For some reason, fellow Gamespotter GabuEx always seems to inspire a response in me with his blog posts. And by "a response," I mean that I really intend to have the normal-sized comment in the box below, and wind up with over double the length allotted, causing me to make a full blog post of my own. Honestly, if the man had a podcast, I'd probably dissect every episode '^.^ 
 
If you're not a GameSpot member and haven't seen his posts (he's in the Soapbox over there all the time,) you can check out the link to his most recent article, "The moon is disappointing when we expect the stars." http://www.gamespot.com/users/GabuEx/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25871937 
 

Most of the time, as a game is being announced, I collect as much information about it as possible. In this way, I can formulate an idea for what I might expect the game to be like (very general, not what I'd WANT it to be but what it will be based on similar previous titles) and plan my purchasing dollar. I mean, when thirty great games come out in a year, and five or more of them support brand-new peripherals such as Dance Central's Kinect, the upcoming Zelda's requirement of WiiMotion Plus, or Rock Band 3's keyboard, there's only so many games you can purchase per year. When I heard about Medal of Honor, I found out what I could around its announcement, and I then knew that I didn't need another modern action-shooter like the Call of Duty games.

However, once a game is approaching release (such as a game I highly anticipate, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood,) I completely stop looking up previews, gameplay videos, and developer commentaries. At that point, I'm just looking forward to the game. Once I have an idea as to whether or not I want to purchase a game, I ignore the press; I don't need their help at a certain point. Reviews really don't decide my predetermined purchases, either; even if Guitar Hero Metallica gets a 7.5, I'm still picking it up.

Of course, there is one case where game reviews do affect my purchases; if the game is WELL under expectations (such as Dante's Inferno, Lost Planet 2 or even Final Fantasy XIV) I'm probably going to change my mind. Even the scathing reviews of Metroid: Other M haven't changed my mind about the game; I played a demo of the game at Chicago Comic-Con in August, roughly the first hour of the game, and the game was fun. If the cutscenes do become more scarce and shorter as the game goes on (as I've heard from a few critics,) I'd even go so far as to say the critics have set up their expectations in a way very similar to the one you've described above. I personally saw ahead of time that many people would find the controls wonky and I knew the story would be horrendous (mostly because after having played four different Team Ninja games, the voice acting and writing have not gotten any better), but even I was pleasantly surprised to find that the controls weren't as bad as I had expected.

In this light, there's a reason I'm not looking up any press releases for Portal 2 or BioShock Infinite. Honestly, I wish I'd never found out that Portal 2 even had co-op; however, that article was on the front page of GiantBomb, so what can you do? I'm intending to buy those games simply because of what they are; sequels to the greatest games of the last few years by the people who created the originals. 

Anyways, as with any form of art, you should approach games with a clean slate; evaluate the media on its own merit, not on what you've heard others say about it. Decide for yourself what parts work and what parts don't; perhaps some mechanics hold up and others don't. That way, you'll not only find that you have a more unique set of taste, but you'll also find that you might be able to challenge the critics as to what is "the best" or "the worst."