Can You Trust Online Casino Game Reviews?
Mostly, nobody cares about the reviews an item or service that is cheap and easy to acquire. For instance, you likely don’t check the opinions of others when purchasing a toothpaste tube worth a dollar. However, a lot of attention is paid when the potential of spending a lot of money is in play.
Online games are mostly a pricey venture that people are not pulling their wallets out for until they confirm that they are worth a go. Slot machines like Book of Ra Deluxe and table games may seem cheap to play, but even with few pennies being played per round, they accumulate to significant amounts in the long run. The only way to save on cash is to engage the free play version, which is accessible through slot download and no download options.
Video games are also not a cheap venture. The newly released Sony console, the PlayStation 5, is estimated to cost around 500 dollars. This is without counting some games that have to be purchased separately. Therefore, a lot of gamers will likely wait for the opinions of others before investing in one.
Game reviews have become such a crucial selling point for software companies and casinos, which influences a lot of them to inflate their scores. It is no surprise to see companies filling websites with positive reviews of their products and having the negative ones removed. In other cases, critical reports are removed from the first page and taken to the last pages since most people only check the first ones. On the other hand, they can post negative reviews on the online games of competing firms to draw clients away from them as they market their products.
Such aspects make it difficult to say that online game reviews are trustworthy. However, there are genuine platforms that honestly provide information as is without bias. These websites are not influenced by external forces and give their honest opinions of what they thought of the game and leave room for players to air theirs as well. Such reviews are still a valuable tool when choosing games. It can be confusing to determine which evaluations can be trusted and which ones can’t. Online reviews are the wild west, and there is no chief on duty, so you need to know what to pay attention to and what to pass. Here are some features you can look out for to ensure you are well-informed before investing time and money in a game:
Compare Review Sources
Popular games often have more than one review on what to expect once they are launched or purchased. Often fake reviews stand out from the rest with information that is inaccurate and does not match with what most others are saying. Legitimate review sites often state things that can be confirmed in the game, such as the paytable arrangement in a slot machine.
Be Wary of Over-perfection
Reviews that provide false information often try to oversell a product by making it appear like the perfect choice. If it is star reviews, they often simply give five stars on every aspect of the game. No matter how advanced a game is, there is no way it can have the perfection of five stars in every element of comparison. The aspects that do not hit the five-star mark do not have to be failures, but they are a show that the game has some shortcomings and makes it believable by the player. In most cases, trusted reviews include both the positives and negatives of a game that are well within reason.
Funded Content
The rise of review-dependency has led to entire firms have come to life intending to propel games into the sights of players. When doing so, these funded content sites tend to use advertising language mixed with educational content. In most cases, the former supersedes the latter, and the review is often filled with links to a casino or other page where the game can be opened or purchased. Honest review websites avoid saturating their page with funded content and only provide links when necessary.
Lack of In-depth Details
In a bid to oversell a game, fake reviews skimp over information that would help the reader discern whether a game is good or not. For instance:
- Bad example: Some reviews can state “This slot has the biggest payouts” instead of specifying the wins of the game.
- Good example: An honest review will say something in the lines of “This slot pays 10,000 coins for the most valuable combination.” Such straightforward information leaves the decision of whether the amount is a lot or not to the reader.
Identify Warning Signs
Honest reviews often give well-rounded information on not only the game but the services that tag along with using it. The company can state what the game has to offer and the casinos in which it can be played and their reputation. One can also talk about the client care team of the software provider with regards to how responsive and helpful they are. If the reviewer only focuses on the selling points of the game, then they are most likely not transparent about everything it has to offer.
Get First-hand Reviews
Getting information directly from someone you know is better than trusting the word of a stranger online. If you know someone that has interacted with a game that you want to play, ask them about their experience and whether they would recommend buying it. This step is especially necessary if it is a costly investment like VR games and those that need to be purchased online.
Look of Recurring Profiles
If a game has gotten a review from the same person more than one hundred times, and within a short period, you should be wary about the set. People who have the time to invest in writing reviews are often influencers hired by the developer to hype the product. You can see their profile recurring a lot of times in other game reviews as well, which should be seen as a red flag.
Language Quality
People that invest in writing fake reviews often reside in foreign countries. In most cases, English is not usually the first language, which can easily be recognised in the poor grammar they use. In some cases, they are generally from genuine players who have tried out the game, but they are mixed up with those of locals whose English is better.
The Rise in Positive Reviews
A gaming site that has a sudden influx of positive reviews is likely not worthy of your trust. In most cases, the increase in positive feedback is usually gradual and has a smooth curve upward with a mix of criticism.
The Location of Reviewers
If the game reviews are from players from all over the world in equal measure, then the platform is not likely accurate. For instance, Fortnite is much more prevalent in the US than it is in Africa. Therefore, most of its reviews will be from people in the United States and with a few from other continents, including Africa.
Compare Photos
Some fake review sites tend to similar photos when showing the results of games that they claim to have played. A reviewer can try to sell the claim that they won big in a slot and share a photo that has probably been used by three others.
Summing-up
When consulting online game reviews, do not walk into them, aiming for 100% certainty. Although we live in an era of fake news, some reviewers provide honest and trustworthy content that proves useful.
Photo by Jud Mackrill on Unsplash