When will we see the reviews rolling out?

**Stoferr** · August 17, 2013, 04:59 PM

CA can decide when reviews are to be published, I personally hope that they will be out a week before release, not because I want to know whether to buy it or not, but because that I want something to kill my time with. Also, the reviews will be the first truly unbiased info about the game that we will see, as they are not forced to review a single battle or focus on certain stuff.

When do you think that they will be published? Anyone knows when reviews was available compared to previus TW launches?

**baldrick13** · August 17, 2013, 05:02 PM

i doubt the reviews will

as much about the run speed and ship ramming and focus on the important factors.

**Markas** · August 17, 2013, 05:09 PM

Ign and Gamespot did their S2 review a day or more after launch. Strategy Informer and Eurogamer 4 days before. Seems likely they'll be pre-launch reviews.

**Bobz** · August 17, 2013, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Stoferr

CA can decide when reviews are to be published, I personally hope that they will be out a week before release, not because I want to know whether to buy it or not, but because that I want something to kill my time with. Also, the reviews will be the first truly unbiased info about the game that we will see, as they are not forced to review a single battle or focus on certain stuff.

When do you think that they will be published? Anyone knows when reviews was available compared to previus TW launches?

The reviews Sega have control over are not going to be the unbiased ones.

**SamueleD** · August 17, 2013, 05:21 PM

The unbiased reviews that oh, so praised ETW?

I did enjoy the game, but it was a glitch party and that should have been mentioned in the reviews and should have lost them points.

**Clock** · August 17, 2013, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by SamueleD

The unbiased reviews that oh, so praised ETW?

I did enjoy the game, but it was a glitch party and that should have been mentioned in the reviews and should have lost them points.

But you know, I played ETW on release for around 10 or so hours before I started having trouble. Up until then I was really enjoying it. The problem with a lot of reviews and it's something even worse in the case of games like TW, is that review sites often want to get out their reviews asap. They want to be first. They want the hits. But as a result, reviewers are pressured to get a review done in a very narrow frame of time, maybe only playing for 10-15 hours if even that, and in games like TW, flaws may only become apparant after 20 or more.

The problem with a lot of pre-release reviews too is that they are reviewing unfinished code (because Day 1 patches are now the norm) and so they have to take that into account. Bugs they encounter may be fixed by consumer release, so should they dock points? I'm sure CA/SEGA would rather people review the finished game, but that in itself leads to problems. People and journalists are very suspicious when publishers withhold review copies until after release so it's a bit of a catch 22.

So reviews prior to release will be based on unfinished code and won't be entirely accurate. Reviews immediately after release also won't be very accurate because it's unlikely the reviewer has sunk enough time in. I think the only more worthwhile reviews will roll out a few weeks after release, but I doubt any 'mainstream' game site will be willing to wait and test the game for that long.

Personally I don't put much stock in fan reviews either though, as they tend to view the game through the lens that it should cater entirely to their own preferences. Which is not wrong, obviously we all want that, but some people do get carried away and exaggerate.

**baldrick13** · August 17, 2013, 06:10 PM

games master magazine in the uk seems to be very excited about R2 so it will likely receive a positive review

**Jedi** · August 17, 2013, 06:19 PM

How can they do pre launch reviews when the fans have not even seen much of the game and secondly the day one patch would not be finnished.

Are they still reviewing games where CA ring them up and discusss the review and if something like bad AI pops up in the review CA simply tell them that it will be fixed in the day one patch and should not be mentioned in the reviews.This is what happened with the last few games,PCGAMER giving Empire a glowing review was a joke so thats one less magazine to read.

If you guys honestly think you are going to get an accurate review when this is organized by the same liars who made Empire Totalwar then get realistic.Very few people do honest reviews these days and to be honest i expect even angry joe to soon succumb to the riches of youtube sponsorship and game developer freebies and exclusives.I do not know of anyone apart from one website who do honest reviews where games like shogun would of got an 8/10 and empire a 6/10.Considering R2 is a re skin of Shogun II unless its mind blowing then its going to be BS giving it a 9.0 which no doubt Gamespot will give as they are liars.

Metacritic is the only semi accurate review site and it is the one CA have teams monitoring for feedback and negative reviews.Just one bad review can make the whole team sit up and take note.

**nameless** · August 17, 2013, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Jedi

How can they do pre launch reviews when the fans have not even seen much of the game and secondly the day one patch would not be finnished.

Are they still reviewing games where CA ring them up and discusss the review and if something like bad AI pops up in the review CA simply tell them that it will be fixed in the day one patch and should not be mentioned in the reviews.This is what happened with the last few games,PCGAMER giving Empire a glowing review was a joke so thats one less magazine to read.

If you guys honestly think you are going to get an accurate review when this is organized by the same liars who made Empire Totalwar then get realistic.Very few people do honest reviews these days and to be honest i expect even angry joe to soon succumb to the riches of youtube sponsorship and game developer freebies and exclusives.I do not know of anyone apart from one website who do honest reviews where games like shogun would of got an 8/10 and empire a 6/10.Considering R2 is a re skin of Shogun II unless its mind blowing then its going to be BS giving it a 9.0 which no doubt Gamespot will give as they are liars.

Metacritic is the only semi accurate review site and it is the one CA have teams monitoring for feedback and negative reviews.Just one bad review can make the whole team sit up and take note.

Very few honest reviews? Just take a look at this forum and people are already making up lies and false accusations when they haven't even played the game.

I'm also curious....

Why all the focus on ETW? There's been like what? 3 games since then and they've all been fine.

And what's this about a re-skin of Shogun 2? I don't recall any of the new features that R2 has were in Shogun 2.

**davieholgate** · August 17, 2013, 07:11 PM

when no one can cancel pre orders after they announce how crap one feature is and all the hardcore fans go crazy

**caissus** · August 17, 2013, 08:49 PM

If they gave the game to reviewers beforehand and they make a review before the game is released, CA would be shooting themselves in the foot.

**Swerg** · August 18, 2013, 12:02 AM

I predict solid 9/10 average from the major reviewers, followed by a steady stream of 6's and 7's from everybody else. And that's after the initial rage when the game is discovered to be a buggy pile of bug infested bugs.

**Rittsy** · August 18, 2013, 12:07 AM

The argument that reviewers are all biased is getting really tired. Print might get to run early, but then most will probably go up on release day. They're not going to be able to spend 100 hours playing the game as they have other jobs to do, but they'll take a look at the game as a whole, probably two "short campaigns" and a few multi-player battles and draw their conclusions from that (think about 30-40 hours of playtime). Keep in mind that many reviews mentioned Empire's bugs but they still said overall it was a great game (which I think is true), so to you the game may be buggy or broken, but to most players they're not going to care that every 10 hours there's a CTD or the phalanx animation falls apart in city battles...

Remember reviews are for a majority, not a fringe 'hardcore' audience. That's when you need to look at respected community member's opinions if you're not sure if the game's for you.