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[Garrett Hawke]

People should be allowed and encouraged to play whatever they want. They should also review whatever they want. I want reviews from total novices as well as pros. The whole point of reviews is to get a wide variety of perspectives on a game. Gamers should not be so obsessed with forming a critical narrative about a game.

This is also a good point though. Reviews should be from really varied sources. If they were only from the ultra core who blitz through everything on Critical it would make reviews useless for a large portion of the community.

 

[HMD]

So there needs to be a skill threshold for reviews?

There's no review in the OP, also having the ability to move the camera and aim should be expected when you're critiquing a game. But I'll bet whomever was playing was trying to do something else while playing, maybe writing or talking. But it's still weird to use that inadequate footage.

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

That gif looks like it's someones first time picking up a controller. They can't even control both sticks at once.

I don't trust the majority of reviews. The IGN guy who reviewed Heroes of the Storm gave it a 6.5/10 and said the game pretty much sucked.

People looked up his game stats and saw that he pretty much got REKT every single game he played. If you suck ass at a game, and get your ass kicked over and over, there's a good chance you will not have fun... especially in a highly competitive multiplayer game.

I think everyone needs to understand that a review is simply an opinion of a single person. Their opinion of a game holds no more value than your own.

 

[thecosmicfly]

So there needs to be a skill threshold for reviews?

For controlling two stick at once in an FPS? Kinda, yeah.

 

[brau]

So did Polygon get frustrated with the game and its controls only to write a blog style article where they say they refuse to keep playing the game?

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

you do realise that as this gameplay has come direct feed from the console, it must of been captured using some kind of capture card right?

these things introduce lag in controls. Maybe they were using a really bad one.

That said, some kind of quailty control should of flagged this video as something that stays on the cutting room floor.

 

[potatohead]

I feel like this isn't really anything Polygon specific though. For some reason so many sites tend to get people who - to put it bluntly - just don't seem to be too hot at games. And obviously as GAF is an enthusiast community with people who play some games for literally hundreds of hours, it can seem like people are utterly dreadful when this is quite reflective of a lot of people IRL.

But it does bum me out because you get situations like Mirror's Edge Catalyst, where early previews were giving some people haemorrhoids because the gameplay looked dreadful and then people actually played the beta and found that it was just people playing the game badly in preview footage.

It's like watching game previewers play racing games.

95% of the time they have no idea what they are doing, and it's not relevant at all to the audience of driving games.

 

[MushroomSamba]

So there needs to be a skill threshold for reviews?

I mean, if it's a review worth any credibility, then yes.

Otherwise, I don't know how to drive, but here's my review on the new Ferrari. It handles like shit.

 

[Lister]

Maybe they were playing the PC version without aim assist but with a gamepad?

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I mean, if it's a review worth any credibility, then yes.

Did the reviewer criticize the game's playability or controls in a write up while playing below GAF standards or something? If not, I fail to see any real issue.

 

[ChoklitCow]

So there needs to be a skill threshold for reviews?

Hmm. That's actually an interesting concept. I guess I always assumed they were good at games because they reviewed them. Yet, I don't have the same bias towards another type of news journalist covering a particular story. To tell you the truth, I never gave much thought to the intricacies of games journalism other than "do I like the stories they tell and do they fall in line with my opinions."

But now I'm also thinking about how someone skilled in a particular genre may have a more difficult time separating their bias. If you are better/worse than the general consumer, how does that impact how they will receive the game? On one hand, someone close to the genre has a wealth of comparisons and historical knowledge. On the other, this may skew their perception of the game as a whole when the genre changes.

Thanks for making me question what I read. Regardless, this person sucks with a controller.

 

[Izcarielo]

Embarrasing; thats why i never trust gaming reviews.

 

[rdytoroll]

What the fuck is this? ;/

People like should not be allowed to play non-COD shooters.

Implying that COD is for babies or what? Cmon man, I thought we as gamers were over the COD bashing

 

[M.W.]

Yikes.

 

[Matticers]

Only thing I can think of is that it was their first time trying to play using a keyboard and mouse or something? Maybe?

Otherwise, yeah, it is pretty incompetent. I feel like you should at least have an average skill level with games if you play/review them for a living. Even more so if you're doing it for a well known company.

 

[Salsa]

yeah im legit asking about the review, didnt mean to imply knowledge

I dont know who was playing this nor if its the same person who's gonna review it

their official video just refers to it as "we played the first 30 mins" etc

 

[MilkBeard]

People should be allowed and encouraged to play whatever they want. They should also review whatever they want. I want reviews from total novices as well as pros. The whole point of reviews is to get a wide variety of perspectives on a game. Gamers should not be so obsessed with forming a critical narrative about a game.

Yeah I agree. It's true that the person playing in the video isn't very skilled at the game...but so what?

 

[James Scott]

A lot of new players have trouble controlling the camera while moving.
Games like Captain toad are made for people to try and learn by not having to do both at the same time.
Maybe it's being played on a laptop with the touchpad and keyboard? That's how I look when playing like that because it's not very good

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

So there needs to be a skill threshold for reviews?

I think there should probably be a general competency threshold. If someone can't even figure out the basics of playing a game, why would his thoughts on a game have any value?

 

[The Flash]

The only redeeming thing about this video is the fact that they were self-aware enough to eventually disabled comments and likes

 

[Lingitiz]

Implying that COD is for babies or what? Cmon man, I thought we as gamers were over the COD bashing

I take it you haven't seen the whole dislikes thing on the COD IW trailer.

 

[Sylas]

I don't trust the majority of reviews. The IGN guy who reviewed Heroes of the Storm gave it a 6.5/10 and said the game pretty much sucked.

People looked up his game stats and saw that he pretty much got REKT every single game he played. If you suck ass at a game, and get your ass kicked over and over, there's a good chance you will not have fun... especially in a highly competitive multiplayer game.

I think everyone needs to understand that a review is simply an opinion of a single person. Their opinion of a game holds no more value than your own.

Wait the end of your post contradicts the beginning of your post. It's important that people see the opinion of, "Well, I lost a lot and that was miserable and I didn't have any fun," because that informs someone's decision.

It's like watching game previewers play racing games.

95% of the time they have no idea what they are doing, and it's not relevant at all to the audience of driving games.

But it's relevant to people who are part of the non-driving game audience. I don't like most racing games, but I love knowing if I could get into one without a ton of experience. For example, I love games like Burnout. I hate games like Forza.

Granted, the whole Polygon thing is kinda ridiculous because I'm not really sure what audience needs to know that a game is difficult to play for someone who's never held a controller before. That's... sorta obvious? Though I guess one of the posters in this thread mentioned it--some people just can't handle games without aim assist, so I suppose that's an important thing to call out.

 

[Parallacs]

Nothing wrong with the video. Playing on the Kinect can be a little tricky for FPS.

 

[KKRT00]

People should be allowed and encouraged to play whatever they want. They should also review whatever they want. I want reviews from total novices as well as pros. The whole point of reviews is to get a wide variety of perspectives on a game. Gamers should not be so obsessed with forming a critical narrative about a game.

I should write review, instead of play. My bad.
I dont think a person who cannot play should review a skill based games, because then the review is not meaningful/informative for consumers in any way.
There are other games that are more fitted for people who have problems with titles that require skill and precision.
How can You for example review game like Doom without playing through higher difficulty settings? Its like essential part of the game design imho.

 

[Resident_UA]

you do realise that as this gameplay has come direct feed from the console, it must of been captured using some kind of capture card right?

these things introduce lag in controls. Maybe they were using a really bad one.

That said, some kind of quailty control should of flagged this video as something that stays on the cutting room floor.

I don't think that would explain it... The person playing is even moving reticle in certain cases...

 

[Ecto311]

Holy shit that is bad no wonder the comments and thumbs up/down were locked.

I get that they don't need to be Fatal1ty level of play but this shit is equivelant of them trying to grade a car and grinding the gears all day or stalling. I would expect a video like this from a mommy blog showing how bad it is or something along those lines.

Looks like "Twitch plays Doom" instead of game enthusiast site.

 

[potatohead]

Hmm. That's actually an interesting concept. I guess I always assumed they were good at games because they reviewed them. Yet, I don't have the same bias towards another type of news journalist covering a particular story. To tell you the truth, I never gave much thought to the intricacies of games journalism other than "do I like the stories they tell and do they fall in line with my opinions."

But now I'm also thinking about how someone skilled in a particular genre may have a more difficult time separating their bias. If you are better/worse than the general consumer, how does that impact how they will receive the game? On one hand, someone close to the genre has a wealth of comparisons and historical knowledge. On the other, this may skew their perception of the game as a whole when the genre changes.

Thanks for making me question what I read. Regardless, this person sucks with a controller.

Very much a myth. These guys are at best average skill at games, or worse, for the most part.

Their "skill" is in making videos about games, and writing about them, not necessarily playing them.

Which yes, basically convolutes the entire process of what it means to review a game. From anyone, not just reviewers.

Makes the score even that much more hilarious. Stick a number on the game why don't they

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Mean, shitty post. Great work OP.

You'd think that GAF was better than this, knowing that this isn't meant to be anything more than just a Facebook livestream, but instead this follows the same tack that the KiA thread on Reddit is aiming for.

it really calls attention to both who handles the coverage of games on these sites and also the non-surprising state of shooters today

Link us to your stream when you're ready.

 

[Nokterian]

Said it on twitter and here also in another thread but good grief i was shocked seeing this like who is holding the controller and playing like they never touched a shooter before let stand a fast shooter? Didn't last more than 1 minute in that video had to turn it off.

Compared to this from the nvidia showcase it is night and day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anrvBD4aTGY&index=2&list=LLhYw7fXuNh2TZvDF-vUyo4Q

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

One thing I will advocate is that reviews need someone who is intimately familiar with the style of game/genre to give a second opinion and maybe discuss the mecahnics in depth.

 

[KatamariOnTheRocks]

The first requirement for anybody that has to demo games is that they need to be terrible at them.

Everytime a game is shown off in any capacity, the person playing is always so bad that it's hard to imagine they've ever actually played a game in their life.

Nobody expects anyone to be the best at every single game the first time they play, but you should at least be able to play the game if you're the one that's putting together footage that demonstrates the game, be it for promo material or a reviewer.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Pfffttttlol...maybe drunk? That's pretty bad...

 

[Lister]

Yeah I agree. It's true that the person playing in the video isn't very skilled at the game...but so what?

IT's not just that person isn't very skilled at the game... it's that, again, this could be a gamepad on PC issue, it seems this person has never played an FPS game before. This isn't just bad at FPS footage, this is , my first FPS footage.

It's supposed to be gameplay of a fast paced FPS for a gaming audience to consume. SOMEBODY must have looked at that and said, no, let's re-record. That or they had a big laugh and decided to troll a bit

 

[keltickennedy]

That video is like going to the park with a friend that loves basketball. Plays it all the time himself, but when you pass him the ball he can barely dribble. lol. Just sad.

 

[rdytoroll]

I take it you haven't seen the whole dislikes thing on the COD IW trailer.

I have, but that doesn't have to do anything with the overall hate of COD. Those dislikes mainly came from fans being pissed about MWR being bundled with IW and them going again with a futuristic setting. Past trailers have never been this heavily disliked

 

[Platy]

This is a perfect representation of me playing an fps on a console with traditional controllers

 

[Piston Hyundai]

it's going to be pretty funny if Polygon has to issue a statement addressing how bad one of their crew was at playing a video game

 

[Jinfash]

Implying that COD is for babies or what? Cmon man, I thought we as gamers were over the COD bashing

"We as gamers"?

 

[darth_infamous]

are you serious? this is supposed to be someone who plays games for a living and he's struggling to shoot at an enemy who's literally right in front of him

"Writes for a living" they aren't professional players

 

[aygomyownroad]

My partner played like that the first time I tried to get her to okay COD...

She should apply for a job with them

 

[Mupod]

my favorite part is where he tries to shoot the health pack. Probably never seen one in a shooter before.

 

[Sylas]

Mean, shitty post. Great work OP.

You'd think that GAF was better than this, knowing that this isn't meant to be anything more than just a Facebook livestream, but instead this follows the same tack that the KiA thread on Reddit is aiming for.



Link us to your stream when you're ready.

Wat. It was explicitly linked as a first look at the game. It wasn't a facebook livestream, it was part of someone's job. It's mean-spirited but not uncalled for.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Maybe they were playing the PC version without aim assist but with a gamepad?

Like I do?

No...they were just downright awful.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

maybe the guy is holding a burrito with the other hand, if you got to snack you got to snack.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

Apparently my mother reviews games for Polygon now. Interesting...

 

[BiggNife]

You can suck at a game and still review it. I think people are blowing this out of proportion.

 

[TriniTrin]

This video was great! Maybe one of the polygon editors mom's were the ones playing. This is exactly how it looks when my mom plays first person shooters!

Time constraints forced him to write the review while simultaneously playing?

BAHAHA

 

[Brazil]

Is this going to be a follow-up to McElroy's Nier review?

 

[terrible]

If you're incapable of using two joysticks at the same time you probably shouldn't be reviewing a FPS unless it's specifically a review geared towards first time gamers.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Wat. It was explicitly linked as a first look at the game. It wasn't a facebook livestream, it was part of someone's job. It's mean-spirited but not uncalled for.

Yes it was https://www.facebook.com/polygon/videos/1187674131245213/

This is not a review. This is just some gameplay.