9 Modern Gaming Criticisms That Actually Suck

We need to leave these behind in the 2010s.

by Josh Brown
Modern Warfare 2019
Activision

The shape of video game criticism has changed massively over the past decade. Seriously, reviews back in the early 2000s pretty much just amounted to writers using "this looks cool" or "this does not look cool" as metrics for whether fans should buy a new game.

However, as new releases have gotten more mature, so has the writing on them, and the modern gaming landscape has so many nuanced, interesting and complex critiques for anyone to jump into. Whether that's the big behemoth sites or unknown YouTubers doing some of the best deep dives, there's no shortage of fascinating insights out there.

That said, there are some common critiques and put downs that crop up over and over again that don't hold up, or generalise to the point where the arguments come across as reductive. Everyone seems to use them, and we're probably just as guilty as anyone else, but it's time these tried-and-tested criticisms were retired.

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Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.