Game of Thrones review (MyGaming)

[Graal]

I'm surprised to see I actually read this review before and didn't notice this. More than likely I just skimmed the review, though. Anyway, moving the discussion here so as not to clog up the LEGO Batman thread with off topic stuff.

Looking at his stuff, no offence to Gareth, but how is he a reviewer here at all? I'm reading his GoT review now, and it's raising my eyebrows a bit. He slams Game of Thrones for having to queue combat moves. Uhm... KotoR did the exact same thing? And that was an outstanding game.

Not only that, but he claims you play as Mors Westford, with no mention being made of the second playable character, Alester Sarwyck. This leads me to believe he spent almost no time at all playing the game, as you literally get to play as Alester 1 hour into the game. And it's not like Alester is a minor character either. The game is split between following the stories of both Mors and him. They're both major characters. Shouldn't there be some kind of review criteria that dictates you need to play at least more than an hour before you can review a game?

That's more than likely why the review score is so crap. I know of very few games that can be judged favorably based on the first hour of gameplay. He doesn't even make any mention of the pretty good choice and consequence system the game employs, which lends it a lot of replayability. Why? Because the first hour of gameplay doesn't really reflect a lot of choice and consequence.

No offence, MyGaming, but seriously? You let Tarryn go and then keep clowns like this on? I can understand the need for having someone to review all the sports and casual titles no one else wants to review, but really? A guy who doesn't even seem to play the games he reviews past the tutorial chapter?

Maybe the oke isn't getting paid

I rather enjoy his reviews. Silly games, silly reviews, all in good spirits.

It's not that I want to pick on the guy, as I don't know him at all and this is my first time reading his reviews, but one expects a certain level of quality from a site such as MyGaming.

Anyone who has played the GoT RPG past the tutorial chapter will be able to see right through his review and notice he barely bothered playing it. His entire 'review' basically consists of running you through the character customization screen, then discussing the combat and graphics (and seriously, the graphics aren't that bad either). He doesn't talk about any other aspects of the game, simply because that's the only things he could glean from the +- 1 hour he spent with the game. His 'review' is worthless. It's akin to reviewing a movie after only watching its trailer.

In fact, I wonder if he even bothered playing the game at all, and didn't just watch a gameplay video of the first part of the game on Youtube?

I've come to love MyGaming over the past year and it's my main site for gaming-related news, but things like this do nothing to inspire confidence in me. This review shouldn't have passed quality control. I would expect a 'review' like this in the user reviews section on Gamespot, not a prolific gaming site such as MyGaming.

LOL, it's quite funny that somebody is complaining about a review for a game that nobody gives a shit about ...

Cut the guy some slack, it's clearly not his cup of tea ...

No, I'm complaining because someone isn't doing his job properly, regardless of which game it is. If someone does a half-assed review of a game, it reflects badly on the rest of the site.

If this were any other major international gaming site this mockery of a 'review' wouldn't even have made the site. How the hell are we supposed to take a site's review seriously when considering a purchase of a game when the reviewer couldn't even be arsed to play past the tutorial before writing the review.

Whether you care about the game or it's 'not his cup of tea' is totally irrelevant. If it's 'not your cup of tea,' then either pass the game on to another reviewer or don't review it at all. Don't do what this guy did. There's a little something called journalistic integrity.

And I'm not making a fuss for the sake of it, I'm making a fuss over this because I actually like MyGaming. It's my main hub for getting gaming-related news. I don't want to see it brought down by people who couldn't be bothered with doing their jobs properly.

Edit: I also think it's apt to say that while the GoT RPG is no GotY, it's really not that bad. It's got a lot of redeeming qualities.

You seem, in general, to take things way too seriously. No offense meant, just an observation.

I don't know any sane gamer who would read one review and then based on that review alone decide whether or not they should buy a game, especially a licensed game. IMO a review is there to give you a basic idea of the game, but at the end of the day it's still just someone's opinion and it will differ from yours or that of someone else.

We also don't know his side of the story yet. Maybe he just played the tutorial, maybe he didn't ... It doesn't always have to take the time it takes you to finish a game to form an opinion about it. If I had to play through and finish every (IMO) shitty game I ever bought I would go mental.

People tend to read multiple reviews, watch gameplay videos, talk to friends, chat on forums, etc. to get info about games so I really don't see the big deal if the dude didn't bother finishing the game.

To a certain extent, I understand where your coming from about "not doing his job properly", but this is still about a review for a game (almost) nobody cares about ...

I don't really think it's acceptable for a reviewer for a professional gaming news and review site to do a half-arsed job. I don't expect reviewers to finish every game they review, but playing only the tutorial segment is not enough content to do a review on. Sorry.

I didn't really know that expecting a site you frequent's journalists to do a proper job was 'taking things too seriously' either. Next time I see a journalist here do a rubbish job I'll just shrug it off and move on.

I doesn't matter whether 'almost nobody cares about the game' (even though that's not true, as the game was favorably received by many people, including RPGCodex). I don't recall ever reading a review on another site where the reviewer only played the tutorial chapter before writing his review. Why should it be acceptable here? The excuse that 'nobody cares about the game' just doesn't work. This is a professional site. One expects professional quality journalism here.

Regardless, arguing about it is a bit pointless, so I'll just wait to hear what either James or Gareth has to say about it. I don't think Gareth can really deny not playing past the tutorial chapter, though, as he wasn't even aware of the fact that there is a second playable character who you meet within an hour of starting gameplay.

Question?

Who here would trust someone with their tax return if said tax consultant only knows the intro to the tax legislation or SILKE?

Therefore why trust someone's review when he hasn't given the game a proper run. We read reviews to get their opinion on the game, same way we have tax consultants opinion on how to save money. Thus I agree with the dominant view of the tread, do your job properly.

James, any comment on this?