Glitches: Why Are They Never Mentioned In Reviews?
I did a little digging through the ghosts of game reviews pasts on the four websites I turn to when I'm on the fence about buying a game. I decided to look for reviews for one of- if not the most notoriously buggy game of last year- Assassin's Creed 3. I encountered many glitches with this game myself, such as the game crashing, cutscenes where a character is talking...only the character is invisible, I could go on and on. Let's see if any of the reviewers had the same issues. The first website I visited highlighted the beautiful graphics, incredible detail, and the beautifully recreated cities. Fair enough, no one can deny AC3 was a beautiful game. Let's see what they had to say about playability which I imagine is where glitches would factor in. They declared the new controls take some getting used to for longtime players of the series but state these controls are improvements. The review didn't mention one glitch, the website declared Assassin's Creed 3 Platinum and gave it an overall score of 9.5. Let's see if the next website has anything to say about the game that required a day-one patch. They highlighted the features you will love such as: familiar city layouts, fluid combat, and easy traversal. They also highlight the things you will hate like the pacing, bloated features and in game economy, and the Desmond sections fail to impress. Assassin's Creed 3 scored 4 out of 5 stars, enough for it to be declared "great." So it seems this game is near perfect, not one little technical blip is going to ruin your immersion.
Let's see if the next website has anything against AC3. The final verdict highlighted the great setting, immersive story, and the large amount of things to do. The only thing they downgraded the game for was its inconsistencies leaving the game with a total of 8.5. Still no glitches! Maybe the final website will have an honest review. The final website highlighted the enthralling and rich storytelling, tense sea battles, homestead development is satisfying, great attention to historical and visual details, and lots of rewarding missions. Alright! That's a lot of good, now let's see the bad: too many bugs and glitches, hunting mechanics feel underdeveloped, and stealth and parkour inconsistencies. Do you hear that? I believe that's a choir singing Hallelujah. Not only was this the first review to mention the games array of glitches but the review mentioned it first and foremost. Now do you honestly see a problem when only 1 in 4 reviews mentions glitches? This is not the only game where this has occurred either. Whether the reviewers are playing a version of the game that has been completely de-bugged or whether there is a bit of bribery here we will never know, but it seems more and more major glitches are simply looked over, and it's the consumers that buy the games without warning that get screwed over in the matter.
Next: Are Glitches Really That Big Of A Deal?