Let's agree to disagree
Many users didn't embrace the new Portal sequelNo one was surprised when Valve's Portal 2 (360, PS3, PC) -- one of the most anticipated releases of 2011 and the sequel to a highly original gem of a game -- received glowing reviews from game critics upon its release last month. What was shocking was the fan reaction.
As reported throughout the gaming press, all three versions of Portal 2 were excoriated in user comments on Metacritic, with gamers objecting to, among other things, being prompted to purchase DLC on day one (though that content was not necessary for gameplay). Whether or not it was an organized campaign against the game or just fan backlash against being promised an early release if they would only buy additional titles, the result was -- temporarily -- extremely low user scores at the same time Portal 2 was among the year's highest-scoring games among critics.
Justified or not, this is certainly not the first time Metacritic users have disagreed with professional critics, nor is it the first case of the public punishing a title loved by reviewers. Sometimes, the user reaction stems from a backlash against excessive hype, while other times business decisions like crippling DRM or an over-reliance on DLC are to blame. Users may also notice problems with online play that aren't present pre-release, or they may simply rebel against a never-ending stream of sequels that add little new to a franchise. On the other side, users will sometimes enjoy a game much more than critics did, perhaps a result of being able to spend additional gameplay time to uncover merits that aren't apparent at first blush.
The user scores for Portal 2 have actually rebounded significantly since the game's release, but there are plenty of other titles that still have a wide gulf between critic and user scores. We have analyzed all games in Metacritic's database (for current-generation platforms) that have at least 30 critic reviews and 50 user reviews. The games with the biggest score differentials between critics and users are listed below, along with representative user comments for each game.
Games that critics liked but users didn't
| Game | Platform/Year | Metascore | User Score | Difference* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | PC, 2009 | 86 | 3.7 | 49 |
"The PC community was completely abandoned when dedicated servers were taken out, [it's] not that the game is garbage really, its mostly that the loyal gamers were completely ignored." -- mathieuG. |
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| 2 | Dragon Age II | PS3, 2011 | 82 | 3.9 | 43 |
"I'm a big fan of the original DA and really got into the lore. Unfortunately that dosen't help me trying to like this sorry mess for sequel. The combat is extremely simplified (and meaningless), the story is told in a most unexciting way and the game just feel like a downgrade compared to the predecessor." -- KhaaL |
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| 3 | Grand Theft Auto IV | PC, 2008 | 90 | 5.0 | 40 |
"Absolutely not worth it. The download took a very long time, and unless your PC is running well above the minimum specs (which are already pretty high, and easily knocks out any non-gaming built PCs), then this game will lag terribly with severe glitching and control issues (and yes, I am talking about rock-bottom bare-minimum visual and audio effects)." -- Zeph |
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| 4 | Madden NFL 09 | PS3, 2008 | 85 | 4.6 | 39 |
"As a game considered in complete isolation, Madden 2009 is a pretty darn good football game. But when you start comparing it to existing Madden products (2008 and 2007 in particular), you start to realize that the game just hasn't evolved much over the last few years." -- TouchyEd |
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| 5 | Dragon Age II | PC, 2011 | 82 | 4.3 | 39 |
"So far it's been terrible. Clunky controls, terrible graphics. The characters are shallow and have exceptionally little dialogue. 27 pieces of DLC. Not much else has to be said. They've sold out and now cater to the lowest common denominator instead of providing high quality RPGs like they used to. Terrible." -- Corbenine |
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| 6 | Spore | PC, 2008 | 84 | 4.6 | 38 |
"This game had the potential to be good and revolutionary. Instead its a over hyped watered down version that quickly lost my interest. After a few hours of playing the game, I began to get a sick feeling in my stomach. I said to myself, 'Dont worry, it's going to get better.' Problem was it didn't get better. Upon reaching the space age I was utterly disgusted with the game. Throw in the DRM that punishes the law abiding gamer and [you are] left with one awful product." -- JohnM |
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| 7 | World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | PC, 2010 | 90 | 5.3 | 37 |
"First impressions are 10 out of 10. That is the reason so many critics rated this game so high. But after your first month of play, you will realize that nothing changed. The end game is identical to wrath of the lich king." -- sams |
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| 8 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | PS3, 2009 | 94 | 5.7 | 37 |
"The most ridiculously hyped, over rated FPS to date. There is nothing here that has changed from COD4, save for the insanely hard spec ops. Otherwise, same five hour story which is incredibly confusing and very hard, especially without a cover system, the multiplayer is unbalanced, the killstreaks ruin everything, campers and cheaters run rampant, the unfair advantage over everything and the fact that it takes reaction instead of actual skill in order to kill someone." -- JulianG |
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| 9 | Dragon Age II | 360, 2011 | 79 | 4.4 | 35 |
"A horrible, wretched nightmare without end. ... DA:O was a lovingly-crafted tour-de-force masterpiece in the history of video gaming. [Its] sequel feels like a rush job to cash in on its success. The graphics look bland, the characters are boring, the quests are paltry, and the combat is dumbed down for consoles." -- Sparafucil |
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| 10 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | 360, 2009 | 94 | 6.0 | 34 |
"[It is] Modern Warfare 1 with new perks and guns. Nothing new to offer the gaming world except a copy of its predecessor, with an old graphics engine, unblanced and small multiplayer, and a 3 hour single player. Save your money, not worth it. " -- SadMan |
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| 11 | Guitar Hero 5 | PS3, 2009 | 86 | 5.4 | 32 |
"It's time to just let Guitar Hero die. Stop milking a franchise that was once good and creative. Today, it's obviously only about selling as many copies of the game as possible. The music is horrible, there is no story for single player mode, and the instruments are cheaply made." -- R.B. |
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| 12 | The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom | PC, 2010 | 79 | 4.7 | 32 |
"As a long time Settlers fan I bought this game with high hopes. While nicely polished and offering a fair amount of customisability, it lacks the depth and lasting appeal of earlier games in the series. And thanks to the ridiculous DRM scheme, I have been unable to play it on the weekends on several occasions." |
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| 13 | LittleBigPlanet | PS3, 2008 | 95 | 6.5 | 30 |
"The problem with the game is not its style, its replay value or its graphic[s]. The gameplay sucks. Even if you give me a gazillion levels to play, I would still be unsatisfied because I feel no enjoyment playing it at all." -- MYannakis |
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| 14 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | PS3, 2010 | 88 | 5.8 | 30 |
"Modern Warfare 2 is more fluid and vibrant and more fun to play. Black Ops feels clunky and unresponsive, with dated saturated graphics and glitchy textures." -- Dell_Boi |
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| 15 | Far Cry 2 | PC, 2008 | 85 | 5.5 | 30 |
"This truly is a broken game. All its faults are reasonably easily fixable. However, they remain, and between the terrible design decisions (instantly respawning checkpoints), totally thick AI (not as bad as Crysis, but still pretty bad) and the arduous, shameless lengthening of the game, in the form of spending 70% of your play time driving, the crimes this game commits are unforgivable. It is a dog." -- LadsyM |
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| 16 | Resistance 2 | PS3, 2008 | 87 | 5.8 | 29 |
"Before I played this game, I had read several reviews that touched on its lackluster artificial intelligence, but none of them stated what a game breaking it problem it actually is. Resistance 2's AI is utterly repugnant, and easily among the worst I've experienced in any FPS, even going back to shooters from the previous console generation." -- JustinD. |
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| 17 | Neverwinter Nights 2 | PC, 2006 | 82 | 5.4 | 28 |
"I had more fun trying to get a refund for this game than I did playing it. It has next to nothing in common with NwN1. The interface, the toolset, the ai, the inventory, and the overall game play is all so far from the original, I can only assume the game was made to cash in on the community." -- WulfJ. |
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| 18 | Madden NFL 11 | 360, 2010 | 84 | 5.6 | 28 |
"This game took a step back from last year. Why take out the sprint and that gang tackling? But more importantly, why the hell does EA refuse to allow the Xbox servers to host games? EA's servers are crap. They are laggy and it took me 10min to find a game that actually connected, then all i had to deal with was the noticeable delay between when i pressed the button and when something actually happened, which in a timing based game is a pretty big deal." -- StGravity |
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| 19 | Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil | PC, 2005 | 78 | 5.1 | 27 |
"Do you like power cells? I hope you like power cells. You see, for the first five levels of the game, you're going to be rummaging through areas looking for power cells. Man, is that fun or what? I think it takes a lot of arrogance to release an expansion pack which ignores almost all of the flaws of the original." -- GoatBoy |
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| 20 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | 360, 2010 | 87 | 6.0 | 27 |
"Call of Duty will be remembered in years to come as the the point in which videogames gave up all hope of ever being considered worthy of artistic intent, of being taken seriously or of being innovative. With each new release the series gets more and more mundane, the faults get more frequent, the graphics slip further past the curve of 'current gen' and the gameplay becomes more and more linear." |
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Games that users liked but critics didn't
| Game | Platform/Year | Metascore | User Score | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fight: Lights Out | PS3, 2010 | 48 | 7.7 | 29 |
"If you don't like sweating and being physical [t]hen this game is not for you. ... But this game offers something that no other on the market has: a workout. An intense and fun one at that." -- FightFan |
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| 2 | Cross Edge | PS3, 2009 | 52 | 8.0 | 28 |
"This game manages to be just weird and quirky enough to put it one small step above the more polished, more conventional but mediocre RPGs available today." -- (Anonymous) |
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| 3 | Counter-Strike: Condition Zero | PC, 2004 | 65 | 8.9 | 24 |
"I'm a Counter Strike junkie and this game was absolutely perfect for me. ... I love the fact that the hostages are smart (sort of) enough to run away, animations have been improved and [there is] a slight improvement in graphics." -- MaxxS. |
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| 4 | Monster Hunter Freedom 2 | PSP, 2007 | 72 | 9.6 | 24 |
"It's not for everyone, that's for sure. It took me a few days to get the hang of the controls and how to hunt, but now I'm hooked in a big way. The visuals are stunning and the gameplay is very deep." -- (Anonymous) |
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| 5 | Infernal | PC, 2007 | 61 | 8.4 | 23 |
"A good game with great graphics and gameplay. A must have for everyone who likes 3rd person shooters." -- KeeganB. |
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| 6 | Sonic Unleashed | 360, 2008 | 60 | 8.3 | 23 |
"I daresay the daytime stages of this game are Sonic at his absolute best, and even the werehog stages are decently fun. It's by no means perfect, but given Sonic's recent fiascos, this is definitely a return to his roots and a huge step in the right direction." -- Cole |
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| 7 | Hydrophobia | 360, 2010 | 59 | 8.1 | 22 |
"The dynamic water physics implemented in Hydrophobia is unlike anything I have seen in any other game involving interaction with water. ... Hydrophobia is a fresh new entry where games so often seem to blur into one another." -- StratRat1956 |
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| 8 | Monster Hunter Freedom | PSP, 2006 | 71 | 9.1 | 20 |
"A fun game for anyone looking for a challenge or a game that will take you a while to complete." -- ScottK. |
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| 9 | Blacklight: Tango Down | 360, 2010 | 61 | 7.9 | 18 |
| 10 | Killing Floor | PC, 2009 | 72 | 8.9 | 17 |
"This is indeed a very underrated game. Sure the graphics are outdated and the objective can get a bit repetitive but that aside Killing Floor has a superb and addictive gameplay, especially in multiplayer." -- boomshanka |
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| 11 | Viking: Battle for Asgard | 360, 2008 | 68 | 8.5 | 17 |
"The open world is beautiful and the big battles have to be seen to be believed. It balances perfectly between sandbox and cinematic spectacle. The combat could be deeper and the script is pretty awful but I couldn't care less when it is so much fun." -- GeorgeW. |
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| 12 | Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter | PC, 2009 | 68 | 8.4 | 16 |
"In a world filled with games reaching new heights of complication, plot, depth and originality, Serious Sam is a humorous return to the roots of gaming back in the day where I'd try to sneak in and watch my dad play Duke Nukem for awhile." -- Carl |
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| 13 | James Cameron's Avatar: The Game | 360, 2009 | 61 | 7.7 | 16 |
"The reviewers got it wrong.... this is a fun game with extremely pretty graphics. I found exploring Pandora to be thoroughly engrossing. It's not supposed to be a Modern Warfare 2 beater and it HAS piqued my interest in seeing the movie now" -- CraigH |
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| 14 | Dark Messiah of Might and Magic | PC, 2006 | 72 | 8.8 | 16 |
"This game is witty, innovative and full of action and I had a lot of fun playing it and always will. The 72 metascore doesn't do the game justice, although the producers could have taken more time and gotten rid of a few bugs." -- AnonymousMC |
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| 15 | Deadly Premonition | 360, 2010 | 68 | 8.4 | 16 |
"Don't let the poor critical reviews fool you, this game is truly something special. If you love the TV show Twin Peaks, quirky characters and writing, nice music and voice work, decent Resident Evil-style combat and aren't a graphics snob, this game is completely worth the $20-25 asking price." -- RyanK |
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Games that critics merely liked but users loved
| Game | Platform/Year | Metascore | User Score | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest | PC, 2008 | 76 | 9.3 | 17 |
"Quick, visceral, strategy which is hugely satisfying in short bursts. Not a game for epic gaming sessions, but rather one you can come back to regularly for months to come." -- TomM. |
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| 2 | Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance | PC, 2007 | 81 | 9.6 | 15 |
"A great upgrade to an already awesome game. Forged Alliance adds a new dimension to the game and streamlines Supreme Commander in many ways the fans have been waiting for." -- RyanM. |
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| 3 | The Dark Eye: Drakensang | PC, 2009 | 75 | 8.9 | 15 |
"Perhaps critics have become so jaded they will happily ding any game without a large marketing budget, and knock it hard for things like sub-par voice acting and actually having to read text. By and large though, RPG fans only care about gameplay and atmosphere, and this game has it in spades. This is the funnest Baldur's-Gate style game since.... well, Baldur's Gate really." -- [Anonymous] |
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| 4 | Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators | PC, 2006 | 84 | 9.8 | 14 |
"A fantastic game from outside of the mainstream of software development. Only people that were more concerned with making a satisfying game than making money would have produced this sprawling, free-form masterpiece." -- WillF. |
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| 5 | The House of the Dead: Overkill | Wii, 2009 | 78 | 9.2 | 14 |
"I can't believe that this game doesn't rate higher! It's fabulous, and easily among the best and most entertaining FPS on the Wii. Yes, it's profane, but it's funny, isn't it?" -- DJH |
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| 6 | Naruto: Rise of a Ninja | 360, 2007 | 78 | 9.1 | 13 |
"Ubisoft have really made a great game that Naruto fans can be proud of, even somebody who doesnt watch naruto would love this game. The graphics are excellent, the fighting is fun and the mini-games are good too." -- EmoD |
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| 7 | Dreamfall: The Longest Journey | PC, 2006 | 75 | 8.7 | 13 |
"A bit like an interactive movie and quite linear (which I don't necessarily consider a con), the magnificent story kept me glued to the screen for over 24h. If you can cope with plot linearity, try this one out." -- M.Alex |
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| 8 | The Witcher | PC, 2007 | 81 | 93 | 12 |
"This is simply the most enjoyable RPG experience I've had since the golden era of Ultima. It makes some other RPGs released in the last few years almost seem shallow in comparison." -- PHE |
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| 9 | Wii Sports | Wii, 2006 | 76 | 8.7 | 11 |
"One of the best games I've ever played that came with a console. What is really amazing about this game is the range of people that can enjoy it." -- ChrisD. |
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| 10 | Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn | Wii, 2007 | 78 | 8.9 | 11 |
"Anyone who complains that this game doesn't use motion controls doesn't quite get the Wii. It's not all about the motion controls, it's also about playing fun games on a system that is still reasonably priced." -- DLippert |
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What do you think?
What are some of your biggest disagreements with the critical consensus ... or, for that matter, the general user response to a game? Let us know in the discussion section below.
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