Diehard Gamefan Reviewing Standards
Greetings. I’m Bebito Jackson, Editor, writer, PR Manager and general overall shwell guy. I’m here to provide you with a hopefully brief explanation of Diehard Gamefan’s Reviewing Standards.
Despite that this is of course all subjective, our main goal is to provide as informative, honest and unbiased of a review as possible. We hope to serve you, the reader, first and foremost rather than to pander to game companies or industry conventions. Our second objective is to enjoy ourselves and to hopefully pass that along to you as well.
Understand that our reviews are freeform so you’ll see a variety of styles from writer to writer. Some go into long extreme detail delving into specifics for each and every part of a game. Others give you what they deem to be the most pertinent aspects of a game you’ll need to know in order to make an informed buying decision if you so choose to use our reviews as a guide in that regard. We have a variety of styles to accommodate a variety of mindsets and readers. But one thing you will never see from any of us is a paragraph long un-backed opinion with a number attached to it.
Something that is consistent across the board is that at the end of the review we’ll provide a one or two word breakdown for each of the following ten categories:
Story / Modes
This rating is for the game’s narrative, but only if applicable. There are lots of good games without stories. Tetris for example. In those cases, and also in sports games, the story would equate to the Franchise, Season, or any other Modes the game provides.
Graphics
Here is where we measure the visual quality as well as the overall artistic direction of a game. Basically, how pretty is it?
Sound
The “Sound” rating would cover any music, voice acting, and overall audio design… or lack thereof.
Control / Gameplay
This would cover play mechanics, level design, and the overall “feel” of the controls and gameplaying experience.
Replayability
Is this a game you’ll play over and over again even years down the road? Or is the game something you buy, play once or twice and never play again? Note that multiple endings, different paths in a game, unlockables, extensive multiplayer features, online play, and non-linear plotlines enhance this aspect of gaming.
Balance
This may be the hardest of all the categories to understand. Basically, is the game even in all aspects? Does the difficultly level increase at a steady pace with each level, or is the game super ultra easy for 90% of it and then suddenly the last boss is mucho psychotically tough? As well, is the game priced correctly for the amount you get? For example paying $50 for a game that can be beat it in an hour. The opposite is true as well. If a game features crap loads of filler in it that make you waste time just so they can increase the amount of time it takes you to beat the game, then that would also be taken into consideration.
Originality
Perhaps the hardest one to judge. Are there drastic improvements or innovations to gameplay? Is it a sequel? How unique is the overall experience in plot and concept?
Addictiveness
Not to be confused with Replayablity. Here we rate how much you WANT to keep playing a game. Is it something you can play for long periods of time or is it something you are not compelled to dive into as long or as often, no matter how bad or good the overall game may be.
Appeal Factor
Appeal Factor simply is: How well will this game appeal to a large audience of fans, and not just a niche group. Will it sell? Will it be an overlooked gem? Or will it be overlooked altogether regardless of reasons or overall quality.
Miscellaneous
This rating is for whatever the reviewer covers in the back of their minds which may or not be explained. If it’s an RPG… the battle system. If it’s a date sim, how logical the answers are. If it’s real time strategy, how decent it flows. Things of that nature.
The Final Rating
After taking all of these ten components into consideration the game is given a final rating. Again, basically a simple phrase or adjective (those of which we’ll get to in a moment) that describes our general take on the game as a whole. As already stated, reviews are subjective but hopefully this final rating will aid your understanding of a game when taken into consideration with the actual written review.
The Rating Scale
For each of the aforementioned aspects above we’ll provide a one or two word verbal synopsis using the following evaluations which are self-explanatory. Going in descending order these are our ratings:
• UNPARALLELED
• CLASSIC
• GREAT
• VERY GOOD
• GOOD
• ENJOYABLE
• ABOVE AVERAGE
• DECENT
• MEDIOCRE
• BELOW AVERAGE
• POOR
• PRETTY POOR
• BAD
• VERY BAD
• DREADFUL
• AWFUL
• WORTHLESS
Short Attention Span Summary
Again, we do hope you’ll pay more attention to the content of our main review. But we do recognize there are some who want to cut to the chase. To accommodate we’ll give you a concise overall rundown of the game that we tongue in cheekly label the Short Attention Span Summary. If you are looking for some sort of Final Word look no further than here.
You’ll notice that there is no numeral scores involved. In this we hope to be an alternative. The whole point of what we’re doing is to try and think outside the box and have fun with ourselves. Many times reviewing is taken far too seriously. So rather than to nitpick and quibble over a number, we’d much rather provide an honest, entertaining, and hopefully informative experience.
Thanks for joining me.
Cheers!
Current List of Friendly Publisher & Developer Affiliates:
Aksys Games
Atari
Atlus USA
Atropos Studios
Crave Entertainment
Codemasters
D3 Publisher of America
Destineer
Dreamcatcher
dtp entertainment AG
Empire Interactive
GameWare
Got Game Entertainment
Legacy Interactive
Mastiff
Microsoft Game Studios
Midway
Namco Bandai Games
Natsume
Nintendo of America
NIS America
OGPlanet
Paradox Interactive
SNK Playmore
Splitfish
The Adventure Company
Ubisoft
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
XSEED Games
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