Game Spot Jade Empire Review

[Craftsman]

Review

 

Thats sounds more resonable.

[Volourn]

Already a link available in the other thread. The score is fine. The review itself is illogical.

[GhostofAnakin]

Wtf?

 

How does a game score a 9.9 on one site (IGN), but score so low (relatively) on another site (gamespot)?

 

9.9 score makes it sound like almost perfect. 8.4 makes it seem slightly above average.

 

This discrepency is another reason why it's so hard to take these reviews seriously. <_<

[Volourn]

Agreed, GOA.

 

And, oh btw, the combat sucks. Supposedly the combat is worse than KOTOR's whcih I have my doubts about...

 

GS' score is a good score on its own; but if you read the actual review it doens't fit.

[Meshugger]

- He didn't like the combat as much as the rest, it's simply good, not OMG!!!!111.

- He actually thought that 20 hours of gameplay is too short for an rpg.

- The lack customization, which is one of the essential things in an rpg.

- The lack of interactivity.

- A non-existent inventory.

 

The score is seems great, but the tone was very negative troughout the review.

[Volourn]

"He didn't like the combat as much as the rest, it's simply good, not OMG!!!!111."

 

Actually, his words about the combat was that it was simple, easy, and repetitive. Dunno about you; but that doens't sound like good combat to me. Sounds even worse than KOTOR's which was pretty poor combat.

 

 

"He actually thought that 20 hours of gameplay is too short for an rpg."

 

Yeah. If it's just 20 hours I agree. The range, of course, has been 18 -30 hours accoridng to various reviews and that's not covering everything.

 

 

"The lack customization, which is one of the essential things in an rpg."

 

From what I've read, it has much customization pretty much as KOTOR. Afterall, it has three dialogue skills...

 

 

"The lack of interactivity."

 

Meh. No BIo game has that much interatcivity with the sorroundings; not even KOTOR which he rated 91%.

 

 

"A non-existent inventory."

 

I'll take that over the crap inventory that is KOTOR.

 

 

I'm with Mesh. the score seems good on the surface; but the tone is very negative.

[GhostofAnakin]

I actually had time to read the full reviews. Wow, it seems the review wasn't very positive. The ease of combat seems like the same complaints people had with KOTOR 1 and 2, and the fact that the reviewer made it sound like punching buttons has more effect on combat outcome than the character's stats makes me a bit worried. I don't mind if it's like Vampire: the Masquerade's combat, where it was some kind of mix of action and RPG style combat. Hopefully it's not too "twitch" oriented.

 

In honesty though, after reading that review I'm less enthusiastic about playing it than I was.

[6 Foot Invisible Rabbit]

I had no problems with the Inventory system in KotOR 1 or KotOR 2.

[Volourn]

"I had no problems with the Inventory system in KotOR 1 or KotOR 2."

 

Joking right? You musta forgot all the datapads. This was somewhat fixed in KOTOR2; but was still a headache compared to other games... Bleieve me, inventory was not something to brag about when it came to the KOTOR series, imo.

[Spider]

It seems to me the Gamespot reviewer was simply expecting another game than what he got. He kept comparing it to KotOR and while it's a reasonable comparison since they are from the same company, it was pretty obvious to anyone who even foolowed JE development just a little that the two wouldn't be that similar. At least not in gameplay.

[Leferd]

I don't see how some of you see Gamespot's review as being overtly negative.

 

He does state that he isn't too fond of the combat system. He does state that the game is too short. He does imply that this is a dumbed-down rpg.

 

BUT...

 

He loves the story. He loves the graphics and attention to detail. He loves the sound and voice acting. He loves the replayability. And he recommends this game for its targeted audience. Namely, US.

 

I don't see Greg K. as being contradictory or negative at all. I see it as being fair, critical, and positive.

[Volourn]

Not contradictory?

 

He says the combat is easy, simple, and repetitive. Hhen he says it's fun.

 

He says the game is easy then he says it is hard yet officially rates easy.

 

He rated KOTOR1 9.1; but JE which from all angles looks like the way better game. And, know what's what funny? I don't even like RT combat and it's obvious to me JE's combat is better, has more depth, and will likely be more challenging than KOTOR's combat. And, yet he rated it 9.1.

 

That to me raises up Red Flags.

 

Also, JE is now considered an 'Official Flop' according to the GS Forum Mods. LOL

 

It's hilarious on both sides.

 

Of course in the end, it's no big deal as its just one person's opinion out of many. Not the end of the world.

 

84% on its own is a good score, imo; but not when the review itself is overall negative. And, yeah, he mentions some things he likes; but he glosses over them.

 

He also says the combat is simple and epepetive then waste over a page of the three page reveiw explaining the combat and explaining that there's a lot to do in combat. Make up your mind? Is it simple and repetive or not?

 

Wowsers.

 

It's obvious to me that he is just a SW fanboy. R00fles!

 

 

Good fun.

 

 

edit: http://xbox.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3139565&did=1

 

85%. What's funny is that unlike GS they complain that the combat is too deep and too hard. They arne't a big fan of the story though...

[Leferd]

Heh.

 

You know what? I can't believe I'm carrying this little debate over multiple forums...

 

Regardless, ain't like I got a vested interest in gamespot anyhow. For what its worth, gamespot's review, of the big three, seems to be the one that brought out the fanboy in me for JE. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Roofles!

[Volourn]

"You know what? I can't believe I'm carrying this little debate over multiple forums..."

 

Ha. Me too. And, oh, chekc out the 1up reviw. i shared the link above in my other post...

[Leferd]

"Such is the price for competing with your own stellar legacy, but even taken purely on the merits of what's offered here, Jade Empire remains a linear, abbreviated experience that, while ambitious and gorgeous to behold, is not Bioware's finest hour." ---from 1up

 

It's kinda hard when Bio is going up against the legacy of the BG series or even KOTOR.

 

Meh. I'm exhausted from reading reviews, so I just read the intro and concluding paragraphs.

[Volourn]

Like I said above, 1up thinks the combat is too hard and too deep.

 

And, oh, KOTOR is overrated....

[Leferd]

NWN is overrated. Kotor rocks.

 

Thanks for the summary.

[Spider]

edit: http://xbox.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3139565&did=1

 

85%. What's funny is that unlike GS they complain that the combat is too deep and too hard. They arne't a big fan of the story though...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Now, that was a sobering review. I've read a bunch of them (everyone I could find) and this is the first one that got me to doubt if I actually want to play the game. Not even the Gamespot one had that effect.

[Volourn]

"NWN is overrated. Kotor rocks."

 

That explains why KOTOR was rated 9.1 (and 8.8 for xobox) while NWN was rated 9.2 by your precious GS good. LOL

[Leferd]

"That explains why KOTOR was rated 9.1 (and 8.8 for xobox) while NWN was rated 9.2 by your precious GS good. LOL"

 

What do gamespot's ratings for those two games have anything to do with my opinion of them?

 

For the record, Gamespot is not precious to me. Not anymore so than a Roger Ebert or Elvis Mitchell. Useful tools that I use to gauge whether a purchase would be warranted or not. Tools which I may occasionally disagree with.

[Volourn]

Well, you said their reviews were the most trustworthy... "

 

And, Roger Ebert is different. Even when i disagree with them on a particualr movie; I *always* understand why he thinks a certain way. That's why he's cool.

[Leferd]

"Well, you said their reviews were the most trustworthy... whistling.gif"

 

When (or where) did I write or imply that? I may have written that gamespot's review of JE was the most useful for me. But that's all I can think of.

 

Sheesh, you and your absolutes.

[Volourn]

Absolutely absolute reply there.

 

I believe you did in one of many threads on this issue.. or was that someone esle... who knows... I'm lost now.

 

What I find funny is that 1up's review is only 1% more than GS yet I'm not as annoyed about it. Once again, proving that the actual number is meaningless; but the actual review...

[mkreku]

So.. to sum it all up: Jade Empire is kind of a short RPG (18-30 hours?), with a too linear story, great graphics and simple, repetitive yet difficult and deep combat system. It lacks an inventory system (this bugs me, I kind of like micromanaging my characters) and character customization.

 

To me, this doesn't sound like an RPG at all. No character customization, no inventory system, a linear story (if I understood all this correctly), real time almost twitch based combat, no world interaction (bummer!) and a pretty short experience (for a RPG at least) doesn't sound like a game I would enjoy playing. And I've still not found anything about the exploration parts of the game. Although, based on what I've seen in former Bioware titles, there is none. At all. Ok, perhaps a little in Baldur's Gate.. But that's all

[GhostofAnakin]

What I find funny is that 1up's review is only 1% more than GS yet I'm not as annoyed about it. Once again, proving that the actual number is meaningless; but the actual review...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Since I've yet to play the game, I don't have an actual opinion on which review is more accurate in terms of my tastes. However, I just found it funny that the gamespot review and the IGN review had scores that were so far apart. Say what you will about the KOTOR series, but generally the main review sites all rated it within 2 to 6 points of each other (ie. 8.5 to 9.1), making the reviews seem accurate.

 

The fact that there is a wopping 15 points between gamespot and IGN, and 14 points between IGN and 1up is a bit curious. Perhaps my "rating" scale differs from theirs, but when someone gives the game a 9.9, then that infers it's as close to perfect as a game can get. And from what I've seen, most games that score that or near that, generally garner those same scores across all review sites (for instance, GTA:SA has high scores across most gaming sites).

 

Yes, different tastes and all that, but I just find the difference in ratings rather puzzling.