so confusing, so they removed it (no more skill points to distribute, no more attribute points to distribute?, skills unlock automatically as you level up) - Legalized gold selling, pay-to-win auction houses - Scripted scenes EVERYWHERE 0Bland, one dimensional, WoW inspired skills -World PvP removed and the only PvP options is a WoW-clone arena (REMOVED TILL LATER, LOL) -Voice acting is HORIBBLE compared to D2 -Timed log-outs in a game which its gameplay is based on being fast-paced (even on hardcore mode) -FREQUENT CHECKPOINTS that revive you from where you are left off (how much more casual can they make a diablo game I wonder) -region lock, DRM that requires you to be constanly online -blizzard 'promising' not to put any items in the RMAH Gee, I **** wonder what's gonna happe??n -LEVEL 60 CAP Surely to be raised to 70,80,90 and so on with yearly expansions that consists of cut content for only another $60!

Psychodrake:

Wher??e do I start. Graphics - Woah. One of the biggest developers in the world can't even deliver a game that looks half decent. What is the bloody industry coming to. Not even Blizzard care about taking steps forward with technology. The game suffers from low-res textures, low-poly models and some of the sloppiest animation work I have ever witnes??sed. Sound - Redeeming feature. I gave the game a 2 ju?st because the soundtrack is good. Story - Nothing special, beaten already... Where did all that development time go? Forced DRM - Nothing can excuse the trouble people had playing the game they paid for. Thi??s is a disgusting practice that needs to go. I can't say much more. The game is the embodiment of disappointment.

Strytec:

I give this game a solid 1. And thats being fairly gene?rous. From a long legacy of brilliant games which truly defined RPG games, D3 has reduced the series to something else, its not the game it should be. Its overly simplified to the point where you could most likely teach a chimpanzee to play it. On the opening day, its riddled with errors, which normally would be expected but not from blizzard who run the biggest MMOs in the world. SC2 and WoW. This is a game which was developed for 10 years, I feel I could have gotten a degree in software writing, rendering, modelling and texturing and made a better game in the same timeframe. The lack of single player feels stingy and irritating, as the previous 2 games were primarily based on single player. The cash shop allows players to pay to win, the annoying thing is of course that you cannot choose to not play with these people as there is no singleplayer, p??laying the game requires you remain online. Similarly, the feel of the game, that is, the music, the texturing etc isn't in a unique style. Personally it feels cartoonish and unrealistic, so much so that the 128 colour graphics of d2 are more realistic. The music feels like they were trying to improve on a masterpiece by rewriting Tristram's theme. If you have played Diablo 1 or 2. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. If you haven't and this is your first game ever, there's a good chance you may enjoy it. 

Zelda-not-waifu:

Only weed smoking Great Gatsby haters could like this p?ay to win garbage with **** servers casualised diablo from blizzard/activision rip off mer??chants.

Ashin:

If you want a watered down, pay2win piece of junk, Diablo 3 is j??ust the ultimate game in this regards. Don't expect to find a game reminiscent of the jewels such as Diablo 1+2 (actually made by different people). Only saving grace is... no wait I can't think of ??one.

Dodzylla:

Worst diablo i ever played, short and booring. "fail blizzard has so mutch time to make this game g??ood i but they chose their time to makes it boring "

Proballerism:

Wha?t a steaming pile of **** I'm glad I didn't preorder this and waited to see it in action before buying. Hurr d?urr GOTY GOTY GOTY ITS THE BEST. BLIZZDRONES ACTIVATE

le_monk:

helo i this this game is ba??d caus le monky fa, and not gu?t pvp n stuf so i hop it be beter soon so i can buy and pley this game pls no buy it no good now

The post Metacritic user reviews tear Diablo III apart appeared first on Destructoid.

Does Metacritic matter? Ask your average gamer, and they will likely sneer wit??h contempt, blame it for all the ills in the world, and declare that the collector of review scores is useless. Ask a developer like Obsidian, however, and you'll often find they rely on it for monetary bonuses. 

Obsidian's Chris Avellone was recently asked by a fan if they made a boatload of cash from Fallout: New Vegas, and was informed that the studio received a straight payment, with no royalties from sales. Extra money would only have been awarded if the game scored over 85% on Metacritic -- which it just missed. 

The concept of the Metacritic bonus is nothin??g new, but always interesting to consider. It's strange when a publisher puts such stock in things, especially because, in my experience, the major companies really seem more focused on sales than scores. Perhaps it's a passive way of making studio's spend m??ore time polishing. Money's a good motivator, after all.

In any case, it's something reviewers risk feeling bad about when having to pour scorn ?on a new title. Of course, it's not a reviewer's job to make money for developers, and they always need to keep that in mind? when slapping the big ol' number at the end. 

[Thanks, Adam]

The post Obsidian missed Metacritic bonus for Fallout: ??New Vegas appeared first on Destructoid.

It's becoming all too common for gamers to hold irrational grudges against videogames they haven't played yet and take out their frustrations on Metacritic or Amazon. Games such as Portal 2 and Modern Warfare 3 have been victims in the past, as gamers on ??message boards orchestrate a mass "bombing" to voice their wrath. 

Mass Effect 3 is the latest victim of thi??s unusual phenomenon, with user re??views tearing it to shreds as soon as the professional critic scores went live last night.

Unsurprisingly, the PC version got hit hardest, because hell hath no fury like a PC gamer who thinks he's scorned. User reviews for the PC version sit at a 2.2 score average, while the PS3 and 360 versions have 3.1 and 4.1, respectively.

On the PC page, a staggering 239 negative reviews have been written, co??mpared to 52 positive and 6 middling. As you might expect, some of the posts contain a dizzying mixture of hilarious and depressing content, although a lot of them are just outright bitter.

"This game is garbage, a massive disappointment, and a slap, no, a punch in the face to the Mass Effect series," raged Demonichris. "Being a player of Mass Effect 1, this series has not progressed one bit s??ince then, but actually took a step back in almost every asp??ect. The animations are pitiful, the choices lead you to the same end, and it desperately lacks originality. Do not buy, do not rent, and do not give this g?ame any of your time, unless for mock??ery's sake."

The biggest issues gamers have are the lack of RPG elements, the poor graphics, paid DLC, and the game "dumbing down" to appeal to COD players. All potentially legitimate complaints, thoug?h the lengths to which some users have let it affect their game is remarkable.

"The cancer that is EA has finally destroyed what little salvageable cells of dignity that Bioware used to carry," opined ComicBookGuy. "When a main story, and HUGE story arc, of a Prothean comes only in PAID DLC on day one, there is seriously an issue. EA's moneymongering, hack writing and general gimmicky plot lines (not to mention stolen artwork), all come together to create the insult known as Mass Effect 3."

Amusingly, more than one review criticizes those users giving the game a high score, saying they haven't played the game. Apparently, you've never played the game if you've rated it highly, but you have played it if you shit all over it: "i like how Mass Effect fans are complaining about lowering down the score. when they're playing the same game by rating it a 10.without haven't played the game. and BTW i did play the game. check my review,? it doesn't contain spoiler, but i go in full details about why the game is bad."

The controversial homosexual romance options come up a lot, though many of these reviews are flippantly written. That said, a few seem to have serious ??issues with it, such as one user calling hi??mself AHomosexualMale:

"As a homosexual male, it is painful watching bioware act like they are champions of the gay community. Their insulting representations of gay individuals are merely an attempt to politicize their business, so they can look progressive while deflecting real criticism as homophobic, just because some homophobes exist. Thei?r behavior is a mockery of homosexuals everywhere and I would urge any homosexuals interested in activi??sm not to be deceived by these insensitive people."

You can't tell how serious some of the posts concerning the gay options are, such as this rather straight-faced offering: "The homosexual views of this game are very offensive to my Christian beliefs, I think Bio??ware should be much more aware of how many of their fans are Christians."

If that's serious, ugh. 

Meanwhile, there are obvious joke posts, claiming that Mass Effect "turned them gay," possibly a reference to recent erotic literature. In any case, it seems like a problem a few gamers trul?y do have, which is sad. 

And here's MrRemo, "representing" the Reddit community in all its glory: "Game??ro is bado, homosex is disprayed as someting to beheard, hamburgeros are ramptant as wrell. WERLL, U KNOW RUT? END OF RINE. RINE ENDS HERE. ______________________________________________ I GIVE IT ZEERO UHF TEN. REDDIT NUMBA 1 FUN,?? GO TEAM REDDIT ! POWA."

Amazing stuff. If you want to spend the morning drowning in impotent rage and c?onsuming bitterness, then check out the Metacritic user reviews. There's a lot to get ??through.

[Thanks to iamnimdok for pointing me in the right direction.]

The post Metacritic user revi??ews tear Mass Effect 3 to pieces appeared first on Destructoid.