By the Numbers: A Year in Reviews
by marino
Would you have guessed that the Giant Bomb guys had reviewed over 100 games this year? That seems like a lot for such a small crew. I have it on good authority that 101 reviews in a year is almost two per week. So, I dumped all the review data into Excel and extrapolated some colorful triangles and rectangles for you to look at. I've broken it down by reviewer, by platform, by stars, and by month. Let's get to it...
Staff
Luckily, we kinda get reviews by Vinny every week on the Bombcast. I still miss reading his reviews though.
Unsurprisingly, Jeff had the most staff reviews on the site this year. That sea of green means he generally liked most of them.
While pulling double duty this year, Alex put up more reviews than anyone except Jeff (and tied with Brad). Alex also holds the distinction of being the only staff member to bestow a 1-Star rating on any game this year. He did it three times.
This year, Brad doled out the most 5-Star reviews. Of the fourteen games that were good enough to receive the top score in 2011, Brad reviewed six of them.
Ryan seems to have shrugged his shoulders quite a bit this year. Portal 2 was his only 5-Star game, and nearly a third of his reviews ended up in the middle.
Kessler may not have been assigned to review many AAA blockbusters, but he was the only reviewer to give a game two different scores (Space Marine).
This is clearly the most exciting pie chart ever created.Stars
By the looks of it, we had some pretty damn good games this year. Obviously, Giant Bomb doesn't waste time reviewing stuff we don't really care about, but still...over half of the titles reviews this year got at least 4 stars.Monthly
Nothing too shocking here. Everyone knows that the bulk of big games still comes out at the end of the year. That spurt in June seems a little out of place though. Hopefully that means we're on the way to getting a more spread out release schedule in the coming year.Platform
Many games that were reviewed this year specifically state within the review that it applies to multiple versions of the game. Due to this, the number of "games" in this chart is much higher than the 101 reviews that were done this year.
I couldn't decide which way to present this data, so you get both!The Raw Data
| Game | For | Score | By | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice: Madness Returns | X360 | 4 | Ryan | June 16 |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations | X360 | 4 | Ryan | November 15 |
| Batman: Arkham City | X360 | 5 | Jeff | October 14 |
| Battlefield 3 | PS3 PC | 4 | Dave | October 27 |
| Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 | PSN XBLA | 3 | Jeff | February 7 |
| Bit.Trip Saga | 3DS | 3 | Patrick | September 23 |
| Blackwater | X360 | 1 | Alex | December 15 |
| Bodycount | PS3 X360 | 2 | Jeff | September 2 |
| Brink | X360 | 2 | Jeff | May 10 |
| Bulletstorm | PS3 X360 PC | 4 | Jeff | February 23 |
| BurgerTime: World Tour | XBLA | 3 | Alex | November 13 |
| Burnout CRASH! | PSN XBLA | 3 | Ryan | September 23 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | X360 | 4 | Jeff | November 8 |
| Captain America: Super Soldier | PS3 X360 | 3 | Matt | July 19 |
| Catherine | PS3 X360 | 2 | Jeff | July 28 |
| Child of Eden | X360 | 3 | Ryan | June 18 |
| Crysis 2 | X360 | 4 | Jeff | March 22 |
| Dance Central 2 | X360 | 4 | Ryan | October 24 |
| DC Universe Online | PS3 | 2 | Jeff | January 21 |
| Dead Block | XBLA | 2 | Alex | July 8 |
| Dead Island | PS3 X360 PC | 4 | Brad | September 12 |
| Dead Rising 2: Off the Record | PS3 X360 PC | 3 | Brad | October 12 |
| Dead Space 2 | PS3 X360 | 5 | Brad | January 24 |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution | PS3 X360 PC | 4 | Jeff | August 23 |
| DiRT 3 | X360 | 5 | Drew | May 24 |
| Driver: San Francisco | PS3 X360 | 4 | Jeff | September 6 |
| Duke Nukem Forever | PS3 X360 PC | 2 | Jeff | June 14 |
| Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon | PS3 X360 | 2 | Matt | July 12 |
| F.E.A.R. 3 | X360 | 2 | Ryan | June 25 |
| Forza Motorsport 4 | X360 | 4 | Jeff | October 7 |
| From Dust | XBLA | 4 | Brad | July 26 |
| Fruit Ninja Kinect | XBLA | 4 | Ryan | August 9 |
| Full House Poker | XBLA | 4 | Jeff | March 21 |
| Gears of War 3 | X360 | 5 | Jeff | September 15 |
| Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax | XBLA | 4 | Brad | June 29 |
| Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary | X360 | 4 | Brad | November 17 |
| Homefront | PS3 X360 | 3 | Alex | March 15 |
| inFamous 2 | PS3 | 4 | Brad | June 17 |
| inFamous 2: Festival of Blood | PSN | 4 | Brad | October 28 |
| Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet | XBLA | 4 | Brad | August 3 |
| Iron Brigade | XBLA | 4 | Jeff | June 22 |
| Jamestown | PC | 4 | Alex | July 1 |
| Just Dance 3 | X360 | 2 | Ryan | October 24 |
| Killzone 3 | PS3 | 4 | Jeff | February 21 |
| L.A. Noire | PS3 X360 | 5 | Brad | May 16 |
| LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game | PS3 X360 | 4 | Brad | May 11 |
| LittleBigPlanet 2 | PS3 | 5 | Jeff | January 26 |
| Lost in Shadow | Wii | 3 | Alex | January 11 |
| Lucha Fury | XBLA | 1 | Alex | June 28 |
| Madden NFL 12 | X360 | 3 | Alex | August 29 |
| Madden NFL Football | 3DS | 1 | Alex | March 30 |
| Mario Kart 7 | 3DS | 3 | Ryan | November 29 |
| Mario Sports Mix | Wii | 2 | Alex | February 9 |
| Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds | PS3 X360 | 4 | Jeff | February 16 |
| Mortal Kombat | PS3 X360 | 5 | Jeff | April 19 |
| Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection | PSN XBLA | 2 | Brad | September 1 |
| MotorStorm: Apocalypse | PS3 | 3 | Alex | May 24 |
| Ms. Splosion Man | XBLA | 3 | Brad | July 13 |
| NBA 2K12 | X360 | 5 | Alex | October 14 |
| Need for Speed: The Run | PS3 X360 | 2 | Jeff | November 15 |
| NHL 12 | PS3 X360 | 4 | Alex | September 21 |
| Outland | PSN XBLA | 4 | Brad | May 4 |
| Payday: The Heist | PS3 | 3 | Alex | October 20 |
| Pilotwings Resort | 3DS | 3 | Brad | March 25 |
| Portal 2 | X360 PC | 5 | Ryan | April 19 |
| Puzzle Agent 2 | iOS | 3 | Ryan | July 20 |
| Rage | PS3 X360 PC | 4 | Brad | October 4 |
| Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One | PS3 | 3 | Patrick | October 19 |
| Rayman: Origins | X360 | 5 | Alex | November 15 |
| Red Faction: Armageddon | PS3 X360 | 3 | Brad | June 1 |
| Renegade Ops | PSN XBLA | 5 | Brad | September 16 |
| Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D | 3DS | 2 | Matt | June 30 |
| Resistance 3 | PS3 | 4 | Patrick | September 6 |
| Ridge Racer 3D | 3DS | 3 | Jeff | March 26 |
| Rock of Ages | X360 | 4 | Alex | September 7 |
| Saints Row: The Third | PS3 X360 | 4 | Alex | November 11 |
| Shadows of the Damned | X360 | 4 | Alex | June 21 |
| Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure | X360 | 4 | Jeff | December 7 |
| Spider-Man: Edge of Time | X360 | 2 | Ryan | October 13 |
| Stacking | PSN XBLA | 4 | Alex | February 8 |
| Star Fox 64 3D | 3DS | 3 | Matt | September 16 |
| Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition | XBLA | 4 | Jeff | August 24 |
| Super Mario 3D Land | 3DS | 4 | Jeff | November 14 |
| Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition | 3DS | 4 | Jeff | March 23 |
| Swarm | PSN XBLA | 3 | Alex | March 24 |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | X360 PC | 5 | Brad | November 11 |
| The Gunstringer | X360 | 4 | Ryan | September 13 |
| The House of the Dead: Overkill | PS3 | 3 | Ryan | October 26 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D | 3DS | 5 | Brad | June 20 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword | Wii | 4 | Patrick | November 11 |
| To the Moon | PC | 4 | Alex | December 6 |
| Toy Soldiers: Cold War | XBLA | 4 | Brad | August 17 |
| TrackMania 2: Canyon | PC | 4 | Jeff | October 17 |
| Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | PS3 | 5 | Brad | October 24 |
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine | PS3 | 3 | Matt | September 12 |
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine | X360 PC | 4 | Matt | September 14 |
| WWE '12 | X360 | 3 | Alex | November 23 |
| WWE All Stars | PS3 X360 | 4 | Jeff | March 29 |
| X-Men: Destiny | X360 | 2 | Ryan | October 3 |
| Yakuza 4 | PS3 | 3 | Matt | August 1 |
| You Don't Know Jack | X360 | 4 | Ryan | February 9 |