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The Uncharted 4 Metacritic Madness Must Stop

The Uncharted 4 Metacritic Madness Must Stop

Everyone grab a copy of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End while you still can. From what I hear there’s a scathing, negative review from the Washington Post that threatens to destroy the game’s reputation and ruin Naughty Dog forever. That review didn’t have a score attached to it but Metacritic, in a foul conspiracy to ruin a game that was just too good , allocated to the review a score of 4 out of 10. The worst part (and it pains me to report this) is that the review brought down Uncharted 4 ‘s Metacritic rating to a 93 from 94. This is unacceptable, and we must do something.

Just in case I’m leading anyone on, I should clarify that I’m being a sarcastic ass. The Washington Post’s negative review of Uncharted 4 is a complete nonissue, but people really have taken it upon themselves to wipe it from the face of the earth. At the time of writing, over 5,000 of you have signed this petition requesting Metacritic remove the review because differences in opinion are simply intolerable. Apart from the petition, hundreds of angry doofuses have flooded the reviewer’s Twitter with hateful and threatening messages. One person even pointed out that the reviewer lives in NYC and hinted that he was going to try to find him. Give me a break.

It’s absolute, melodramatic, sensationalist nonsense to declare that this review and its affect on Uncharted 4 ‘s Metacritic score is somehow injurious to the game or to Naughty Dog. You guys are acting like this game isn’t already a chart-topper ; like it hasn’t enjoyed the best launch out of any game in the series; like it hasn’t received overwhelmingly positive reviews from almost every reputable website that has reviewed it . Are you so driven by Metacritic – and so persuaded by the hive-mind, knee-jerk reaction of your anonymous peers – that you feel it is up to you to blot out any dissenting opinion on a game that you enjoy?

If this is something that bothers you, then really let these questions sink in. The fact that thousands of people are up in arms over one person’s silly, intentionally provocative review betrays a epidemic of insecurity. Is it really so important that everyone agree with your opinion about a video game? Is it really a disgrace and an insult to publish such negative opinions on a game that the vast majority of players are calling a masterpiece? Just let it be. It’s this reviewer’s reputation at stake here, not the reputation of Uncharted 4 . Who goes to the Washington Post for video game reviews anyway?

The Uncharted 4 Metacritic Madness Must Stop

No, I think that if we’re all perfectly honest with ourselves, we’d admit that this has nothing to do with justice. It has nothing to do with making sure Naughty Dog is rightfully given the praise it’s due. This is about ignorant and entitled man-babies refusing to tolerate differences in opinion. This is the equivalent of that one Facebook friend you hate who actively pursues anyone who has something bad to say about his or her favored political candidate. It’d be like a friend forcing you to take back something you said about that song you hate just because they love it. You can’t force someone to take back their opinion, especially when they’re using their opinion as a means to attract attention – at that point all you’re doing is helping them to achieve that goal.

So step away from the petition. Put down your torches and pitchforks, look into the mirror, and ask yourself why you feel compelled to force total strangers to agree with you. Ask yourself why a less-than-stellar Metacritic score for a game you care about is so distressing. Could it be that there is some kind of inner frailty that you should be addressing, something that 1 point on an aggregate score can’t alleviate? Or am I part of the problem here? If any of you are reading this and thinking that I totally missed the point, then rip me a new one in the comments section and defend the importance of this petition.

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