Mistake With Satire Washington Post Uncharted 4 Review Sinks Its Metascore

There has been non-stop praise across the board for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and now today, the game has received its first negative review... Sort of. It's a satire review from Michael Thomsen of the Washington Post, but Metacritic.com seems to believe it's real and now its affecting the game's Metascore.

[Abash]

It will be reversed, no need to worry.

[xfiles2099]

I tweeted them with a link to the real review I hope they change it but they probably wont

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

It's not fair to the team that worked hard and has got nothing but deserved praise. Game doesn't even have a single mixed review, and this satire shit has stained its metascore.

It must be fixed!!

[Imalwaysright]

Why woudn't they change the score back?

Edit

@ people saying that it doesn't matter, well it might matter.

http://www.engadget.com/201...

[DEAD-DEVIL-DISCO]

Who cares? Every gamer even opposition console fanboys know whats up. Naughty Dog are legends in the industry now. There wasnt even one mixed review last i checked lol. Kind of feel bad for them now due to pressure of future projects.

[Kingthrash360]

The guys at ND are not legends.
There is no word that can describe what these "humans" are, or how they consistently achieve the things they do.
I'd like to have lunch with them, just to see what they eat.

[callahan09]

The sad thing about the link you posted, @Imalwaysright, is that New Vegas is by far the best of the new Fallout games. Yet it's by far the lowest rated. I loved that game! It was the closest to the original Interplay games out of all the new 3D ones.

[DarXyde]

XiKurapikaKurta,

You're blaming Washington Post? The onus for this screw up is the inattentive Metacritic employee's to bear. Have you read it? It's painfully obviously satire. I read it earlier and I don't do this stuff for a living and even I knew.

[rainslacker]

I'd tweet them and ask why The Washington Post is weighted so heavily in their averages. One 40 shouldn't bring it down a whole point when everything else is in the 8-10's...particularly with all those 10's

[Eonjay]

This is a scam. What happened is that they rejected the real WP 10/10 because they said it was done by an AP writer. Then they took this review, scored it themselves and added it to metacritic... but guess what:
This review is satire and its also by an AP writer... so by Metacritics own rules this shouldn't count.

The guy at metacritic is just trying to make a statement. Asking why This AP writer who didn't score his satire review should be included over a legit AP writer who actually scored his review.

Moral of the story, if you want to make it big, you have to be a troll...

[AndrewLB]

They stated on Washington Post in the comments section that the review people keep sending links to is from the Associated Press and is not their review. Also, they said this review is not satire.

Not questioning that Uncharted 4 is a good or even great game. I do have to ponder if when reviewers clearly state "Certainly not a perfect game by any means" and then proceed to give said game a perfect score, if something is a little off?

[InTheLab]

Read the comments. Staff from the WP says it's a legit review and that the other review was from Associated Press. This was not satire. Just a dude that's clearly not a fan of any Uncharted game or the Naughty Dog cinematic style.

The real issue is how Metacritic arbitrarily assigned a number to a review with no score.

[Genuine-User]

Some are saying that it won't. It's a real review but a troll one at that.

I can't take the reviewer seriously after reading some of his work:

“Super Mario Maker” is an engine for circulating horrible new “Mario” levels - https://www.washingtonpost....

Is Dark Souls 2 the worst game ever made - http://www.forbes.com/sites...

‘Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End’ review: This four-part series should have ended after Part One - https://www.washingtonpost....

Wii U Was A Better Console For Third-Party Games - http://www.forbes.com/sites...

Here's a glimpse at his awful UC4 review:

"A Thief’s End” is overflowing with useless detail. It overwhelms the eye with so many different points of focus that one almost clings to the over-the-shoulder focal point at the center of the screen, where the gun reticle can at least hint at a potential ways of engaging with all of the simulated objects and effects that are otherwise impossible to identify, let alone differentiate."

@ArchangelMike

I'm not sure. Maybe they decide a score based on the review.

[ArchangelMike]

But the Washington Post review didn't have a score attached to it. So where did Metacritic get the score from? If they want to maintain any sort of integrity they have to correct the error.

[Bathyj]

@milkshake2

I hate reviews that sound like they went ahead and wrote it, and then went back with a thesaurus and replaced all their words with big smart sounding words just for the sake of sounding smart, as if their audience talks like they write.

Didnt Joey do that in Friends once?

[DVAcme]

Who did this guy blow to get that job at the Post?

[Sm00thop]

Do Sony pay you for all the detective work you do?

[pcz]

omg! how DARE he have an opinion that isnt a popular one!

you know, one day, maybe 8 or 9 years from now, when this new 'high standard' has been passed, people will start to look back on this game in a different way. the same way we were in awe at tomb raider back in 1996, but now its an unplayable mess.

maybe the reviewer has, you know, balls to say what he thinks is true. in a few years time, people wll look back and think, you know what, he was right.

[Corpser]

It's not a satire review, Comic Riffs is where Washington post put their video game reviews. The review from entertainment section is a copy of the Associate Press's review

Here's other video game reviews in the same comic riffs section
https://www.washingtonpost....

[Blastoise]

Satire or not, where did the 4/10 come from?

Metacritic has a section for scoreless reviews at the bottom, but here it looks like they've just made it up

[xfiles2099]

No you are wrong Comic Riffs is where they do things for comic relief purposes The real review is in the Entertainment section

[BigLurch]

If you're actually worried about this,i think its time to go outside for a bit.

[Bathyj]

Is it satire or just trolling? I didnt read it but what I did from others comments seems just like rubbish for the sake of trashing something everyone likes. I always thought satire was supposed to be funny, not just being a jerk.

[Aither]

Honestly after reading it that is pretty safe to say that is all it is. It is not funny more than it is pointless garbage for the sake of trolling fans of the series.

[Bathyj]

Hey I can be a jerk with the best of them. At least I try to give everyone a giggle along the way.

[Aither]

This was a satire review as the real review can be found from this link:

https://www.washingtonpost....

Email sent to metacritic in order to help clear up this mess. Spoilers for the actual review, it got 4/4 from the Washington Post which is another perfect score for Uncharted 4.

[Corpser]

No no no that link is a copy of the review from AP, the real review is the one in comic riffs where they have articles about comics and video games and is NOT satire

[jer1122]

Still though shouldn't have happened. As of right now it's still not fixed and if I was the publisher of that game had been pretty irritated

[Corpser]

Disagree with the review all you want but there's nothing to fix

[Relientk77]

I saw the score yesterday on Metacritic and was like wtf!?

[NukaCola]

Sinks??? 94 to 93. Still highest rated game in ages, but it will be corrected

[Desmios]

Metacritic just gives it a score based on how they interpret it. Isn't that why they have a no score bar?

I am shocked

WP not score for reviews

[Dark_Knightmare2]

No I've never heard of meta critic doing that but there is a section at the bottom that is for unscored and in progress reviews which is where this one belongs since it has no score attached

[AzurePaladin77]

Metacritic does apply a score to a scoreless review according to how they interpret it.

[Thatguy-310]

Completely BS. The real review is nowhere to be found either on metacritic which was a 4/4 smh to hell with it the game is a technical masterpiece and many know it. Guys just enjoy the game and don't let this ruin you're experience.

[Metallox]

Am I experience?

[Next_gen_2015]

Why are you so mad?

Its went from 94 to 93....Hardly a "sink in score"

LOLZ are people really losing sleep over this?

[Thatguy-310]

Doesn't justify the mistake though.

[Utalkin2me]

@Next_gen_2015

Maybe you should look at it from a gamers perspective and not a fanboy.

[AndrewLB]

Funny how nobody complains about all the 100/100 reviews being used in the metacritic score that came from non-gaming sites like "Telegraph" and other sites who have no business reviewing video games. The fact alone that its a linear "interactive movie" with little replay value should invalidate most of those "perfect" scores since they are clearly written by rabidly biased fanboys with an agenda to push up scores for this game.

[THE-JAGON]

I like to present to you Washington Post's real review of Uncharted 4
https://www.washingtonpost....

Notice how it doesn't say Comic Riffs on top of the page like in the other "review"

[crazychris4124]

Oh the horror

[Software_Lover]

Seriously. It's not that serious. If it happened to Mass Effect I would be like oh, ok. Then continue my 100th playthrough.

[crazychris4124]

Yea i know, who cares if the score of the game drops several points, its an amazing game. Im pushing my friend to get it cuz Im dying to play it

[specialguest]

Sound the alarm! All hands on deck! We must indentify the target and neutralize it!

Seriously... We all know UC4 is top contender for GOTY, so why are people so up in arms lol

[ArchangelMike]

Contact Metacritic review editors here: [email protected] and politely let them know that they've just crapped the bed.

[DigitalRaptor]

Agreed. Washington Post has their REAL review published 24 hours prior.

It's here: https://www.washingtonpost....

"Four stars out of four" = 10/10. The satire piece doesn't even have a scored attached.

[Ezz2013]

What i don't understand is that MC have section for reviews with no score
yet, they went ahead and put a score themself for a review with no score (whatever it's satire/Troll review ).

i just find that really strange.

[Ipunchbabiesforfun]

Lol who cares? I mean, I get that's pretty lame but you're all posting links to emails like its some life altering thing...NOT UNCHARTED 4's META SCORE!!! 😭😭😭

Anyways, I'm off with Sam to go explore some more of Scotland. Love this game.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

The Internet is laughing at this. If Metacritic has some sort of integrity, they know what to do.

They are the ones to lose in the end

Edit: "The Internet" is lazy people with no lives. " and yet here you are with such username... The irony!

[Ipunchbabiesforfun]

Meh, it's absolutely not an issue. "The Internet" is lazy people with no lives. The rest of us don't really give a damn.

[lastking95]

How do metacritc lose? It's a sum of opinions.....real or fake how does this hurt anything?

[rynodigital]

93 down from 94, cancel your pre-ord....wait nvm

[BlackTar187]

lol.

[rainslacker]

To me it's more why one 40 among 89 reviews, where the rest of them are between 80-100, with the vast majority in the high 80's to 90's managed to bring the score down one point.

I know metacritic weighs sites scores differently based on their reputation...or something, but that seems like a huge weight given to TWP.

Seems more an overall issue with the way they derive their score, which will have effects on other games as well.

[game4funz]

This could only happens to naughty dog... First the theft... Now this

[garrettbobbyferguson]

Wait, what? Games being stolen? That's happened before. I remember a truck shipment was stolen in the UK and the most noticeable thing they stole were amiibos that were being resold. A messed up review score? Well no, I doubt this has only happened to Naughty Dog. I recall there being outrage (from certain fan bases on this website) in the past due to things like this happening. I don't recall what game though.

[game4funz]

haha well whatever the case this is the first I hear of it happening.
AMiibos?? really??? lol

[Immorals]

Metacitic is a flawed system anyway, this just highlights how easy it is to manipulate

[Two-Face]

I guess metascore is more important to some people than their own opinion of the actual game itself. Sad times we live in, when people care so much about nonsense like this.

[Immorals]

Metacitic is just a site for fanboys, a quick look at user reviews is enough to see that

[MachuchalBrotha316]

Lol....is it really that serious? I mean it doesn't take away from its greatness.

[MasterCornholio]

It doesn't but it still should be fixed because it isn't a review.

[robtion]

Good job there Metacritic. That is how you generate some real credibility.

[dafegamer]

From the same troll who gave us these gems Ladies and Gentlemen
"Dark souls 2 is the worst game ever made."
or "WiiU is the best console for third party games"(love the Wii U, but this simply isn't true)

[LuckyChamCham]

This is BS wth

[Lord_of_Cinder]

It Must be fixed or face the consequences. You don't mess with the PlayStation Army and get with it like nothing happened.

Let's boicot Metacritics if they don't fix this error.

[Xavior_Reigns]

Haha lord of cinder? You're not worthy of even being smoke.

[NotanotherReboot]

Tears are swelling in my eyes and I've just punched a hole in my wall again. Metacritic, I bet £1000 that Uncharted 4 would hit a Metascore over 93 and now this has just put me in £1000 debt. I was so certain it would reach it and it did, for a few days. i was so happy and now I'm contemplating taking my own life, as the guys who I made the bet with are serious f******* gaming gangsters and will seriously f*** me and my ps4 up if I don't pay up by next Tuesday. -please PLEASE PLEASE metacritic change it back to to 94, or I'll be dead within the next few days.

[ArchangelMike]

Well you better email them and let them know if it's really that serious : [email protected]

[mixelon]

Hahahahaha amazing.

[Movefasta1993]

This just proves who and who isn't a fanboy. Your score of the game is way more important than Metacritic.If this hurt anybody's feeling,even a little,then ...idk.

[MRMagoo123]

I think it's the fact they have used a satire review and given it a made up score rather than the real review with a perfect score that annoys people........if did you not see that ? if it was an actual low score then yes people would still complain but that's not the topic at hand.

[Chaos_Order]

YOU RUINED THE METASCORE! You broke my heart...

[Dario_DC]

It's on the "Comic Riffs" section. The Real review is here https://www.washingtonpost....

[Corpser]

That's a review from Associate Press

[ArchangelMike]

It doesn't really matter if the reiew was written by Associate Press or not.
It was published on Washington Post.
It has a score 4/4.
This is not reflected on Metacritic.

The negative review from the Washington Post does NOT have a reviews score attached to it.
Yet metacritic magically put a score on it.
Do you now understand the disparity?

[Corpser]

^ it does matter, then it's not a review from Washington post, do you know what Associated Press is? News sites republish their news articles

It's meta critic policy they can assign a score to a review that doesn't have a score

[goathouse774]

When you care about something, you defend it from slander. It's a damaging false review, so it should be removed. Your little John Cusack mouth and forever-crusading hurt butt won't change that.

[Brazz]

sink the score...
from 9.4 to 9.3.... lol, this is a joke right? 9.3 is a damn good score!

[generic-user-name]

This is not at all the point.

[Condemnedman]

Jesus's why is this even bothering people. get a life!

[goathouse774]

Because people care about stuff. Ever heard of it?

[ArchangelMike]

It just so happens that I care very much about Jesus as well.

[P_Bomb]

Is this a mistake on metacritic's part or some blatant trolling? Reason I ask, is the washington post already posted their review yesterday, 4/4 which is 100%. It's a legit review by a Lou Kesten using the posts usual scoring system. I'd post the link but im on my phone.

The, I don't know what you call it, article with no score and no actual review of the game listed under "comic riffs" shouldn't be on metacritic when an actual 4/4 review under "entertainment" exists already. It'd be like taking one of metacritics dime a dozen 0/10 user reviews saying the graphics suck or something sarcastic and running that.

A meta editor either missed yesterday's WP 4 score completely, or took that 4 score and turned it into 40% lol, when it was actually a 4/4 or 100%. Attaching that 40 on meta to a scoreless link is harder to explain.

[ArchangelMike]

I do think this is what has happened. I think they saw the 4/4 and assumed it was 4/10. Then they link it to the wrong review. I hope we can get someone in the know to contact them and clear it up. Naughty Dog deserve all the praise for thier hard work.

[kenwonobi]

Metacritic takes its first hit on credibility. Oh well. I'll just have to be satisfied with all these 10s they never counted. Ultimately the 93 is still huge until they fix the joke review.

[rainslacker]

It's far from it's first. Meta has made mistakes in the past, and it's long been known they weigh different sites based on their reputation based on what they feel is a reputable site but don't make it known just how each site is actually weighted.

There's no reason a single 40 should bring down the score a whole point even if TWP was counted several times.

[ArchangelMike]

Totally agree, I don't know how washington post, which is not even a dedicated gaming site can have such a huge weighting on game review scores. It's a broken sytem when one low scoring review will outweigh many more high scoring ones.

[Picnic]

In what way was that article 'satire'? It reads like a standard review by anyone who doesn't like the genre. If it was a 'spoof' (NOT a satire - do you truly know what the word means? Think George Orwell , Jonathan Swift) it is TERRIBLE in not having ANY signposts of intending the opposite effect.. It is highly worrying to me that modern Americans (mostly) are routinely mistaking sincerely held views OR badly written attempts at 'humour' for dry wittiness.

[MRMagoo123]

it's in the satire section ......is that not a big enough clue ?

[Corpser]

Comic riffs is not a satire section, it's where they have articles about comics, comics culture, video games

[Picnic]

So by your logic if a baker puts a corned beef pasty in the 'Cakes' section of his shop you prefer to think that there is no possible way that he put it in the wrong place and instead you plough on choosing to imagine or truly thinking that the pastry casing contains something wholly sweet.

[Grievous]

Because it's filled with terrible, pretentious writing and bullshit arguments. Heck he even uses the argument that the game is too pretty so it's distracting him from actually playing it. How can anyone take something like that seriously? At least I'm hoping the writer is being satirical with stuff like that.

[lastking95]

Who TF cares!!! Why do you people eat sleep breathe metacritic? Don't let this ruin your experience??? Why the f... would it real or not? It's an opinion only one that should matter to you is yours. I don't understand you people.

[P_Bomb]

Well, this is a video game site. People don't generally come here to talk about who St Louis will play in the next round, or Game of Thrones.

*insert's Tyrion's speech from GOT this past Sunday about the lost art of conversation* :p

[lastking95]

You lost me....lol

[iTechHeads]

This needs to be addressed ASAP.
What's the freakin' point of a satire review anyway? I mean its pointless. Pure clickbait.

[aquamala]

disagree with the review all you want but it's not satire or a mistake, Comic Riffs is where they have video game reviews

[Dark_Knightmare2]

OK you are right but where the hell did meta critic get the 4 from

[Dark_Knightmare2]

@milkshake2 yeah if anything this should go on their unscored and in progress reviews section

[rainslacker]

If it's not a mistake or satire, then this reviewer is terrible at his job and has no reason to be doing game reviews for a major publication.

How his review can be seen as serious is beyond me, and it seems he knows very little about what makes a good game, as he focuses on the meaningless, and down rates for things which are actually looked for in games.

[killer876]

Lol of all the things to worry about in this world. Bunch of idiots

[goathouse774]

It matters in the realm of video games. If you were a basketball fanatic and a primetime host on ESPN started claiming Steph Curry was a 4 out of 10, wouldn't it become a topic of conversation for you? Are you on this site to engage with other gamers about the finer points of this industry, or were you rather hoping for a polite show-and-tell of your childhood penny collection?

[SavingPvt_Highon]

After Ryan Mcafferys horrible Alien Isolation review from IGN in 2014, I not only deleted my IGN app and never have taken them seriously since, but also hardly ever listen to reviews anymore.

[WilliamSheridan]

Almost like all the non professional user based reviews that were done by fanboys to trash games on the opponents console of choice. Seriously, reviews have become passe. Just enjoy the game like you would a movie

[LazyMinion]

Doesn't this just prove how flawed of a system metacritic is?

[mafia_pc]

it's not a satire, it's a real review :
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[Corpser]

Look at the embarassing meltdown on neogaf lol, thread is now locked

[Realms]

I just finished the game and it's a must play for any gamer. If you are an Uncharted fan you won't be disappointed by far it is an experience you have to play. That a side metacritic is full of BS the game deserves all the praise it's getting un less your a fanboy or just don't like good games your going to hate on it.

[ITPython]

The crazy thing about U4s super high metacritic score (aside from this blunder) is that the photo mode wasn't in the game until the day 1 patch. I was playing around with it last night and spent more time having a blast setting up awesome pics than I did actually playing.

I would play for a few minutes then before I knew it there was already another sweet photo opportunity. The game is so damn gorgeous, playing with photo mode it is like having a fully interactive 3D art canvas for painting . its almost like a whole different game within a game.

With that said, if photo mode was available to reviewers I bet the game would be scoring even higher than it already is.

[benji101]

This was not sarcasm at all. The reviewer is not joking. The game is a bad TV drama.

[generic-user-name]

Please hook me up with boxsets of the bad TV dramas you watch.

[Gatsu]

Guys it's just numbers big deal. The main thing is for you to enjoy it.

Even if 95% praise it, there can still be some that like other kind of games.

[WhyWai88]

It's not Satire review, just the reviewer has bad taste.

[trouble_bubble]

A) Washington post shouldn't be on metacritic for games in the first place. Totally random with no gaming cred. Meta gonna start listing every local paper on earth now? They doesn't even include Famitsu and thats a legit long running gaming mag! Where's the Sao Paolo Gazette, or the Siberia sorta-Free Press, lol? Washington post. Dear lord.

B) Meta shouldn't make up scores where there are none. If you have to start making up numbers to someone else's words, you're no longer impartial or objective. Conflict of interest, as if metacritic's weighted ratings weren't already the subject of controversy.

C) lol. Too much graphics, 4/10.

[MagicBeanz]

"Sinks" might be a little over exaggerated, it dropped like one point and its still in the ninety's, they should fix it though that's only fair. The Washington Post should make the effort to get ti resolved as it just makes them look like fools for having the only bad review, if they care enough they'll do something about it.

[WelkinCole]

Personally - I don't care. This is the best Uncharted.

Integrity - Meta critic needs to correct it as it is a mistake. It is not their actual review.

Justice - ND worked extremely hard on U4. It is not justice to their work if its is reviewed lower because of a mistake not of their own.

[Ceaser9857361]

i dont understand why Metacritic added this to the review section when you have the same Washington post giving it 4/4 . So now even a satire piece gets added to the review section... i hope this gets sorted out.. its wrong is so many ways...

https://www.washingtonpost....

[Night99]

Point 1 This review is no satire I read it and the criticism is perfectly valid. Point 2 oh my god the world is collapsing what should we do now? should we call the FBI? A bunch of subjective bullshit reviews which someone averaged out on Metacritics has now a lower score because of an other subjective review, I think we prabably might see the end of the world because of this big insult against humanity lol ................

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Let me ask you how the criticism was perfectly valid. He says uncharted has never been known for its storytelling when that's the number 1 reason it's known lol. He than proceeds to say the games graphics are garish you do know what that means right and that there's too much detail in the game. The perfect part of his ridiculous troll review was when he said that it should have stopped after uc 1 lol like are you serious uc 2 was considered the best until 4 and one of the greatest games ever made. Like what was perfectly valid about any of those examples please let me know

[Night99]

He says in the Review that Uncharted's storyline barely is enaugh to justify 1 game and they dragged it on not only to fit a triologie they even made 4 games out of something that should be told in 1 game, like it was with the The Hobbit. The Hobbit 1 book and they dragged it for 3 films.

And this criticism is valid for Uncharted because the storyline of this IP is very thin you could easily fit it into 1 game.

[rainslacker]

"The “Uncharted” games have never excelled at storytelling"

Uh, yeah it's not Citizen Kane, but it engrosses the user by pulling you into the characters world, and makes you care about the characters. That's essentially where the meat of a story is. Beyond that, the UC series as a whole is considered to be one of the better story based games out there.

His expression of the shallow story not being enough to make a series out of the games just shows that he doesn't know that the games are about adventuring and exploring. The day job remark just shows that he doesn't understand that some stories have to have antagonist. The stories of these games are built around the premise of the game, which is Nate is a fortune hunter with a penchant for getting into trouble with others. They aren't meant to be an over-arching epic adventure spread too thin. By the guys reasoning, we could say that Indiana Jones movies didn't need more than one movie.

His review is based on his expectations of what the story should be, instead of what it actually is. That isn't how a proper review is done.

"The games have always struck me as garish more than gorgeous, more interested in overwhelming the senses than communicating with them"

Author doesn't seem to know what garish means, and if he has a problem with the more realistic and immersive graphics, I don't think he's going to like a lot of games going forward.

"“A Thief’s End” is overflowing with useless detail"

Ah...useless detail. Detail adds immersion. Immersion helps draw the player in.

"It overwhelms the eye with so many different points of focus that one almost clings to the over-the-shoulder focal point at the center of the screen"

Actually it doesn't. Everything meshes well togther, and while one can't help but stop and stare, at no point were the details distracting anyone from the game play.

"where the gun reticle can at least hint at a potential ways of engaging with all of the simulated objects and effects that are otherwise impossible to identify, let alone differentiate"

Except the reticle didn't actually do this. Maybe he played it with Auto-Lock on or something, or considered that the triangle button to interact was not an acceptable way to handle interacting with objects. Beyond that, if he had trouble discerning the difference between things that one could interact with and what was there as "detail" then he is inept as a gamer. UC goes out of it's way to highlight things that can be interacted with. Maybe he just had a crappy TV where things all blended together or soemthing.

Beyond that, and the story synopsis, most of his review was lambasting the series as a whole. Judging the entire series to derive a score for a single game is not appropriate, except to say how it stands up to the rest of the series. His review seemed more aimed at trying to say this series shouldn't have made it to 5 games, instead of focusing on what made this one good or bad.

In fact, this review didn't point out anything that was good...even giving a back handed compliment to how beautiful it is. No technical achievements pointed out. No depth to the game play explained. No game play mechanics explained. Nothing.

It's a terrible review, and more of a story synopsis with a bitch rant thrown in at the end.

So sorry, his criticisms are not perfectly valid, because they don't stand up to objective reasoning, and seems more like he's trying to just downplay the game in any way possible.

[Night99]

You know reviews are subjective, every judgement is always subjective. And this review is this guys opinion just like any other review is just some guys opinion, it is not a better or worse opinion than the 10 out of 10 or any other review. And the criticism this guy brings up is definetly a valid one if you personaly agree with it is a whole different story.

[rainslacker]

Yes, they're subjective, but they have to be approached from an objective viewpoint.

This guy used crappy reasons to downrate the game, as a means to cast a shadow on the entire series.

Subjective or not, it's a terrible review. Half the review is about reviewing the series, not the game, and his reasons for why he didn't like it are not in any way taking an objective look at the game.

What among the criticisms that I pointed out and didn't discredit are valid criticisms? Care to say why I'm wrong in what I say about why it's not valid?

Look at the review. The review of the actual game is ONE PARAGRAPH of an 8,000 word review. One paragraph. The rest is overly expressed story synopsis or lambasting the series as a whole. Quite literally every quote I used came from a single paragraph in the review, and it was at the very end. In that one paragraph he makes not one single objective statement. He doesn't go into any technical details of the game play itself(as outlined above). Nothing about this "review" falls within what would be considered an acceptable review by even the most ardent of troll review sites. For his criticisms to be valid, he'd have to actually have objective reasons on why he subjectively felt the way he did, but he offered none of that, and instead decided to use the space to down play the series as a whole.

But please, If you care to discuss the valid criticisms, please elaborate objectively why this guys criticisms are valid. I mean, someone should so we can at least discuss those criticisms properly instead of just referring to them vaguely as problems with the series. The reviewer isn't going to, so why don't you?

[babis1974]

they must change it!!!

[mkis007]

Looks like they somehow confused the 4/4 review with this review which isn't scored. The 4/4 review should be one of the 100's and this review should be in the unscored section...Only matters because metacritic made a mistake. If it was a legit 40/100 review(Legit as in they gave it a score) then it wouldn't matter everything would be in the right place, but that is not the case; metacritic must have thought the 4/4 was a 4/10.

This is the reposne I got from them, apparently the score is sent separately...which is sketchy

" The 4/4 review is an AP Wire review which the Post and many other papers picked up, but which we don't track. We only track Washington Post's staff reviews, which we receive (along with the score) from their section editor. The "40" review on Metacritic is the Washington Post's staff review."

Basically the review is there to stay.

[Ceaser9857361]

so now this one with no review score is counted and what happened to the 4/4 review scores .. nobody is talking about that... its like you got a promotion and then very next moment the same company screwed you over and demoted you... also i disagree with the writer.... He said there should not be UC game after UC 1 ... LMAO!! which shows he couldnt digest the fact that UC2 , UC 3 did well , UC2 went on to be GOTY and now UC4 is doing really well and has a good chance of becoming the GOTY

[Jon_Targaryen]

This game is the reason I bought a PS4 to begin with!!!

[wars1986]

TLOU>>>>UC2>UC4 >UC3>UC1>GOLDEN ABYSS

[Doge]

That's pretty hilarious lmao

[ScorpiusX]

FK funny & sad how everyone is getting worked up over a score no one should care about or even feel concerned about .
What a shame how consumer are worried over a compulation of scores from various site, instead of their own as consumers . JFS

[OB1Biker]

Im not interested in scores and I dont believe in them. I wish they d disappear from reviews so finally reviewers could focus on helping the reader figure out if they will enjoy a game or not instead of trying to justify a meaningless score.

That said, what is sad is every time bad journalism or fishy stuff happens to be obvious in the gaming industry you get the media putting the blame on the gaming community being entitled or immature etc and what is worse is gamers themselves deride the whole affair and get to swallow anything the gaming sites snap them to instead.
I mean this site gives gamers the opportunity to discuss and question articles from different sites openly with no censorship from them. Its not matter of 'being worried' at all

[ufo8mycat]

This is why I think some review sites need to be excluded from adding to the overall Metacritic score, such as troll reviews, sites with consistently bad rep (giving great games low scores) etc.

[rivaldoo777]

mike thomsen haha this guy must be desperate for subscribers lol, Your cheap sense of journalism will show off in the near future :)

[gamer7804]

people still use metacritic? everyone should know by now its a good place to find some various reviews, but they leave many reviews out. Its not really a good way to gauge a games success by either scores, sales or public opinion.

[galmi]

at this point, does it even matter? scores are buying, playing, praising the game as we breathe really

[goathouse774]

People are playing this, right now? Like, for real?

[GeorgesIlner]

It's cool !

[gamer7804]

I didn't see anything in the article about it being satire. I think it's a legit review

[GoldPunch-TR]

It is troll but legit review unfortunately.

[Pintheshadows]

Sucks for ND as they will (absurdly) have bonuses tied into the metacritic score.

How the industry allowed metacritic to become so critical is so bizarre.

[Phil32]

People are actually getting upset over this? Holy crap does Metacritic have so many of you by the balls. Does this ruin your enjoyment of Uncharted 4 in any way? If it does, that's just incredibly pathetic.

[goathouse774]

Yeah, I stopped playing the game immediately when I saw the Washington Post excerpt on Metacritic. Didn't even save my game.

[Phil32]

I made several friends take their PS4's back to the store. They became shells of men and women after the Metacritic went down.

[MCTJim]

hahahahaha....I agree, I made my son take the game out and throw it away..hahahaha this is laughable at best.

[DaDrunkenJester]

UC4 is my least favorite Uncharted... It is beautiful and the attention to detail is amazing, but just boring compared to the others.

[opinionated]

Oh no, not the metacritic!! Why are people so fickle? This has to be the dumbest generation in human history. It again proves the Internet is both the best and worst of humanity.

[goathouse774]

Not sure how fickleness has any bearing on this. I don't think anyone's returning their copy of the game, or banning it to their backlog...

[opinionated]

I don't see how metacritic has any bearing on anything. Especially with someone who has already purchased the game. Why the hell would they care? I was referring to idiots who base their purchases on metacritic scores, the idiots who bitch about metacritic scores for no apparent reason and the reviewers that change their score to appease these idiots.

[goathouse774]

Metacritic is a fact of life, these days. It's a flawed benchmark that, while flawed, gets trotted out as a reference, constantly. Annoying? Sometimes. A reality? Yup.

Fans of the game know that a score like this is a troll score. Pure troll. Pure and simple. They're pointing it out. They're pointing out... the obvious. Calm down.

EDIT FOR CLARITY:

It's a troll score. People are passionate about good games around here. Connect the dots.

[opinionated]

It's a "fact of life" because people reference it? Okay... It's nothing more than a collection of review scores. I'm not angry about it lol. Fans of the game are angry about it. They should calm down. It's a troll score, okay. How does this affect them in any way whatsoever?

Edit for clarity:
So when I point out how idiotic it is to care about such trivial shit I'm angry. When they bitch and moan about a collection of review scores (that most can't stand individually) it's called passionate? Ok lol

[Kidmyst]

Do any real gamers even pay attention to metacritic score? I have never been to this site because the scores can be altered either way so easily.

[goathouse774]

For better or worse, it's a key barometer in the online gaming world that gets referenced constantly. You can't act like it doesn't exist, eventually start believing it doesn't... and then expect everyone else to magically disappear it from their memory as well.

[rainslacker]

When enough reviews come in, I'd say the scores more often than not line up with how I'd rate a game I'm interested in. For a game I'm not interested in, I couldn't care less, but I assume it's the same for those that are interested in it.

[yomfweeee]

For everyone who keeps saying this was a satire/fake/funny review, unfortunately it is not. It is just a review by an idiot or trying to get clicks.

The whole review is about how he didn't like the story. How Metacritic could turn a review like that into a score certainly doesn't make sense.

[WilliamSheridan]

Who cares people, there are plenty of bogus perfect score reviews that skew it the other way

[goathouse774]

Who cares that you don't care?

[WilliamSheridan]

Who cares about you caring whether I care?

Seriously, why are you guys so concerned about metacritic scores? Sounds like fanboys puffing up scores again. Just play the damned game.

[XBgamer]

Why does it matter if you want to buy it then just do so and stop letting meta judge how you buy your games.

[Dan_scruggs]

The metascore dropped one point. Calm down.

[jstark]

get over it plus i dont think metacritic will change it http://angryjoeshow.com/201...

[PlatinumGX]

Review scores are pointless anyway, only idiots care about that.

[genepark]

Hi I work at the Washington Post. And this post is completely inaccurate. This is NOT a satire review. This is a real review, published in the geek blog of the Washington Post.

Trust me, I disagree with this review big time too. Uncharted 4 is rad and a must-buy for anyone who loves the series or third-person action adventures. But this is misinformation to say that the review is satire. As much as we all disagree with it, it's real.

[MasterCornholio]

And I work for Santa Clause......

[genepark]

That's funny. Lemme know when Twitter verifies you as a North Pole elf.

[downwardspiral]

Where did metacritic get the 4/10 score from since the score isn't even on the article?

[rainslacker]

So the Washington Post uses reviews from people who are completely inept at actually doing game reviews?

Kind of reminds me of movie critic reviews back when newspapers were actually a thing people read outside a doctors office. The movie reviewer wouldn't like anything that wasn't some artsy crap that they're told they have to like because they went to film school, giving no consideration of the target audience of the movie, or being able to express the quality of what merits it did have in delivering an experience to the actual target audience.

When a game reviewer says "too much detail" and uses that as a crux to ignore all the amazing things UC4 does and is, it's hard to take seriously. If it was meant to be a satirical review, that's fair enough, but I'd say the writer is pretty inept at satire as well, but is pretty good with the cynicism.

[tmisellati]

i do care only about reviews written by games professionals

[FPS_D3TH]

Because metacritic is garbage.

[LastcenuryRob]

Metascore? Seriously? If anyone is truly upset that this game got a poor or mediocre review, fake or real, you need to consider therapy.

[kenwonobi]

Still no Microsoft game in the 90's. It's still a 93. It's still a masterpiece. The joke in question of a review is still considered a joke. At the end of the day what's one point anyway?

[thegamefox93]

GUYS GO TO THIS SITE TO SIGN THE PETITION AND GET RID OF THIS SCORE!!
just go to change.org and type in "uncharted 4 metascore"

This is completely unacceptable. Not only is this review complete garbage. There is NO score given, and this reviewer has a fishy track record giving 40/100 (the same score) to great games in the past!!

vote up so more people see!