I think that’s inevitably the case because reviewers take an entire game into the equation when giving a score—the average gamer does not. A gamer can give a score based entirely on how fun a game is or how beautiful it is. If an official review outlet ever did that, they would immediately be laughed out of the room. Reviews are always subjective, but user reviews may entirely rate something up for one reason or down entirely for a reason (e.g., “this game sucks! No matchmaking mode, 1/10”).
I worry, frankly. The obsession with critical reception means some great games will never get sequels. I would also like to know how Sony weights critical reception as opposed to commercial reception: if a game scores poorly but sells very well, will they kill any hope for a sequel, or take time to refine it for a higher score and try again? If a game scores well, but sells poorly, what’s that going to do?
My biggest concern here is that if the score is a very strong indicator of Sony’s sequel strategy, hype is going to be a dangerous factor.