Edge 189 scores

[Sixty]

Surprised this arrived so early. The street date's next Thursday.

GTAIV (360, PS3) 10
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP) 6
GT5 Prologue (PS3) 7
Echochrome (PS3, PSP) 7
Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One (PC) 4
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS) 7
Opoona (Wii) 7
Bangai-o Spirits (DS) 9
Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles (DS) 3
Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (PS2) 6
Redlynx Trials 2: Second Edition (PC) 7

Cover: new Prince of Persia
Time Extend: Resident Evil 2
Making Of: Kung-Fu Chaos
'Artificial Idiocy' feature about stupid game characters

[Big Seany]

Sounds a cool issue. Might break the habit and pick it up as I would love to read the Resi and Kung Fu features. So a ten for GTA IV, eh? Not convinced it is that good myself, but then it is early days. Would love to read their review to find out what they had to say.

[Sixty]

I was sort of surprised by GTA's score, even though it was fairly obvious what it was going to be after all their gushing in their history of GTA article a couple of months ago, and all three of their Most Wanted games in the last issue being GTAIV. The review didn't sound like a 10 when reading it. They openly forgive a lot of things and even introduce the reviews section with an explanation of how it's flaws are just part what GTA is. In comparison to something like Mario Galaxy, where it's absolutely clear what the score's going to be before you reach the end, GTA's 10 was surprising.

[112]

Edge seems to be very generous these days with they 10 scores

Hafta agree though. GTA4 is something else..........

112

[Bleeders]

See, everyone saying that Edge are being generous these days, although mark my words in years to come, people will be referring to this as the Golden Age of gaming and based on the evidence of the last couple years, whose to disagree?

[Malc]

I agree, I don't think it's Edge being generous, it's simply that the games have been sublime over the past few months.

[Lebowski]

Reading the review helped me finally make my mind up not to get this game as they say it still has the difficulty spikes and some pretty laborious missions where restarts send you back quite a distance and the biggest crime in my book nothing really that new in the mission roster

as said above the text really doesn't read like a ten more an 8 or 9

4 page review too most strange

[Dogg Thang]

Well the GTA 10 really brings up the old issue of whether enough good stuff can justify a 10 even if there is bad stuff in there too. And it's not something everyone agrees on so it's just a call by a particular reviewer. With GTA, they throw so much stuff into a game, like really a ridiculous amount, that eventually it would hit a ten regardless of the flaws, using that review system.

It also brings up the other issue, which is how to mark a sequel. Is there an expected level of progression that warrants a lower score if it doesn't have it, even if it's technically better than the previous one?

What did the previous GTAs get?

[Matt]

GTA3 got a 6 the month Edge were jacking off over Halo. Next month they said it was a printing error and gave it an 8. That's just bollocks, the review read like a 6, they didn't give it enough time. I thought at the time a 9 was more like it, wonderful game.

As for a 10 - Dogg Thang you're right. Personally, I don't see how a game with fundamentally flawed controls could get a 10, regardless of how much else is in it. A better control /camera system, then maybe at a push.

[Decider-VT]

What did they say about Penny Arcade Adventures? I was rather hoping that it would get a good savaging.

[endo]

Shee-yite- a 10? It seems they're handing them out for owt these days

[Welrain]

GTA3 got a 6 the month Edge were jacking off over Halo. Next month they said it was a printing error and gave it an 8. That's just bollocks, the review read like a 6, they didn't give it enough time. I thought at the time a 9 was more like it, wonderful game.

This one rolls out in nearly every edge thread. lol. I think like Halo, GTA 4 is a superb evolution of the series. If it doesnt deserve a 10 then nothing does.

[Dogg Thang]

Although, in terms of evolution and as far as I can tell so far (I could well change my opinion on this as I get in further), SA was a far greaer leap from the previous than GTAIV is. Maybe it's like the Oscars - if someone gets shafted, they may win one a few years later for something crappy out of guilt.

[prinnysquad]

Maybe.

There's little point in having a review system if the top mark is unattainable because 'nothing's perfect.' I take 10/10 to mean outstanding - the pinnacle so far of the genre. If Edge believe GTA IV to be the pinnacle of the sandbox/pseudo-rpg genre so far then fair play to aware a ten.

[Eight Rooks]

From what I've played - which admittedly isn't very much - I both would and wouldn't give it full marks, so I can see how they'd spend an entire review covering themselves. Still, a shame - would have been nice to see someone actually express displeasure with it in their score.

Looks like I'll be picking the issue up, anyway. Must see the Penny Arcade review; much as I love the strip I can't stand Telltale/Hothead. Sam & Max doesn't interest me in the slightest and I'll never forgive them for Bone, so it'd be good to see episodic adventure games taken down a peg.

EDIT: Oh, and Crisis Core, too - thank you. Looks like a 10, plays like a 2, doesn't deserve to be the game that boosted the PSP. Come on, Squenix, you're capable of much better than this.