HOW TO BE A REVIEWER

RMN seems aquibble with contentious reviews of late. I aim to fix that. Grandiose? Perhaps. You may or may not agree with the following points - that is for you to or to not determine. Feel free to post counter-points. Or not.


Reviews in Review

By their very nature, reviews are subjective. There is no such thing as a definitively "good" game, nor is there any such thing as a definitively "bad" game. When you read a review, you are reading some of the reviewer's genuine thoughts, and with those, you are free to determine whether or not you'd enjoy the subject game. With that in mind, let's examine some key elements you ought to consider when writing a review.

>>> For you to actually review a game, you need to have played the game. I know this seems like a pretty basic thing, but before you set out to review a game it is a good idea to have given the game a fair play.

>>> After you play the game, formulate a specific opinion in one sentence. Your job as reviewer is to give an opinion of the game. You should be able to state that opinion succinctly in a single sentence - much like a thesis for an essay.

>>> Create a good lead. There are basic writing tips that apply to most forms of writing. One of those tips is to grab your reader immediately. You want your reader to be interested in what you have to say.

>>> Give a synopsis. Recap briefly, but don't give away anything big. A player will largely decide to play a game based on what they perceive to be the game's content. Enlighten them with your review.

>>> Back up your main opinion with specifics. For your opinion to bear any weight, you must justify it. Comment on specific details to support your opinion.

>>> Be honest in your appraisal. A review unclouded by personal bias or questionable motivation carries more clout.

>>> Be interesting. From lead to ending paragraph, make the review engaging, using metaphors, analogy, specific adjectives and adverbs, or even screenshots. But also be concise. A review isn't a place for long diatribes or flowery prose.


Metrics

A suggested use of the current 5-star metric:

5.0: "Outstanding"
A game that finds itself with a full score is truly remarkable. It is well presented, has enjoyable gameplay, has very few flaws or drawbacks and in general is just a great gaming experience.
Five stars out of five doesn't mean that it is the greatest game and no game could be better. It does mean that it's one of the very best you can download in the opinion of the writer of the review.

4.0 to 4.5: "Exceptional"
This score identifies a game that did most everything right and was a lot of fun to play. There may be one or two annoying traits that kept it from a full score but that doesn't take anything critical away from the game. Games with a 4 or 4.5 would come across as highly recommended to play.

2.5 to 3.5: "Average"
These games are good and can provide a good playing experience. However, faults in this range are more noticeable and do detract from the experience. Games that fall into this range are typically worth checking out, especially if the game style or content suits your RPG preferences.

1.0 to 2.0: "Poor"
The general experience from a game in this category is generally a poor one, but with a few redeeming qualities. The problems in this range tend to mount faster and more repeatedly and detract heavily from the game. While a select few may enjoy the game, most wouldn't.

0.5: "Terrible"
The "Don't Play This Game" score. Games in this range have more negatives than positives and just don't provide a good enough playing experience to justify the time spent downloading it.


The Game Component Breakdown

Before moving on to scoring individual game components, let's contrast game reviews with movie reviews (or books or any passive media). In reviews for movies you won't see a bunch of numerical scores ranking the film's "special effects" and "acting" and "sound technology" and "plot" on an arbitrary scale of one to ten. In games, however, such a breakdown in components actually makes some sense. It adds a qualitative aspect to something that is an intensely personal affair.

There is one variable that emphasizes the subjective nature of game reviews more than any other: interactivity. Gamers interact with their subject matter to a far greater degree than in other media. Different players bring different experiences, expectations, preferences and skill to the table when they start up a game. Thus a game reviewer will often strive to be more objective in their review in order to convey their opinions on the game. A breakdown in gameplay, story, graphics, sound, and characters (and other categories) can prove useful!


So now that we're all better reviewers, let us all put our review hats on an review some games!