UPDATED 09:08 EDT / NOVEMBER 14 2014

Should video game review scores change with time?

2D Boxshot Wizard v1.1Halo is one of the most popular Xbox franchises of all time, and the recently released Halo: The Master Chief Collection brings the first four games from the classic series to the Xbox One.

The collection features remastered visuals that take advantage of the Xbox One’s visual fidelity, as well as improved frame rates of up to 60 frames per second.

Reviews of the collection so far have been glowing—but that was before the game was officially released.

The reviews are still overwhelmingly positive, with the game currently sitting at a rating of 89 out of 100 on Metacritic, but gamers are finding it all but impossible to play the game’s multiplayer, which is one of the hallmarks of the series.

Players have complained that the game’s matchmaking system, which finds multiplayer games for players to join, either takes an extremely long time to find a game or often doesn’t work at all.

Popular gaming news and review website Polygon.com originally awarded Halo: The Master Chief Collection a score of 9.5 out of 10, but with the abysmal state of the multiplayer function, they reduced that score to an 8.0, a full point and a half lower.

“There’s no sugarcoating it: Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s multiplayer component is broken,” Polygon writer Arthur Gies wrote.

The response to Polygon changing its review score has been mixed. Some have applauded the change.

Reddit user Jandur said: “Moving forward I wouldn’t mind seeing more dynamic reviews/scores. More so than ever games are evolving products whether they be an MMO or otherwise.”

But others criticized Polygon, saying that if the site hadn’t rushed its review out as soon as possible, it could have posted an accurate score in the beginning.

In the same Reddit thread, user NotSafeForShop said: “Having a fluctuating opinion is fine, but rather than make an informed recommendation they made sure they didn’t miss out on any page views by putting out a review too fast.”


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