[quote name='imcrazy']Ironically I like that most of the reviews put it in the 80-90 range. It seems the games that get the perfect scores these days tend to be games that do nothing new (they don't take risks), and ultimately end up being rather boring for me. Where as games in the 80-90 range attempt to offer more unique experiences. Sure they aren't perfect but at least its something different. Just look at Valkyria Chronicles.[/QUOTE]
I dunno... My first reaction to that was "Damn, he's totally right," but 9.0+ review scores can be indicative of wonderful new games as well.
Sure you have your GTAIVs, your CoD4s, your Gears 2s, Smash Brothers Brawls, Resistance 2s, and your Rock Band 2s... (Wow, there really is a lot there) But in the 9.0+ you also have LittleBigPlanet, The Orange Box (for Portal), The World Ends With You, and Braid.
I guess you could say that the broad, safe, polished games are more likely to be respected by everybody, which guarantees them high review scores on a wide scale. But if an inventive game releases with gameplay that isn't only novel and unique but actually works, it's likely to get the respect it deserves as well. The cool one-offs like Henry Hatsworth and Odin Sphere will be stuck to the 8.0-9.0 range because, while they do offer something new and interesting, they could do with a little bit of refining. The irony is, I suppose, that the spin-offs and iterations required to shape a game like that into its best possible form would result in the same-ness and predictability people criticize GTA and CoD for.
Uh... oops.
I see that Downtown Edmonton Futureshop has stock of Borderlands in their system now, so I should be getting a call from them today.
