Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week April 25 - May 1

I had a hell of a time deciding who to nominate for the winners this week (that and I was stuck either writing reviews of my own or falling asleep as soon as I got home from work, as I did last night). All of the reviews were informative, but only three took the top spots. They are:


THIRD PLACE

Roto13's Severed (Vita)

You presented a properly trimmed review for an RPG, and that's an impressive feat. It's as informative as it should be and doesn't skimp on the necessary details, but covers its goods in a timely manner. The fact that you mentioned that it's a fusion of horror and fantasy (a hybrid genre which has a very boring name......get ready for this.....dark fantasy......yeah, they strained themselves on that one. Supposedly, Charles L. Grant coined that term.) has also piqued my interest, because that genre has been slowly coming into its own as a bona fide category.

My only parting critique is that the review lacks the fire that one might expect from a 5/5 rating. This is not to say that it isn't a convincing 5/5 or a great review, just that it doesn't exude the excitement I would have expected.


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SECOND PLACE

Pickhut's LocoCycle (Xbox 360)

Call me unoriginal for digging a good bash, but this review is very well paced and doesn't come off as overly dry or list-like. It flows naturally and reads like a good take down ought to. I like that you mentioned some aspects that would have interested me, like the presence of James Gunn and Tom Savini, but then said, "No! Don't be fooled! This game is crap!" Also, thank you for saying that pop culture references are not inherently funny. Geez, it's like ever since Family Guy came into prominence, everyone thinks dishing out references to various works of entertainment and celebrity news is automatically funny.

I also liked that you took the time to explain that the game isn't simply "too easy" or "boring because of lack of challenge." It sounds insultingly easy, as if it's simple because its developers didn't properly plan out upgrades or consider how to effectively implement enemies.

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REVIEW OF THE WEEK

EmP's Otem's Defiance (PC)

It's a good sign when 1) a review causes me to put a game on my wishlist, and 2) I click the "like" button at the bottom of the article.

At times, this review seemed hard to follow, but I eventually realized you were trying to capture how frantic this game is. And boy, doesn't it sound nuts! You did an excellent job conveying your frustration while making the game sound legitimately entertaining rather than shoddy. Your vocabulary keeps the review from going dry, and the piece doesn't linger overmuch on a single concept. It has that "almost reads like a blog entry" quality to it, but definitely qualifies as a sound critique of a fun, challenging and infuriating game. I couldn't help thinking about Devil Daggers the whole time, too.

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That's it. The only thing I'm going to mention is that I've picked up Dark Souls III, so expect to read some progress blogs on that.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

You should give Otem a go. It's going to end up being one of those under-appreciated gems.

Thanks for the top spot, and congrats to the others. I really liked Pick's review (mainly because I too find hard to resist the siren's call of an awful game) so some good stuff out there this week.

For us. For them. For you.

I somehow missed this topic for a whole day...

Weird thing was, I kinda sat on the review a little bit prior to submitting it, because I was concerned I wasn't getting my points across clearly for a 1 star review. So it's good to hear that you and EmP enjoyed reading it.

Congrats to both Roto and EmP!

I head spaceshit noises.