So IGN recently went on a small rant about the Call of Duty franchise, one rant that a slew of us gamers have already brought up shortly after the release of Modern Warfare 3. Modern Warfare 3 has gotten quite weak reviews across the board from the gamers, but the critics stood by the side of the shooter and gave it the usual raving scores that Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, and the original Halo-killer received. So, it was quite odd that IGN backed off its 9.2/10 score to give a detailed description as to why Modern Warfare 3 was truly disappointing and the franchise needs to change its ways.
The author in IGN claimed that Call of Duty is dated, isn’t trying hard anymore, needs to fix the multi-player, and needs better storytelling abilities, among other things. Wait, IGN is criticizing? IGN and its minions have been on this high-review rampage for years, and the theory that these gaming publications are getting quite soft on major titles is just as rampant as ever. So it was very funny that of all places, the website that has handed out perfect review after perfect review in recent years is suddenly going against one of its high scores. So much for standing by your opinion, eh?
So could it be that IGN is beginning to realize that it’s becoming much too soft—like Gamespot, Famitsu, 1Up (Then again, it might be just trying to ruffle some feathers, but for the sake of this article exploring why each publication has become extremely soft in the past five years, we will neglect this side thought)? Before the seventh generation of gaming, you had to be damn perfect to pull even close to a 10.0. If I am not mistaken, not a single game in the PS2 era (Soul Calibur did, but Dreamcast is more in the PSX era) scored perfect—not from IGN and not from Gamespot. And this time period gave us the likes of Metroid Prime, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Still my favorite GTA), and Resident Evil 4. IGN has come a long way since infamously giving Mario Kart: Double Dash a 7.9.
Famitsu, the most popular gaming publication in Japan, only gave Wind Waker the perfect score, and before that only three games had gotten the infamous 40/40. Let’s fast-forward to today. IGN granted perfect scores to Skyward Sword, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Uncharted 3, Read Dead Redemption, and even Halo Reach. Let’s be honest here, none of those games with the mild-mild possible exception of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Super Mario Galaxy 2 deserves that ultimate mark.
Famitsu is just as bad. 12 games in the seventh generation have nabbed the perfect score, when only 6 games between 1986 and 2006 achieved the same thing. And before you argue that these games might deserve said score, I shall point out that two Final Fantasy games that are not VI, VII, VIII, or X got said score. And then I will point out that VI, VII, VIII, and X did NOT get 40/40. Someone please explain to me why Pokemon Black and White got a perfect score. Please. Honestly.
Even Gamespot, the website that became notorious for ripping on Zelda (even though they technically became slightly right) back in the Twilight Princess days, softened up a little. Perfect score to Grand Theft Auto IV? The main character still has a weaker set of fighting moves when compared to Mario circa 1996 (Super Mario 64---also did not get a perfect score)…and that’s just the beginning of its issues. Modern Warfare 3 had it all for Gamespot to have a field day: same graphical engine as previous Call of Duty games (and Battlefield 3 on its heels with an incredible graphical display), similar multi-player, weaker single-player, and the inability to truly attempt to revolutionize or advance the franchise. Its score? 8.5.
So what does all this mean? Well, it means that these websites in recent years jump the gun and give all these games phenomenally high scores, only for us (and them to realize) that the games aren't as good as they seem. Skyrim is a fine example, as its a game that was grand, magnificent, but so full of bugs in all three versions that they have been deemed unplayable in some aspects. Why are they stunting a 9.5 score and Game of the Year awards? The average game with dozens of bugs is known to drop to at the highest a 7.0. IGN then played the cleanup role by criticizing it---weeks after originally giving it the very high score.
Let's move to Skyward Sword, a game that has gotten perfect on IGN amongst others. This Zelda game contains the least exploration since the CD-I games in the early 90s. Its the most linear Zelda game since Zelda II. It has weak graphics even for a Wii game. Worst of all, it still lacks the presentation now seen in competing AAA-titles. Good game? Yea, more or less. Perfect 10? Absolutely not. 1Up then wrote an article criticizing it, weeks after giving it a high score. Game critics are just the opposite of movie critics, they absolutely look past upon the flaws and give it high marks upon its strengths, while movie critics nitpick and hack points away for the smaller details.
This is where the trouble comes in: decreasing effort from both ends. Why work so hard to make good games when the critics (whether its thanks to an underground paycheck or because they are softies) are going to praise it regardless? Video game companies nowadays can cut back on effort, increase marketing, blitz the media with a big first week, and rake in the profits before the gamers realize what hit them. This is one of the unfortunate things that has happened recently and most likely will continue happening when we approach the eighth generation of gaming.
The moral of the story is that if we want true-blue opinions of video games, we have to wait and see what the gamers think. I know it is their opinion, but it can't be that this generation is so much better we have been receiving triple the amount of perfect games as other gaming generations combined--that's impossible. If Link to the Past couldn't nab a 40/40, why on earth should Final Fantasy XIII-2 get it? Yes we gamers are a cynical picky crowd, but we are far more accurate than what the magazines and websites have been delivering---in terms of praise and criticism.
Whatever the reason, they have been slacking. Bad.
And with all the recent backtracking, they seem to be realizing it too.
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