You don't need a certified games "journalist" to explain why Grand Theft Auto IV is awesome or that the Dirty Dancing videogame is shit. You're intelligent. You know what kinds of games you love and which ones you despise.
But once in a while, there's that rare occasion where you've got a few extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket and have enough leftover to splurge on a game that you're on the fence about. And when it comes to these situations, it's frustrating when the professional critics seem to be sitting on the same fence as you.
The average score on an aggregator site like Metacritic may seem like it's giving you an accurate idea of how good or bad a game is. But dig a little deeper and you'll often find that one overly enthusiastic review is responsible for letting an obviously awful title scrape by with a so-so seven out of ten score.
