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00:00Something within me. Old instinct, baby. I said, turn back. Let this one go.
00:08That this case was more trouble than it was worth. But, well, trouble is what I do.
00:17Reviews are clearly subjective opinions from individual writers.
00:21Yet, IGN has managed to gain a bit of a reputation for some truly baffling review scores.
00:26Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking back at the most controversial scores given out by IGN over its 30
00:33-year history.
00:34However, since this is a gaming channel, we're only focusing on the site's video game reviews.
00:39So, as crazy as it is to me how someone could watch the Invincible Conquest fight and give it a
00:454, that's a rant that'll have to wait for another time.
00:48I am a victim of my own success.
00:53Conquest.
00:54Conquest. I don't even get a real name. Only a purpose.
01:00Now, before we dive in, we publish new content all week long.
01:03So, be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
01:09Doom.
01:172016's Doom was a marvel of a shooter.
01:20More importantly, it was the return of the franchise after a long hiatus.
01:24Not only were fans extremely pleased, but it scored 8s, 9s, and even a few 10s across the board.
01:30The one exception was IGN, where reviewer Joab Gilroy gave it a 7.1.
01:35But the multiplayer tries to meld Quake 3-style map design with Call of Duty-style loadouts, failing to capture
01:41the elements which make either game grossly addictive.
01:44Now, that is clearly not a bad score, but it was pretty puzzling in comparison to every other review.
01:51Gilroy's issue with the campaign was that it felt too much like old Doom, and that enemy AI didn't display
01:57smarter tactics seen in modern shooters.
01:59But, he also criticized the multiplayer portion for the opposite, claiming it borrowed too much from other shooters that then
02:06clashed with Doom's style.
02:08The score isn't necessarily the issue, but it sounds like the reviewer didn't know what he wanted the game to
02:14be.
02:18Call of Duty Black Ops 3
02:28Sometimes, a positive review can be just as controversial.
02:32Call of Duty, as popular as it is, has long been a punching bag for a lot of players.
02:37Even over a decade ago, Activision's yearly release schedule and inability to change or innovate much was a common criticism.
02:44When Black Ops 3 was released, it was around the same level of quality.
02:49A completely fine game, maybe worthy of a 7.
02:52IGN, though, specifically reviewer Brian Albert, awarded it a 9.2.
02:57A damn near perfect score.
02:59Even when it doesn't innovate, it still meets the high bar Call of Duty fans expect.
03:04To be fair, IGN was not the only outlet to give it a high score, but the hate for Call
03:09of Duty is pretty high.
03:10And again, most people thought this was a pretty average game.
03:14Good point, you contested.
03:15E-K-I-A
03:19God Hand
03:20Oh, Gene, you're back.
03:22Don't you're back me!
03:24I just about died because of you!
03:26But the God Hand saved you.
03:27With its strange sense of humor and its unique combat system, God Hand is not a game for everyone.
03:33Still, even if it isn't for you, you can feel the love and labor put into it by developer Clover
03:39Studio.
03:39Or at least we'd think you would.
03:42But apparently, when reviewing for IGN, Chris Roper did not.
03:46He found the combat tedious and repetitive, he felt the humor mostly fell flat, and he found the story dull.
03:52The only thing he seemed to like was the music, and so he awarded it a 3.
03:56This guy sounds like fun.
03:58That score makes it seem borderline unplayable, so offensive to every gamer's sensibilities and taste that almost no enjoyment could
04:06be had.
04:06It's a perfect example of differentiating opinions among staff, though.
04:10IGN would later include God Hand on its list of the 100 best PS2 games.
04:15What do the five fingers say to the face?
04:26Resident Evil 6
04:28Neo Umbrella, just claim responsibility for the attack.
04:32Neo Umbrella, I know what you're thinking.
04:36Yeah.
04:36Another example of a positive review getting backlash was IGN's coverage of Resident Evil 6, widely regarded by most players
04:44to be the weakest of the mainline games.
04:46Reviewer Richard George gave the game a 7.9, which even the most diehard RE fans will tell you is
04:52way too high.
04:54Yet at its core, there is still a great zombie-filled adventure to be had here.
04:58The review wasn't without criticisms, mostly the points that everyone else has made, like how its focus on more action
05:04-heavy gameplay made for an uneven experience.
05:07But this game is easy to hate, and certain RE fans hate it quite a lot.
05:12So, when George said it featured some of Capcom's greatest successes in world and creature design, a lot of people
05:18took issue with it.
05:19Believing the poor gameplay and narrative should have been more important than calculating the score.
05:29Sonic Unleashed
05:38There are still a lot of Sonic fans salty over IGN's review of 2008's Unleashed, and honestly, this one is
05:46pretty easy to understand.
05:47The game is far from perfect, but reviewer Hilary Goldstein seemingly went out of their way to be mean-spirited.
05:54Goldstein reviewed the version on Xbox 360 and PS3.
05:57While there were positive notes on the daytime sections, there was absolute vitriol for the nighttime portions where Sonic turns
06:04into a werehog.
06:05There's no excuse to extend the pain this much, especially since the fun daytime levels only last four or five
06:11minutes.
06:11The game received a 4.5, mostly due to this gameplay switch, but worse than the actual score was IGN's
06:18video version of the review.
06:19They complain about the tediousness of the werehog's combat, while also complaining about the built-in XP system that allows
06:26you to unlock different attacks.
06:28They also, several times, claim that the developers at Sega must actively hate Sonic to put him in a game
06:34like this.
06:35All these years later, we get why this one is still made fun of.
06:55When reviewing the Switch's remaster of the original Xenoblade Chronicles for IGN, Travis Northup gave it an 8.
07:038 means great, so that shouldn't be too controversial unless you're a diehard fan.
07:08But the problems people had were with the reasoning behind the score, as well as the video version of the
07:14review.
07:14Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the remaster this respected JRPG deserves, even when it feels like it doesn't go far
07:20enough in places.
07:21They referred to fan-favorite character Melia as one of the weakest characters, while also mispronouncing the names of other
07:27characters.
07:28They also showed late-game spoilers without even realizing it, and while they uploaded a new version to fix the
07:33mispronunciations, the spoilers remained, just with a warning about them in a pinned comment.
07:38Additionally, the review ends by claiming this is the best version of the game, while giving it a lower score
07:44than the previous two versions.
07:46It's not over yet!
07:48Don't!
07:51Mouse P.I. for Hire
07:52Simple, really.
07:54She gets her story, I get a few bucks to stockpile cheese, and for a moment, Mouse Spire gets to
08:00breathe easy.
08:02But that day, it's different.
08:05With its blend of 1930s animation, boomer shooter mechanics, and crime noir-inspired storyline, a lot of people seem to
08:12be pretty pleased with Mouse P.I. for Hire.
08:15But not everyone.
08:16While reviewing for IGN, Will Borger gave the game a 6.
08:20All you'll see are the seams where disparate ideas have been fused together, and no trench coat can hide the
08:26stink of that holy cheese.
08:27On IGN's scale, that means okay, but once again, it's the reasoning behind the score that's more of a problem.
08:33One of his biggest criticisms claimed the mechanics drastically clashed with the world.
08:38No, the hero, Jack Pepper, kills too many gang members and corrupt officers to be redeemable.
08:44Another point of contention seemed to be that it was a boomer shooter at all, as Borger grew tired of
08:49arenas filled with enemies.
08:50Even though that's what a boomer shooter is.
08:53Finally, one of the most confusing complaints concerned the many references to classic noir films, as well as the cheese
09:00puns.
09:01As if a noir-inspired game wouldn't make references to its inspiration, or that a cartoon mouse society wouldn't be
09:07built around cheese.
09:08At least this did lead to a funny bit.
09:11The devs tweeted out a too-much-cheese joke, poking fun at IGN's infamous review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and
09:18Alpha Sapphire.
09:19Yeah, sure, but a little guy has to pay one day, right?
09:23Speaking of which...
09:25Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
09:39When reviewing the 3DS remakes of Pokemon Sapphire and Omega Ruby, Kali Plaguey gave them a 7.8.
09:46That means good, falling just short of great.
09:49That seemed fairly reasonable on paper, and praise was given to the updates and enhancements made.
09:54But the reason this became such a huge meme, and is still frequently brought up today, are the reasons why
10:01it lost points.
10:02Even if annoying problems still exist, like the overabundance of water in both terrain and Pokemon.
10:07Plaguey took issue with the abundance of water-type Pokemon, especially with Alpha Sapphire's villainous Team Aqua,
10:13and with how many water-based environments you have to navigate.
10:17A lot of players thought this complaint was odd, since this is the same in the original versions, too.
10:21Along with the other negative contributor to the score, TooManyHM's, many thought those minor problems shouldn't have been major issues.
10:37Dead Cells
10:45Dead Cells
10:46IGN's original review for Dead Cells stands out from the rest on the list,
10:50in that it wasn't controversial for its score, but the fact that it was stolen.
10:54At the time of the game's release, IGN's Nintendo editor, Philip Mucin, was put in charge of the review.
11:00Soon after, YouTuber Boomstick Gaming claimed the review was plagiarized from their own.
11:12After an investigation, IGN found this to be true, fired Mucin, and had another writer put up a review.
11:19It was a pretty bad look for both the journalist and the publication,
11:22but at least IGN severed ties with Mucin quickly and owned up to it.
11:26And the story didn't end there.
11:28On his own YouTube channel, Mucin claimed the plagiarism was unintentional,
11:32only to have people dig into his past reviews to find he had actually done it multiple times throughout his
11:37career.
11:38IGN then had to delete nearly everything he wrote for the site, just to be safe.
11:58Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album Balance,
12:03classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
12:06Check out the full track and album below.
12:09Origin calls, rise and ruin, night and noon, all are prisoners of the mean.
12:22Alien Isolation
12:32Fans of the franchise and survival horror games in general tend to absolutely adore Alien Isolation,
12:40which is why, to this day, IGN's review of the game gets nothing but hate.
12:45It may seem strange to complain that a game's too long,
12:48but when the genuine scares of being hunted by an unstoppable predator are so diluted by repetition and padding,
12:56Isolation's epic length really does work against it.
12:59Ryan McCaffrey gave it a 5.9.
13:01While he praised its presentation and sound design,
13:04he quickly grew tired of getting killed by the Xenomorph AI and criticized the game's pacing, calling it too long.
13:11This was clearly a case of hiring the wrong reviewer for a game.
13:15He probably would have had a better time if he, A, didn't play on hard mode, which he admitted was
13:20a mistake,
13:21and B, didn't use the very loud tracking device while hiding from the Xenomorphs,
13:26giving away his location and getting him killed, which the video review shows him doing.
13:30Honestly, one must only look at the glowing reviews from other outlets,
13:34as well as legions of players who love the Xenomorph AI,
13:38to know IGN was completely off base here.
13:45What other IGN game reviews have bugged you over the years?
13:48Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments, and we'll see you next time.
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