The dust seems to have settled and the final Metacritic average on Ready at Dawn’s PS4 exclusive, The Order: 1886, will land at about 66. While 66 should be considered an above average game it is known that gamers, and the industry as whole, tend to view anything under 80 as an undeniable failure. Is this right? I don’t think so but it still remains a fact. If ever there was a game that shows just how damaging a review score can be I’d venture that this recent business with The Order: 1886 is it.
First I need to point out that every reviewer tackles the task from a different mindset. It’s not up to me to tell others how to review titles but I’m seeing that I tend to review very differently from many of my peers in the journalism business. When I take on a review I do my best to remain objective (as every reviewer should) but no matter what you know that the final opinion will be subjective to a small degree. I also try and judge a game for what’s IN the game apart from what ISN’T. Most importantly I try to review from the mindset of someone who still loves to play games. When you review games as a job it’s easy to become jaded and forget that games are supposed to be fun. You start to look for things to nitpick over and become overly critical of things that the average player likely wouldn’t even consider. Often, when you add up all these minor nitpicks, a score can drop dramatically and place a really good game into a sealed casket with an ‘Under 75 on Metacritic’ yellow sign on the top.
“Outlets came in with scores ranging as low as a 20 out of 100 and as high as 95. Each outlet placed a precious number to the game and went on their merry way.”
Now to say that The Order: 1886 is a polarizing title is an understatement. Outlets came in with scores ranging as low as a 20 out of 100 and as high as 95. Each outlet placed a precious number to the game and went on their merry way. Now is a 20 too low? In my opinion it certainly is. Oppositely, is a 95 too high? Probably, yeah. The thing is that every outlet has a unique take on the game and they judged it accordingly to their own personal standards. The summation of all of these personal standards, the meta-average, is supposed to be the evening out of all these opinions into one all-encompassing number. As a consumer going to Metacritic how do I know if my opinions are aligned with that 20 or that 95? Well, I don’t… and I should actually read some of the reviews. Problem is, a great number of consumers don’t. LIKE AT ALL.
It’s no secret that many outlets have jumped on the ‘no score’ bandwagon as of late. I can’t help but wonder if this would be a better way of doing things? This is a personal opinion of course as I don’t see COG dropping scores anytime soon. Keeping to The Order as the example, I noted that a number of reviews docked the game marks because it didn’t include a MP component. Ready at Dawn stated right from the beginning that they never intended to include a MP component so how can the game be condemned for not having it? Would you really want a half-baked MP component thrown in that could take away from the SP experience? If anything that half-baked addition would just give reviewers more points to take away from the final score. Seeing those extra points stripped away from a final score seems harsh and unfair for something like that is it not? It was docked points for being linear which is a fair complaint if linearity bothers you personally… but what if it doesn’t? Does that final digit tell the reader they still might like it?
“It’s no secret that many outlets have jumped on the ‘no score’ bandwagon as of late. I can’t help but wonder if this would be a better way of doing things?”
The fact remains that the gaming industry isn’t about to abandon scoring anytime soon. Whether you like it or not the scoring system is here to stay with only the brave few leaving it behind. What would game sales look like if it did though? What if consumers were forced to be less lazy and actually do some research rather than getting a one number eyeball score? They might read a review and realize the dislikes a reviewer had aren’t really a big deal to them. Vice versa, they could see someone praise something that they absolutely hate. Bottom line however is that they are forced to make their own call versus making a decision on a single number. A good point to make here is that the consumer certainly is the one to blame for not doing their research when it comes to looking at a metascore and no further. The sad reality that goes alongside it is a game could end up hurting in sales due to this laziness.
Obviously many more games have been doomed to the cheap bins over a low score than just The Order. It’s an easy example as it’s the newest of big releases on the market right now and according to mass media, it’s awful. The number alone never truly gives you an accurate picture of all the things within the game you may love or hate. Hell, just because GTA V scored a 95 doesn’t mean that you’ll love it either. Would removing that number help consumers better educate themselves before they purchased a game? Would ditching the scores take away some of the power big media has over the industry? How can a game completely tank if instead of a digit we’re given a well thought out review with a list of pros and cons to summarize it all up? As it stands right now, review scores are here to stay but the strangle hold on the industry is undeniable. Will consumers eventually turn towards making an informed decision rather than a passing glance at a number? One can only hope.