Is everything that comes from EDGE just over-written to hell?

I never really bothered with EDGE. GameInformer is usually where stuff comes out, and I'm from the States, so I had no need to go to EDGE. But with their Dark Souls II cover issue, I did end up reading their article on it. And just about puked at how over written the entire article was. At first, I thought they were just doing the cliche of starting the article about the epic fantasy game with some mediocre imagery (because most journalists are AWFUL at this kind of imagery), but it didn't stop. Not only did it come off as vaguely pornographic enthusiasm for the material, but it was completely devoid of any sort of content. It was several pages long, but almost nothing important was said.

It was pretty clearly full of hyperbole, not able to make up it's mind as to whether the game looked just as good as Watch Dogs, Star Wars 1313, or the freaking Blur made trailer. So it either looks as good as a pretty but within reach PC game, or it's a next gen game that blows everything out of the water, or it's ascended beyond CG done by some of the best CGI artists in the business. I might have believed them if they said it looks as good as Watch Dogs, but Star Wars 1313 is on a whole new level that I would love for Dark Souls II to hit, but could never expect from, well, From.

There was a lot more to it than that, but it was a while ago. I just remember reading it and talking to a couple other friends about it and they agreed (although granted, they weren't driven as crazy by it as I was). So I can't be too crazy...

The whole article honestly was maddeningly unreadable for me, and I just ended up skimming for the paragraph or two worth of content in there. To be fair, they probably had to get so many pages out of it and got kind of shafted on the amount of content, but there are better ways to fluff than just awful over writing and fanboyish enthusiasm.

I thought maybe this was a special case of one of the less experienced writers on staff doing the article because they were the "Dark Souls" guy so it fell to him, but I went to check back today remembering that my friend had mentioned that there would be more info on the game coming and I wasn't sure if it would be coming through them, and from the look of their front page, most of their articles are written in this sensational, bordering on ridiculous style. Am I just nuts, or has anyone else noticed this?

I've always felt like they were just a couple of degrees off from those "new game journalism" guys that wrote about anime and burritos in the middle of their reviews

specifically- in the aspect that there are lots of words and little content

I only read lots about games if it's to get better at them (Street Fighter), so I have never had this issue with EDGE, tell me if the game sucks or not with any really annoying flaws and that's all I need.

I stopped listening to previews because as you say, full of hyperbole. They made GTA IV seem way more dynamic and awesome than it actually turned out to be. (conveniently not mentioning the ass framerate)

@Sooty: Previews are always kinda shitty with that, but they take it to an entirely different level. It's like the writers don't actually want to be journalists, they want to be generic fantasy authors shoving every bit of "eloquence" they can into their writing.

Previews are generally pretty ridiculous, but I really like long-form writing when it's filled with meaningful content. I think Tom Bissell, Jenn Frank, Leigh Alexander, and Film Critic HULK do fantastic work in the long-form essay format.

I never bothered with them either really, but I always noticed that myself.

If anyone here uses Gametrailers, one of their reviewers,I think it's Ryan Stevens; overwrites his reviews as well, if you look at some of the language he uses for Saint's Row: The Third, you'd be fairly convinced he just used a thesaurus at some point. Here's some of the phrases used in the review:

Cardinal dichotomy, base guffaws, cultivate wealth, zeal for the zany deflects scrutiny, guzzle down whatever beverage is the rage these days.

I can't stand when people do that, trying to present intellect with these words. I think it's unnecessary.

I think I always attributed it to Eurogamer myself. But yes, that style is the worst. Utterly useless. I'll take Patrick swearing any day.

I prefer EDGE to most of the shite that is written in the video game space. Their Time Extend features are excellent.

Some reviewers just try too damn hard. There are a bunch of Swedish critics whose opinions are never clear, because they spend entire reviews just masturbating. There's this GameReactor quote from their Ridge Racer Unbounded review that has become a running joke between me and my boss. Rough translation: "...and colors that remind me of a neon-lit field outside a Polish missile silo...". What the fuck does that even mean, other than "this guy is a pretentious dick"?

@Svenzon said:

Some reviewers just try too damn hard. There are a bunch of Swedish critics whose opinions are never clear, because they spend entire reviews just masturbating. There's this GameReactor quote from their Ridge Racer Unbounded review that has become a running joke between me and my boss. Rough translation: "...and colors that remind me of a neon-lit field outside a Polish missile silo...". What the fuck does that even mean, other than "this guy is a pretentious dick"?

I would so read a review written entirely during a vigorous masturbation session

They're alright, you might be just personally not into the style. There's a vast difference between being smart and looking like it, but you do have to realize these magazines often lag behind the internet news, have articles to be filled and they can't really just make a magazine that reads as a news blog or something right?
 
And personally I find that these long discussions, while there's actually no news about the game, are often very productive for your mind and the reasons as to why you're looking towards a game. It's fun to stop, think and dissect your enthusiasm. I can imagine it not being for everyone however.