Did Take Two Manipulate GTA IV's Review Scores?

Vip3r - 570 days 15 hours ago

So it's ok to claim or rumour that T2 paid off sites to up GTA4's score but when people question the same about microsoft and Halo then it's automatically BS or fanboyish?

Personally, I think there is a fair amount of corruption going on in the videogame industry which is why I take all review with a pinch of salt and after reading a fair amount of them create an opinion for myself.

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Condoleezza Rice - 570 days 15 hours ago

Gotta agree,after a while,GTA 4 gets repetitive and very cliche.

It appears Take Two knew this,and thus made sure the first few hours were the best.

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Snoozer282 - 570 days 15 hours ago

Take 2 don't submit review scores. The editor of Games off metacritic yearly brings in new sites that show growth and have a substantial amount of reviews.

It's him who goes through his site list.

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blynx182 - 570 days 15 hours ago

Good question. A GTA game has never been this well recieved.

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Meus Renaissance - 570 days 15 hours ago

Game is awesome, end of

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donscrillinger - 570 days 14 hours ago

the game iz an 10 in every way

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Bubbles - 570 days 14 hours ago

this is no surprise, u deserve a bubble.

Bubbles out....

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Luca Blight - 570 days 14 hours ago

In that early high scores by "trend-setter" publications/websites like IGN (10.0) dictated that no criticism of GTA4 should be taken seriously despite the fact that the game is flawed in some ways.

IMO, I really like GTA4 - however, I don't see it in the realm of games in the 10 range. My biggest gripe is how come nobody criticized the script and voice acting?! I believe some publications actually went so far as to say the voice acting was great (are you F'in kidding me?!).

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name - 570 days 14 hours ago

Who keeps making those old snake avatars? I want one

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name - 570 days 14 hours ago

I'll find a pic and I'll message you. Thanks.

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mightydog01 - 570 days 13 hours ago

A 10 means perfect......That should mean perfect gfxs and gameplay in every department....If a game has frame rate drop and stuff they should take 1 off it and again if gameplay is not 100%.....then developers will need to achieve that goal which means better games....If a game gets 10 with framerate drops tearing problems and gets a 10 then the developers will think look at that game got a 10 so we can just bring out games of that standard which is no good in the long run....

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Slayer OP - 570 days 13 hours ago

GTA IV did not pay for its scores.

GTA IV does not suck.

GTA IV was not overhyped.

I dont get what people hate about this, Maybe its the fct that it scored higher then ocarania of time or maybe people just dont know what good games are anymore.

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bishop-br - 570 days 13 hours ago

Probably yes, but who cares? The game is worth the money, and between good and great.

A bit repetitive maybe, but I'm pretty sure it would not cut the reviews will to give a so hyped game over 8.5 reviews all the way.

And as far as reviews rates go, at least in my experience, I played so many games 8 and something better than almost 10 last years that I'm already convinced that those rates are barely the same thing.

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i_like_ff7 - 570 days 13 hours ago

GTAIV is definatly overrated but i dont think take 2 paid reviewers.

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beavis4play - 570 days 13 hours ago

it's not a bad game at all. but too glitchy. and is anyone else disappointed with the targeting and overall combat? i am in a BIG way. i kept reading rockstar has vastly improved this but it doesn't seem very good when playing. and missions were very repetitve. i also miss buying houses and owning businesses. and wherer are all the diff. weapons? and the radio soundtrack and talk radio came nowhere near the great "vice city" radio. i liked the new driving mechanic and the city is great just driving around and seeing the "life" in it but i'm left feeling more "meh" by this game than anything else. the reviewers fell for the hype on this one (just like with halo3) i don't think this game came anywhere close to living up to the hype. for the record i think GTA4 should have been given an 8.6

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FreedomReign - 570 days 12 hours ago

What 2k did do, was force reviewers to play the game in hotel rooms, prior to the games release. They only allowed reviewers to play the game for a few hours at that.

I loved GTAIV through the first few missions... within 11 hours is when I began to realize the game is repetitive as all heck, every 10 missions still leads into a unique scenario, but the bulk of the game is very much been there done that.

I keep harkening back to Vice City, and San Andreas which both did so much more.

Why do I have to play crappy pool, crappy bowling, and crappy darts over and over again? 2K did not pay for luxurious reviews, but they did sku the reviews, by controlling the playing field.

I have to say Saint's Row, and Crackdown both provided more fun than GTA IV, and scored much lower.

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Milky Joe - 570 days 12 hours ago

Hearing that the reviews were conducted in this way has really clarified things for me.

As the game went on I got more and more disillusioned with it. I wouldn't say I found it repetitive (I didn't find Assassin's Creed repetitive and apparently that is quite a feat) it just all began to fizzle out and for some reason I just got less and less enjoyment out of it and actually towards the end, my mood would gradually sink with each play session. The highlights just didn't stand out against the back drop of disillusionment. I thought it was just me and I was doing something wrong.

But now I see that I not am even slightly alone in this viewpoint. The run up was exciting. IGN layed down a 10 then more and more popped up and the general atmosphere of excitement was getting more and more intense. Then it was released and people were like "Yeah, this is cool! A little slow starting maybe but it's bound to pick up." But it just didn't. And then about a week later everything just slumped. It was like there was a huge drum roll and everyone was getting ready to leap out of their seats screaming and clapping but all there was when the drum roll ended was an awkward silence and then everyone just left.

360 can have it's exclusive DLC, I honestly do not give a damn. I've finished the story, pushed myself through most of the side missions in an attempt to wring out some enjoyment and now I'm left just driving around thinking "Well, what can I do now?" then realising that there really is nothing else. 1 month (exactly) in and I'm already done with a GTA game. I would never had seen it coming.

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funkysolo - 570 days 11 hours ago

after playing it for 35 percent I'm forcing myself to finish the game. Is it me or is this one of the most repetivitive games ever created. I would of like a 12 hour GTA story driven game and the side missions at the end if one wanted to complete them.

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bigjclassic - 570 days 8 hours ago

that GTA4 DOSENT deserve a 10 period. Because there are tons of games with little to no technical faults that are superior to GTA4 in everyway(SMG). But GTA is a FAD GAME, that all people pay attention to.

T2 was desperate with GTA4, you know with the EA thing. T2 had to do whatever they could to make sure that GTA4 did phenominal. If that means giving reviewers only 4 hours to review a game, then so be it.

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Jdoki - 569 days 23 hours ago

As much as the internet loves to get all paranoid and think the worst, there could be genuine reasons for this.

GTAIV is a sandbox game. Can any reviewer really be subjective when they are given total freedom in a game space? There's a good chance they may miss some small but significant detail. Also, if reviewers were to only review boxed retail copies they would probably be reviewing the game (possibly) less than a week before release, and in the case of magazines the review may actually appear the month AFTER the game launches.

In this regard it makes total sense that T2 would lead developers in to certain game play circumstances to ensure reviewers see the 'best of' the game.

It's not like reviewers were held back from mentioning framerate problems etc.

Also, the game was always going to sell well. Would it have sold less copies if the Metacritic average was 8.9 or 9.1? Most people I know who bought GTAIV (or are planning to) had/have no interest in reviews at all.

I'm certainly not saying there isn't some influence being exerted by the publishers, or underhanded reviewing going on to ensure marketing dollars for websites. What the industry needs to do is show some solidarity and backbone. If every mag or website refused to review anything but retail boxed versions, publishers would have no option but to comply.

However I do think journalists bought in to the hype. base don my first 5 hours I would never have given this game a 10 - probably more like an 8.5. It falls behind both GTAIII and Vice City in terms of fun.

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unrealgamer58 - 569 days 23 hours ago

dont know maybe..........

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SL1M DADDY - 569 days 23 hours ago

The first 5 hours of the game are a 9.5 at best but as time oes on it gets repetative and dull. It's no less than an 8.5 though IMHO.

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heyheyhey - 570 days 13 hours ago

maybe

i understand getting caught up in the hype, but GTA4 did NOT deserve that Meta score

there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the game and its still fun to play

but where is the RPG upgrade system, where are the crazy, inventive missions?

i like the level of polish in the driving and shooting mechanics- but SA was just so much more revolutionary and innovative

i hope GTA5 combines the polish of GTA4 and the inventivness of SA

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Varsarus - 570 days 13 hours ago

I would personally rate GTA IV 9.1/10

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