IGN's Starfield reviewer confessed in paragraph 12. We read the whole thing.

A 7/10 for Starfield is the review equivalent of telling your friend their new haircut is 'interesting.' You're not lying, but you're not telling the truth either. Ryan McCaffrey spent 50 hours in a game where fast travel is the main gameplay loop and came back to tell us the galaxy was 'expansive.' Brother, my desktop wallpaper folder is also expansive. That doesn't make it a good game.

The review reads like it was written by someone who kept glancing nervously at the Bethesda PR rep standing behind them. Every criticism comes pre-wrapped in three compliments, like a passive-aggressive sandwich. 'The exploration could be better, but WOW look at this inventory management!' Nobody in human history has been excited about inventory management, Ryan. Nobody.

The most telling line is buried in paragraph twelve: 'I found myself wanting to love it more than I actually did.' That's not a review, that's a therapy session. A 7/10 that reads like a 5/10 wearing a 9/10's jacket. The score was clearly negotiated in a boardroom where someone whispered 'remember, they buy ads.'

I give this review a 3/10. It told the truth accidentally, like a politician at a hot mic.