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| Sample of average rating from this week's releases on MetaCritic |
Note: [Game name - Publisher - Platform] - Metacritic scores: Critic - User
[NeverDead - Konami - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 50-52/100 - 4.5-5.4/10
Announced back in 2010 at E3, NeverDead created a bit of hype for itself prior to its launch. But the second it hit the shelves, the criticism whip cracked down on it hard for frustrating controls and repetitive gameplay. The game was quickly forgotten and all hype about it disappeared.
[Street Fighter X Tekken - Capcom - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 84-84/100 - 5.5-3.9/10
So the complaints for this game aren't from the critics but rather the players. Competitive Street Fighter fans don't like how easy it is for anyone to perform combos and special attacks that favor a more casual audience. Tekken fans don't like how their favorite game and characters play like Street Fighter characters. Some complain how poor the online gameplay feels as lag and connection issues ensue. Some of the more reasonable aspects that people are angry about is the fact that 10 extra characters haven't been added to the game yet and will be available in the fall even though they're charging players a full $60 right now and the fact that day 1 DLCs was implemented within the disc but is not accessible till paid for. I suppose the last two are reasonable complaints that warrant poor reception from the customers as Capcom did the same thing twice last year with Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Capcom said they wouldn't do a "Super" version of this game and release it for $40, but if you think about it having the original game and paying for the DLCs for the characters is a lot more expensive...
[Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - Capcom - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 51-54/100 - 6.1-5.3/10
This Resident Evil game wasn't directly developed by Capcom and has a much more action-orientated feel to it (although the main series has become just that as well). It boasted itself being a cooperative multiplayer experience similar to that of Left4Dead's feel; however, it seems most of the complaints is that it takes a ton of original characters from the series (fan service), used the Resident Evil name (power behind an IP), and created an action-game with dumb AI and boring environments. Guessing that the game's similar to the mission modes of Resident Evil 5, I can imagine what the critics and players are trying to say. Still, if the game has split-screen co-op mode, I maybe consider picking this game up one day.
[Ninja Gaiden 3 - TecmoKoei - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 56-59/100 - 3.9-4.1/10
It may be that Tomonobu Itagaki isn't directing this one or maybe the game was rushed a bit too much, but Ninja Gaiden 3 was not received well by the community at all. The most common complaint was that the game felt "unfinished" or "lacking content". It could be that the developers had fallen into the trend trap and focused a bit too much on the multiplayer aspect and didn't fleshed out the campaign very well, but I guess I don't really care since I have yet to finish the first one and haven't even bought the 2nd one yet.
[Armored Core V - NamcoBandai - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 66-70/100 - 8.2-8.3/10
I just posted about this game not too long ago. Although the reception wasn't exactly "bad", the very average rating was a lot lower than I expected. The critics main gripes were the constant loading between each screen, repetitive objective, and a boring single player experience. It was praised for its multiplayer aspects such as online gameplay and a massive array of customizable parts. If I didn't have a huge backlog of games and a list of high priority games I'd get first, I would have already picked this game up. It's been so long since I've played a really nice mech game.
[Yakuza: Dead Souls - Sega - PS3] - Metacritic: 64/100 - 7.1/10
In hopes of reaching out to the western market even more, Sega had decided to put zombies in their Yakuza game. The Yakuza series had been received with average to semi-above ratings with both players and critics, but I suppose this spin-off is a bit off from its usual audience and doesn't fit well with both sides (zombie fans and fans of the Yakuza series).
[Mass Effect 3 - Electronic Arts - PS3/360/PC] - Metacritic: 92-93-90/100 - 3.7-4.8-3.7/10
Players either loved it or hated it mainly because of the ending. I don't want to hear it, don't want to know about it yet. I'm still upset that I lost my save files for Mass Effect 1 and have to start over again a 3rd time now because of the laptop crashing. The game sold well, but is a hot topic of being panned by the community.
[Blades of Time - Konami - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 56-52/100 - 6.8-7.3/10
The successor of animé-ish X-Blades, Blades of Time is a huge transition from its predecessor to bring a more realistic looking game in the likeness of Uncharted or Tomb Raider. The game was largely ignored by the community and those that bothered to rate it gave it average to below average rating. Some players praised it for being a much better game than its predecessor but pointed out that the story was bland and the game being buggy. I might give this game a try after I play through X-Blades.
[Asura's Wrath - Capcom - PS3/360] - Metacritic: 72-73/100 - 6.2-5.9/10
This game also received a lot of hype ever since its announcement. When the demo released, waves of comments came crashing down on how monotonous the gameplay was and how it felt like a game of interactive cut-scenes with its excessive use of quick-time events. I've come to really hate any quick-time events used in games because of how excessively it's used in games now (although it was used quite elegantly in Bayonetta). It was okay in the beginning especially back in God of War when it was used mainly to show more of the brutality of the enemies being killed, but then every action game started using it and it just stopped being "interesting" and became more of a "nuisance". I guess that reflected throughout the entire game when Asura's Wrath eventually came out. I might give the game a chance one day when it hits a strong sale for $20 or less, but I'll pass on it for now.
[BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend - Aksys Games - PS3/360/Vita] - Metacritic: 70-N/A-82/100 - 5.1-7-8.3/10
I can understand why critics and players alike are so upset with this release of BlazBlue as Arc System Works and Aksys Games did a Capcom move and released a revised version of their previous games with additional content. BlazBlue's previous transition from Calamity Trigger to Continuum Shift was justified as characters had a huge improvement in balance, abilities, an entire continuation of the story, better online gameplay, and extra characters without it being DLCs before. With the release of "Extend", it included the 3 characters that were sold for $7 each as DLCs with one additional character, the inclusion of Calamity Trigger's story, additional stories to the new characters and a new mode. It may seem like a lot, but for those who already spent $121 on the previous two games and the DLCs feel cheated when this version is a full package of everything the bought in the past with a few extra content (essentially an expensive $40 DLC). Sadly, I'll end up buying the game because I loved the game and having that extra mode and 4 extra characters with their story mode included is something I want. It does feel like I'm being cheated along with those who bought the first two games; however, this game is an absolute must buy for all new comers as it's the complete package for BlazBlue.
There were many more to mention, but I suppose I got my point across that this year's release of game reception has a lot more notoriety than any year I've seen in a while. This makes me wonder how the other games will fare against the community this year: Dragon's Dogma, Prototype 2, Max Payne 3, Risen 2, Lollipop Chainsaw, Darksiders 2, Anarchy Reigns, Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, FarCry 3, Borderlands 2, Dead or Alive 5, etc.
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