poiuppx said:
My point was how he related the singleplayer to the game's popularity, making a link between perceived themes of militarism, racism and jingoism and the tastes of the tens of millions who bought the game.
I've said it often enough, my problem is his making that link.
I don't want approval. I never did. I wanted critique. Good or bad, most likely bad. Silence is deafening on a game that is so popular FOR IT'S MULTIPLAYER!
sandbox gameplay experiences tend to be truncated a bit, or why when he talks MMOs he often can only really toss in his first impressions rather than a full review.
Could have done that here.
The persistence argument doesn't explain why he did a full review of DayZ. Inconsistency, you are all making up rules for him to get out of what he's done here, not from past trends.
as you've made it clear such elements matter to you
*rolls eyes*
Always have to make this personal... the point is ABUNDANTLY clear that it is the BROADER millions of this multi-million selling series that it is TO THEM that the multiplayer matters. I want HIM to tell ME why 20 MILLION people buy the game for it's multiplayer, by giving us insight on it's multiplayer... but instead he focuses all on the shitty ancillary single-player plot.
People who don't like JRPGs shouldn't review them. So why is yahtzee reviewing a game whose success is built on it's online competitive multiplayer? But even if someone who didn't like JRPGs did review of such games, they would at least give a few reasons why they were so bad, according to them. But Yahtzee doesn't do that. He doggedly ignores the part that I'D LOVE TO SEE HIM RIP ON!!
Do you REALLY think I'm one of those people who want Yahtzee to review Black Ops 2's multiplayer... to give it a positive review!?!?
Video related to my response.
I want him to show all those COD fans who love the multiplayer what is wrong with it and the REAL reason why they all play it. And not some BS like they have a military fetish, that obviously doesn't fit or ARMA II would have sold 5x more.
And as I said, the multiplayer is irrelevant, both for him and for me. I assume he paid for his copy... does that make his view on the matter inconsequential?
And yes, many people play the multiplayer. Many, no doubt, buy it for only the multiplayer. Bully for them. Hooray. Not all do. Your sentiment that the only reason it is successful is the multiplayer, or that this is all that is played/cared about, stands at odds to the simple fact single-player is there at all. A company like Activision is hardly going to waste the money involved on the campaign if it isn't a significant draw.
As for your desire for critique, again, he isn't really much the sort for it. Granted, I agree, he could have easily done a brief aside first-impression there-of, akin to his MMO reviews I alluded to. But would he have had much constructive to say/material for jokes there-in? I wouldn't much trust his view on competitive multiplayer for the same reason I wouldn't much trust Roger Ebert to decide what games should be viewed as art; existing bias prevents rational discourse.
I will, however, agree that banging on the militarism jingoism drum is hopefully done solely for the lulz, as they say. Again, as a fan of prior games, I can't imagine ANYONE taking away from the CoD series 'Yay patriotism and war!'. MW 1-3 and BO1 make it clear that such viewpoints are either horrifically naive or utterly destructive. But then, again, my interest lies more in the humor from Yahtzee than from the reviews proper, so my mindset is admitted biased.
I do take offense at the more personal digs, however, towards my appraisal. I'm hardly making excuses, merely stating my viewpoint on a matter you clearly feel invested in. Else, I doubt you'd waste this much time typing about it. Yes, he reviewed DayZ. He reviewed the Left 4 Dead games, a WoW expansion, Tabula Rassa, and so on and so forth. Games where online play is either mandatory or strongly expected. I never said he doesn't review such things... rather, I would say he shouldn't review them seriously. He hates competitive multiplayer. This is an established and admitted fact. His interest will never be there, and any competitive multiplayer focus he gives will, aside from jokes, be brutally biased. You wish to see a critique, an honest appraisal of this element. But I say to you he is the wrong person to ask that of because he will not give a fair critique there-of. He would be nightmarishly prejudiced against it.
And if I may say... why DO you care for him to tell you why so many buy the game? You clearly already have your answer, multiplayer. And I assume you purchased the game, so you know for yourself what elements you like and dislike. At this stage, what would his covering multiplayer add? And don't bang on about ARMA II selling more if military shinies were all the franchise was built on. ARMA II didn't have a giant ad plastered all over the side of a building facing the 405. ARMA II billboards and online ads and print ads and the like didn't dominate a majority of gaming-related ads I saw. ARMA II didn't have a theme song by Avenged Sevenfold. If you want to go that route, I'd sooner make the comparison to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, given the real-world expertise involved in its creation and the hefty investments from EA in the advertising.