I usually check reviews to get an idea of how the game works and whether it will fit my style of enjoyment. This usually allows me to avoid some level of disappointment. In the case of FFXIII, I probably will play the game despite the fact that I'm probably one of the more outspoken detractors for the game but in reality I am more concerned with the design choices and can't say it will effect my complete view of the title.

If I was going into XIII without reviews, I would probably be very disappointed when I suddenly discovered the extreme linearity and lack of proper dungeons and towns and would probably walk away from the game much like I did FFVII and X but because I know about them ahead of time, the disappointment won't hit as hard and I can instead focus on what the game does offer.

A recent good example I've seen was FF Dissidia, I have ran into a few people in the forums and outside who were terribly disappointed in the title cause the combat system wasn't like what they thought it was going to be (something like Tekken or SSBB) or were terribly disappointed of the lack of a 30+ hour epic story. I followed the game closely and discovered how the system was going to work and though I never had hopes for the plot I discovered it was about what I would imagine. Basically in the end, I feel I had a better picture of what the game was going to be like and thus was able to enjoy it cause I didn't have some naive hyped up expectations for the title. Of anything, Dissidia still surprises me with the content it does possess.

In terms of actual Review scores... I never really look at them cause as has been stated, all too often reviewers give out criminally high scores for games that sometimes don't deserve it. I remember how Crisis Core's reviews always had several complaints about its lack of difficulty and its sub par gameplay and lack of mission variety but then the reviewer would gush over how awesome it was to be back in Midgard and Nibelheim and say the story is so awesome (it isn't) that the game kept getting 9 and 10's despite the review being filled with complaints against the title. So yeah... I would say review scores should be left in the past cause they no longer serve a proper purpose.