Mafia II reviews come in, Eurogamer shocks with 4/10

If someone won’t have a 4/10 to the Halo:Reach i will shoot myself, because it feels in that way absolutely.

OK, i read the Eurogamer review, so… Can’t say he is wrong, he is right, because if it is what it is now with missions (i’m on chapter 3) than yeah, thats absolutely bad.

but he is wrong about one thing:

1) There is nothing else to do, except finishing the story

First of all Mafia is not a GTA experience. It is NOT a GTA experience and never will be a GTA experience no matter how you fucking want. Mafia II is like Gears or Uncharted. You just a guy that finishes a STORY missions just in the big CITY without walls. In games like Uncharted, Vanquish or Gears you are finishing script missions within the walls.

Thats fucking it.

@Gekidami, some problems are really out of Ass. The one problem that i see now that they are saying that there is nothing to do in the streets except of missions. Read ^

I’m on chapter 3, if everything with missions like that reviewer said than it’s bad, but for now i’m playing and having a good time. It’s not a first Masterpiece, but it’s a Mafia 2.

I’ve added the EG.fr score.

“If someone won’t have a 4/10 to the Halo:Reach i will shoot myself, because it feels in that way absolutely.”

One can only hope…

@53 If it is a good game that good for them, i will eventually try it on my friends box.
But if it has the same arcadish feel, lifeless dialog system, bad scripting (graphics already like from the last generation with 720P) than this is bad.

OOO lol EG lol 4/10 wtf

EG.net – 4/10
EG.fr – 10/10?

I understand the reasons for this – different reviewers, different opinions, but it really looks poor from a site consistency view. You really wouldn’t expect two professional reviews to come to such diverse opinions either.

gamestar.de 85/100
http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/mafia-2/wertung/43581.html

The game is utter garbage. 4/10 is being generous.

4/10 is spot on for Mafia II; it is literally the disappointment of a decade. It is a game that is made to look “good” for commercials but ultimately lacks true content and gameplay. The story is also bollocks, and doesn’t come close to any sort of decent mob storyline; it’s awful and pandering to stereotypes. Even the usually generous IGN has given it a 7/10, thus giving you an idea of how bad a game it is.

For an obvious reason the only eurogamer site that should really count is the Italian version…

http://www.eurogamer.it/articles/2010-08-23-mafia-ii-recensione?page=3

mafia II – 8/10

6/10 from Edge.

Added that in. Cheers.

@DrDamn – you clearly never read the PC Zone “Best of…” articles that often descended into drunken violence. Professional reviewers should and must have diverging opinions, otherwise there is no point in having reviews.

If you take all the sources who are using a scale of 10, but are really using a scale of 1-5 starting at 6 because they’re scared to give low scores (except in cases where they can get away with it: kiddie games, games not released by major pubs) then the average genuine score probably is around 50-60%

@Goffee
I agree professional reviewers should have diverging opinions. However should a professional review just be an opinion? Shouldn’t someone doing this as a profession be able to look past flaws that personally annoy them to see the good that others will see and vice versa. Otherwise what makes them any different to a reader opinion? Given I accept that then I can’t see how two professional reviewers can come back with such diverse scores – one of them is clearly not up to the job.

Someone’s gonna get whacked

@65 DrDamn: You’re saying that reviewers should overlook glaring flaws in games that annoy them, and concentrate only on the good parts of a title that they think other people will enjoy? Rather than state what they themselves enjoyed/disliked about the game?

EDIT: Surely if that were the case, every game would get 5/10 or whatever, as the reviewer must acknowledge that there will always be someone who will enjoy a game.

When it comes down to it, a review is (or at least should be) just one person’s opinion.

4/10 seems fair. Empty sandbox, deadly boring missions, intolerable FPS drops and tearing on 360, butchered graphics on PS3.

I am sure there is a number of bribed reviewers. So in truth this is obviously a 4-6 out of 10 game.

Maybe this should’ve been a PC exclusive, seeing how both consoles versions are crap.

@LockeTribal
No that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying the view will obviously be personal, but should try to be objective in some respects too.

“When it comes down to it, a review is (or at least should be) just one person’s opinion.”

It plays a part but this is meant to be a professional assessment isn’t it? Therefore it’s not just an opinion. Particularly where the assessment is for a major website/magazine. What is printed is taken as EG’s assessment, not just that reviewers.

Just as an example, I really don’t like Street Fighter games all that much. Not my sort of game at all. I can still appreciate the finer qualities of it though – particularly in comparison to other games of that type. A professional reviewer should be able to use their knowledge and experience of games to come to those sort of assessments. That is what they are paid for. To my mind they are not just there to give a well written very personal opinion.

@70, don’t you think that’s a bit clinical for an entertainment medium where the essential selling point is FUN?

I mean, if you go too clinical on a review you run the risk of down-grading games that are less technically impressive despite the fact they would score 10/10 purely on a fun scale.

I reckon this is why these review round-ups and metacritic are useful, everyone has different ideas of what fun is, so it’s good to have a root around and see what other people think is and is not fun in a game and say to yourself “well does that bother ME?”

*crosses fingers that imprompu amateur use of half remembered html works* edit: fuck yeah!

@71
To be clear I still expect a personal element in a review – it’s an important part of a review. It does need to be clear to the reader and be backed up in the text – but that is fine. I cannot see how two professional assessments – from the same organisation no less – come to such differing views though.

What distinguishes a professional review from an normal opinion posted to a forum/website. Is it really just the likelihood of it being better written?

The eurogamer.net review is utter shit. The guy clearly does not like mob games, swear words, sandbox games. And they also gave RDR an 8. Sure, an 8 is good but the game deserves a 10!

@ 73 – opinions people! I thought RDR deserved a 7! most overrated game of the year -_-

PS: i am not bloody posting comments too quickly god damnit!

@73, 10 is perfect and RDR is not perfect. 8.0-8.5 is a perfect score for RDR.

10 is not meant to mean perfect. Certainly not for EG. From their scoring policy – ‘Does 10/10 represent perfection? No. However, a 10/10 score does mean that we recommend a game to everyone.’.

How does that tie in with one EG review of 10 and one of 4 though? *We* recommend this below average game to everyone?

I may gain some respect for Eurogamer after all if they serve justice like this on a regular term. What happen did all the XBOTS over there get fired and replaced with real gamers?

More reviews: Eurogamer.cz 9/10 http://www.eurogamer.cz/articles/mafia-ii-recenze

Giantbomb 3/5 http://www.giantbomb.com/mafia-ii/61-20538/reviews/

“10 is not meant to mean perfect.”

If you don’t understand the score instruction than you should go to the first grade.

10/10 is a score where there is nothing better in this genre. If you see a lot of scores like 10/10 from game reviewers it’s because they are fucking stupid and not enough educated to score a game. 9/10 is excellent and e.t.c.
If you look at the movie industry you won’t see much 10/10 from good review publications, except of some cheesy casual New York times and e.t.c.

Scores in the gaming industry these days are from 6-10. While it is not right.

@76 “How does that tie in with one EG review of 10 and one of 4 though? *We* recommend this below average game to everyone?”

Eurogamer.fr recommends it to every French-speaking person in Europe, while Eurogamer.net only recommends it to 4 out of every 10 English-speaking people.

Only messing, but I do see where you’re coming from. I’m just of the opinion that just because the reviewer was of a different opinion to other reviewers (whether in the same “network” or in general) does not mean his review was unprofessional. He clearly stated the things he liked and disliked in the game (IMO) and based his score on that, seems fair enough to me.

@51 No matter which way you look at it, when you make an open world with a random generator of people and cars, people expect to be able to use it to have some fun.

If you’re just gonna make a huge sandbox and apply it like it’s a Max Payne setpiece, then there’s absolutely no point in wasting time making that sandbox.

Not to mention that the game doesn’t seem to be nearly long enough to justify it in any way.

@80
I’m not saying the 10 was right or the 4 – I’m just questioning the two together. If a reviewer finds enough flaws to warrant a 4/10 they should give it and back it up in the text. That’s perfectly acceptable. I can’t see how another reviewer would find the same thing “Phenomenal” though.

“10/10 is a score where there is nothing better in this genre.”

I’m not sure that’s how it works. Maybe you could argue that “10/10 is a score where there is nothing better in this genre at the time of the review“, because otherwise a 10 should not be awarded to anything as improvements are always around the corner.

To be honest, I prefer Eurogamer’s interpretation of 10/10 meaning “that we recommend a game to everyone“.

@79
10/10 means whatever they damn well define it as in their own scoring system.

“10/10 is a score where there is nothing better in this genre.”

That’s clearly not perfect either – just because it’s better than everything else?

@84 Of course it’s an editorial question, but personally I never reward a full score for anything I review, unless it literally blows me out of my chair.

It’s the most powerful thing you can really do with a grade scale. If that highest number feels and seems completely unattainable, then it ultimately becomes a far stronger statement.

It’s the same reason why I prefer 5-scales to 10-scales. With a 5-scale there’s no average, you’re forced to actually do your job and decide whether it’s above or below a 2,5. That means doing the hard thing instead of getting lazy with a bunch of 5′s.

@85
That’s fine – it’s what you define it as, but something can blow you away and still have flaws can’t it?

@82 Fair point.

Just had a quick skim of the eg.fr review and seems to make clear that the reviewer there loved the story to pieces (comparing it to Scorcese’s work). Obviously not the case on eg.net

Read through Kotaku’s review as well, and it reads very much like the EG.net review. Praised the graphics and the acting, but say that: “it falls well short of expectations built by three years in development and a seven-year-old hit.”

@86 I should say I review music, so it’s different material, but I don’t know.

I consider myself a professional when I review things, so I’m really not blown away if there are any noticeable flaws. If I just buy an album and listen to it, I’m in an entirely different mode.

If it’s an album that’s meant to be messy and rough, then minor flaws are a part of the piece, but if it’s meant to be a complete production, then pretty much any noticeable shortcoming would knock it down to a 9.

If 10 just means “Really good – Go buy it” then what do you give to a truly iconic, groundbreaking game? It’s too many definitions for just one grade imo.

@88
Music is very much a different kettle of fish. There is a large technical and design aspect to games which every professional reviewer should be able to be assess. There are some common elements with music – and that is why you should and do see decent variation in scores. Music is more of a pure art form, and whilst there are elements of art to games I think taken as a whole it is more of a craft.

10 in the EG scale is meant to mean Phenomenal – not Really Good. It could mean whatever they define it to mean though – I don’t care. What is important is that it is not necessarily what I think it should mean.

Gaming journalist are a bunch of incompetent cunts! I wouldn’t trust their opinion on a game as far as i could throw them.

I’ll buy Mafia 2 (PC version of course) and make my own judgements…like all the games i’ve bought.

I don’t need some asshole telling me if a certain game is good or not, it’s a case of horses for courses n’ all that and the fact that Mafia 2 has got some decent scores reflects this.

@89 Just to be annoying, I don’t neccesarily agree with the art thing Music is as much an industry as any other form of entertainment.

There’s a pretty big difference between a Lady Gaga album and a piece by Erik Satie. Doesn’t mean you can’t put a lot into making a great piece of entertainment, though.

Generally I don’t like the word art. It’s never really served a purpose to me. Whether you distinguish a painting as art or not, it’s still just as much a painting.

I think 10 should represent something that’s in a league all its own. That’s why I lost most of my respect for Eurogamer when they allowed that atrocious Braid review to go through.

@91
Fair point – I was obviously thinking much more of the music I enjoy

Erthazus is an incompetent fuckstick IMO.

mixed average reviews.

I won’t be getting the game cuz the ps3′s version is a piece of sh*