A Game About Hate: The Last of Us Part II Review Bombing, Ugly Fandom and Metacritic

Warren Green

82 A Game About Hate: The Last of Us Part II Review Bombing, Ugly Fandom and Metacritic

Warren Green

A Game About Hate: The Last of Us Part II Review Bombing, Ugly Fandom and Metacritic

Warren T. Green

6446421

Department of Communications, Pop Culture and Film

COMM 3P18: Audience Studies

Dr. Derek Foster

Dec. 18, 2023

The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog, 2020) is, according to director Neil Druckmann during a 2016 interview, a game about hate (Reiner, 2016). Upon its release in 2020, the relationship between hate and the game had moved far beyond the text. The game was aggressively attacked online on several platforms, especially sites like reddit where the community r/TheLastOfUs2 decried the game’s terrible story, betrayal of fans and perceived “woke agenda” (Letizi & Norman, 2023). The site Metacritic features user reviews averaging 5.8 out of 10, which is a significant improvement over the abysmal ratings posted during the game’s initial launch in 2020. This is particularly interesting given that the game was well received by professional critics and journalists, becoming one of the best-selling games during the PlayStation 4’s dominance of the console market. In this paper I will present the complex forms of fan interaction with the game, paying particular attention to the behaviour of review bombing as a form of cultural participation.

In order to discuss this culture-defining moment in modern video game history, there are some bits of relevant context and key theoretical concepts that must be explained.

Contextual Information

The reaction to The Last of Us Part II echoes the events of 2014’s Gamergate phenomenon. Gamergate was an online harassment campaign that purported to champion “ethics in games journalism” (Mortensen, 2018). Despite these claims, it was actually an anti-feminist hate movement that attacked women in the industry with harassment, discreditation and even death threats (Mortensen, 2018). The movement was one of the most well-researched an obvious forms of toxic fandom to ever take place, becoming a vehicle for far-right reactionaries to espouse hate and create a conspiratorial politicized community of fans.

The Last of Us Part II is a game that features a female and queer centric cast of main characters. Coprotagonist/antagonist Ellie is in a visible lesbian relationship. Abby is a muscular woman who is the other playable main character. Important supporting characters Dina and Lev are queer and genderqueer respectively. These components resulted in significant criticism and harassment, invoking the same hateful rhetoric and toxic behaviour from the Gamergate era. Abby’s voice actress Laura Bailey even received death threats (Doray, 2020).

Review bombing is an audience behaviour where users post extremely low reviews en-masse to lower the average score of a given text on a review platform like Metacritic. Such reviews are rarely legitimate reviews of the whole text. Instead, they are a form of cooperation amongst a community to amplify disapproval of some aspect related to the text, with the goal of drawing attention and driving away new viewers who may believe the scores are indicative of poor quality.

The Last of Us Part II was one of the most prominent review bombing events in recent history, with over fifty thousand user reviews being posted within the first three days of the game’s release (Henn, 2020). Many of the reviews were posted on the day of the game’s release, before it would have been possible to play it to completion and make an informed review. The review bombing was so prevalent that it resulted in Metacritic changing their policy and site functions, restricting users from making reviews for games on their release day (Flavius, 2020).

Theoretical Concepts and Framework

Reactionary Fandom is the convergence of reactionary politics and fandom, where reactionary political groups take similar forms to fandoms and fandoms begin participating in reactionary politics (Stanfill, 2019). The review bombing was a reactionary event, with politically anti-progressive sentiments and a shared community goal to lower the Metacritic user review average.

Affective Polarization is “the tendency for partisans to view opposing partisans negatively and co-partisans positively” (Lee et al., 2023). In essence, it is when we favour those we agree with over those we disagree with. The game’s reviews are largely motivated by conflict between the community that is opposed to the game and the community that supports it, rather than either side’s interest in the game itself as a piece of entertainment or art.

Competitive Anti-Fandom is anti-fandom that manifests when two fandoms become anti-fandoms in response to rivalry (Gray, 2019). While this case does not represent anti-fandom as much as it does reactionary fandom, the elements of competitive anti-fandom are relevant as fans of The Last of Us Part II and members of the review bombing community have competitive behaviours and oppositional attitudes towards one another.

Affective Intensity is the degree to which communities have been affected by their fandom, and the degree to which they are compelled to produce affective labour (Just, 2019). The affective intensity of The Last of Us Part II’s review bombing campaign is profound; the sheer number of reviews posted is a significant coordinated effort showing a massive degree of participation by fans.

Alt-Fandom is a form of critical fandom that is politically and culturally opposed to new developments in a franchise they are already fans of (Letizi & Norman, 2023). Letizi & Norman’s work on alt-fans specifically relates to The Last of Us Part II, and their review bombing campaign includes many examples that exhibit the criteria for alt-fandom.

Reviewing the Reviews

As previously mentioned, The Last of Us Part II was reviewed very positively by professional journalists, scoring a 93/100 on Metacritic. These critical reviews are in stark contrast with the user reviews, both in their tendency towards praise and the depth of the reviews. This is in keeping with existing literature about video game reviews: professional reviews use more factual language and are more complex, whereas amateur reviews tend to be more polarized and emotionally driven (Santos et al., 2019). While the critic reviews tend to be extremely positive, they are not polarized in the sense that they exist in some sort of opposition. The contrast in review methodology is indicative of the different purposes of professional and user reviews. Professional reviewers, as their title would imply, review games with a set of professional criteria for the purpose of assessing the quality of the game. Conversely, user reviews are often published as a signifier of fandom. For example, if a user posts a review for a game rating it 10/10 and includes limited or no discussion of the actual contents of the game, the purpose of the post is almost definitely to perform their identity as a fan rather than to critically assess the value of the game.

When observing the reviews of The Last of Us Part II there are many immediately apparent observations. Negative reviews tend towards extremely low numerical values, primarily 0/10 or 1/10. Positive reviews are similarly polarized at 9/10 and 10/10, although there is more variance than among negative reviews. Mixed reviews, which range from 5/10 to 7/10, make up only 5% of the total number of reviews for the game. The ratings are extremely polarized, resulting in a 5.8/10 average rating with very few reviews being numerically close to the average. The number of reviews also draws attention. 85678 positive ratings, 8634 mixed ratings and 68,697 negative ratings amount to 163,009 total user reviews. This is after many have been deleted for violating Metacritic’s terms of service and shows a degree of user interaction that is anomalous on review sites. This massive amount of user engagement is the first obvious sign of significant affective intensity. Abnormal amounts of participation do not exist in a vacuum, they are driven by an affective force that motivates individuals to take part.

Negative reviews for the game often directly acknowledge a political reason for discontent. In figure 1 user “bbs540” discusses nothing of the game’s content. Instead, they complain about the game virtue signalling, being associated with social justice warriors, and being too political. The review also uses conspiratorial language, suggesting that social media and video games featuring the opposed perspectives are a form of brainwashing or propaganda. These complaints are identical to the ones voiced by Gamergate supporters, indicating a correlation of motivation and behaviour. Criticism of the game is being used as a platform to express reactionary perspectives.

Similarly, figures 2 and 3 feature complaints about perceived wokeness, propaganda, and the presence of lesbians in the narrative. The fixation on the game as a site of political conflict is not always stated so plainly in other negative reviews. However, due to the affective polarization of the game’s reviews, many negative reviews implicitly support these perspectives as members of a shared community.

Reactionary fans often fixate on identity. The previous figures show how The Last of Us Part II review bombers have announced their bigotry and dislike of LGBTQA+ individuals. As seen in figure 4, there is also a misogynistic element to their campaign. “Fallenlords” critiques the game’s depiction of women by questioning the plausibility of their participation in the game’s post-apocalyptic world. The community criticizing the game emphasizes how unrealistic it is for women to be depicted as strong or capable. While there are multiple examples of this in the shown review, “Anabolic Abby” stands out. It refers to the muscular character Abby, who is the subject of most of the community’s complaints about women and the game in general. The Last of Us Part II’s detractors view Abby’s body as one of the main reasons why the game is supposedly bad. Criticisms include Abby’s strength being impossible for a woman, unrealistic and immersion-breaking due to the setting of the game, and the incorrect perception that she is transgender (Tomkinson, 2023). The community’s Metacritic reviews evoke an internal cultural mythology that discredits women and minorities.

The negative reviews also present clear intent to disrupt the sales and consumption of the game if possible. Beyond the potential impact of lowering the average review score on perceived value, several of the reviews explicitly direct readers to avoid purchasing the game. In figures 1 and 2 the users directly tell readers not to waste their money on the game. Some negative reviews discuss the game in a way that appears more sincere and analytical, which further supports the goal of damaging the game’s reputation and marketability.

Figure 5 shows user “fedeel”, one of thousands who criticize the game for poor writing, plot inconsistencies and unlikable characters. These may seem to be valid criticisms that are unassociated with the review bombing, but there are some telltale signs that betray the user’s alt-fandom. “Bad writing”, the requirement to play as the antagonist, supposed plot holes or narrative inconsistencies, and the specific mocking of the phrase “revenge is bad” are all commonly seen talking points in the community’s most popular spaces for discussion, especially r/TheLastOfUs2 (Letizi & Norman, 2023). While fedeel’s review appears to be original it is actually a recitation of these talking points, making fedeel a visible member to other community members while performing as a legitimate reviewer to convince non-members to avoid the game.

The use of repeated rhetoric and the inclusion of harsh language also point towards significant affective intensity. Review bombers swear and express significant aggression towards people and ideas they view as their opposition. Sometimes this opposition manifests in a way that is similar to competitive anti-fandom, with reviewers insulting fans of the game (or vice versa, as is discussed later). Other times, anger is targeted towards people involved in the production of the game, like Laura Bailey’s experience with harassment and death threats. A similar form of directed anger is seen in figures 6 and 7, where game director Neil Druckmann is presented as an opponent of the community through character attacks. Community members experience affective intensification through increased consumption of internal rhetoric, which instigates further affective intensification through their textual and enunciative productions in online communal spaces like Metacritic.

Appeals to nostalgia and existing fandom are also central to the community’s review bombing rhetoric. Reviews like fedeel’s and Fallenlords’ both express their disdain for the game in comparison to the original, which they describe as a masterpiece. The user in figure 6 has the username “Thelastofplayer” which likely indicates that they are a fan of the original. By deifying the older text, criticisms of the franchise’s new developments are contrasted against the supposed excellence of the original, granting authority to the reviewer and presenting a tradition or old form that the franchise must return to. This in turn provides consistency between the political ideology driving the community and their stated opinions on the subject of their criticism; social progressiveness is bad and traditional values are good.

Perhaps the most telling behaviour of The Last of Us Part II’s hate community is their disinterest in participating in other game reviewing. When the review bombing began, many of the participants did not have any previous reviews or interaction on Metacritic. Thousands of new accounts were created for the explicit purpose of reviewing the game poorly, after which many were never used again. This indicates an incredible amount of affect on participants. Desire to express membership with the community and to further the fandom’s goals was so significant that it motivated members to participate in a massive cooperative effort on a website they had never visited, making public media reviews for their first time, for a game that many of them had never even played. The reviewers featured in figures 1, 2, 6 and 7 have never posted another review on Metacritic. Their one and only participatory action on the site was to perpetuate the perspectives of their community.

It is important to recognize that not all negative Metacritic reviews of the game are invalid or represent the alt-fandom of The Last of Us Part II. However, the examples in this paper and the majority of the reviews on the website are identifiably informed by the ideas of the alt-fandom. They are fans of the franchise who oppose the new installment and express significant feelings of ownership for the original work. They are conspiratorial and oppose a perceived progressive agenda, supporting alt-right beliefs like misogyny and homophobia. They present themselves as victims, manifesting in the reviews as a feeling that they wasted money. They seek to invoke change that fixes their problems with the text by discrediting the text, its creators and its fans. Lastly, they exist in an online space that allows them to seek validation from other members. These are the five criteria of alt-fandom (Letizi & Norman, 2023).

The Positive Reviews

While affective intensity and polarization are primarily represented by The Last of Us Part II’s alt-fandom, acknowledging the response of fans is another vital component in understanding this event.

In figure 8 we see a positive review. User “Critic10101” rates the game 10/10, the highest possible rating. Like many negative reviews, the contents of the game are not a subject of significant discussion. Instead, the review’s text vaguely gestures towards having a “great story” much in the same vain as figure 4’s general complaint about “bad writing”. The review asks the reader to avoid judging the game based on the statements of others.

The review in figure 9 is also extremely positive. General praise of combat and gameplay without specifics. But what really stands out is the aggressive tone. The review was clearly made with antagonistic intent, attacking the character of the negative reviewers.

Figure 10 is the same as the previous two. Limited discussion of the game itself beyond broad value judgments, a less aggressive but still antagonistic remark towards the negative reviewers, and a 10/10 score.

The most notable thing about these reviews is that they are the only review listed for each account. These users reviewed the game in reaction to the alt-fandom, not as a legitimate review of the game. This indicates that affective polarization has the potential to drive behaviours similar to competitive anti-fandom.

Why Does This All Matter?

This event is a continuation of the kind of reactionary fandom seen with the Gamergate event. However, where Gamergate was a broad movement that harassed creators and journalists from the entire industry, this represents a more focused form of reactionary fandom. By targeting a specific cultural text the community became even more fannish, which increased the affective intensity of their rhetoric through a heightened sense of community and direction. While they failed to prevent the game from reaching financial success, the community’s efforts were extremely well coordinated. Similar movements have been more successful in creating real impacts on socially progressive brands; the Bud Light controversy this year caused the company to backtrack after significant sales losses (Mayer, 2023).

The Last of Us Part II event is an example of the recent emergence of alt-fandom, which is a phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down. Fandoms are growing more politically polarized every year. Alt-fandoms spread harmful ideologies that could eventually pose a serious threat to democracy and vulnerable groups. In the meantime, fan interactions online will become increasingly hostile as politically opposed groups occupy participatory fan spaces as a site of conflict. We are on the precipice of a massive shift in fandoms and audiences everywhere, and what it means to participate in a fandom will be completely different if this continues unchallenged.

Citations

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Flavius, L. (2020, July 8). Metacritic Finally Addresses “Review Bombing” After The Last of Us Part II’s Experience. TheGamer. https://www.thegamer.com/metacritic-address-review-bombing-the-last-of-us-part-ii-experience/

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