A number of people have bombarded The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s Metacritic page with negative reviews, suggesting that the game is only attracting critical acclaim because Nintendo has “paid off” game journalists.
Breath of the Wild, which released today on the Switch and the Wii U, currently holds a near-perfect score of 98 on the review aggregation site. However, its user score is significantly lower, with it currently clocking in at 7.8. The reasoning behind this large disparity? Among other things, many seem to be convinced that the game is only rating so highly because Nintendo is dishing money out to reviewers in exchange for positive scores.
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One user, who rated the game a 0 out of 10, wrote: “A Zero from me too, i never played it, and i wont ever play it, i give this game zero, not because its bad. But because of payed reviews, and **** overhyped and blind Idiot reviewers giving this game mostly 100% only because its Zelda. Kill yourself **** idiots. When this same game wouldnt be called Zelda it maybe became 80%.” Another added: “Wow the paid reviews and nintendo fanboys on here to boost the score just goes to show you what a joke this game is, the top *reviews* aren’t even reviews they are one sentence long. Zelda botw is a appalling open world game. Giving this the title of a Zelda game is insulting to zelda fans.”
There have also been complaints regarding Nintendo issuing units of the Switch and copies of Breath of the Wild to reviewers, despite that being a perfectly normal series of events that happens with literally every new console release ever. According to these complaints, games journalists are supposed to go out and buy their own review units / copies of games, despite this a) meaning that these reviews wouldn’t be available at launch, therefore rendering them useless to consumers looking to pre-order the console, and b) this being their job, and purchasing a video game every time they were required to write a review would eventually leave them penniless.
User scores often provide an eye-opening glimpse at just how little some people understand the review process, but even by the typically low standard of Metacritic’s user ratings (the site doesn’t require proof that a reviewer has actually played the game before they submit their comments), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s user reviews are particularly poor. Fortunately those of us in the know acknowledge user ratings as the online equivalent of terrible opinions etched onto the wall of a public bathroom cubicle, so it’s unlikely that this will harm the game’s success.
Nintendo Movies That Would Actually Be Awesome:
Seven Nintendo Movies That Would Actually Be Awesome
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Earthbound
A group of kids with special abilities (inventor, psychic, martial artist, etc.) team up to stop an alien invasion by collecting... melodies? Earthbound is one of Nintendo's strangest and most beloved games, taking place in a surreal version of America that - in cinematic terms - would probably play like a satirical throwback to 1980s classics like Goonies and E.T.
Photo: Nintendo
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Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
A young woman investigates the mysterious murder of her grandfather, only to dig up an ancient evil tome and sinister, eldritch Gods. It may be odd to think of a Nintendo movie that's rated "R" for nightmare imagery and violence, but Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem might be a smart investment if Nintendo wants to be taken seriously as a production company.
Photo: Nintendo
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F Zero
It's The Fast and the Furious meets Star Wars in the sci-fi racing series F-Zero, which was always low on plot but high on octane. The game was about racing at impossible speeds through futuristic locales, but the movie would have to expand on that by building on the cast of characters and giving them an important reason to break the speed of sound in a hovercraft.
Photo: Nintendo
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The Legend of Zelda
Fans have been clamoring for a Legend of Zelda movie for decades, and this is probably the biggest "no-brainer" if Nintendo wants to come rushing out of the gate with a blockbuster. The story of a boy named Link who teams up with a princess named Zelda to save the world from an evil sorcerer will need a lot of development if it's going to make an impact outside of the gaming community, but with the right filmmaker at the helm this could also be an instant classic.
Photo: Nintendo
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Metroid
A bounty hunter traveling the universe, hunting parasitic monsters. A Metroid movie would be pretty similar to a bunch of other films, so the trick would be focusing on the character of Samus and making her story feel distinctive from the Alien franchise, without denying audiences the same kind of inventive, smart, and sometimes disgusting thrills.
Photo: Nintendo
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Punch Out!!
There are plenty of boxing movies in the world, but Punch-Out!! would have the freedom to be one of the craziest, with an underdog going up against a series of wild, unusual fighters who would make the villain of Rocky IV seem perfectly plausible.
Photo: Nintendo
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Star Fox
The Star Fox games have always had a weird identity, torn between badass outer space action and cuddly-wuddly heroes (and villains). Any filmmaker tackling Star Fox would have a hard time striking the right balance, but if they succeed this could be a breakout smash for all-ages.
Photo: Nintendo
