Stellar Blade Takes the Lead as Top-Rated PS5 Exclusive: What’s the Buzz All About?

9.3 out of 10: this is the rating currently displayed on the page Stellar Blade from the aggregator Metacritic. This is the average of the scores given by the players. It contrasts with the press reviews, which give 82 out of 100 to this PS5 exclusive published at the end of April (7 out of 10 in our columns). As Internet user Zuby_Tech points out in a tweet published on May 1no game on the console with more than 2,000 ratings received, does better.

Stellar Blade therefore beats big names like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (8.9), God of War Ragnarok (8.1), The Last of Us Part II Remastered (8.2) and Horizon Forbidden West (7.1). Even games with a form of unanimity, like Elden Ring (8), Hades (8.7) or even Baldur's Gate 3 (8.9), do less well. Everything suggests that Stellar Blade benefits from review bombing having a positive effect.

Stellar Blade does not deserve an average rating of 9.3 out of 10

Review bombing is a practice normally used as a form of protest. Players voluntarily give a bad rating to a game in order to penalize it, whether this is justified by certain concerns (examples: bugs, questionable commercial policy) or not. Review bombing tends to have negative effects. It is the opposite with Stellar Blade.

There are two reasons that support the theory of positive review bombing for Stellar Blade :

• The game has already exceeded 3,000 ratings on Metacritic, even though it has been available for less than a week. To compare, Marvel's Spider-Man 2launched in October 2023, does not exceed 8,000 reviews. Helldiverse 2released in February 2024 and ultra popular, is only a little over 1,500. There is a mass effect a little too rapid.
• The rain 10 out of 10 that receives Stellar Blade is not really in line with its video game qualities, if we look at the experience from an objective point of view. The title, developed by Shift Up, has arguments, but also faults which prevent it from claiming such praise (a lack of identity, a disappointing exploration part, a questionable balance at the end…).

Metacritic displays the label “Universal Acclaim”, which could be translated as “universal plebiscite”. The RPG Baldur's Gate 3which has won all the possible and imaginable awards, is not entitled to this distinction with regard to the opinions of users – even though its score reaches 96 out of 100 according to the press.

“ My hats off to one of the best games around. No wokism, no political message, 9/10 for gameplay, 9/10 for graphics, 7/10 for story (…). Despite censorship, which I oppose, I bought it », Indicates MikeTheGreek1, who gives 10 while the average rating given in his opinion is more like 8.3. BaggedCat, for his part, assumes to put a false 10 to combat false 0s, whereas he would rather rate 8 if he were really honest. As for Kingdom999, he speaks bluntly about “ revolution » for the video game industry. We feel that nothing is really balanced in these different comments. “ I put 10 because I loved it and I support the movement happening here », sums up AH10189 perfectly.

What drives fans of Stellar Blade to power such a machine? Certainly the few controversies linked to it, which are unjustified in the eyes of some. This Korean video game is accused of sexism due to the hypersexualization of its heroine (who can be dressed in very daring outfits). A fringe of players also accuses him of censorship, in the face of the modification of a handful of costumes (the main character would be less naked than expected). A positive review bombing would then serve to “take revenge” on those who believe that Stellar Blade goes a little too far — and have never stopped deploring it. Which would then allow it to restore its image.