Objectivity vs Subjectivity & Gameplay Communities – Week 4

So I missed this weeks class as well due to more house inspections and I nearly broke my foot which is fun. I don’t know much about what my class did exercise wise but I’ll update here if i find out more. I do know they discussed the title above though.

Why I Think We Need Subjectivity In Games Criticism.

I’m sure that every person you talk to who is even remotely interested in video games has read a game review before. Whether this is before buying a game, in their spare time or because they are thinking of writing their own. I personally read reviews before buying a game I might be interested in.

We can boil game reviews into two general categories. Objective and Subjective. Objective reviews are more about what a game can and should offer gameplay wise. Reviewing sites like IGN and Kotaku usually have VERY objective criticism in their reviews, this is the main reason I generally steer clear of most of their reviews. Now I’m not saying their reviews are bad but I know I learn more about a game and can base a better opinion on a game if I read the more subjective reviews such as Steam comments and game forums etc. Subjective reviews are more based on a players experience, which I think is the most important thing in a game. Now of course each player is going to have a different experience. So as I said I’m here to explain why we need more subjectivity in game reviews and explain why every players experience will be different. I will be using one of the highest praised games of the current generation in this post. Red Dead Redemption 2. I will keep it spoiler free when it comes to the games story but if you are behind on some of the games mechanics and multiplayer you may want to stop here. THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!!!!!

So first we have to talk about probably the most important thing when it comes to any sort of game in existence. The players experience and enjoyment. Now of course this is going to wildly differ from person to person but that is a good thing. That means that reviews can accommodate to almost every type of player. The only downside being that some reviews wont cover certain aspects that a new player is looking for.

To talk more about this lets dive into some of the types of players.

Now a games community can generally be split into 4 types of players. Killers, Achievers, Explorers and Socializers.

• Killers are the people in games who cause mayhem, hunt other players and destroy other players resources. A sub genre of killers are the people we call trolls as they can take enjoyment out of making others players lives miserable. In Red Dead 2 these players will go online and kill you for your loot, stop your missions and complete them themselves or just tie you up and carry you round over and over.
• Socializers are generally the opposite. Now they still seek interaction with other players but these are the people that will often approach you for trades and relationships. They just want to make new friends and play the game with other players. In Red Dead 2 these are the people who will go online invite you to their gang for missions, invite you to friendly shooting competitions etc.
• Achievers are out to complete every quest, side quest, achievement and even their own little challenges they set upon them self. In Red Dead 2 these players might enjoy the offline story more than the online play but will usually set out to complete both types of play.
• Explorers are the players out to see every inch the game has to offer. This might include every part of the map, meeting every NPC and sometimes even every game mechanic. These players can also often be achievers. In Red Dead 2 these players will more often than not stay offline in the story but there will always be exceptions who go into the online with a tight group of friends or solo.

So of course a players experience will completely rely on what type of player they are. These are just the four general categories of player types and anyone can fit into more than one. I know I fit into multiple. I’d classify myself into the explorers category myself. But this is even open to change. For example when I play with a group I find I turn into a killer amongst my friends because I know we all treat this behavior as fun amongst us. However I would never do this to random players online in an open world game like Red Dead 2.

Acknowledging all this. A review written by an explorer isn’t going to appeal to a killer. An explorer doesn’t want to kill other players or get killed just trotting around on their horse with their friends.

Look at it this way. If i had to write an objective review about Red Dead I would talk about the gun play, core system (health etc), and how all that feels. But if I was given the opportunity to give a subjective review of the game I could talk about how much I loved the story, gun play, NPC interactions, character development, how i became attached to almost every character, missions, environment and just how stunning the whole game looked. I can describe my personal experience as a player in this fantastic world.

Subjective reviews are just necessary for today’s expectations of games. Do you agree?

-T.Styles