Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: 12/27/09 to 1/2/10 --

It's the beginning of a New Year, so why not get the first RotW of the year done....before the second one of the year becomes the first because of me procrastinating for too long! And besides, it's better to judge reviews at work than do work at work!

The rules haven't changed. Only one eligible review per person (looking at you Schultz and Suskie, as all the reviews you both submitted this week effectively doubled my workload this week). Also, no staff people allowed to participate in things like this. Winner owes me a bottle of Captain Morgan RIGHT F'IN NOW! Yep. That's all the rules. Same ones as always.

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THIRD PLACE: The Saboteur (PS3) by true

Strong week of reviews this week. I've done many weeks where this review would have a legit shot of winning, but this week, it was third with a bullet. You did a strong job of illustrating the plot of what should have been a strong game, but then mentioned all these things that undermine the enjoyment factor. An annoying hero who never seems to grow as a person combined with shoddy play control makes this seem like something I'll never look to play. I'd say the one thing keeping it below the second and first place reviews is that this one does feel like it runs a bit long. I'm not going to go as far as to use the dreaded "PC CLOCK" term, but while you were describing all the ways in which the gameplay fails, I was definitely getting a bit fidgety by the time I was into the fourth good-sized paragraph describing some way in which a facet of the gameplay didn't meet expectations. Still, this is a good review deserving of credit.

SECOND PLACE: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) by phediuk

I really liked this review. I've read a few reviews for this game over the past month or two, being that it is one of those "NEXT BIG THING!" games and would have to rate this as towards the upper tier of those reviews. You focused on the "interactive movie" angle of it and seemed to really hit a home run as far as making a convincing argument of how this game succeeds in that aspect. Particularly in the second paragraph where you illustrate something that sounds like a cutscene before mentioning that this is just another level you're playing through. The way you phrased things really makes this game seem like something worth experiencing. A very strong praise review.

OVERDRIVE PLACE: Crackdown (X360) by Suskie

You went on a binge of high-quality writing last week, Mike. I had two very tough choices. First, which of your five reviews was the one I liked the most. And, second, whether it was better than Phediuk's or not. Both this review and his were very impressive, but I'm giving you the nod by virtue of an obscure tiebreaker which takes "degree of difficulty" into effect. You did a great job with the angle you took in this one, stating that too much sandbox in a sandbox game isn't a good idea and perfectly illustrated your point. As I read your review, I could perfectly picture a game where you have a lot of fun running around and exploring the world for out-of-the-way goodies; but due to no story and poor, generic combat, when you actually remember you're playing a game with objectives, things fall apart a bit. Very effective conclusion here, as well. The whole review gives a great vibe of "nearly unlimited freedom is cool, but without glue to hold it together, what's the point?" as far as this game goes. It still seems like it'd be fun to play (something I thought after reading EmP's review of the game from a ways back), but the awesome freedom he was describing seems a good bit diluted after reading this and getting the impression that freedom is the only thing making the game notable. Very strong argument here, so you get the win.

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And that's that. I now return to my regularly scheduled activities. Which primarily is staring blankly at my cubicle. And wishing there was Captain Morgan in my Pepsi.

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I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Hey, thanks! Although if you wanted a smaller workload, I could've told you to just skip those reviews that I rushed through just to have the Alpha Marathon finished in time.

Edit: Can I still request 1000 HG points for this? Seems like people don't do that anymore.

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You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

As noted in the official RotW topic for 2010, you absolutely can! I've awarded your points accordingly.

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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto

I forgot to write here seeing as how some of these were alpha olympics reviews. But roughly, yeah, I agree with the choices and criticism. Guess I'll try to get the Alpha Marathon done early this year to avoid a glut later.

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My principal said, 'Emo, Emo, Emo.'
I said 'I'm the one in the middle, you lousy drunk!'
-- Emo Phillips