While I agree with a fair amount of this review, it reveals to me a flaw in Kotaku's rating system (maybe not because of this specific review, but because this is one of the first "No" reviews I've actually read on the site).
Reviews are subjective and everyone, including Kotaku, knows this. So appending a number that summarizes the amount of subjective pleasure the reviewer experienced makes sense to me, even though it's not ideal. But saying "NO, you shouldn't play this game" completely betrays that appreciation of subjectivity and says "I was frustrated and bored by elements X, Y, and Z and I am overly certain that you will be too, so nobody should play this game."
Obviously, the reader can still go through the review and decide whether the criticisms resonate with their personal tastes and tolerances, just like with a numbered score. It just rubs me the wrong way that "NO you shouldn't play this game" is a possible conclusion for a game that clearly has
some merits despite its problems. Another way of looking at it is that it's easy to reconcile someone having a "6" experience with the game and another person have a "9" experience. It's harder for me to take "No, shouldn't play" seriously in a world with multiple conflicting viewpoints.