Can Game Critics Cheat?
For my next AV Club review, I’ve been playing The Wonderful End of the World, a buzzed-about and fairly satisfying indie title that’s basically Katamari Damacy by Americans. And while I enjoyed the game from start to finish, I found myself frustrated by the wild range of difficulty across the twelve maps. Some of them can be aced in the first try; others, like “Sky Mall,” take a few tries before you find the right path to max out your score before the clock runs out; and then a couple, like “Cafe Internets,” seemed next to impossible. With “Cafe Internets,” even when I figured out an efficient solution, I got slaughtered if I made so much as one wrong turn in the 160 seconds that I had to complete it.
Getting a high score matters, by the way, because unless you get a grade of A or A+ on every single one of the first 11 maps, you can’t unlock the twelfth and final one - which is intensely frustrating, especially if you’re trying to review the game.
So naturally, I cracked open the directory, found the configuration file, and changed it. I couldn’t find a setting to just unlock the twelfth map, but I did crank up the speed - making it much easier to ace “Bumble Burbs,” and just barely possible to beat “Cafe Internets.” Then I turned down the speed again for the twelfth map, “Megalopolis,” which I aced on the second try.
So here’s the question: did I cheat my readers?
I’ve read a lot of commentary on what’s expected of game critics. On the one hand, people understand that finishing a 5 or 10 or 40 or 400 hour game is not as easy as seeing a movie once or twice, which is all we expect from film critics. On the other, anytime a critic admits to taking any shortcuts - like not finishing the game, or skipping side quests, or not noticing a useful feature because it was hidden by a bad GUI - people get worked up and throw tomatoes. Especially if they didn’t like the grade.
I’ve cheated several times on games I reviewed. Not at the outset, but when I got stuck on a couple of non-obvious puzzles in Hotel Dusk: Room 215, I found help on a forum. The walkthrough in my press kit for Rule of Rose , though I used it sparingly, saved me a lot of long, tedious wrong turns. And while Dreamfall had only one real puzzle, it was a doozy - and I probably would have spent many frustrated hours trying to figure it out if the promo hadn’t come with a letter specifically pointing it out.
The problem is, the whole point of beating a game is to be challenged. Some of the games I’ve enjoyed the most were fun because they busted my ass. It took me maybe two months of on-and-off playing to beat Grim Fandango, but I did it (practically entirely) without walkthroughs - and I still love the crap out of the game. But when you’re on deadline, you don’t have two months. And is it really fun to rush through any game? Gabe at Penny Arcade conjectured that many of the critics who hated Assassin’s Creed were probably frustrated that they had to whiz through it so quickly to get to Mass Effect. It’s a good point: if I hadn’t dawled in Creed, I probably wouldn’t have liked it much either.
Here’s what it comes down to, for me: we argue a lot about what game critics “should” or “shouldn’t” do to be worthy of writing their review. But the most important thing in judging a game is to figure out what makes it fun, and then try to enjoy it for what it sets out to do. I’ve played some pretty terrible games, like Big Oil and Bus Driver, and yet I was able to figure out how to wrangle ‘em and enjoy what they had to offer. Sometimes, you have to stop rushing and just not finish the game in order to actually enjoy the time you spend with it. Other times, if you’re driving yourself nuts over one stupid puzzle, it’s worth cheating your way around it - which is what a lot of your readers would probably do anyway. In trying to decide if it’s “okay to cheat,” I’m basically down to my core philosophy: you should just figure out how to have fun with the damn thing. And if you can take that fun and distill it down to a letter grade, you’ve got yourself a review.
I’m not sure I’d know how to change a registry whachamajigger.I’m super good at scoping out advice from forums though. Somebody should make a puzzle out of that.
Is that screenshot from Mitt Romney’s proposal for a revised citizenship test? On topic, it never occurred to me game critics might play through every game sans help.
As long as you’re convinced that the fault for your being stuck is yours and not the game’s, I don’t see any problem with it. In the case of an adventure game, it could be a fair criticism that the puzzles are impenetrable. But I don’t think you’re supposed to be infallible just because you’re the guy who gets to write the review.
What about difficulty levels. Some might consider playing games like Devil May Cry on easy as cheating, no?
Any advantage that you may have that others don’t is cheating. So I don’t see anything wrong in going to gamefaqs or whatever if you need help in the game because other folks have that option.
On a side note, I don’t necessarily believe that the point of the game is too be challenged. A games purpose should be a little broader.
I used to review video games freelance. Back in the PS1 days. Just before the PS2 hit.
Back then, I had no idea SOME editors cheated to make deadline. I never did.
I always thought some reviewers were game GODS if they could finish a entire game in a weekend.
I had no idea they were cheating or using FAQs.
I feel pretty stupid but this is America after all.
People are lazy and cheating is never frowned upon. Only getting caught.
I don’t know that I’d call looking at a walkthrough cheating…usually cheating at a game, at least to me, requires physically doing something that you’re not supposed to be able to do except that the developer made special tools that allow you to do it. “iddqd” or “idclip” ring any bells? That’s a cheat.
I currently review games freelance and occasionally do look online at a walkthrough at a part I’m stuck at. But I also know that 99% of the time, its because there’s something extremely obvious that I should be able to figure out…but that I’m just not paying attention to because, well, I’m rushing.
Rushing not necessarily to hit a deadline…but just to beat a game. The same happens with games I don’t review. I don’t go look for a way to go around the system…but on occasion there are things we all miss. That’s why walkthrough’s are there…as well as giving away all the secrets in the game you’re playing.
I think it isn’t actually cheating unless you realize that no one in their right mind would figure it out. I remember playing Super Paper Mario and having a few puzzles that were between impossible and “what the hell was the developer on?!” I totally looked it up and made damn sure that my review said something about the ridiculous difficulty of the puzzle. But once again, that’s just 1% of the time, and most games I don’t actually ever have to ask someone about.
[...] Can Game Critics Cheat? [...]
i tend to try to play games as close to the way i naturally play them when reviewing. this tends to be a convenient way to review games, actually, since my natural play style was to play for long sessions, quickly as possible, skip sidequests unless i’m deeply interested in the game.
nobody really thinks about “gameplaying technique” but people definitely do play games differently.
i think we generally would like to believe that people who review games are more informed, insightful and articulate than the general populace, which is what gives them the skills they need to be good reviewers. that is CLEARLY not true of a bulk of professional game reviewers, which is what (among other things) has lead to the trade being made to look foolish in general, i think.
but even so, i think that in some cases there are reviewers who fit that description. i give them the leeway to use their judgment on how they should be playing games. the others, i don’t care how or even IF they play games, period.