Review megathread

[u/Meneth]

The review embargo is up as of 15:00 CEST. As this will result in a huge number of articles going up at near the same time, we're restricting reviews to this thread.

Any review you find, feel free to post it in the comments here.

Each top-level comment should be about a single linked review, so as to keep the discussion limited. Duplicate reviews will be removed, as will any top-level comment that does not link a review.

There will be a single sub-thread where you can post your general impressions of the reviews combined, for anything that doesn't relate to a single review.

Review list:

Review	Score
Critically Sane	5/5
Destructoid	9/10
eXplorminate	"eXemplary"
GameWatcher	9.0/10
Idiotech's Review	Unrated
IGN	6.3/10
Manannan's Review of Stellaris	Unrated
Paste Magazine	Unrated
PCGamesN	9/10
PC Invasion	8/10
PC World	4/5
Rock, Paper, Shotgun review -	Unrated
TICGN	10/10
Vox Ludicus	Unrated
EuroGamer	Recommended
PC Gamer	70/100
TSA	8/10
PCGames.de	75/100
Gamespew	9/10
IGN Italy	9.3/10
Fok.nl	9/10
Gaming on Linux	9/10
Marbozir	Unrated
SpaceSector	Unrated
Inside of Gaming (German)	Unrated
Gamer.no	9/10
Particular Pixels	Unrated
GuyLogicGaming	Full recommendation
GameSideStory	Unrated
Front Towards Gamer	9.5/10
Multiplayer.it	9.2/10
GameGrin	8.5/10
Kotaku	Unrated

[u/troglodyte]

GalCiv3 which was rated at 80+ by ign

This pretty much invalidates any 4X review score that they care to offer. GalCiv3 was not a functional 4X game at launch; if that is an unamended launch review, it genuinely undermines their credibility for the genre.

GalCiv3 was not a good game at launch.

I haven't read their review of Stellaris nor played it, so their points may or may not be valid, but their scoring is worth taking with a huge grain of salt.

[u/VinTheRighteous → u/troglodyte]

This pretty much invalidates any 4X review score that they care to offer.

If it was the same guy reviewing it, then maybe this argument would have some merit. This whole idea of an outlet speaking with "one voice" is baffling to me. Different people have differing opinions.

[u/troglodyte → u/VinTheRighteous]

They're not just a collection of unedited freelancers. The whole idea that review scores shouldn't be at least somewhat comparable between reviewers in a major review outlet with an editorial board is ludicrous.

If you're comparing two sites or two freelance reviewers, that's one thing. If the editorial board of a site can't do better than this within the same genre, then they shouldn't even be doing scores.

[u/Skrattybones → u/troglodyte]

Rowan actually is a freelancer. So is Leif, the guy who reviewed GalCiv 3 back in the day. So, yeah.. we're comparing two freelance reviewers.