Forums > Contributor Zone > Zipp's Rand's ROTW, May 9th-15th

Zipp here with what I believe is the first ever ROTW to include staff reviews. I hold a grave responsibility... it shall be this ROTW that sets the precedent for each new ROTW to come!

... or not. In fact, things will probably go on much as they always have in the ROTW world. There have been some fears that including staff reviews will make for all-staff wins, but just from looking over some of the user reviews this week, I doubt it will be the case. It does mean users will have to up their game, a bit, but when has motivation been bad?

Well, maybe if you're a serial killer. Or Dan Brown.

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EmP and Silent Hill: Homecoming

I'm reviewing this for the horror competition so I don't want to give too much away. I will say it's a review I very much enjoy for its subtlety. Subtlety may seem an odd word to use for a review that uses coloured lines to brightly showcase incredibly stupid developer decisions, but hear me out. EmP's review starts on a very macro-level, talking about the genre of survival horror and the Silent Hill series. He never really leaves this initial premise behind and you always feel like he's making commentary on the evolution of these things... but he slips in enough info on this particular game between the lines that you come away feeling you know exactly how Homecoming plays.

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Suskie's Wolverine review

It's getting to be that an ROTW doesn't go by without a Suskie inclusion. I was torn between this and Zeno Clash, but ultimately I like the straightforward nature of this review. What I like about it is that it adopts a bit of Wolverine into its voice so that you're reading at a fast action-pace. And the selling point, that despite its flaws Suskie got through it in four hour stints, says a lot for the game. I like this as a conclusion because it shows Suskie knows what an action gamer is looking for. Ultimately, while concept and all that jazz is great stuff, I want to know whether this is a game that's going to keep me going for hours on pure adrenaline.

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Nightmare and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Having played and reviewed this one, I can say without a doubt that Nightmare's description of SH:SM is completely accurate. It was nice to see the game reviewed in a different fashion than the two previous reviews of the title. I like how Nightmare comes at the issue very strongly as a long time SH fan and am sure the review will appeal to others who have enjoyed the series from the start.

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And the winner is...

EmP and Silent Hill: Homecoming

EmP's review gets the win because it feels the least like a review while totally being as much a review as the other contestants for the week. I appreciate how much work (or, in EmP's case, unbridled brilliance) it takes to make a review work at that level.

I'm not sure who is up next week... maybe OD? If that's the case, you should all have plenty of time before the next ROTW to read the one review that sadly didn't even make it as far as this week's considerations...

... Mine.

It may appear to be shameless advertising, and it is, but what can I say? I love input. And it's never bad to listen to the opinions of others.

Well, unless they are a pedophile. Or Nicholas Cage.

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Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Zipp,

Thank you for the mention. It's an honor to even be on a list where we incorporated staff reviews as well. Congratulations to Emp, and I still have the chance to beat him in the tournament.

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I believe in Fate.

Did we skip a week?

Anyway. What I really liked about EmP's review was how it showcased how a few monumentally dumb developer decisions can snowball into a design problem with no elegant solution - only blunt ones that really only turn one problem into another, getting more and more blatant each time. I like it when reviews do things like this; it acknowledges that a game is made by people, and takes these people to task (this can of course be done in reverse, to discuss really good games, too!) for their failures. It's always a little bit shaky to just separate a game into parts, and say "this part is good" and "this part is bad", because abstract things like gameplay mechanics are difficult to just say "good" or "bad" about. But picking these things apart and viewing them as the product of people is different - "this aspect of the game fails because it is the product of a person who does not understand [this thing]" is a much more solid statement. Good job!

Congrats to everyone else, too!

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•You cannot grasp the true form of Fedule's signature!

My first RotW win since 05/05/05! It only took me (just over) five years.

Many thanks for the win on this one; it was up against a hell of a lot of excellent reviews, so it's nice to see I'm not a burnt out husk of a writer just yet. More thanks extended to all the kind words offered -- and a quick big up to Suskie who stole my Z review this week made me go out and drop a bid on the Wolverine game.

Fedule: Sadly, we are currently a week behind. I'm hopeful someone will step in and cover this in the near future.

EDIT: I found someone to cover the week. Expect results at some point.

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For us. For them. For you.

I have a feeling your lack of ROTW wins has more to do with the fact that staff reviews were just now allowed into the mix, and less to do with any sort of statement on your reviewing ability. That said, I think it was well deserved this week.

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Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

By the way, shouldn't EMPs review get featured, or does staff not get that?

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Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Oh hey, I never saw this. Thanks for the mention!

And I'm pretty sure staff reviews can't be listed as Featured, which is why Jason's review hasn't been edited either. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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

Suskie is right.

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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

That is correct. Jason reworked the original post of the 2010 RotW thread to mention that staff-level RotWs can't be featured.

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

Isn't there some way they can be added to the list? Otherwise it's going to be full of gaps.

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"fuck yeah oblivion" - Jihad