Topic: Zampella: Reviewers should finish games

[idolminds]

Blah blah blah

Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella feels there's "nothing more frustrating" than games journalists who review games without completing them.

Zampella was addressing QuakeCon as part of a panel on "Building Blockbusters" alongside Respawn co-founder Jason West, id Software's Tim Willits and Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard.

"I've seen reviews where people have written things about the game that are untrue - like that feature doesn't exist, so they obviously didn't play through the entire game," Zampella told the audience.

"There's nothing more frustrating than that. It's unfair."

I don't think its unfair. Whats unfair is sending a review copy of a game to a reviewer a week before the game releases and expecting them to play all 100 hours of it in that time. As if they only have one game at a time to review.

Besides that, no one, NO ONE plays a game all the way through before making a judgment call on its quality. Some games can take a little bit to really hit its stride, The Witcher for example. It would be a shame if a review was written about just that opening area since the rest of the game is much better. But most people are going to start forming opinions of a game within the first hour. Games should be fun to play from the very start. They might get better later on and reviewers should play more than the first level or the first hour but I don't think they need to play through the entire game to write a review. For 90% of games, the gameplay doesn't drastically change from hour 5 to hour 30.

[Cobra951]

On the other hand, I think it's impossible to judge the quality of a game like Mass Effect or Fallout 3 without putting 30+ hours into it.  I understand the practical problems you mentioned.  In the case of the reviewer not getting enough time to finish a long game (and not getting compensated adequately for the time spent), the fault lies with his employer.  It's not like long games (which are worth the time they take) come along all that often.  Most games are getting sadly short, happily for the likes of IGN and Gamespot review staffs.

[idolminds]

Well, very true. Longer games should be played longer before review. But I think I knew whether I liked Fallout 3 well before I put 30 hours into it.

EDIT: If your game has a twist half way through or near the end or otherwise takes a drastic turn, I think its up to developers to make this known to reviewers and possibly supply save games so they can jump to that place in the game.

[MysterD]

Agreed - Reviewers should finish games (main quest stuff) before they review it.

But, really - why is Zampella complaining about reviewers should finish games before they review them? Call of Duty SP campaigns just ain't really that LONG.
Call of Duty SP campaigns are not BG2, Dragon Age, FO3 in terms of length.

[Pugnate]

I don't disagree with him.

While it is unfair that to expect reviewers to complete games in short spans of time, I don't think that blame lies with the publishers or developers, but the way the video game journalism industry functions.

Game makers don't owe reviewers anything. With leaks and piracy such a huge problem, I don't think they are too enthusiastic about distributing very early review copies.

It is the gaming public that demands reviews so quickly (which is their right.)

EDIT: If your game has a twist half way through or near the end or otherwise takes a drastic turn, I think its up to developers to make this known to reviewers and possibly supply save games so they can jump to that place in the game.

If I made a game, which I felt had some artistic merit, I wouldn't want a reviewer to skip to the middle to facilitate his review. As Cobra said, the blame lies with the employers. Though I guess I am not sure if I can blame them either. The whole thing is so damn cutthroat, that employers have to push their reviewers to survive.

In the end, I am not sure I can blame anyone.

The situation isn't the same for every game though. It took me 15 hours of Blood Rayne to realize where it was heading. Actually, it took me 1 hour, but I played through 15 just to make sure.

[MysterD]

The situation isn't the same for every game though. It took me 15 hours of Blood Rayne to realize where it was heading. Actually, it took me 1 hour, but I played through 15 just to make sure.

So, how much did those 15 hours suck?

[Cobra951]

Game makers don't owe reviewers anything.

/post


Exactly.  It's up to the press to evaluate the work product of the industry.  If anything, the industry should in no way be in bed with the press.  That taints the evaluation results (which no doubt happens all the time).

[idolminds]

I do agree with your points and that ideally a reviewer would play through the entire game. I just don't think its essential to play the entire game before you are qualified to tell someone whether its fun to play.

[Xessive]

You might have to finish the game as a whole but you have to play a good chunk before you can have a valid opinion on it. For example, games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 have a lot more to them than the main quest/storyline. The same can be said for many GTA clones.

I recall when I first started playing Neverwinter Nights I hated it. I dreaded going through the monotony of the prologue and the first act. Thanks to Pug, I persevered and pulled through to the second act when I started to really enjoy the game! By the time I was halfway through Act 2 I was praising the game and recommending it! My first impression wasn't good but giving the game some time for me to grasp it my opinion switched completely.

That's why I now generally try to finish a game or at least play it significantly, even if I seem to dislike it at first, before I form a final opinion.

[Pugnate]

I do agree with your points and that ideally a reviewer would play through the entire game. I just don't think its essential to play the entire game before you are qualified to tell someone whether its fun to play.

Yea it just depends on the game I guess. Games that are judged strongly on narrative need to be completed, I feel. Others, an experienced reviewer can give a fair shake from the opening 10 to 20 hours.

MMOs and games like Borderlands need long playthroughs, I feel.