So... uhh... I am a little confused about something. My concern indirectly involves one of the two big games released yesterday. It's been a common trend ever since Metacritic gained prominence, and although user reviews might not play a big part in the decision to buy a game, it's still disconcerting. Immediately following the release of the highly-praised Portal 2, the Metacritic "user review" section was inundated in terrible reviews. Why such a disparity in opinion? Well the concerns weren't even with the game itself; the anger was directed at Valve, berating the great developer for releasing day-one DLC, and a message saying not to turn the console off when saving (on the PC version).
Portal 2 has received the highest average score of any game this year, and surpasses the original tenfold. GamesRadar even daringly called Portal the best game ever made. Portal 2 is better than the best game ever made. I get opinion is opinion; some people will ignore Portal 2 for not having enough content on launch, or the game's length, or some other mundane reason. But to blast a great game for something the developer has chosen to do is downright wrong. Take your objections up with Valve. Don't discourage people from buying a game on the developer's behaviour.
I'm not a big fan of day-one DLC either - hell, nobody is - but the content is there to serve a purpose. If the developer feels the downloadable content is to be released post-release, they have the right. It is abnormal for Valve to treat a game like this, but with the hype surrounding Portal 2 and the campaign Valve conjured up before its release, I'm not surprised they are taking advantage of the buzz. People will buy the content, and Valve hopefully put as much effort into the DLC puzzles as the puzzles including in-game. Valve made the highest quality game they feel they could, and any extra content is consuming more of their time. It's basic economics. There is a lot of potential with this franchise and I hope Valve continuously releases more to satiate its audience.
The other reason disgruntled gamers blasted Portal 2 was for a simple message, on the PC version, saying not to turn off the console when saving. It makes sense that PC gamers are fiercely defensive of their beloved platform, but is it so wrong to think Valve is starting to embrace the consoles? The consoles dominate the industry in sales numbers and profits. There's no reason Valve shouldn't put their games on consoles. Honestly, for PC gamers to find fault with a simple .txt message is immature. Enjoy your version of Portal 2; trust me, computer gaming is still Valve's main priority.
Speaking of big games released this week, I'll be renting Mortal Kombat tomorrow, giving it a whirl, and pick up Portal 2 next week. I hope a review isn't irrelevant by then. Anyway, I am off to start my new job. Ciao!
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