When criticism kept you from buying a game you REALLY wanted

[aozgolo]

So by and large a lot of people like to say they aren't swayed by other people's opinions, some people don't read reviews at all, and that's fine. There's many games that you either love or hate that had reviews completely to the contrary of your own opinion of the game. What I want to know though is, have there ever been any games that you really wanted to play, that you were really set on getting and enjoying that overwhelming negative reviews ended up making you second-guess yourself and not buying the game?

For me that was and still is Fable 3. I enjoyed Fable: TLC a lot, probably because I missed all it's hype and by the time I heard of it, TLC was already out (I think I was too busy playing Morrowind at the time). So I never got the sad disappointment of Molyneux's promises and got to enjoy the game objectively for what it was, which is still a very solid good game.

Fable 3 however, despite again not paying attention to the Lionhead Mouth of Propaganda, I found a plethora of very damning reviews online, so I waited a bit. There's been about half a dozen or more times I've considered buying this game, even when it's on sale for a measly 5$ and I go looking for reasons to play it and every single time, no matter what corner of the internet I look, I find condemning horrible reviews. Maybe one day I'll play the game and find out that I'm one of the 0.02% of gamers who enjoys the hell out of it, but so far negative reviews have actually worked on me, someone who generally doesn't care other's opinions, and I've not bought it.


Anyone else had that happen?

 

[synobal]

Magic 2014, I'd really like to play it but I've heard it's a very aggressive money grab despite having good gameplay and such. I want to play but I'd feel guilty for rewarding the devs for their hyper aggressive money grabbing techniques.

 

[Caiphus]

I dunno about a game I 'Really wanted', as such. I was interested in the Game of Thrones RPG, which then bombed on metacritic. And the same can be said for LotR: War in the North. Unfortunately, neither look all that fun.

Shame really.

Oh, yes, and probably the Fable games too, like the OP. But since I didn't have an Xbox, I couldn't play the first couple, I think? So, I wasn't exactly on board the Molyneux hype train to begin with.

 

[mrdude2010]

I was super interested in "Kane and Lynch" after the article in Game Informer talking about the demo, but when I read the reviews I basically went "oh........ well it's apparently shit."

 

[ERaptor]

There are a lot of Games where I WISH i had listened to the negative reviews. But one specific game that comes to mind in this case is Final Fantasy XIII. I really liked FF X and FF XII, and unsurprisingly, the Trailers and anncouncments looked good. Cinematic Trailers are usually absolutely worthless, since they dont tell you jacksh*t apart from the setting. But Square Enix Trailers are actually pretty accurate, because FF XIII was pretty much a Movie where the protagonist was too thick to move on his own, at least for the first 20 hours.

Luckily, it was a tight month and my paymentcheck would arrive late. Thus I took a quick look at the Game on the shelf and then left it there. "I can buy it later.". I started reading some first impressions and watching videos, and boy im glad I didnt buy that goddamn thing, most of the critiques were devastating, and its really not a point in a games favour if you have to endure 20 hours of mediocrity and godawful story before the world finally opens up. I later borrowed the Game from a mate and at least the Game provided the smug satisfaction of knowing that i didnt waste money on this trainwreck.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Fable 3 for me too. It still has one of the best looking game trailers ever made, and every time I see I want to play it. But then I remember all the bad reviews for it and buckle out on buying it.

Right now it's on Steam sale at a measly £3.74, which is absolutely nothing. Even if it is a terrible game, there's no way that I couldn't get at least £3.74 worth of enjoyment out of it and yet... I remember those reviews and just can't bring myself to click 'purchase'

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Never really happened to me. If I really want the game, I'll get it, other's opinions be damned. That's the reason I got Sonic 2006 (well it was more because I loved all the previous games, yes, even Heroes, and those had gotten bad reviews as well, so I thought, hey, how bad can this one be? Answer: very bad). Did I regret buying it? A bit, but when it comes to games, I don't dwell on past mistakes, I just never play the game again.

In fact I'm more of the opinion that bad reviews for a game I'm interested in will make me buy it just to see if I'll agree with those, or if it's just people jumping on the hate train just because, and so far, the only one I really agree with is the aforementioned Sonic 2006.

 

[moggett88]

For me, Yahtzees review of Monster Hunter 3 destroyed all my enthusiasm for the game. I ended up not getting it until I saw it selling for £5 at CEX, and thought why not?

Turns out I loved it, and wish I had got it earlier so I could have played for longer before they shut down the servers. Maybe if I find a bunch of money in the street I'll buy a Wii U and get Ultimate...

 

[hickwarrior]

For me, Yahtzees review of Monster Hunter 3 destroyed all my enthusiasm for the game. I ended up not getting it until I saw it selling for £5 at CEX, and thought why not?

Turns out I loved it, and wish I had got it earlier so I could have played for longer before they shut down the servers. Maybe if I find a bunch of money in the street I'll buy a Wii U and get Ultimate...

You really shouldn't listen to yahtzee's 'reviews', they're mainly done for comedy's sake, really. That's how I interpret his views.

OT: as for me not buying a game due to reviews... I can't honestly remember the last time I did that. At all. I think I wasn't paying attention to most of it for most of my life anyway.

 

[Rich Webb]

I'm one of those people that never buys a game on release. I remember while waiting for ME3 to come down to a sensible price there was nothing but outrage about it and that had me a little concerned but I knew I wanted it anyway. It turns out that no, I will never get that part of my life back but why would I want to? I loved it!

 

[mirage202]

One soon to be released: X Rebirth.

I have been excited about this one since I first heard about it in 2011. Then one thing happened that has changed my decision from day one purchase to minimum 75% off sale. Single pilotable ship.

Others include but not limited to: Hitman: Absolution, Cortex Command, Fable 3 and Rage.

I suppose it could be a case of swayed opinion though I do think it is more that if I hear something I don't like the sound of then I'm less willing to part with my money.

 

[moggett88]

For me, Yahtzees review of Monster Hunter 3 destroyed all my enthusiasm for the game. I ended up not getting it until I saw it selling for £5 at CEX, and thought why not?

Turns out I loved it, and wish I had got it earlier so I could have played for longer before they shut down the servers. Maybe if I find a bunch of money in the street I'll buy a Wii U and get Ultimate...

You really shouldn't listen to yahtzee's 'reviews', they're mainly done for comedy's sake, really. That's how I interpret his views.

Usually I would agree, but that particular review is extreeeeeemely negative, to the point of not offering up one positive point about the game. Usually, he grudgingly says it's fun to play, or the story is good, or even it looks good...but not for MH3.

 

[putowtin]

GTA V, I had money saved up, was already to pick it up from work on my way home, then I read a couple of reviews, heard about the torture.....

Nope, nope, nope, nope! I'll save my money thanks!

 

[Synthetica]

CoD: Ghosts. It really sounded like a fun game, but turns out its crap. I kinda expected it, but not that it'd be this bad. Oh Well, I'll just wait for Titanfall

 

[DoctorObviously]

Any mention in a review about frustration or elements that shouldn't be there (example: puzzling in an action game) instantly kills my mood for a game.

 

[Baron Tanks]

The Force Unleashed II. I liked the first one, despite its flaws. I acknowledged what people had problems with and it was true, but didn't stand in the way of my enjoyment. Then I really wanted to pick up the next one, the trailers looked cool, the added powers and scale were awesome. I hadn't gotten around to preordering it, but then reading everywhere about its extremely short duration, I decided not to buy it. Picked it up for cheap a year later and never regretted my decision of not getting it. What a way to kill a bunch of great potential Still hate it instensely for ending what I thought could be a highly enjoyable series... Seriously, looking at TFU I and seeing what worked and what was wrong with it, it should not be too hard to squeeze out a decent sequel...?!?!?! Man, even today this still upsets me

 

[lumenadducere]

I dunno about a game I 'Really wanted', as such. I was interested in the Game of Thrones RPG, which then bombed on metacritic. And the same can be said for LotR: War in the North. Unfortunately, neither look all that fun.

Shame really.

Oh, yes, and probably the Fable games too, like the OP. But since I didn't have an Xbox, I couldn't play the first couple, I think? So, I wasn't exactly on board the Molyneux hype train to begin with.

I'd say give the Game of Thrones RPG a shot. It's got a slow start, and it's clunky and rough around the edges, with VO that's sometimes shoddy and minor bugs. But the game really picks up once you get past the first few sections and the story definitely picks up as well. It has a combat system similar to Dragon Age and all in all I think it was an enjoyable experience. YMMV, but I'd say that if it's on a Steam sale at some point and you're okay with the first few chapters being "meh" then you should pick it up.

Also, I recommend that instead of using metacritic for reviews that you find an individual writer or website that has opinions you generally tend to agree with and then use their reviews for recommendations. I've found that my tastes tend to differ at times, and I've often been disappointed with other titles that score well on metacritic.

 

[Varrdy]

I was really stoked about the new SimCity before I heard about all the problems and issues people had with the game. I put the brakes on right there, which is a shame because I was looking forward to it until it got a panning!

It should have been sorted by now though, right?

 

[Idlemessiah]

The Fable series. I loved TLC and was raring to get the second, but bad reviews and watching a friend play convinced me otherwise. And every Fable game since has taking a good panning, so I stayed away.

More recently I avoided SimCity. I play sim games solo and the always online requirement would have buggered me because of my dodgy internet. I watched a few let's plays of people who got it working, like Sips, and it looks alright, but nothing groundbreaking.

Now for one where I wish I'd listened to the critics and didn't think "Oh it can't be THAT bad!". Dragon Age 2. Never again. If a game I want gets bad press I'm checking let's plays before anything else.