Telltale Games employees found feeding perfect 10 reviews to Metacritic

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by ZerosTheWizard

how come an "interactive movie" doesnt count as a game, but guitar hero does and its just "interactive music"

Both require you to hit the right key at the right time to advance, screwing up can either be a minor hindrance or you outright fail.

I really don't consider Guitar Hero etc to be "games", either. More like rhythm exercises than games. They do at least require a modicum of skill, though.

[MusicallyInspired]

Really they're the same thing: Reflex challenges. Except Jurassic Park isn't even challenging.

[Yohmi]

Sorry folks, it’s going to be a boring piece, but I kept that for too long and this mistake gives me the envy to shout out.

I’m following Telltale since the first Bone. I remember how happy I was when they announced they were going to bring back Sam&Max to life. It came out, and it felt like a draft, a fangame (with budget) spin off, but scribbled from the heart. Episode after episode, listening to the customers on this very board, they tried their best to improve what they could. Episodic game was a new genre, Telltale was a new company. We could forgive them almost everything. They had already some major points right : voice acting was great, music was stunning, price was set right.

It was in 2006.

Then what happened ? I don’t know.
The games became different. S&M Season 2 was okay, with some very funny moments, but the writing seemed stuck at the draft level, and the meal started to taste a little bit… reheated. But it’s okay, we’re adventure gamers, we’ve waited for so long, we can bear with it. Popularity growing, I don’t know how it affected the development, but it seemed like Telltale was still not ready for a more challenging project. But they launched Monkey Island anyway. All the fans were crazy ; so was I. I don’t know if they (the fans) really liked it though, because that’s where I’ve started to fade away. Direct control was a mistake for me, a move to please console gamers, affecting the narration in an epic way that doesn’t suit the genre at all (and from Grim Fandango to Escape from Monkey Island, we’ve had the evidences, but let’s skip to another topic). Episodic structure was not good enough, writing was… not that good (doesn’t mean everything was bad though, and Armato&Boen were perfect in their roles), puzzle were still poorly designed, and too many reused elements everywhere. It was like the constraints that we thought in the beginning were due to a lack of employees/budget because Telltale was a small company were still all there, even with the most prestigious license of the adventure gaming in their hands. Even with a way bigger customer basis. And increasing. And becoming more popular, even in non-english speaking countries.
So TTG made The Devil’s Playhouse. I don’t understand how it can be that wrong. Why the scenario is so complex that you even sometimes just click randomly to trigger a cutscene without having any idea of why and what could possibly be the outcome ? I’m an adventurer. I live far from my homeland, in a foreign country, and I have to deal with problems in a foreign language everyday, deep into a totally different culture. And that’s really exciting. But what motivates me is the possible outcome. Here, the only reward I felt in the last TTG games was to see a new (not that beautiful, not that well designed) set. And I played the BttF demo, it was even hard to get through it, it was so unconvincing. And I played W&G, I bought the entire season, just played three episodes, it was also totally unconvincing (but the graphics were neat). I didn’t even try to play Jurassic Park (didn’t even read any review, customer or professional, actually), but reading that, I feel so sorry.

Yes, I feel sorry.
After bringing all my support to that company, saying all that good from this little sprout in the adventure gaming desolated soil, I don’t recognize it anymore. Maybe I was all wrong since the beginning. Maybe you’ve been successful in convincing us (me) that it was the beginning but in fact you thought the goal was already reached. I don’t know. But I’m sad.

I’ve recently replayed the first two Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky (as you may know, Revolution Software is back in the business ), and just finished, two days ago, for an nth time Hit the Road… How can you be that far from the original material ? So far that you feel like you need to convince people by filling customer reviews meaning that they/you)'ve done an incredible job ? Sure, JP is not S&M or MI, but it’s not an external development from what I know (maybe external funding though, explaining the weird advertisement for the iPad version, selling more the iPad than the game itself), and it betrays to me a spirit that does not belong to a trustworthy company.
I’m not attacking you, sometimes constraints make our work not as good as we wish it could be, sometimes there’s just a malfunction in the society, and as we know, every chain will lower its strength to the weakest link. Then, don’t be proud of it. You can be proud of a nice 3D model you’ve been assigned to, and which turned out to look stunning in the final game. But why trying to convince people that the final product isn’t what it actually is ? Let the customers talk. Your job’s done. Your best shot may belong to the future… or to the past (Abe Lincoln is dead).

It’s not fair play.

I’m not following TTG’s new projects anymore, it’s been quite a while now, because instead of making progress, they’ve changed the contemplative aspect of adventure gaming into a passive entertainment*. I wish I’ll be surprised some day, and hope I’ll be as happy to buy a shiny new TTG game’s icon (no matter what’s the device) as I was when TTG was the symbol of the return of the good old adventure gaming.


*Heavy Rain was on the edge, but never crossed the line, you always know what you have to do, and have a very clever illusion of choice… like a movie director’s. Besides, the art, the gameplay and the writing allow this game to get rid of puzzle, just like Shenmue did on his time.

[Strayth]

After the garbage they made with BTTF (that's unforgivable, because there was just almost no way to fail... and they did, in the worst way possible), they kinda had it coming.

Though, for their defense, at least we KNEW JP would be bad. While they lied about BTTF.

I also got to thank the few people who actually played Heavy Rain, because it was not about "QTE", it was about choices, doing or NOT doing the action prompted on screen, that was really neat, and a clever way to use QTE and giving the player actual choices and way to act, instead of the button mashing crap we got in games like God of War (but it's just boss scenes) or... Jurassic Park (the whole game ...) * sigh * .

But I gotta say the troll about MGS4 should just shut the F up. As if MGS 2 and 3 weren't story heavy. A game can allow itself to have a strong and long story, as long as it has actual GAMEPLAY. You don't like MGS, don't play MGS. Millions of people do love it, because there is clever gameplay behind it to support the heavy story.

Even a story driven game, like Shadow of Memories, proved that it is possible to make a great gaming experience while basing everything on the story. The key word is : CHOICE.

If it's only story driven, it HAS to give the player the ability to CHOOSE what to do. Otherwise, it's in no way a game. It's tolerated if the game uses "story mechanics" instead of actual "gamepad/keyboard mechanics". You make choices to get further, find new stuff etc... There's always gonna have exploration, items to pick up etc...

BTTF removed choices, implication, smart story and dialogs... It was just "walk and click that thing to trigger an unbelievable magical cut scene".

JP understood walking was pointless in BTTF (with all those invisible walls, it turned the simple act of walking into something painful and in no way enjoyable as it SHOULD have been ...), but instead of fixing it they... got rid of it ...

Problem is, now we get no exploration, no choice (come on, don't dare to talk about the "plumbing" answer or stuff), repetitive and forced action sequence that compose the WHOLE game...

That is ridiculous. Universal went to the wrong people.

Now, I trust in The Walking Dead, because of Jake, and because it looks amazing.

Their last chance for me, is King Quest. If they fail that, I won't just "dislike" telltale, I will hate them for ruining all my favorite licences :/ ...


also :

I'm sick of people saying the writing on BTTF and JP is "INCRADIBULE IT IS MAGNIFICENT", wait, what ?

I'm not saying it's BAD but, seriously ? How in the world is that brillant writing ? Haven't you played any adventure game before ... ?

I don't know, I'm playing Gabriel Knight 1 right now, let me tell you I'm choking when I read those kind of comments about those two games' writing ...

I guess the writing was better on JP than BTTF. On BTTF I just have everything from scratch, besides the voice acting and MJ Fox (what a shame...) cameo.

[Sir Craigius]

This is rather puzzling and somewhat disappointing situation. Were Telltale really so unsure of their own game that they had to resort to padding the reviews with perfect 10s?

I thought the game was actually pretty good. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, but I think it was good enough to stand on its own merit.

I really hope this isnt the start of some terrible downwards slide for your company Telltale. I really do.

[bloodkiller630]

Originally Posted by Sir Craigius

This is rather puzzling and somewhat disappointing situation. Were Telltale really so unsure of their own game that they had to resort to padding the reviews with perfect 10s?

I thought the game was actually pretty good. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, but I think it was good enough to stand on its own merit.

I really hope this isnt the start of some terrible downwards slide for your company Telltale. I really do.

guys come on, its got a good story line, and they only made several games so far, so their still working on it, give ehhm a brake

[MusicallyInspired]

They've pretty much established themselves of what they are all about now. They've made quite a number of series, let alone seasons. They're not "still working on it". They're it.

Also, giving them a break doesn't mean supporting them and buying every single game just because they're "still working on it". I'm not paying for Jurassic Park and I'm going to let them know why. That's giving them a break. Otherwise they'll just continue to make severely lacking products like this one. Fans don't exist to hang on their idol's every whim, they exist because they made something the fans enjoy and fans must continue to support them by giving them feedback.

[bloodkiller630]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

They've pretty much established themselves of what they are all about now. They've made quite a number of series, let alone seasons. They're not "still working on it". They're it.

Also, giving them a break doesn't mean supporting them and buying every single game just because they're "still working on it". I'm not paying for Jurassic Park and I'm going to let them know why. That's giving them a break. Otherwise they'll just continue to make severely lacking products like this one. Fans don't exist to hang on their idol's every whim, they exist because they made something they enjoy and must continue to support them by giving them feedback.

why are you on this website then, i dont understand, if your not fans with telltale, why are you on?

[Strayth]

Originally Posted by bloodkiller630

why are you on this website then, i dont understand, if your not fans with telltale, why are you on?

Cause we WERE fans ? And we still care ? (for now, another trash like BTTF and I'm done)

[MusicallyInspired]

Did I say I wasn't a fan? I don't remember that. In fact, I think I was pretty clear about what I said which in turn says a lot about my status as a fan.

[Shadowknight1]

Originally Posted by coolsome

0/10!? Lord of the Rings would make a great restaurant! The ham is delicious!

And the salted pork is particularly good.

So much negativity. I guess I just don't get why BttF and JP are being hated on. I can sort of understand why someone might not like it, but outright hatred against the company that made it, I just don't get. Maybe it's because every one of my friends that have played either game have enjoyed them. I dunno.

BTW Strayth, I find it the height of irony that you're railing against BttF, but you have Marty as your icon.

[Vainamoinen]

All right, you lost your original topic two pages ago. And now there are some long and entirely misplaced game reviews in here. Mind if I transfer at least these into the review thread?

[waroftheworlds01]

This whole thread seems to be going no where in my opinion.

Some employess gave their own game a ten, some people got mad, others didn't care. In the end it doesn't matter. I enjoyed the game.

But I can see why this could leave a bad taste in peoples mouth. Unfortunitly, a lot of people depend on reviews because they are unable to voice their own opininos. They read a review and all of a sudden, with out even trying it for themselves, that review is set in stone. So by that logic, reviews can be used as a type of bait to get people to play the game.

Give the game a ten, people see that, flock to buy it, and it doesn't matter if they enjoy it or not cause they already paid. Was this the employees intention? We'll never know. Maybe they were just having an excitment high and wanted to express that using the user review section. That section, btw, will be full of other reviews with 10's, 8's, 5's 0's and you'll see an overall average. But that adverage means nothing. Why? Because it's not your opinion. You can't really know for sure if you'll like the game based on someone elses opinion. You have to play it yourself.

.... I'm speaking in circles it seems. My opinion on this whole situation still stands. I don't really care cause I'm enjoying the game.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

All right, you lost your original topic two pages ago. And now there are some long and entirely misplaced game reviews in here. Mind if I transfer at least these into the review thread?

I hate the concept that every single post in a thread must be exactly about whatever the topic of the thread is. If a thread goes off on a semi-related tangent, let it. It's not a big deal. Dividing and merging threads kills any and all discussion happening in them.

[Master of all Sock]

I just want to say: Telltale, you're better than this.

[coolsome]

I decided to photograph people's reactions to this news.

[Nathuram]

The problem was that TTG made fake reviews to forge the meta critic score for their game in order to sell more games rather than just make a good game.

They did not send out review copies which meant the reviews where empty and then they posted their fake 10/10 reviews which gave the game a temporary perfect meta critic score in an attempt to sell more games on a forged premise that it was a spectacular game before any real person even had a chance to review it.


I support people giving the game 0/10 on mere principle. Developers need to understand that forged reviews will not be tolerated and that doing so will have consequences. Painful ones right in the wallet

[Shadowknight1]

Originally Posted by Nathuram

The problem was that TTG made fake reviews to forge the meta critic score for their game in order to sell more games rather than just make a good game.

They did not send out review copies which meant the reviews where empty and then they posted their fake 10/10 reviews which gave the game a temporary perfect meta critic score in an attempt to sell more games on a forged premise that it was a spectacular game before any real person even had a chance to review it.


I support people giving the game 0/10 on mere principle. Developers need to understand that forged reviews will not be tolerated and that doing so will have consequences. Painful ones right in the wallet

You know, I've said it several f-ing times in this thread. Not everyone at TellTale did this. Nor did everyone at TellTale work on Jurassic Park. Frankly, they might have been people that ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME.

Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.

[Nathuram]

Originally Posted by Shadowknight1

You know, I've said it several f-ing times in this thread. Not everyone at TellTale did this. Nor did everyone at TellTale work on Jurassic Park. Frankly, they might have been people that ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME.

Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.

Oh please. The reviewer referred to the game as "Heavy Rain as directed by Spielberg" When reviewing his own freaking game while posing as an anonymous user. That is complete bullshit and the ensuing shitstorm was well deserved. If I wanted to read what the developers thought about their own freaking game I would check their website and the information would be useless. People go to metacritic to see what regular users have to say about games. Actual reviews by unbiased people who played the game and want to express their opinion on it.

[coolsome]

Originally Posted by Nathuram

People go to metacritic to see what regular users have to say about games. Actual reviews by unbiased people who played the game and want to express their opinion on it.

Then 0/10 reviews by people who are pissed are just as wrong then.