ReCore Review Scores Were “A Little Harsh,” Says Phil Spencer

ReCore was a promising new action adventure game coming exclusively for Xbox and Windows from the creators of Mega Man and Metroid Prime. It had, in other words, a fair bit of hype going for it leading into its release. Hype that the game sadly failed to live up to, judging by its review scores.

Those review scores, however, were a “little harsh,” according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Speaking to Gamespot, Spencer suggested that some reviewers may have scored it lower than the average specifically to increase site traffic. At the same time, however, he implied that the scores were not reflective of the quality of the game itself, and that the game is “selling well.” “The gamers’ response to the game has been positive, which is the most important thing,” he added.

There is, of course, so much wrong with all of that- Spencer’s remark about low scoring reviews for the game would maybe make some sense if reviews weren’t uniformly critical of the game at large. Then again, his statement is at odds with his suggestion that he doesn’t care about review scores. Finally, he claims that ReCore has sold well, but so far, judging by the few sales updates we have for the game, that does not seem to be the case.

I really appreciate Spencer, and I have great respect for him- but I think he is way off the mark in this case. ReCore wasn’t all it was hyped up to be, he should take the loss and move on, rather than trying to justify it unnecessarily.