I feel bad about being as harsh as I was to Stan in my closing comments, so I'll say this:
Stan, I'm not certain if you were trying to come across as funny or if, like I said, something tainted this game for you. In either case, the big issue is that your review didn't tell me much about the game itself. What you gave us truly was more of an angry rant than a critical analysis of the game.
Had you gone into great detail about why the game was so bad for you, you wouldn't have received this much heat over it.
Also, the only reason I suspected an external influence regarding your opinion of the game is because I too have had that happen once or twice and it was basically impossible for me to give the game a fair shake after that.
I'm sorry for outright accusing you, but understand that I only did so because I
genuinely believe your review has succumb to some external influences because it lacks the clear and concise analytical voice found in your former reviews.
Again, I apologize.
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Originally posted by: thatguy
What is he reviewing, though. The game, or the behavior of the game's fans. You read the review to find out what that person thinks of the game, and not what people that person has read about on web forums think about the the game.
I think a solid review should take a few different viewpoints, when it comes to fleshing out a good impression of the game.
There's nothing wrong with a reviewer saying, "I don't like this, but _______ probably will so they should rent it." It's why my personal review system offers 5 scores for different gaming groups: hardcore, normal, fan, party and non-gamer. The DBZ game on the Wii, for example, would be a 5-6 for a normal gamer but a 9.5 for a fan because fans of the series will LOVE the ability to pantomime moves like the kamehamehama and to go through most of the storylines in the game, unlocking piles of characters.