The Grading Chart

Music—

This category covers the music of the game. Fairly straight forward. Was it distracting or was it good. Was it good enough to make me go out and buy it?

1.) Annoying and Distracting

2.) Just Distracting

3.)Not too bad, doesn’t add or take away from the game.

4.) Great, really lends to the game.

5.) Did John Williams or Howard Shore write this piece? Where Can I get the cd or download the mp3’s?

Graphics—

This covers just the graphics of the game and any glitches they may have. Did one area look great while another sucked? Do characters remember to blink? Did the alien actually look scary or did I laugh the first time I saw it?

1.) Wait is that pink square representing me or the enemy, What? What the hell is that green square supposed to be?

2.) I think I played this on the Nintendo.

3.) Yeah I remember this it was on the Super Nintendo.

4.) Do you remember the Dreamcast?

5.) This came out for the PS1 right?

6.) Last Generations graphics.

7.) Yea they started to use this generations graphics capability.

8.) Nice.

9.) Damn that is impressive.

10.) Amazing the graphics really immerse you in the game.

Game Play: Fun Vs. Frustrating—

Obviously, this is the biggest and most important category. Did the game live up to the type of game that it is supposed to be? Games can fail in most of the other categories and if they do well in this one still be worth the purchase. (The Atari 2600 is proof of this.)

1.) I think I just lost 5 minutes of my life. (I say five minutes as I actually had to stop playing after that for fear that my gaming system would kick my arse for playing such a game.) This is a game that I put down after 5 minutes and will never go back to.

2.) Why the heck did I just play this? Chances are I didn’t finish this game either due to some really irritating game feature or too many bugs.

3.) Well I am glad that the __________ didn’t suck on this. Ok, I probably did finish this one but I had to trudge through it. It was more like work than fun to finish it.

4.) WHY WHY WHY!!!!???? This game could have been worth the money or at least average in my opinion but they did something to keep themselves from getting there.

5.) I don’t feel ripped off. I doubt it will go back into the system after I have beaten it once. This one found my shelf after one play through and has sat there since. It may have been fun to play through once, but it isn’t something that I want to go back to.

6.)Yeah, I’ll get back to this one when I have nothing else to do. I beat it, I liked it, but there are better games to replay. I might go back to this one when I have friends that get it and want to play it.

7.) Definitely worth seeing through to the end. This one probably took a week or less to beat because I was in to it.

8.) Worth the play through multiple times. My first play through probably took a week. My second probably a few days. Contemplating my 3^rd or 4^th play through now.

9.) Non stop fun. I can play this one over and over and never get tired. Until the upgraded sequel comes out this one stays off the shelf and near the system.

10.) I couldn’t put this one down, beat it in ____ hours of straight play. Twice. Damn I’m thirsty…and tired…off to bed. No food, no sleep, whatever drink someone brings me. Days off from work. Whatever it takes I have to finish this game and see the ending, it is awesome!!!

Story—

Is there a story for every game? Yes, it may not always be deep, but in today’s games there are very few exceptions. Is a story necessary for a game to be good? No, but is it necessary for a game to be great? Yes.

1.) What?! I feel insulted.

2.) Eh.

3.) Classic story, nothing new. Good vs. Evil, Guy meets girl, girl is an extraterrestrial alien assassin, etc etc.

4.) Great story, a few twists and things I didn’t see coming.

5.) Rich, deep story that makes you want to get at more of it.

Bonus—

Wait this is my favorite game and you didn’t give it a bonus point, why, it had _______. Okay, seriously, these reviews are nothing more than my opinion. I have likes and dislikes just like you and this time I just didn’t see it warranting a bonus point. Seriously, these are going to be rare.

Every game has a hook that they try and get you tied into to make their game fun. Most of that will be covered in the Game Play section, but occasionally a hook or feature will be so good that I will have to dole out a bonus point. These will be rare, so when I give one, you may actually want to take a look at why.