In Defence of Metacritic for Video Games

Metacritic attracts a lot of criticism from various sources. How valid are those criticisms and why does Metacritic end up having so much apparent market power?

Metroid Prime - Wikipedia

Alien 911 - Metacritic

Metacritic Will 'Evolve' To Fight Against Review Bombing - Insider

The Last Day Defense - Metacritic

Space Run Galaxy - Metacritic

The 50 Highest-Rated Video Games of All Time

JARS - Metacritic

Power of Defense - Metacritic

Zombies Rising xXx - Metacritic

Timekeepers Defense - Metacritic

Yet another tower defence - Metacritic

Growl - Metacritic

Last-Hit Defense - Metacritic

Larcenauts - Metacritic