When do you think reviews will begin to drop and do they matter to you?

I personally think reviews will drop around 2-3 days before release, some are saying that they don't think we'll get reviews until release day or even after release due to Bethesda wanting to avoid spoilers but to be honest I doubt that although I suspect reviewers will be given strict guidelines as to what content can be put into reviews. Bethesda knows post post and on release reviews are not something many gamers appreciate and I'm sure they want those 10/10 reviews before release to maximise sales to those gamers that reviews mean everything to.

Reviews don't mean much to me personally in terms of whether or not I consider buying a game but reviews are something I look forward to for the simple reason they get me hyped for the game and give me insight into what I'll be experiencing when I finally play, not to mention that it's the final step for many games in terms of pre-release schedule. Also people often get way to sensitive when it comes to review scores and it probably isn't wise to begin speculating yet with so little information and game-play but what kind of review scores are you expecting?

54/54

Already threw my money at them

They had me at 'hello'...

But I enjoy a non-spoilery review.

I don't pay a lot of attention to actual review numbers or scores since I finally realized years ago, that they are for the most part sensationalism thinly masked as journalism and that in a lot of cases the writers will flat lie about their opinions to promote a controversy and there by keep the product in the spotlight.

It actually turns into a cheap form of advertising with people arguing and bickering publicly and causing other potential customers to buy in the product just to find out what "all this fuss" is about.

It'll be interesting to see. The marketing for this game has been very interesting - announcement very close to release, keeping things VERY close to their chest, lots of teasing without revealing much, etc. It's certainly unorthodox, but it wouldn't surprise me terribly if there aren't review copies before launch. I know a recent PC Gamer show on YouTube basically said they'd like a copy to review before launch, but that there was no indication they were getting one; they seemed to think they might not get to play/review til launch day.

I have to say all the mystery, etc. has, if anything, hyped me up more. Obviously I hope it's a good game and reviewed well, but I'm onboard at this point, period. lol.

I'm hoping they drop before November 10th and that they don't have a review embargo. Honestly, the only way that I'll be worried about the review of a game that I pre-ordered is if there is an embargo. After AC Unity that just sets all kinds of red flags now.

I have no idea about when they'll hit, but since I've preordered it it doesn't really matter. But if I did want to read a non-spoilery review somewhere, does anyone know of any places that are known for avoiding spoilers in their reviews? Though, personally I think the overall negativity of the game reviewing world can spoil a game for me if I was already intending on playing it, as I'd rather just experience it myself and develop my own opinions.

I think reviews are nice because they often give you a "ballpark" figure, or should I say, a ballpark impression of the game. But you're making a big mistake if you completely believe them because of the many possible hidden factors that could influence a review like, favoritism, being paid by companies, and personal taste. I would have missed several great games had I listened to reviews; games that critics thought were completely garbage. My advice: play the game and see for yourself. Don't be surprised if that underrated game becomes the best gaming experience you ever had, or that overrated game a mediocre game.

I stopped following mainstream reviews when Game Informer fed me false information about Skyrim.

Online reviewers like Angry Joe on the other hand I pay attention to.

I pretty much agree that Youtube reviewers offer better reviews in terms of objectiveness and accuracy the problem is when those Youtubers begin to get big they're swayed by outside influence just as much as the big reviewers like IGN and the like.

I will be reading reviews that do not have spoilers in them after the game launches. I pre ordered mine already. I will be doing a non spoiler review after a dozen or so hours of gameplay.

Been doing my own "preview" by checking out aerial photos of Boston. A lot of what was in the E3 video is recognizable and it's going to be fun to compare when we get the game in our hot little hands!

Reviews don't exist until after the game has launched. So November 10 will be when the first review appears.

I'm curious as to why you think this, most games get reviewed pre-release because review copies are sent out to the big reviewers. The only exception being when developers set a review embargo.

Yes, because game companies never send early copies out to journalists in an attempt to boost sales with high-scoring reviews.

I will pretty much always value the review/opinion of some nameless player I stumble into at a games store, over the review/opinion of any publicized source be it digital or paper.

My logic on it being that the writers opinion isn't unbiased, they stay in business by keeping the goodwill of the companies making the games, who in turn are making money off the games and the free publicity that comes from getting people to talk about them in bulk.

There have been far too many times where I've seen good games blasted by a publication as being junk over something trivial just to pump up the discussion and arguments over them.

So if it follows the usual pattern, roughly 3 days after the release, half the "official" sources will be singing its praises while the other half are beating it up, that will continue off and on pretty much in 3 day cycles gradually tapering off on both sides until such time as a DLC pack is released, at which point it becomes a headline argument again and the "official" publications will once again split roughly in half, though they may not be in the same good/bad camp they started off in the first time around.

I wouldn't be surprised if the embargo lifts no earlier than 00:00 eastern standard time U.S. Bethesda doesn't have much need to rely on sensationalist clickbait reviewers barring those that inevitably break the embargo for said clickbait. The promo campaign is expensive but fairly light in terms of saturation and fairly low key fan friendly viewing material backs up the time reference reasonably.

What we should all be jealous of is the fact that reviewers will probably be getting copies as late as 10-26 for perusal whilst we all sit waiting on the fun to begin.

I'll give a look to the 'Angrys' - Joe and Centaur as well as few others i respect such as Jeremy Jahns. But my own impressions will be formed beforehand, nevertheless.

Skyrim had review embargoes up until launch so I'm willing to bet it's the same with Fo4. I don't really need reviews for a Bethesda game since I kind of already know what I'm getting myself into. Bugs here and there (or everywhere), detailed open world, etc.

My guess the first review will be just before Fallout 4 release. like around November 6th.

I just wish the Americna Federal Election was treated more like how they are doing the Fallout 4 release. Only a few months announced before release. Imagine if they announced the election 2 months before the election.

Yeah, I don't like embargoes either but I don't think bethesda has ever had one. I love reading reviews as long as they aren't overly spoilery. It seems like in the past games all hands on reviews let them play through the opening tutorial area... So unfortunately the beginning gets a bit spoiled.

I am basing my purchase on my previous Bethesda which have never missed the mark. Reviews won't matter to me really but I do enjoy reading them non the less.

It's not the gameplay I'm worried about, it's the optimization.

Yeah, I'm buying the game first day, just based on four previous Beth games. And I'll be avoiding reviews in general (except the headlines), since I don't want anything spoiled. I haven't watched any of the "gameplay sample" videos, either.

(Only review that would matter for me would be a "ZOMG, PC version completely broken/doesn't run/AAAAAAAA! ". Which I'm not expecting. Some bugs, yes. Arkham/SimCity/etc? No.)