Dragon Age II has a 3.4/10 on Metacritic, WHY!?

[Wisteso]

I haven't played it, but a bunch of my friends have and they're all enjoying the game. It's just a bunch of kids who are angry that the PC version isn't that much superiour and probably spammed the ratingsystem.

Except the PC version really is rubbish. By PC standards at least, which I think are higher than console gamer standards. I loved the first Dragon Age but this sequel is complete trash for more reasons than I can get into in this small post. Everything that made the first version good has been removed. The few things that were bad in the first of the series have been made worse in the second version. If you really want some examples, I'll just mention "writing", "over-streamlined", and "ez-mode combat".

Not to be rude, but the enthusiast that generally builds his/her own machine for 1000-3000 dollars is going to be more involved/invested into the quality of experience than someone that buys his/hers used for 200 dollars and bounces between it and the other "low budget gaming machines" (consoles) that he/she has. Thus the difference in what constitutes a good game to each crowd.

The sad part is that until now I actually thought MetaCritic used sources with integrity. The sheer difference between the user reviews and the "professional" reviews shows what a fraud the mainstream professional reviewers seem to be.

 

[AlexJ412]

I haven't played it yet (as it isn't out yet in the UK) but i hope it is good, it is unfortunate that some peole can't accept the change in direction although from what i have seen it probably is for the best.

AND i have always sat on the fence with RPG's on either consoles or on the PC but the Bioware ones are always the best in my opinion (especially KOTOR) i didn't see any real difference to the gameplay on console as opposed to the PC i just play the game and enjoy it, other than that, who cares?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

it's just people Meta-bombing due to the game being streamlined similar the ME2. This is no different than when people gave Gears of War 2 and Killzone 2 1's and 0's which is their version of throwing a tantrum. I can understand the grievances, but this is just childish.

 

[Caliostro]

unfairly biased reviews (such as Modern Warfare 2's drop of dedicated servers)

Sorry to break it to you, but if anything MW2 was overrated, even going by terrible user scores...


That said, read up on some of the user reviews. They usually localize their vitriol towards specific issues.

 

[newwiseman]

It's fun but the dungeons get very repetitive and the story gets lost in side quests.

 

[Zom-B]

Holy shit.

The critic scores have a rating of like 82-83/100.

But the user reviews put it right now at a 2.8/10!! The hell is everyone so pissed about?! First glance it looks like a bunch of people are calling it "dumbed down" from its old RPG elements. I haven't played it so I wouldn't know but I do know the Mass Effect series' combat was heavily improved when moving closer to an action game than an RPG.

its just a bunch of pissed off elitist PC gamers who are angry that their game was "dumbed down" so more people could enjoy it.

Actually, if you check the separate pages for PC, Xbox and PS3 you'll see all the user reviews are hovering around a 3. Of course it's possible that people are rating console version not having played them, but it seems pretty consistent that while the critics are generally praising the game, the game buying public is not quite so pleased.

 

[MCDeltaT]

Trolls. Trolls everywhere!

 

[That's Funny]

It must be trolls or Bioware haters.

 

[qazmatoz]

I haven't played it, but a bunch of my friends have and they're all enjoying the game. It's just a bunch of kids who are angry that the PC version isn't that much superiour and probably spammed the ratingsystem.

Except the PC version really is rubbish. By PC standards at least, which I think are higher than console gamer standards. I loved the first Dragon Age but this sequel is complete trash for more reasons than I can get into in this small post. Everything that made the first version good has been removed. The few things that were bad in the first of the series have been made worse in the second version. If you really want some examples, I'll just mention "writing", "over-streamlined", and "ez-mode combat".

Not to be rude, but the enthusiast that generally builds his/her own machine for 1000-3000 dollars is going to be more involved/invested into the quality of experience than someone that buys his/hers used for 200 dollars and bounces between it and the other "low budget gaming machines" (consoles) that he/she has. Thus the difference in what constitutes a good game to each crowd.

The sad part is that until now I actually thought MetaCritic used sources with integrity. The sheer difference between the user reviews and the "professional" reviews shows what a fraud the mainstream professional reviewers seem to be.

Sighh and I just bought a new processor and mobo. So you know if it's as glitchy as DA: Awakenings?

 

[Nervouse]

I guess I was expecting it to get a bit dumber, being an elitist PC gamer ! DA:2 is supposed to be dumber than DA:O, NWN2 is way more complicated and involved than DA:O, not that it made it a better game, but I'm definately seeing a trend... just like ME1 to ME2... I think a lot of PC gamers get their hopes up on big titles that are released on multiple platforms, but the casual gamer society will always end up with the favorable slant in games because thats what makes the big bucks.
I'm not standing on my soapbox here, if I want to play more interesting and complicated games I'll look at stuff like witcher 2 etc... I'm sure DA:2 will be worth a look, but phrases like streamlined, simplified, less clunky, easier to use have started to put the heebee geebees up me! Because I LOVE my RPGs full of LISTS and STATS and could sit for hours comparing 'this sword I have' to 'that sword that the big demon fella dropped' and 'the sword that blacksmith can sell me for 120 sovereigns' etc...

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Holy shit.

The critic scores have a rating of like 82-83/100.

But the user reviews put it right now at a 2.8/10!! The hell is everyone so pissed about?! First glance it looks like a bunch of people are calling it "dumbed down" from its old RPG elements. I haven't played it so I wouldn't know but I do know the Mass Effect series' combat was heavily improved when moving closer to an action game than an RPG.

its just a bunch of pissed off elitist PC gamers who are angry that their game was "dumbed down" so more people could enjoy it.

Hold on a second, plenty of console gamers have complained that auto-attack is off for them now (although they can just change it in the options I believe).

Nope. No auto-attack option that I've seen. It make it really annoying since I'm playing a rogue. Mashing the A button is not fun.

 

[James Raynor]

Holy shit.

The critic scores have a rating of like 82-83/100.

But the user reviews put it right now at a 2.8/10!! The hell is everyone so pissed about?! First glance it looks like a bunch of people are calling it "dumbed down" from its old RPG elements. I haven't played it so I wouldn't know but I do know the Mass Effect series' combat was heavily improved when moving closer to an action game than an RPG.

its just a bunch of pissed off elitist PC gamers who are angry that their game was "dumbed down" so more people could enjoy it.

Hold on a second, plenty of console gamers have complained that auto-attack is off for them now (although they can just change it in the options I believe).

Nope. No auto-attack option that I've seen. It make it really annoying since I'm playing a rogue. Mashing the A button is not fun.

Press R to attack closest target.

 

[lovest harding]

After 8 hours of play, I thoroughly enjoy the game a ton (as much as I enjoyed the first).

I'd consider it less strategic/less deep (it's just got more action, but it's still miles deeper than most other popular RPGs, I mean, I love Fable and all but even I can admit that it's incredibly shallow in RPG terms).

I like both styles. The big thing is is that they seem to just feel completely different. It's not that DA2 is that much more shallow, it's just that it's more action than strategy on a basic stand point. But, to be honest, I can still strategize exactly like I did in the first. Nothing took that away from. It's just that now I don't press one button and watch when I'm not setting up attacks and whatnot.

 

[Kolosus]

This is, as i suspected, 4Chan [http://www.4chan.org/] have taken interest in it

It's pretty much just a bunch of people, hyping each other up about how "BAD" the game is, the traditional 4chan way...

 

[Lizmichi]

It's the people that are still pissed that you're not playing your Warden or that you can't be an elf mage. Also it is the jack asses of the PC gamers, I'm proud to say I'm not that kind of PC gamer, that hates console games and think that Dragon Age 2 is dumb down.

 

[Woodsey]

Holy shit.

The critic scores have a rating of like 82-83/100.

But the user reviews put it right now at a 2.8/10!! The hell is everyone so pissed about?! First glance it looks like a bunch of people are calling it "dumbed down" from its old RPG elements. I haven't played it so I wouldn't know but I do know the Mass Effect series' combat was heavily improved when moving closer to an action game than an RPG.

its just a bunch of pissed off elitist PC gamers who are angry that their game was "dumbed down" so more people could enjoy it.

Hold on a second, plenty of console gamers have complained that auto-attack is off for them now (although they can just change it in the options I believe).

Nope. No auto-attack option that I've seen. It make it really annoying since I'm playing a rogue. Mashing the A button is not fun.

Find the other guy who quoted me - he has the explanation.

 

[erto101]

(...) 200 people don't just wake up and say "hey guys! You know what would be funny? If we all collectively pretended this particular game was terrible!"

Yes they do. The even form groups to do shit like that =) 4chan for instance xD

OT: The game will be available in 38 hours here in Denmark, so I have yet to form an opinion. I did enjoy the demo and pre-ordered it though

 

[tuddy]

Here's a shocking concept to you:

Your favourite company is capable of making a bad game.

This is pretty much my opinion on the whole situation. I don't care for Bioware's games, never have, but from what I've heard, the PC port of Dragon Age 2 is pretty goddamn awful and the game itself has been horribly dumbed down. I don't expect -every- game in a developer's catalogue to be a shining example of video games as a medium, nor do I expect every game to require a doorstop-sized manual to be playable (though a big, detailed manual is nice); but I think that, after paying £40 for a game (more for the "signature" edition that you had to pre-order at least a month in advance) you expect the game to at least run well on your platform of choice. The fact it has been dumbed down to accommodate for less skilled players just adds insult to injury.

 

[Something Amyss]

I haven't played it, but a bunch of my friends have and they're all enjoying the game. It's just a bunch of kids who are angry that the PC version isn't that much superiour and probably spammed the ratingsystem.

After all the pre-release shouting that THEY RUINED IT BY DUMBING IT DOWN FOR CONSOLES, that was kind of my first thought. Though I don't know what critcicisms are specifically being offered, so I don't know how valid the reviews are.

I mean, the flip side of the coin is that if this averaged lower than an 8.0 in the critics column, with all the hype it got, I'd expect someone to get Gerstmann'd.

 

[Grey_Focks]

Eh, if you enjoyed Origins, you'll enjoy this one, imho. I'm about 9-10 hours in, and I've loved just about all of it. There are a few little issues I have with it, but nothing serious. Maybe put the difficulty up to hard?

Maybe not as good as Origins, but again, any game I can spend AN ENTIRE DAY playing and not get sick of it is doing something right.