Edge Issue 199 - Killzone 2 reviewed - let the games begin

Controversial. As usual. The Edge reviewers certainly keep you guessing.

In recent memory, from my own actual experiences of playing different games, combined with the experiences of others i know, as well as general opinions in gaming forums, combined the vast majority of "professional" opinions available on sites like gamerankings and metacritic, I've come to the conclusion that Edge simply "get it wrong" more than anyone else.

Why they are still thought of by certain people as the final word on what a game really actually deserves to score, is beyond me.

I've put get it wrong in quotes because as people have pointed out a review score is just one persons opinion. One person could love a game and give it a 9 and another person could dislike the same game and give it a 6. There's no right or wrong, the only way to measure is to look at how many people share each opinion. Using that method is how I've come to the conclusion that EDGE simply "get it wrong" more than anyone else in my opinion. At least they have this generation. A 7 doesn't surprise me at all.

HSH28 wrote:This is what people continue to just plain ignore. A 7 in Edge is a very good score. It is in fact a pretty high recommendation and would translate into at least an 8/high 80s score in just about any other publication you'd care to name.

So Edge's GTA4 and Halo 3 scores should really be showing up as 120 on Metacritic then?

I had a quick flick through the mag myself earlier, thought the text of the Killzone 2 review was fairly balanced, and mirrored much of the criticism I've read in the main thread. I really did enjoy the demo though so I will still be buying the game at some point.

I also really like the look of HotD Overkill, and it's definitely on my 'to get' list due to the favourable scores its getting.

I think I've done rubbish in 'On the Edge' this month though.

DaveDS wrote:In recent memory, from my own actual experiences of playing different games, combined with the experiences of others i know, as well as general opinions in gaming forums, combined the vast majority of "professional" opinions available on sites like gamerankings and metacritic, I've come to the conclusion that Edge simply "get it wrong" more than anyone else.

Why they are still thought of by certain people as the final word on what a game really actually deserves to score, is beyond me.

I've put get it wrong in quotes because as people have pointed out a review score is just one persons opinion. One person could love a game and give it a 9 and another person could dislike the same game and give it a 6. There's no right or wrong, the only way to measure is to look at how many people share each opinion. Using that method is how I've come to the conclusion that EDGE simply "get it wrong" more than anyone else in my opinion. At least they have this generation. A 7 doesn't surprise me at all.

yeah they do seem to get it wrong a lot, i think 7 isnt actually a bad score but when you compare the game to others that have received a higher score such as halo 3 its kind of confusing. They state that the story wasnt that great. I really didnt think halo 3's story was that amazing and i was fairly bored of it. The background information is good but just throughout the game it got a bit crap. As was also said earlier though Fallout 3 got a 7 but a lot of people and a lot of other mags thought much more highly of it , So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

PsychoPriest wrote:Tenchu: Stealth Assassins - 6

Have they actually made a decent Tenchu game after all the dire stuff they put out after the first game?

degoose wrote:So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

BUT YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE strawberry floating GAME.

Jesus.

BAKA wrote:

PsychoPriest wrote:Tenchu: Stealth Assassins - 6

Have they actually made a decent Tenchu game after all the dire stuff they put out after the first game?

Not really but this does seem like the best effort since Wrath of Heaven. I'm certainly going to pick it up when it's gone down in price a bit.

Eighthours wrote:

degoose wrote:So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

BUT YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE strawberry floating GAME.

Jesus.

im not basing it on me playing, im basing it on their thoughts of the review then with the score and compared to other games that received higher scores such as Halo 3 . To praise a game quite a lot but then give it a 7 is a bit strange and i think 7 is a good score but there are quite a few simple people out there who will read it and think 7 is gooseberry fool and not bother with it. Im sure the editors of EDGE are aware of this .

degoose wrote:As was also said earlier though Fallout 3 got a 7 but a lot of people and a lot of other mags thought much more highly of it , So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

Like I said in the Killzone thread - different reviewers place different values on different things. This reviewer was looking for the single player to be an original, story led experience and found it to be very lacking - based on other reviews it doesn't sound like he's much wrong. Where Killzone 2 really shines in its multiplayer and technical achievements and some reviewers have deemed these impressive enough to award (near to) top marks, in this case, they didn't make up for the lacking single player.

Interestingly, considering all the outrage, the vast, vast, vast majority of On The Edge players thought the game would score an 8. Now, is that people voting one mark lower than they thought it probably deserved because of Edge's reputation, or them actually voting with what they thought it was worth? Only one mark off the proper score!

EDGE Breaker

Cropolite wrote::lol:

Stupid magazine trying to make another statement, in a quest to be unique.

Isn't it always the case? EDGE always had the snooty factor about it, lest we forget the 7 they gave to MP3 or the 6 they gave to GTA3 which they backtracked claiming it was a typo.
If magazines were a group o'game forum posters EDGE would be the pretentious grammar nazi one expecting everyone else to conform to them.

I'll still be getting it, I've got a craving now for even any generic FPS now. The last FPS I purchased was L4D and whilst in no doubt awesome lacked a real story-driven campaign, meaning KZ2 fits the bill this month, I thought the demo wasn't too bad at all.

I wish you wouldn't spoil the reviews in the subject.

I never look at this thread until I get the mag.

new*allusion wrote:

degoose wrote:As was also said earlier though Fallout 3 got a 7 but a lot of people and a lot of other mags thought much more highly of it , So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

Like I said in the Killzone thread - different reviewers place different values on different things. This reviewer was looking for the single player to be an original, story led experience and found it to be very lacking - based on other reviews it doesn't sound like he's much wrong. Where Killzone 2 really shines in its multiplayer and technical achievements and some reviewers have deemed these impressive enough to award (near to) top marks, in this case, they didn't make up for the lacking single player.

the one thing i questioned in the killzone 2 thread was

my one thing about that though is did Guerilla at any point state that they where going to be massively original or did they ever state any incredible gimmick. Saying all this the online mode is meant to be amazingly well setup and has some great extras to it so surely that would add some originality or at least evolving multiplayer aspects.

degoose wrote:

Eighthours wrote:

degoose wrote:So in all we will have to say that EDGE got this one "very wrong"

BUT YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE strawberry floating GAME.

Jesus.

im not basing it on me playing, im basing it on their thoughts of the review then with the score and compared to other games that received higher scores such as Halo 3 . To praise a game quite a lot but then give it a 7 is a bit strange and i think 7 is a good score but there are quite a few simple people out there who will read it and think 7 is gooseberry fool and not bother with it. Im sure the editors of EDGE are aware of this .

Jesus strawberry floating Christ

sw26 wrote:

HSH28 wrote:This is what people continue to just plain ignore. A 7 in Edge is a very good score. It is in fact a pretty high recommendation and would translate into at least an 8/high 80s score in just about any other publication you'd care to name.

So Edge's GTA4 and Halo 3 scores should really be showing up as 120 on Metacritic then?

Yeah...thats exactly what I said.

What happens is that lots of publications actually review over a smaller range (perhaps not on purpose), which results in the top end of the scale being pushed closer together. So you'll get a lot more 8s and 9s (or 85-100 if you are on a 100 point scale) than you will in Edge.

Its literally just a different scoring method. Thats all. When Edge give the game a 7 and somewhere else gives it a 9, it might actually be the same score in relation to the average marks they hand out (or at least it'll be much closer together than it might seem). And so Edge aren't 'getting it wrong' and its not even an example of different people thinking very different things about it.

This is also the reason metacritic and the like are often just plain wrong, they don't make much sense.

I can NOT wait for House of the Dead, it looks like planet terror in game form

I think the Killzone 2 score seems fair, while it's been getting great reviews most have been fairly reined in, it has not recieved many perfect scores. It seems like a very polished game but not an "zomg must buy game asap" killer app title. The score reflects what I felt upon playing the demo, although it was short it offers a good representation of the feel of the game and it was just not for me.


FEAR, I'm interested in again. I loved the first game but I thought the demo seemed rather poor. I reckon I'll wait for some more reviews before buying.

I loved the Halo Wars demo so thats a must buy for me, as one poster already commented, an Edge 7 is a great score for a console RTS especially considering the simplification apparent in Halo Wars.

From the demos a 7 for both Halo Wars and Killzone 2 are about right. A 7 for flOwer though is just retarded the game is a 9 minimum. Great score for Race Pro I will get this once the price drops still though.

HotD> Killzone 'MON THE ZOMBIES