jason.con.ca

Reviewing the Reviews is a week long experiment in which Jason, a professional game reviewer, relies on other journalist’s reviews.

To see part 1, click here.

My experiment is over. What have I learned?

According to the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle, the very act of examining something produces variables which can subtly alter what you’re examining. Therefore, the reviewer brings perceptions which colour the results. That’s one reason game journalists (or anyone) shouldn’t go around calling for unbiased reviews. It’s just not possible.

Actually, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa. But never mind, I think my point is clear. I have done more thinking and writing about Infinite Space than I would for the vast majority of games I cover. That had to have skewed the results somewhat. Nonetheless, I think I can safely draw a few conclusions.

1. Based on What I Read, I Determined That I Should Not Buy the Game.

Even the positive reviews acknowledge that this is a game not for everyone. Based on my own assessment, I have to agree.

2. I Ended Up Enjoying the Game When I Bought It. Eventually.

At first, this would seem to indicate that the reviews failed. Had I not been doing this experiment, I would not have bought Infinite Space, and missed on the enjoyment the game has (and continues) to provide. But:

Considering how much effort I had to put into the game in order to like it, I really think I could have spent my entertainment dollar elsewhere and received more immediate, more enjoyable results. As I said in the review, I’m a patient guy. I don’t have to orgasm the second I slide my throbbing, erect game card into the quivering, eager DS card slot (Okay, I am really ashamed of myself for writing that). However, I think my enjoyment was forced by a kind of Helsinki Syndrome. I’m stuck with this game I paid for, I damn well better find a way to enjoy it. And I am probably lucky that I managed to do so. Under different circumstances, I could see myself trying desperately to like a game and not being able to do it, getting more and more pissed off the more I try.

4. The Reviews I Read Did Their Job.

It took awhile, and I had to gather in a number of different opinions, but I think the reviews did what I needed them to do. I gathered enough information to conclude that I should not buy the game. And I should not have.

5. Game Reviewers Had Different Perspectives on What Was a Strength and What Was Not.

Kyle B. Stiff’s positive review at Cheat Code Central states:

“Thankfully, the pace is set in such a way that different aspects of gameplay are introduced slowly: first you control one small ship, then one large destroyer, then ship boarding and hand-to-hand combat is introduced, then you gain the ability to control multiple ships at once, and so on. This does not occur within the first fifteen minutes after a dense tutorial, but rather, each element is introduced through several hours of gameplay, as the story naturally allows.”

Raju Mudhar of Reviews on the Run complained:

“… very slow start. It takes probably like three hours. By then I think most people would give up on this game.”

Steve Tilley responds:

“That’s too bad, because if you push further into it, it’s cool… but if your game is so boring in the first three hours that’s going to put most people off, that’s a problem.”

Stiff thought the slow start was a good thing. Tilley and Mudhar did not. Who was correct? They were both wrong. And they were both right. It’s all about perspective. Mine happens to agree with Raju’s and Steve’s. And so do a lot of other reviewers, apparently.

Was Stiff wrong to enjoy the pacing of the game? No. If you like something, you like it, and you’re not wrong to like it. I would caution though that you should recognize when your opinion is in the minority. Unless I flatter myself, I think I did this in my own review. I think if you can boil my review down to the most important point, it’s “I like Infinite Space… but I don’t recommend it.”

6. Minor Errors Do Not Detract From the Essential Message

Jonathan Ramundi, who has been following this feature (and who posted his own Infinite Space review on Destructoid and IGN), took issue with the Reviews on the Run review. Steve states there is no auto-save feature. Ramundi pointed out that there is.

In Kat Bailey’s review on 1 Up, she states that “Yuri’s girlfriend Kira is a killer chef.” Kira is in fact Yuri’s sister.

These are not different perspectives. These are mistakes.

As Ramundi points out, it is “a little disappointing” that professional reviewers make these mistakes (to put it generously). Particularly Steve’s error, because it’s more relevant to the issue of whether someone will enjoy the gameplay. As it happens, the auto save has its own problems (being very slow), so Steve’s error isn’t the blow it could have been. Admittedly, this does not excuse the mistake.

There are those who would say that mistakes in a review invalidate them entirely. I can’t fully agree with that. I’ve seen some readers discount an entire review simply because someone misspelled the name of an alien race. Unless the mistake is on the level of “Infinite Space, a first person shooter for the Sega Genesis,” I think these mistakes can be forgiven. I don’t get the impression that Kat Bailey blew carelessly through her assignments, missing the most important details. And I know that Steve and Raju did not carelessly toss off theirs. The reminder of their reviews contain reasonable and accurate points. Mistakes, however, should be acknowledged and corrected. I would even go so far as to say the review should be revisited by the author if they are substantial. Speaking of which, if you spot any errors in these pages, please mail me and point them out.

7. It is Unwise to Treat Any Single Review as Definitive.

Unless the review was written by your clone, don’t stop at one review. In part 1 of this feature, “Nicholas” commented:

“For me [a review is] a way to get more information about a product. I’ve generally found with reviews though, regardless of whether we’re talking about a video game, or a local dentist, any time you throw a mass amount of people at it, you’ll almost always end up with a general consensus on whether that said product is good or bad. Point being, I like to read more than one review.”

Well said. A large number and variety of voices commenting on something is healthy for a number of reasons.

When I bought my first cellphone, I did research. I went to websites, read reviews, talked to friends, I visited four or five stores, and I agonized over the decision. I hated doing it, and the information I received painted a frustratingly incomplete picture, but in the end it helped me make some smart decisions.

Should I have read one review and called it quits? Should you when thinking about buying a game? A game is much less of a commitment than a cell phone, but unless you don’t mind wasting your money, I think your may want to get a second, third, fourth opinion if you’re uncertain.

8. Reviewing is an Inexact Science. Get Over It.

Even if, as Nicholas says, a “general consensus” emerges, this is still no guarantee that you will agree with it. As a reviewer, or as a player. Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis has a current Metascore of 26. If you paid for it and enjoyed it, were you wrong to do so? To me, that’s no different than saying you’re wrong to like your favourite restaurant. If you didn’t like Halo 3 (current Metascore: 94), is there something wrong with you? No. Diff’rent Strokes for diff’rent folks (RIP Gary Coleman).

There are some people who get absolutely rabid when an opinion does not agree with their own. I think that shows a deep insecurity. If a someone loves a game you hate, by all means disagree and explain why. Unless they come to you house and force you to play it, don’t flip out. On the flipside, if you like a game someone hated, don’t organize a lynch mob until they smash your gamedisk.

9. There is More to Consider, and More to Learn

I’m lowering the curtain on this experiment for now. I hope it has been useful, and perhaps offered some new perspectives. I think I’ve found it enlightening and will help me be better at my job. Like all good experiments, however, I discovered more questions. They’re beyond the scope of this feature, but I reserve the right to return and conduct similar experiments. Other issues to consider:

What qualifies a person to be reviewer and media critic in the first place?

Are there techniques that should be used to review something, and others that should not?

Is there always a specific criteria that should be examined when reviewing a product, or does it change?

What impact do positive/negative reviews have on the sales of product?

These are discussions for another time. I leave it for now and thank you for accompanying me on this journey.
Happy playing, happy reviewing.

-Jason MacIsaac

Jason MacIsaac is the Executive Editor of Electric Playground. He has good gameplay, but his graphics are a little dated. 7.5/10