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Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week - 9th-15th May

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Author: EmP (Mod)
Posted: May 17, 2016 (11:35 AM)
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Review of the Week is a reader’s digest of sorts, featuring all the reviews written in a given week, and then judged by a self-important author with delusions of grandeur. That’ll be me today. Only the top three reviews shall be mentioned, in order of relevance. No reviews from the judge will be permissible (though, under a snazzy new rule we just invented, will be then eligible for the next week. Take that, tradition!), and in the event that another writer submits more than one review for the week, only the review the judge deems superior will be included.

Quick commiserations to Joe, who tried to sneak his Kraven Manor review in the back door, but it’s recorded as the 16th on that weird time zone that HG seems to exist in. What is that, anyway? It’s weird. Next week is Joe’s rotation, so that moves onto the week after that. In keeping, I wrote a timely Doom review. That moves on to next week. Simple. Done.

This week was tough. I took reviews in and out of the top three several times and have switched the orders around a lot. A lot. I’ll probably change my mind again in a few minutes, so I’m getting this out while I’m in a rare cloud of certainly. It’ll lift soon.

The following are words placed strategically in a kind of order.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood [PS4] by pickhut

I kind of get where you’re going when you talk about hanging around in an area you have a clear exit from so you can revel in it a little longer; I think we’ve all done that through the years. The immediate flaw it kicked up in my mind was that, though it’s commendable that you’re actually enjoying yourself (don’t listen to the rest of the media; video games shouldn’t be looked down upon for being fun!) it did make me think perhaps the game might be a little easy. The whole escape a level while under fire trope in FPS is supposed to be about running for your life against odds you can’t surpass. But you wanted to stay, so you must have flet somewhat safe. I didn’t have to query that long, because you talk about getting flanked and blown up.

By design or by luck, you eliminated what I perceived to be your biggest flaw in the first paragraph. So I’ll find something else to moan about. I complain elsewhere today about how not comparing back to an early game might have robbed a review of impact but, here, there seems to be the opposite effect. There’s a heavy reliance on your previous review if you’ve not played that particular game, and while it would be unfair to call it a companion piece, it does lean on it a lot. That’s actually kind of cool in a ‘big picture’ kind of way. But reviews that were wrote last (or this, Joe!) week don’t exist in this column.

I might break down and play a modern Wolfenstein. This is your fault.

Dark Souls II [PS4] by holdthephone

So, a lot of this is going to sound hypocritical. I think sometimes your sentences are too overloaded and it can make them confusing. There were a few lines I needed to go back and check over again before I fully understood their meaning. A case might also be made that a lot of the praise is offered so strongly that the second half of the review when you try to outweigh it with cons doesn’t quite balance it up to a negative experience. I finished the review expecting a middling score; sneaking in below that did surprise me a bit.

But it’s a review I like. I’ve not played a lot of Dark Souls, but it’s a game that gets a lot of discussion and 2 always bears the brunt of dissatisfaction. I especially liked the discussion about how the guards are a bigger threat than the bosses. That seems to be becoming a thing recently. I find myself a bit torn over whether or not any comparisons to the previous game or the original build seeing as this was a high-end redux being made would have added more context to the negative portion of the review. Though newbs like myself wouldn't have been intimately familiar with them, it would perhaps act as an example for how things could work better and why they’ve fallen a little flat. Or just, you know, confirm that these aspects have always been bad and you hate everything. Man, play and review a game you enjoy -- it’s been a while!

Star Fox Zero [WU] by Philip Kendall

There’s a snide edge of nastiness reverberating around the usual suspects of awful game’s journalism concerning Star Fox Zero. It’s been declared it a broken mess when it’s clearly not, so this review is a refreshing change in its even handed approach. Even if the summary of the game’s worth is lukewarm, it’s judged on nothing but its own merits. This would normally be so basic and ingrained and outright assumed in writing a videogame review that it’s a sad commentary on the state of current affairs that base common sense has become the new brave new direction.

But you're not getting props based on the failings of others. This is a surprisingly relatable review that manages to talk about the Wii U’s gimmick placement without bogging the entire piece down. I’ve played a Wii U exactly never, but still managed to follow along with how the system is supposed to work and how is succeeds and fails. It sounds like a nightmare set up to me, but you manage to give it some worth while still pointing out it’s actually not great.

The biggest hiccup is that point near the end where you panic about not having mentioned the sound so lob that in there clumsily. It’s a good point to make, and probably deserves better placement than a throwaway couple of lines on your way out. Maybe it would serve better tied into a gameplay example? That might offer a more organic transition.


For us. For them. For you.

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Author: bbbmoney
Posted: May 17, 2016 (03:30 PM)
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As always thanks for reading. I made it a goal not to mention another Souls game because once I start making comparisons things do start becoming unfair. Anyway, definitely in a rut with writing lately. I write poorly about poor experiences, and if I write any kind of praise I start to nauseate myself for some reason. Maybe I'm on my way out with this gaming thing.


Mobius 1, engage...

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Author: dementedhut
Posted: May 17, 2016 (10:16 PM)
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Yeah, I can understand where you're coming at with the comparisons angle. It's something that can seriously backfire if done the wrong way and can unintentionally diminish the game's quality to others.

Definitely check out The Old Blood over The New Order if you do play a new Wolfenstein. In the end, it may just be a traditional, guns blazin' FPS, but it does that aspect pretty well, I thought.

Congrats to holdthephone for the mention and PK for the RotW!


I head spaceshit noises.

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