Buggy Hypocrisy

BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda was hit with controversy before its release and even harder after it. A lot was expected from the game and critics were quick to jump on it. MEA took a lot of heat for bugs and bad facial animations and even I jumped on the band wagon. I have been thinking a lot since it happened and I keep coming back to this question, “Why do we attack some games while we let others get a free pass?”

Most games have bugs and glitches when they are first released. Developers usually always deliver new games with a day one patch to address issues that may arise. So what causes us to see the problems of some games and not others?
Part of the reason is because we have high expectations for triple A titles. We expect games like Call of Duty, Madden, Mario and Zelda to never have bugs. Their long history of success with sequels should mean that by now the game should be perfected. We tend to give new games with bugs the benefit of the doubt but little to no leeway for titles with various generations. This could explain why MEA was attacked so quickly. It is the fourth title in the series so consumers have high expectations and little patience for a popular game with errors.

However this does not explain why we glorify some titles for their glitches and not others. The Elder Scrolls series and specifically Skyrim holds a special place in my heart. So much so that I was willing to buy the remastered edition even after logging hundreds of hours on the original. But Skyrim is notoriously known for having some of the worst bugs of any game out there. I mean getting hit by the club of a giant, until you glitch out and fly into space is comical but it’s a bug that disrupts the game. There are so many bugs that there are websites, articles and YouTube videos dedicated to the madness. Even so Skyrim is one of the most beloved games of our generation so what makes gamers able to look past its faults but not others?

In fact Skyrim and MEA share a lot in common. They are both RPGs and both have a large fan following. They also both suffer from bugs but only one has been attacked so viciously. To be fair Skyrim is a last generation game and MEA is not, but that still should not matter when looking at the reaction both games received at the time.

There seems to be a hypocrisy in the gaming community when it comes to how we judge imperfect games. Some review websites dedicated weeks to criticizing Mass Effect: Andromeda, before the release and after. During that time it felt like every article that popped up on my news feed was bashing it. Without a doubt some of the criticism of MEA is warranted. However, I can’t help but feel that it is being treated as scapegoat for gamers who are fed up with paying $60 for games that have clear faults. BioWare is not the only developer to release a buggy title and they should not be singled out. 

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