CaptainD’s Guide to Writing a Very Helpful Game Review
Aug 09 '04
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CaptainD’s Guide to Writing a Very Helpful Game Review
These are the subheadings I use in my own game reviews - I’m not suggesting that you copy them (though if you want to I have no objection), but I am going to explain under each one why these are the things I’ve chosen to write about in all of my game reviews. This should give you an idea of what needs to be covered in a good games review – whether or not you actually use subheadings (that’s just personal taste – in my case, it reflects indoctrination from reading computer magazines for years!…)
OVERVIEW
I like to always start off with a brief overview of the game in question and maybe a bit of history regarding either the game / genre / software house. (The history bit is very optional!)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
What was your initial reaction to the game? Of course this may well be completely different from your view of it after several hours’ playing time, but a good review should really include both perspectives (the latter of which comes through in the rest of your review). For the potential buyer this is very useful as it helps them to know if it’s a game they’ll enjoy immediately or if they may take a little while before they actually enjoy playing it.
INTERFACE
Listing all the commands and their keyboard shortcuts is… stupid. (Unless maybe there are only about three commands in the whole game.) But some general info such as whether it’s mouse controlled, whether joysticks are supported, how well the controls work (whether the character responds quickly / sluggishly to your controls?), if the inventory handling in adventure games is up to scratch, and the like. Also how easy the controls were to get used to is helpful.
AESTHETICS
Graphics – it may sound obvious, but take into account the system you’re playing the game on and how old the game is. How much do the graphics enhance / detract from the gaming experience? (For PC games, you should include somewhere in the review at least basic system requirements, unless it’s a really old game that any modern PC would run easily.)
Sound – how good was the sound quality? Where any of the samples clipped (cutting off before they were properly finished)? Did the sound effects suit the game / add to the mood? Was the voice acting good?
DIFFICULTY
The relative difficulty of a game can be a little tricky to assess, but if you think you found a game easy because you play a lot of that genre of game (or vice versa) than tell the reader that - it will stop them from having a false conception of the game’s difficulty level. If there are multiple difficulty levels, naturally you would want to mention that.
WILL YOU STILL BE PLAYING IT IN 6 MONTHS?
It’s not just the challenge of the game but also the replay factor that counts here. Is it the sort of game you’d go back to again and again? More importantly, is it the sort of game that you’d play again after you’d completed it? Or are you likely to get frustrated and give up?
OVERALL
Having looked at all of the individual facets of the game, how does it come together as a whole? How does it compare to similar games? Given the opportunity to do it all again knowing what you know now, would you still buy the game?
I then give a rundown of various features of the game – graphics, sound, playability, longevity, replayability, value for money, overall – with a rating (%) and a sentence or two covering my overall thoughts about that facet of the game. Again, there’s no reason for you to do the same thing, it’s just an idea, and some people have commented that they like that approach.
Whichever method of reviewing games you use, find one that suits you. The things I’ve mentioned above are pretty much essential to any good game review, but by no means do they represent a complete list of the things a great game review would contain. However, I’ll let you find out for yourself – reading some my recommended authors is a good place to start if you don’t already have some favourite writers.
Recommended Reviewers
I know I already mentioned him as one of my favourite Movie Reviewers, but I have to mention Rock_On. He’s the no.1 Most Popular Author in Games… and there’s a very good reason for that.
And okay, I know I’m always having public arguments with him on epinions and I think his taste in movies is… questionable, but Carl_Lazarevic’s game reviews are superb. (I hate myself for saying it… but it’s true.)
Another game reviewer I really enjoy reading is PostHumanBeing. He has a good sense of humour and a great writing style.
As always, there are other great writers I could mention, but I’m going to stick with those three for now.
My Best Game Review
Probably Discworld:Noir or The Monkey Island Archives, though I’m happy with most of my game reviews.
My Worst Game Review
Undoubtedly NASCAR 3 - I was so disappointed with the game I ended up writing a lousy review of it!
Related Links
I’ve also written guides to writing very helpful Movie and Book reviews.
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