Gaming Rubric

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Hello, all!

My name is Keith Sayer, and I am an avid gamer and student.  I would like to begin blogging to share some of my experiences in gaming with the world.  I find that when I am considering buying a game, I often rely on good reviews to decide whether I will purchase it or not.

That is why I started “Simply Game Reviews,” my own gaming blog where I review games against a list of categories that I think are important.  My problem with many review sites is that they have too few categories; I find it helpful to know precisely what area the reviewer has a problem with or really loves so that I can decide if that area of gameplay is important to me.  For example, a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game might be rated quite low in graphics but very high in replayability; if a player can’t stand older looking graphics then they shouldn’t play it, but if that is not a problem then they might really love it.

So I decided to make my reviews based on a 100 point scale with 10 categories with a maximum rating of 10 each.  These are the categories followed by a few questions I ask myself about the game as I prepare to give a rating:

  1. Graphics/Visual Effect
Total War Shogun 2 on highest graphics settings is a triumph in graphics/visual effects.
    • How good the game looks compared to similar products on the same system
    • Do the effects add to or distract from the game?
  1. Story Content
Storytelling is an important aspect of any title, especially RPG’s like Mass Effect.  The ability to draw the player into the world of the game’s story is a clear marker of how well the story was achieved.
    • How interesting is the plot?
    • Does it draw the player in?
  1. Story Pacing
Final Fantasy games are known for very long cut-scenes that many gamers feel interrupt the pacing of the story.
    • Does the story ever drag?
    • Does it seem too abrupt?
  1. Gameplay
Starcraft 2, although similar in core gameplay mechanics to Starcraft 1, has many interesting and unique missions in the campaign that offer fun, challenging tasks such as this mission where the player needs to reach a certain mineral count while simultaneously fighting off Zerg and avoiding lava flows.  The experience is challenging and fun.
    • Looking for originality and fun
    • This is what the player actually does
  1. User Interface/Controls
The 2C game Men of War is interesting and challenging, but its interface makes it very difficult for the user to get into the game.  Learning to deal with the counterintuitive interface is one of the games biggest challenges, but aside from this it is a good game.
    • How the user interacts with the game
    • Is it intuitive or counterintuitive?
    • Do the controls interfere with the user experience?
  1. Soundtrack
The game that convinced me that soundtrack is essential to player immersion was Bethesda’s Morrowind, which featured a beautiful soundtrack recorded by the London Philharmonic, my first experience with live orchestral soundtracks in a game.
    • Lack of repetition
    • Good environment creation.
  1. Replayability
High replayability gives a gamer more bang for the buck.  Games like Civilization and Total War are so free form that each campaign feels like a new game.
    • Simply, how much will the user want to play it again.
  1. Completeness
One of the most annoying thing for a gamer is this card in a NEW game that requires the download of DLC.  EA is especially bad at this, most blatantly with the Mass Effect 3 online pass, which requires anyone who bought Mass Effect 3 from a used store to pay $10 to EA to access multiplayer! Extortion!
    • Looking here at a lack of bugs
    • Also, does the game seem complete without DLC or does the DLC offered add features that seem necessary to the base game?
  1. Support
Developers that provide good patches are probably interested in supporting your product.
    • Here looking at the presence of adequate patching, official websites, and support for multiplayer if applicable to the game.
  1. Uniqueness
When it came out, Little Big Planet was groundbreaking in terms of gameplay and originality.  No one had seen anything quite like it, with its cute backdrops and nearly endless possibility for user creation.
    • Here we’re looking at whether the game broke new ground.
    • A sequel could conceivably be a 10 here, but it would have to add significantly to the original.
    • I’m also considering how unlike the game is to anything else currently on the market.  A good score here generally indicates there is not a game currently being sold that is like this one.
The Intangible Rating:
  • I recognize that many games may have one very poor aspect of them according to my categories.  For this reason, I have given myself an “intangible” rating, which can range from -10-+10.  This rating will allow me to recognize that sometimes one aspect of gameplay will completely make up for a very poor showing in one or more of the categories.  Likewise, a game might conceivably just be much less fun than the unaltered rating might indicate.  The intangible will give me the ability to really think about the overall game and its effect rather than focusing on a few weak or strong points.  I think this intangible rating will give me a better ability to rate the game fairly.