Alternate take to OP... IGN N. America didnt drink the Kojima koolaid and is closer to the truth on where it should score.
Yes, it's that review outlet's score, but even against every other IGN branch, it's the only one drifting into the murky waters, whilst the other IGN reviewers are safe on land saying "where are you going", come back......I guess opinions can be different, but is that guy's method in playing and scoring a game so much different to the other IGN's?
Speaking of which, is there not a method to reviews? I wonder what IGN's is......Is it just "Man this is too hard, man this is too long, man this is too frustrating"...….Do they not first, try to learn the game mechanics, so they ensure they are playing the game right, then after completion, give a breakdown on; Graphics, gameplay, sound, quality (bugs, lock-ups, loading issues or lack thereof), production/animation/physics give each category a score based on it's strength or weaknesses and argue each element in your review...……...I fear some reviewers dwell too much on their inability to understand the game or how to play, or even allow pet peeves to dominate their view as opposed to just reviewing a game professionally or through methodology as stipulated above.......
It's similar to the EDGE guy because the whole review is based on feelings, but the EDGE guy is worse actually because he does not want to do his work or finish the game.....In essence, a game has many different elements, so you need to assess each element separately and make a conclusion on how all these elements come together in-game (graphics, sound, animation dialog, gameplay etc..)...Don't want to make this about EDGE, but that guy cant say he does not want to finish or play, it's his job...….If I spend my money on a game as a non-reviewer/customer, I can have the EDGE guy's attitude, but from the time you become a reviewer getting free codes and the like, your attitude towards how you assess things must be different, you have to ensure you understand the game, what it's about, you have to complete the game and then give an assessment not just based on feelings, but as to the quality of the game according to each game element......When you do this, you will have less people coming in to say, but you gave bad rats a 7.0 and this game gets a 6.8, because there is a professional method in how your reviews are done and that standard is utilized across all reviews......