uWrite: Professional vs. Consumer Reviews

The following article was submitted by Raidon. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

For the past week, I have been researching for my next purchase. It was between BioShock and Call of Duty 4, and the main argument was good game with no multiplayer versus a game with good multiplayer. So I went online and looked up both of the games, and found that all the stores within a 10 mile radius of my house are plumb out of both of them. I also didn't feel like waiting for a month for them to restock the game for three reasons:

1. I want a good multiplayer game.
2. I don't want it to be run and gun.
3. I was supposed to get both of these games for christmas, but my parents (lame, im still dependant on them) couldn't find a store that held either. Heh, and they complained about my procrastination.

So what does this have to do with pro versus amateur reviews? Well, for one, I received a total of $230 spendable on games. So I thought, it wouldn't hurt for me to buy another game first, then get Bioshock and CoD4 in a month or two. That game was Hellgate: London. It was a great target for press, seeing as how its MMO function had an optional payment choice. It was criticized because most people would be playing free, and those who aren't would have an unfair advantage. In addition, they also pointed out the Diablo style backpacking system and the outrageous ammount of loot dropped by monsters. Randomly generated levels were another topic that came up, but not as often. For these reasons, pro reviewers gave it ratings as low as 20%.

Hold on now, one of the best games of the year received 20%?

All the pro reviewers are looking at it from a developer's standpoint, which, most of the time, is good. However, they see that a game that is only half free will deter players from getting the game. However, what really happens, from the gamer's standpoint is this: "Hey, that guy has a lot cooler gear than me and has the ability to play the game for much longer. Maybe I should put down money too to be like him." Or it may not be a problem at all. Runescape is a perfect example of a half-free game, where there is little gelousy between the free and paid players.

Reviewers are also complaining about the randomly generated levels, large ammounts of loot, and tricky backpacking system. Seeing this, I thought, "This looks an awful lot like Diablo." I suddenly realized my stupidity in this comment, and looked up the reviews for Diablo 2. Again, reviewers were crying over the same reasons. I, for one, enjoyed Diablo 2 while it lasted. At this point I decided to read some customer reviews.

Most of the customer reviews were commenting on the pig-headedness of the reviewers rather than explaining their own. There were some, however, that mention that the intensity of the graphics and gameplay are revolutionary for the dungeon crawler genre. So, what do I have to say?

Nothing. I don't have the game yet. But once I do, I promise I will write a uReview on this magnificent website that is anigamers. Did you hear that, Vampt Vo? I complimented you!