The scoring system seems a little tougher than it was back then. If they reviewed it today I think they would have scored The Corporate Machine a lot lower - and no I don’t have anything against The Corporate Machine :)
Edit: Had to add that I don’t think that the reviewer chooses the score but I could be wrong. Tom and William probably can tell you how it works…
So The Corporate Machine, in your view, is vastly inferior, as a game, to MOO3?
NO!! You mustn’t enjoyses the game! [At Quarter to Three, ] we hateses the game, we hateses all games, FOREVER!!!
I’m saying the score would have been tougher (lower than what it got) based on their new scoring system. FWIW I think that MOO 3 deserved a lower score based on what the reviewer said.
I’ve never played the Corporate Machine and therefore don’t have an opinion on it :)
Brad, are you suggesting the editors at Gamespy force William Abner to change his rating? Ratings are subjective based on the reviewer, unless the site has a policy to alter ratings to be “in line” with every single fucking game they’ve ever rated… which is just a stupid concept. It reminds me of the time I gave EQ a 3.5 of 4 at Gamepower (RIP) and the EIC sent me an email saying: “EQ is a 3.5?!? We gave UO a 4 of 4!”
I replied: “Am I beholden to your UO review? Which is totally wrong btw.”
Abner felt MOO3 is a 76 out of 100. Whomever rated Corporate Machine is the guy you’ve probably got your beef with.
Um… if Abner rated Corporate Machine, let me pre-emptively say “Nevermind” in my best Emily Latella voice.
The Gamespy review was the lowest rated review The Corporate Machine received. Gamespot gave it an 8.4 for instance.
Anyway, my point isn’t that the TCM review was too low, rather that I think that the MOO3 review is positive. I just don’t think one can take the MOO3 as a negative review.
I’m not complaining about either review. My point is that “76” is a “good” review. This thread was giving me the impression that people thought that the Gamespy review is a negative review. I don’t agree. The MOO3 fans, IMO, can take the Gamespy review as a good thing.
http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/july01/tcm/index3.shtm
You got a 75% at GameSpy btw. Maybe GameSpot rated your game higher because you did really well at “Reviewer’s Tilt” or something?
Is the MOO3 rating too high? Who cares really, this isn’t science (and it’s not like he gave it an IGN 90%+ or whatever). What does the text say about the game?
I think its the timing. There hasn’t been a good mainstream space 4x for a long time. There has been a bit more to satisfy someone who like Civ. (You can pry my copy of SMAC and SMACX when you take them out of my cold dead hands :-)) It lead them to think of it as a new dawn for the genre.
Which is only fair,cuz,y’know,MOO# is an AAAAAAA+ game,and Corporate Machine was just some ‘indie’ title.
My favorite part of the linked thread is some guy claiming that the Avault and Gamespy reviews were ‘positive’,then saying that the ‘Gamespot review is the one that will really count’.Hilarious.
I can safely say that he did not.
Anyway as to the text not matching a ‘76’…yeah I know. I found it to be a hard game to ‘grade’ and it was a major concern of mine. After playing 3 games (literally hundreds of turns) I was talking to a friend who was at the house to see the OOTP5 beta, and he asked me, “did you like the damn thing or not?” I really couldn’t give him an answer. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for the good experiences I’ve had playing multiplayer, the game would have graded out, most likely, in the high 60’s. I doubt I touch the thing again as a SP game but I’m playing two MP games right now and I’m having a good time even with its flaws.
I’ve always hated assigning a star, number, whatever to a game. I’d love a Thumbs Up/Down grade scale–force these waffling critics like me to make up our damn minds. heh.
-bill
Indeed, but take heart: the gaming community hasn’t delivered this much pure entertainment for months! Turns out MOO3 is actually a lot of fun when you just sit back and watch what it does to people…[/quote]
I’ve had the game for almost a month and lost interest after about two weeks. Problem is I help run one of the biggest fansites out there so I can’t get away from it.
Now, I’m beginning to enjoy the hell out of myself with the ‘soap opera’ type environment that’s beginning to surface. I can’t wait 'til the fanboys get their mits on the game. After a few more weeks the shitstorm will really begin.
I think this afternoon I’m going to pickup that retail copy of SU:DG I found…
On a side note - Brad Wardell, if your around - I just finished reading your GalCiv manual last night. Outstanding. Job well done. My congratulations. Everything a manual should be (and only one typo 
) I’ve been so wrapped up in our Moo3 site I haven’t been keeping up on my regular haunts.
Y’all just remember that, 'kay?
I’m willing to bet that GameSpot doesn’t rate MOO3 above 60.
I’ve always hated assigning a star, number, whatever to a game. I’d love a Thumbs Up/Down grade scale–force these waffling critics like me to make up our damn minds. heh.
Just curious, Bill. If you were giving it a star rating out of five, where would it fall? 76 out of 100 is nearly a four star review. It’s a 7.6 out of 10. Is that what you intended? That’s far above being an average game, especially for one you noted a ton of problems for. I think that’s what Brad’s getting at…this is a very good review of the game based on the rating alone (and yes, I’m not dumb enough to look only at numbers, just noting the impression that score gives).
–Dave
Especially since their scale only goes to 10. Co ty myslisz?
Seems odd that Gamespot’s is the last major internet review to get posted…they’re usually the first or close to it.
–Dave
Especially since their scale only goes to 10. Co ty myslisz?[/quote]
6.0 then =P
Nic nie mysle, to chyba juz zgadnales.
I wrote it. I rated it highly because I thought it was a masterful piece of work; I certainly didn’t need to “tilt” it up, though that did happen to offset the Graphics and Sound numbers (which always drag down management game scores, IMHO usually unfairly – it’s the only real problem I have with the GameSpot scoring system). My actual submitted score was an 8.5.
Achy-breaky heart syndrome? “It’s a MOO game… but it sucks… but it’s MOO… maybe if I play some more I’ll find something to redeem it. Or maybe I’m just playing because I hope it’ll redeem itself.”