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Entertainment

01st Nov 2018

Games reviewer receives threats after giving Red Dead Redemption 2 “only” 7 out of 10

Rory Cashin

Remember folks, no matter how good the graphics are, it is only a game

There is no questioning that Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a huge commercial and critical success.

It broke records with its opening weekend sales of $725 million, making it the most successful opening weekend in entertainment history.

Also, with 81 official reviews in on Metacritic, the game has an average of 97%, meaning it has been inundated with full 10 out of 10 scores.

Nobody is disputing that RDR2 is a landmark achievement in the medium of gaming, but apparently gamers have absolutely no problem in getting the pitchforks out for anyone who doesn’t keep in line.

Out of the 81 reviews on Metacritic, 80 of them are described as “Positive”, with just one review described as “Mixed”, and that review comes from Steven Scaife on Slant Magazine, who still gave the game a solid 7 out of 10.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the comments section under the review quickly became toxic, ranging from people telling Scaife to “Kill yourself”, and another intimidatingly pointing out how easy it would be to find out where he lives.

Scaife told tech mag Quartz that since posting the review “some people have attacked him on his personal accounts, including a threat sent to his Facebook”.

It should also be noted that Scaife’s review was posted on 25 October, a day before the game was available to the general public, so those commenting were reacting to a review of a game that they hadn’t even played yet.

It should be noted that while the vast majority of the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, there has been some negative traction growing online since the game’s release.

It is possible to like something AND find fault with it, just in case that wasn’t already clear…