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Execs often discuss the importance of high review scores in order for a new game to achieve commercial success, but THQ Core Games boss Danny Bilson reckons scores are no longer the holy grail previously thought.
Talking in relation to Homefront, Bilson told IGN: “I think [reviews] matter less to me now than a month ago. I used to think for a core game they matter more. I think I realise now that when you make a mass-market game it’s more like the film business. The idea and the concept will resonate with a large group or it won’t.”
On the subject of Homefront’s mixed reviews, Bilson was very diplomatic.
“If we were universally panned, I would say ‘Yeah I guess it didn’t work.’ I think the idea of 50 reviews that are so radically spread says that we made a game that has a point of view and that you might even argue is controversial,” said Bilson. “When we set out, and I was sitting with Kaos in New York, I was saying ‘Guys, if we’re going to make a modern shooter of any kind, we have to compete with the best of the world.’ I remember in those meetings, the summary was: ‘We don’t expect to beat those guys; our mission is to be in the conversation.’ And on being in the conversation: mission accomplished. Everybody’s talking about Homefront.
“Do I prefer that it’s controversial? No, I’d prefer if everybody in the world loved it. But there are 20+ reviews that are over 80, there are some haters, and there are some mid-range ones. Do I read them all to see what we can do better next time and have every review be 100? Of course, our goal is always that. What I will say pretty clearly is the game is not a ’71.’ You can’t apply math to art.”
Art or not, we used a complicated mathematical formula to determine that Homefront was worth a score of 7/10.
