The Video Game Critic

I was reading the latest issue of Game Informer (one of my favorite magazines) and I noticed a trend.  For games that support on-line play, the review usually says something like "I ran into all kind of bugs and performance problems when we tried playing on-line, but I'm sure those will all be ironed out soon".  In other words, they just glossed over it.

This made me wonder, is it really even possible to accurately review on-line-only games and modes?  By their nature on-line modes are in constant flux, both with regard to content, quality, and performance.  Patches are uploaded all the time.  It's all temporary anyway; on-line support for any game goes away after a few years (if you're lucky to get that).  Playing the game off-line will always be the same.

I can play the same game on-line several days in a row and have a completely different experience every time.  If I'm playing NBA 2K14 and get kicked off the server, do I give it a bad grade?  Or do I try again tomorrow?  If I encounter a nasty bug, do I pan the game, or wait for a patch?

In a few of my reviews I've criticized a game due to my on-line experience.  I'm not sure that was such a good idea.  If someone plays the game a year after my review, the on-line experience might be totally different.  Heck, if someone plays the game two years later, it might not even have on-line support anymore!

I guess sites like IGN which keep on top of the "latest and greatest" stuff are good sources for up-to-the-minute information.  But I'm here for the long-term.  Some of these reviews are 15 years old and some of these games go back almost 40 years.  I'm an off-line gamer right now and I think I like it.  

Thoughts?  Comments?

Me too.

Make it simple. Just review games offline.

Personally I think it's possible. I review games occasionally on my own blog, and I give the immediate reaction I got when I played it. Sometimes, like in the event of ps3's Twisted Metal, I mentioned that it was not working at the time of launch but would probably be awesome if it did, so I would update the review if it ever got fixed.
Some games, like CoD, tend to give a consistently good online experience, so I can recommend it for its online play without reservations. Other games, like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii, almost never provide a good online match, and has yet to be patched several years after its release, so I can safely assure people that it is not worth they're time.

Let's bring up how big business ISP's are more than responsible gouging the videogames industry.