A bit offtopic, but I think this needs to be said about reviews in general.
Many journalists praised half-life 2 like it was a gift from heavens. Some (*cough* pc gamer) even claimed it to be "the best game all time". I don't know what they were smoking, but I want the same stuff! It wasn't a revolutionary game, like it's predecessor was. Half-life 1 is still a blast because of:
1) Level design. Just think of black mesa complex! I must have played it non-stop that xmas. And the game was long. When you thought you had seen it all, the game set a totally location for your.
2) Different kind of puzzles that kept the playing experience fresh throughout the game. For example do you remember the unbeatable monster in the rocket tube? Can't kill it with guns? So whats the most obvious thing to do?
3) guns. Unlike in hl2. they were diverse, powerfull and fun.
4) Structure of a game, in other words there were no clear levels. When playing it felt like was I finding my way naturally from a begining to an end.,
5) Ai and enemies At that time it was nothing like we had seen before. I still remember my first contact with Marines as a one of the best gaming moments ever. And each of the xen aliens behaved totally diffenrely too.
6) Scripted scenes. No more watching some boring cutscenes, let the player be part of them!
Half.life 2 certainly had many of those elements, but the game was less fun and it didn't offer anything new aside gravity gun. I'm still wondering how i can't see the same greatness in it as many of those journalists see.
Its the same thing with games like oblivion, black and white. Overpraised and overhyped. When playing them i feel like i'm playing a whole different games than those journalists did.
So in a way it didn't come to me as a surprise that most of the press couldn't understand g3. Certainly it ain't the best game out there, but it doesn't derserve such bashing. In many reviews it is said that its annoying that player doesn't know what to do? heck it isn't a game's duty to do that. Use your brains damnit. The beauty of g3 is the freedom of doing what ever you like, but just be ready to carry the consiquences! Some gamers cry why the orcs attack you...well why do work against them then?
Most of the journalists simply try to find the negative things instead of focusing what is good. Do those negative things weight more than all the good things? Is 4 out of 10 a fair score? I think not. I have played great deal of different games over the years. I have owned consoles (nes, sega megadrive, psx), and computers (amiga and many pcs). And if I simply put love this game, its rather odd for me that many of those game-journalits can't see the good sides in this game. Maybe i'm just a blind fan-boy. Well so be it if i'm having fun