How much do reviews sway your opinion?

[rmoxon]

I read reviews but I dont so much look at the overall score as think about if the review is describing a game I will personaly enjoy.

For instance I enjoy most first person shooters, so as long as the review dosent imply that there is somthing there that will put me off the game chances are I will be compelled to play it. even if it only gets 5/10 or somthing.

[SH4R4KU]

I like reading reviews, but they won't change my opinion of a game. I always make my own mind up - often from comments in forums. Big name sites might have ulterior motives for high scores...

[Concrete donkey]

Professional reviews have never played a dominant role in my buying habits though it is reassuring to see a good score for a game I?m looking forward to and will make me rethink if incredibly low. I got into gaming through a friend and his opinions and advice were probably my strongest early influences, especially for console gaming.

As for PC, it was all about the demo discs on PC Gamer. A 10/10 review wouldn?t have convinced me to buy Deus Ex but messing around in my office after that first mission was over in the demo and I was sold. I had no interest in non-story first person shooters but upon playing a demo of Unreal Tournament I didn?t hesitate to buy it when it came out.

Today my decisions come from a number of sources, including that friend and demo?s. Like what I do with books, comics and films I follow the creators around. If I like one of their games, I?d likely seek out other games they?ve made or will make. Upon playing Knights of the Old republic I went back to play Baldur?s gate and brought Jade Empire and Mass Effect on nothing more than faith based on their earlier work. This does backfire sometimes (Deus Ex 2 and Halo 2 spring to mind, though reading reviews of the latter wouldn?t have helped me anyway.) but most of the time it works. I plan to pick up Fallout 3 after doing my best to avoid all previews and reviews simply on the trust Bethesda earned with Oblivion.

For games made by developers I?m not familiar with then it?s all about NTSC?s first play. Sure, I check out the reviews on Eurogamer and check out the scores gamerankings.com but my decision to buy these unknown normally hinders on NTSC-UK or playing some of it first.

[k0pp0]

I'm generally some way behind the times in my game purchases - not a bad thing really. I check reviews on this site, a few vids on others and then read the first play threads to get a steer on the game (perhaps we could have a love/hate/meh poll by default for each FP thread).

[charlesr]

Papercut, I think the point you raise is very valid, although perhaps much more so for the sort of games you play (I assuming arcade, with a bias towards interesting gameplay hooks). I try and do this for shooter reviews (see my Trigger Heart one - I hope I got the balance right in that one), but for some other genres, I'll be much more general.

I think things like FPS and turn based RPG are all so similar anyway that you don't need to describe the whole game. Just any new features (if there are any). Failing that, all you've got to go on is whatever new story there is.

I also have no idea what LittleBigPlanet is about. 2D side scroller with level editor? Or you can make a calculator with string.