How I Do A Game Review

For reviews of a game and for me to play a game I have a set of standards I judge the game by. I'm very picky as a female gamer. In my oppinion very few games actually deserve an actuall  A, due to a lack of strong graphics or gameplay. In addition depending on the genre of the game I will judge it on how accuratly it reflects said genre.

For graphics my oppinion varries from game to game, I take into consideration points such as game release/development date and year. Company that develops the game is also a big factor in my graphics judgement. In this day and age there is no excuse for not so steller graphics; with technologies such at the Steam Engine, Geo-Mod Technolgy, and advancments in CGI in general. These technologies allow game developers to take games to the next level and their graphics should follow suit. One of my biggest pet preves with graphics is when the speaking doesn't match the movement of the characters mouth, or even facial expressions. Now I understand developing a game is very difficult and time consuming, but I have seen several PS2 games with far better graphics then the games of today. In addition to the chracters graphics I also take note of the surrounding graphics as well. By this I mean if you are in a land based game, it should look like you are in the mountains or in a desert, not in some two toned flat plain. If your in a city there should be builings of all shapes and sizes, that actually loook like a building and not your two years olds craft project. In addition I hate when movment of items such as fabric, grass, or trees are completely unrealistic. By this  I mean if there is a gust of wind the leaves should russle, the grass should sway slightly, and the fabric should gently flow with the direction of the wind. I can't stand how if your character moves and they have a dress on and the fabic stays compeltely still. Again I understand developing a game is an extremely tedious task, but I make the point of technological advaments once more.

Gameplay for me is a massive selling point or a reason to avoid the game completely. This is by far my biggest and most strict factor on deciding whether to not only play the game but also give it a good review. Gameplay for me is broken down into several sub catagories which include; how easy the game is to play, controls of the game, story/plot development, character development, ability to move through game and missions. Each catagory has its own set of guidelines. How easy the game is to play is based on the genre of the game and the target audience. For example if you are targeting young kids then the game should have easy to follow instructions and and easy to understand levels. Controls of the game would be everything from how easy it is to understand the controls, ability for a newbie to actually use the controls. In addition if the game is a series, and the developers suddenly change the controls of the game, players have to relearn a whole new set of controls, which sadly was the case with the newer NHL games. Story/plot development would only take place in games where it is relevant such as Fable . Just like any good written story the game should have a beginning, middle, and an end. Also successful unpredictable twists to the plot is always a plus in my book. Character development is another relavant but also big factor to me. If the game for example is something along the lines of the Bioshock series, I want to get to know who the character I am playing as is, what got him to where he is, and facts along those lines. Ability to move through games and missions includes everything from the difficulty of the game/missions, length of time to complete each mission, if mission reflects game correctly. Assasains Creed is one of the games in which ability to move through game isn't what it should be. It takes far to long to get through a mission because you constantly must hide or you must fight.

In reference to my whole genre concept. For example if you are doing a military based game it had beter be extremely realistic. By this I mean an M16 should look like an M16, it should soung like gun fire not some rattat pitter patter.  The Uniforms should look like a uniform, if they are a Naval Officer then put them in an Officers Unifrom, if they are a Marine then use a Marine Uniform.  If you are in a specific war the dates and places should be correct. Another example would be if the game is futuristic it should fit the whole futuristic feel. Objects in the game should look very modern and out of this world. Finally the last example would be if the game were something like the Simpsons game then it had better be funny.