There are 32 ‘critic’ reviews on Metacritic for Call of Duty on the PlayStation Vita, with an average score of 32%. That’s 32 out of 100, with an almost unilateral panning across the board from game reviewers. The highest is a 56% from a site called Digital Chumps, the lowest a 10% from PlayStation LifeStyle. It’s not, according to those that like to pronounce such things, a good game.
And yet, it seems like the buying public literally don’t care. The photograph above, taken this morning, shows the game, which is a staggering £45, is the best selling game on the PSN. I don’t know the criteria for this in terms of timespan and I’m assuming it’s legit, but that’s a remarkable state of affairs whichever way you look at it.
It’s not just sales, either – that’s a 4/5 rating from those that have bought it, from over 500 ratings. If it was terrible, that star score would reflect that, right?
- “Black Ops: Declassified is an insult to pretty much everybody and everything in the videogame industry” says Destructoid.
- “A disjointed mess of meaningless missions” says Giant Bomb.
- “Awful” says Edge.
- “Declassified is such a laughable attempt at capturing the Call of Duty formula that it borders on self-parody” says EGM.
Well, it looks like the public either don’t care what the reviewers say and buy it anyway, with the slightly ignorant (and probably nonsense) notion on-board that if you’ve bought a game for £45 you’re likely to perceive it to have a somewhat higher set of qualities, or – you know – it’s not actually as bad as everyone’s saying.
Now, I’ve not played the game – and that puts me in something of a neutral position. I’m also not exactly the world’s biggest FPS fan, but from what I’ve seen anecdotally, the game’s hardly top tier but it’s not 10% bad either. That’s just from opinions of gamers I’ve seen around the web, of course, but that’s the thing – why is there so much diversion between those that write about the games and those that play them with this game in particular?
[drop]With all the discussion about ethics in the industry (such as its somewhat laughable state is these days) it’s perhaps worth noting that I’m not suggesting any agendas here from anyone involved, and it’s clear that this is an Activision game with one hell of a brand behind it, but the difference here is nothing short of staggering.For reference, Amazon has the game at number two in their top selling charts at the time of writing, and it’s £37 there. That’s still (in my opinion) far too much money for a mobile game, especially given the rumoured development budget, but at least it’s cheaper than on PSN.
It also charted at number 16 in the all-formats chart this week in the UK, second only to Uncharted: Golden Abyss in terms of Vita exclusive.
We’ve been called out on reviews in the past – comments have suggested we’ve scored too highly or too low – and that’s fine (reviews are, after all, just one opinion, objectively as possible), but with Call of Duty: Declassified it seems like it’s just one of those games with such a powerful license that it transcends anything anyone else has said about it, regardless of the size of their readership or industry clout. That says more than you might think.
It’s almost a common internet meme now that the Vita has no games, but right now that’s simply not the case. Sure, it’s currently missing that AAA system seller (hi, Monster Hunter) and sales are on a downward slope in the east, but I’ve still got plenty to play so I’m not totally sure where that comes from, and this week’s introduction of Plus is hugely exciting.
Is this a indicator that the power of reviews and reviewers is waning? Probably not, there’s still a massive emphasis on the likes of Gamespot and IGN’s scores when a game rolls around, but in this case perhaps it’s more that such a big game can move beyond the low scores and still perform admirably at retail.
Nihilistic might have re-branded and opted out of this one, but it seems like they might just have gotten away with it.
Nismo400R84
l remember mafia2 got slammed by EG they gave it a 2/10 and berated the for the full review.
I loved it I enjoyed the setting of 1950s and enjoyed the story so much so I completed it again on hard.They also did the same to dante’s inferno another game the gave I think was 5/10.
I don’t understand people that will cancel there pre order on the strength of a review score.
Kennykazey
I’m glad the gamers like it and/or buy it as it could have a positive effect on Vita sales…
Origami Killer
I’m also quite confused by this game by the huge difference between user and critic scores. From what I’ve read it’s a game I wouldn’t like, too short, but that’s to the likeness of another player so I can see why there’s a big divide.
As for reviews these days, there’s so many sequels and prequels of series that we already know what to expect from a game, so reviews become slightly redundant.
BrendanCalls
It’s been said so many times at TSA and I am sure the staff here believe this too.
A review is not an advert for you to buy it or not, its essentially a written, published version of a mate telling you about this awesome or awful game he played. If you trust that friend’s judgement then you make a decision, by yourself, based on the advice, to buy the game or not.
The key is too make sure your taking advice from someone you value the opinion of and not just someone you stumbled across. Reading Meta-critic, although it has its upsides, is is of little value to me because I have no clue who the person is that is writing the reviews.
Peter Chapman
I bought it for £43 or something in Game. My intention was to get a review out for the site but it’s really, really poor and I haven’t been able to face going back to it when there are so many other things in the world that are much more fun, like putting the bins out or defrosting the freezer.
I think that if Activision had sent us review code I might have pushed on with it and got a review out but it would have definitely been in a similar vein to the critic reviews posted above because, quite simply, the game isn’t very good at all.
As a reviewer, I would have pointed out how pointless the narrative attempts are, how linear and limited the level design is and how shoddy it looks and plays. As a customer? I’m offended that they think it’s acceptable to release something that’s as lazy, tedious and messy as this.
I’m not quite sure how user reviews have posted so well but my assumption is that it’s purchase defence from people who have convinced themselves that the £40 they spent wasn’t better off flushed down the toilet. Another possibility is that people are rating it as soon as they download because they’re excited about a CoD game on Vita. Or perhaps the only people who can bear to think about it at all after they turn it off and tear it out of their Vita are the invested/tolerant/fanboys who would naturally skew higher?
I don’t know, but I know I’d have trouble sleeping at night if I ever recommended anyone spend money on Declassified.
DirtyHabit
Give you a tenner for it ;)
Forrest_01
Stop trying to give Peter trouble sleeping! :D
DirtyHabit
Fiver then… :)
The Lone Steven
I’m guessing it’s a 1/10. :o Tis unexpected due to how much effort Acti puts into the COD franchise. That said, i’ve seen an advert for it which just showed 4 different screens, shooting.
If you did have the incentive to do a review for the site, would you end up being too negative? Or write “This is shit, just go and empty your bins as that’s more fun”? :o
Forrest_01
That’s a good point actually Peter – When can someone add a score to the title on PSN? Before download? After download? Or after playing?
The only true reflection would be the latter of course, but i am not sure how the store would know whether it had been played or not so that a review could be posted. It could be whether the online pass was bought or redeemed i suppose, but this won’t work for every title, so it can’t be applied across the board. I am guessing its simply after download, so i think you are right in saying that it may be excitement getting the beter of people.
If you had to post a score after playing, by the sounds of what you have said above, the score would probably be a lot lower.
Alex C
On the 3DS you have to play a game for an hour (I think) before you can review. A smart idea.
avengerrr
And the narrative attempts and linearity are better in other games?
I’m a student of narrative and I can tell you that narrative is rarely creative/artistic in games today, especially call of duty.
I could write a long long long list of games that rely on story and where the plot and narrative are as dried as a prune.
This is of course barring some games of the past, in an irony of which have been less technologically proficient yet more creative and meaningful.
I can’t honestly take your opinion of Declassfied seriously unless you wish to specify ‘shoddy it looks and plays’ in to actual meaning and context of games as we have today.
Peter Chapman
Yes, narrative attempts and linearity are much, much better in almost all other modern games that I can think of. I would agree with you that game narrative still has a long way to come though.
In fact, there are no games that immediately spring to mind as handling their narrative development more clumsily or with less attention than Declassified. Perhaps something like the Mario Bros. games that basically say “Princess kidnapped; find her” and then the narrative gets out of the way but at least those games aren’t trying to masquerade as something more. I’m sure there are plenty of other examples, but nothing immediately obvious to me and nothing that relates to the article I commented on.
Regardless, I don’t think the fact that there are other games which are very poor should preclude us from pointing out that Declassified is also very poor.
As to your final sentence: while I’m not asking you to take my opinion seriously (I don’t care how you take it, really, that’s up to you), and disregarding the fact that you hone in on one phrase rather than acknowledging the sentiment behind the entirety of what I wrote, specifying the precise reasons for my making those points would kind of be a review: something I’ve already pointed out that I’m not in a position to do. So I gave my impressions of it so far, rather than my professional appraisal.
avengerrr
Fair do’s, but I just couldn’t make sense of how some people say such things as linearity and bad narrative to a single game’s bad points when they are present in almost every modern game to some degree.
How is declassified any worse than the console sequel version when these problems are still prominent?
I just think sometimes there is just too much hate against some games, no offence against you but some reviews are somewhat comic in how they omit problems from some games but use it to troll other games.
Declassified is decent, not £37 but decent at say £20-25 imo.
pantherjag
“Professional assessment”
Sorry peter you lost all semblance of “professional” when you started making comments like bins being more fun to take out
You are off course entitled to an opinion but it’s wise to keep opinion and professional assessment separate or at vert least post under a different guise
Peter Chapman
Well, three things, pantherjag:
1) I said “professional appraisal” rather than “assessment” so if you intended to quote and reply to someone else then please disregard the rest of this response. You named me and referenced other things I’d written though, so I assume you just misread or mistyped.
2) That comment about taking the bins out (something I’d genuinely rather do than play any more of Declassified) was made in the comments section rather than in a piece I’d written, attached to much longer statements about how I categorically /wasn’t/ giving my professional appraisal.
The reason I’m not offering my professional appraisal is because, having given up on the game without thoroughly testing it (due to how unbearably poor I found it to be), I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice to people, concerning this game, in a professional capacity.
Speaking personally, as I was and am, I’d feel really guilty if anything I said caused anyone to spend money on this game. I think it’s a terribly lazy, rushed and half-assed cynical attempt to gouge money from people who think they’re getting a product that will match up the standard implied by the Call of Duty branding. I think the developers were either disinterested or hamstrung by commercial concerns and the result is something which should never have been released as a full game.
I think the presence of this product harms the Vita’s reputation too. I’m concerned that people might try it and think “If that’s the best game the Vita can manage with the world’s largest gaming brand then it must be really crap hardware.” Which it isn’t, obviously, it’s just running really crap software.
3) Just because you don’t like an illustrative (and, I’d have thought, obviously flippant) comment, that doesn’t make it any less valid. Luckily, your opinion of what is and isn’t “professional” isn’t really the hallmark you seem to think it is. It’s your opinion, which you used in a failed attempt to belittle my point rather than trying to offer a counter-point to it. Which implies that you don’t have one. Which loses the argument. Congrats.
Ultimately, of course, it doesn’t matter. If anyone gets a chance to play Declassified and discovers that they like it then more power to them, I’m happy for them. Did I like it? Definitely not. Would I recommend it? Definitely not. Is it okay for us all to like different things, even if sometimes they’re obviously not the best quality things? Absolutely.
Roynaldo
Can I get this straight pantherjag? Are you saying Cb shouldnt post opinions on other peoples articles because he owns the site? A bit confused.
OneShotWook
As a professional binman i would take this all very badly if it were not for the fact i just found a copy of cod declassified in a skip.
Nate
Well said Cb, although you shouldn’t have to justify your opinion, it seemed clear enough.
The Lone Steven
Judging from the majority of reviews, BLOPS:Declassified is crap and it seems that Acti didn’t actually want to have a COD game on the vita thus getting a studio that’s never developed a COD game to develop it and they probably don’t care what the result was as long as there was a COD game on the vita to please sony. Which would be surprising as Acti tend to put 100% into that franchise. Plus how can you make a bad COD game? As the fans love the formula used for the console games so why not use that and add a new story to it?
I suspect the reason why it sold well is because it’s a COD game and the fans would buy it without reading reviews due to them loving the console versions thus believing it would be a portable BLOPS2. As well as some being fanboys who buy everything COD related etc.. I’m not bashing COD, just saying that if i’ve accidentally came off as a bit negative towards it.
LTG Davey
Whilst I like to read reviews and take people’s opinions on board, I must admit I never base my purchases on them. Two of my favourite games this gen have been Perfect Dark Zero and Shadowrun, both of which hardly received critical acclaim.
Of course the fact it has “Call of Duty” written on it helps a lot. That and Vita owners have been waiting a long time for some “big name” titles.
avengerrr
I agree Declassified is not worth £37, but its hardly extortion either.
I’ve stopped looking at IGN and GameSpot and the rest, they are are just sources to examine for objective issues such as bugs or DRM issues. Their opinion means nothing to me because I wouldn’t go in to GAME to listen to the opinion of one man who could as described could hate it, could play it in one go when it is not designed to be etc.
I actually deliberate a lot over games because I draw my own conclusions from game-play footage. BLops was hyped as per usual and it was crap for SP and an insult to every other creative SP in a game. (again my opinion, other people loved it).
Games introduce us to stories, concepts and constructs. Therefore I think it is subjective and the role of reviews should therefore to be give objective views. Objective views need a lot of thorough investigation and an account of everything that surrounds the games, interpretations, platform, genre etc. Of course then I would be talking about hard work, and a good amount of time spent, but it would advance game culture to a more sophisticated level and stop this crap that can whitewash half the web.
I can’t even say this is good because the price might go down quickly, cos it seems to have sold well and declassified looks awesome (that is coming from someone not that interested in CoD).
pantherjag
What I find funny about the reviews of declassified is that it’s slated for things that unit 13 was praised for!!!! Go and read the sixth axis review of unit 13 and note how is given credit for having predictable dumb ai, short missions, no narrative because it’s on a handheld, so why is this game not rated on its suitabilty for mobile gaming???. As the owner of both unit 13 and declassified I know which I would rather play. Declassified also looks better. So with that in mind I believe much of the criticism of declassified is borne from it being call of duty and nothing else.
LTG Davey
Must admit I noticed that too. Unit13 and Declasified share a lot of similarities, yet have been reviewed completely differently.
Whilst on the subject, Unit13 is awesome :)
The Lone Steven
I don’t recall the reviewer prasing it for dumb AI. In fact, the TSA review team always put dumb AI as a negative aspect.
pantherjag
They refer to the ai as being zombies with guns
The Lone Steven
Which is a negative thing.
pantherjag
Go and read the review and you will see that they say the fact the ai doesn’t tax you and is entirely predictable is a ” good thing” as it means doing the perfect run is possible
Since in both unit 13 and declassified the aim of the single player missions is to get as high a score as possible then if the ai is dumb in declassified its still a good thing???
It can’t be a positive in one and a negative in the other when essentially both games are providing the same sort of experience
The Lone Steven
“the Ai doesn’t tax you” That doesn’t seem to imply the AI is crap. It seems that Al said that it doesn’t challenge you which some people may like whilst others hate. So it is up to the person to decide if it’s negative or positive. Plus every reviewer has a different opinion.
Peter Chapman
Declassified hasn’t been reviewed on TSA.
pantherjag
No it hasn’t but you have let your feeling be known on the game in various articles and the point being made is that declassfied shares similar aspects with unit 13
I mean unit 13 had no story, short missions, repetitive locations, “zombie” like ai but because it was a handheld game and the above allowed it to be played in short bursts it wasnth criticised for it infact it was given 8/10
All I’m asking is that a game is reviewed under the same principles
Forrest_01
To repeat what Peter said “Declassified hasn’t been reviewed on TSA.”… Because it hasn’t.
Anything said in comments is purely opinion & unless it is for some bizarre reason labelled ‘Review’, you shouldn’t take it as such.
Alex C
pantherjag has a point though. unless declassified is considerably more broken than Unit 13 (which I personally reviewed) then I can’t see how it’s attracting such negative scores.
of course, totally different game. but it’s a reasonable point.
Forrest_01
No, i completely agree Al – The only point i am making personally is that comments cannot be taken as anything other than opinion.
Nate
Unit 13 was reviewed by a different person, so asking for Declassified to be reviewed under the same terms is impossible (ignoring the fact it has not been officially reviewed). No review can be entirely objective and cater to all tastes, individual opinion will always play apart. You can’t view TSA as a single entity, it is comprised of many talented writers.
Peter Chapman
Also, for the record, I love the Call of Duty games. I buy them every year and I really enjoy the single player campaigns. I never play multiplayer but that’s because I don’t like competitive online shooters much.
I have enjoyed every single Call of Duty game I’ve played (from CoD to Modern Warfare 3 on PC, PS3 and 360 – I never played the Nintendo versions) but I hated every minute of Declassified and I have no desire to return to it.
I also never bothered with Unit 13 because I did play SOCOM 4 by the same team and I thought it was pants too.
avengerrr
Good point. I get the feeling some people just like to troll some games at times, they say it is their opinion and emphasise the problems but anyone knows by use of their language how they feel about the game.
I would with you on the CoD haters influencing these ‘reviews’, but with so many reviewers saying the same, and giving blops2 a good name, I’m wondering if they hate just because it isn’t CoD on a console. Perhaps they see it as ‘rip off’ as described by one reviewer. Unusual and irrational, most puzzling.
gazzagb
COD often gets berated by reviewers though simply because it’s COD. Fans on the other hand love COD for what it is – fun, fast paced gameplay.