Heavy Rain Review

As some of you may be aware, AVForums are intending to add videogame reviews to the site.

Please consider the above an early template of the direction we are currently heading in. We would very much like to hear your thoughts regarding what you'd like to see in the final design/layout, as well as comments about this review.

Thanks. :smashin:
 
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As some of you may be aware, AVForums are intending to add videogame reviews to the site.

Please consider the above an early template of the direction we are currently heading in. We would very much like to hear your thoughts regarding what you'd like to see in the final design/layout, as well as comments about this review.

Thanks. :smashin:
I enjoyed the review a lot. I especially like the final pros and cons section as this forms a nice summary at a glance.

I still maintain that AVF should dispense with scores. This would make reviews stand out from the norm and also result in none of the usual arguments that accompany scores that don't sit within the expected band.

Or if scores have to be a part of the review, keep it simple. Buy It, Try It and Miss It are good enough.

The problem with scores is too many people don't read the text and just go off a rather arbitrary score.

Come on AVF, be brave and ditch scores!
 
I enjoyed the review a lot. I especially like the final pros and cons section as this forms a nice summary at a glance.

I still maintain that AVF should dispense with scores. This would make reviews stand out from the norm and also result in none of the usual arguments that accompany scores that don't sit within the expected band.

Or if scores have to be a part of the review, keep it simple. Buy It, Try It and Miss It are good enough.

The problem with scores is too many people don't read the text and just go off a rather arbitrary score.

Come on AVF, be brave and ditch scores!

Totally agree r.e not scoring. Brilliant idea:thumbsup:
 
Interesting that you should bring it up as the idea of not adding a score has certainly been mooted. The question is, would this make those people who only check scores actually read the reviews or would they still not bother? How far do we go to be inlcusive?

Do you feel the bullet points give an adequate reflection of the overall review and thus their inclusion might offset in some way the need for a total score?
 
Interesting that you should bring it up as the idea of not adding a score has certainly been mooted. The question is, would this make those people who only check scores actually read the reviews or would they still not bother? How far do we go to be inlcusive?

Do you feel the bullet points give an adequate reflection of the overall review and thus their inclusion might offset in some way the need for a total score?
I think scores only tend to matter to younger gamers personally.

I've bought games that have had an average of 9 or 10, only to find them boring, dull and tedious. Mass Effect 1 springs to mind, KOTOR is another (Bioware RPGs just don't do it for me).

I've bought games that have been scored 6's and 7's (RFOM being one) and absolutely adored them.

FFXIII is getting anywhere from 5 to 10 and I'm loving it.

I know what my taste in games is, and a well written review combined with the bullets points I would suggest is more than enough for more mature gamers.

It doesn't matter if the next Bioware RPG of FIFA game gets 20/10, I know they're not my bag and I don't need a score to tell me otherwise. By the same token, the next Res Evil or FF will be bought no matter what even if it's a 1 out of 10, cos they are my bag.

In all honesty, if you're trying to attract those who are primarily interested in a score, I think you're onto a losing battle. Why would a gamer come here rather than Eurogamer, IGN, Metacritic and so on? There's enough places out there to get a score.

I think you have a opportunity to present reviews written by AV enthusiasts for AV enthusiasts, No one does that; most if not all reviews are written for gamers by gamers (usually with a healthy slice of fanboy baiting).

To quote my great-granddaddy; "we don't need no stinking scores" *

I'm an AV enthusiast dammit and I don't need a score to tell me what to buy! :D :smashin:

* I might have made this bit up.
 
Great review and I also agree with the idea of leaving out scores.

The bullet points summary at the end works well too.

Good work!:smashin:
 
Problem with scores is that reviewers start having to put up silly scores to get attention to the actual written review. I only use scores to check if a game is fundamentally flawed.

Maybe the bullet points then a simple statement like you would get with a film. i.e. Summer Blockbuster, Standard action flick fare, Poor mans starwars etc.?


R.e. how inclusive to be, personally I think being too inclusive puts people off.
 
All good points, thanks chaps. :smashin:

So, would bullet points and maybe a box with a "If you liked X, try this" style recommendation be more suited to giving an overall view of whether a game would be to your liking as opposed to a final score?

I know i tend to gravitate towards games with a similarity to something i've enjoyed previously, so i can see there is a very real argument for leaving out scoring entirely.
 
Yeah, "if you liked xxxx try this" or maybe "buy it / try it / avoid it" would work imho if some sort of summary is needed...
 
I'd prefer a score overall I think. Sure, I read the whole thing before getting to the bottom and seeing the score, but I think you need to somehow show 'how good the game is', in your opinion, and scoring is the best way to do it.

Generally I liked the format, thought clicky big pictures should be in there. I think perhaps not having annoying subtitles like 'Am I bovvered?' would be good. That smacks of (bad) tabloid journalism and is rife in the gaming industry, much to my disgust.

A good read though as I said and it would be good to have some more and varied AVF reviews, always enjoy reading them on various subjects, whether I agree or not :)
 
I would prefer a scoring system than having to read a whole essay on a game.

Yes i am lazy :cool:
 
So that's a few votes for scoring, a few against and one definite no to tabloid style paragraph titles (something i really like in articles i read, along with sarcastic captions :rolleyes:).

Regards the pictures, they'll probably be more akin to the Blu-ray reviews in the final format, i.e if they're of sufficient size they'll be enlargeable via a click and perhaps have the text wrapped around.

To those who prefer a score, do you also favour scoring individual categories?

This is something i've always been pretty set against as i feel it inevitably leads to some games scoring lower despite being technically perfect. i.e. Tetris would never get the same graphical score as a next gen game, but outlining its presentational style in words allows us to simply highlight how adept it is at conveying an addictive puzzle quality without having to assess whether it ranks as a paragon of AA, texture mapping etc.
 
I quite like overall score, that way you avoid bias towards games with great graphics as you said.

Just my opinion on the subtitles, it's why I rad the Times, not the Sun. If I want funny (or sarcy), ill watch Zero Punctuation ;)
 
To those saying they prefer to see scores, won't the gazillions of other reviews out there with scores be enough for you?

I strongly feel AVF have a chance to do something different otherwise what value do the AVF reviews have over those on Eurogamer or IGN?
 
I quite like overall score, that way you avoid bias towards games with great graphics as you said.

Just my opinion on the subtitles, it's why I rad the Times, not the Sun. If I want funny (or sarcy), ill watch Zero Punctuation ;)

Ah, see i gave up on The Times when it became a tabloid. ;)

I still think there's room for puns in titles etc without it having to be seen as redtop material - Eurogamer in particular do it well.

Zero Punctuation is an excellent example of a funny review, but it's NSFW and has to be watched, so i don't think we're in any danger of overlapping due to a few jokey titles.

To those saying they prefer to see scores, won't the gazillions of other reviews out there with scores be enough for you?

I strongly feel AVF have a chance to do something different otherwise what value do the AVF reviews have over those on Eurogamer or IGN?

Fair point, differentiating ourselves in some way, in an already overcrowded field, will be key.
 
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Fair enough, I just thought the titles seemed at odds with the content, which (as I said), I enjoyed :)

I guess I have a thing that gaming journalism is never considered serious journalism, it would be nice to have a well respected place like AVF pulling up the standards. There's still place for quips and puns but clever, rather than silly perhaps?

Scores are a difficult subject. I think considering AVForums scores everything else, it would be odd not to score in that respect, although perhaps the hardware is more 'score-able'. How do you then get accross an opinion on what you think is a great game? Awards, also like everyone else? A conclusion, the same as many others? Some people have suggested: Buy it, Dont buy it, Worth a punt etc. That's nothing more than a three tier scoring system?

As I said, it's a debate lots of sites have, I had it on my own one when I was more involved. I think most readers expect some form of score, not having one may turn some away?

I'll shut up now lol
 
All very valid points, so please don't shut up. :)

As you say, scoring hardware is to a certain extent quantifiable, as with the correct equipment many variables can be measured.

With regards how we get across whether something is good or not, i'd hope the review itself would be sufficient. For those impatient, i think skipping to the summary/final thoughts section wouldn't be too arduous.

If people really have an aversion to text then the bullet points/ "try this if you liked X" box should give them all the info they need.
 
Yes it would all be avoided if people could be bothered to read a good review wouldn't it? I think that for well written ones, it's what the writer deserves.

Hmm perhaps some sort of chart then perhaps? A bit mandatory but you could make it game-context dependent?

For example: FPS (MW2)

A brief summary/conclusion.

Accuracy/control - Excellent, precise and full of 'weight'.
Graphics - Good, but not ground-breaking.
Single-player core gameplay - Excellent in places with huge set pieces, lacking voice acting in others.
Multiplayer - involving and fun with excellent progression. Lacking good match-making.
Replayability - Very high due to excellent multiplayer content

You could tailor your points to each genre and then say if graphics are irrelevant or not in your opinion.
 
Hmm i see what you're getting at, but all those would be covered in the +/- bullet points anyway, it would just be structured thus:

Good
* Excellent controls, precise and full of 'weight'.
* Good graphics
* Excellent single player campaign with huge set pieces
* Involving and fun multi-player
* Solid longevity due to multi-player content

Bad
* Some single player sequences lacking in voice acting
* Poor match making in multi-player

I think if we were to try and work out specific criteria for every genre of game it'd not only complicate the system, but also be extremely inflexible for new, more avante garde material like flower.
 
Yeah that's a good format and part of what I ended up agreeing on (as I said I discussed this on my own site). We chose 'Good', 'Mediocre' and 'Bad'. pretty much the same thing.
 
Any chance you could PM me the link to your site and the discussion you mention? I'd like to see what kind of format you ended up going with as it sounds like we might be on the same page so to speak. Plus it'd be good to see what other arguments were put forward. :smashin:
 
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Any chance you could PM me the link to your site and the discussion you mention? I'd like to see what kind of format you ended up going with as it sounds like we might be on the same page so to speak. Plus it'd be good to see what other arguments were put forward. :smashin:

*cough* :)
 
Soz mate, been busy at work ;)

I don't have the discussion thread link as it's in the mod area of the site. I recall some sort of user consultation but it looks to be archived :shrugs:

I'll PM you a link to a review.
 

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