Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week, Oct 31 - Nov 6 - Staff fight!

The site seems to have quieted down now that Project Horror is over. There were only five reviews submitted this week by four different authors (excluding my Thief review), and all of them were written by staff. That means that this week is a royal rumble, of sorts. Four HG staff enter, one HG staff leaves! And then there's lil' old me on the sidelines with my popcorn and scorecards. Delightful.

I will say right now that this battle was fairly evenly matched. I had a hard time ranking these because the quality across the board was generally very close. These heavyweights are good writers, no doubt about that, but only three can make the running and only one may win:


Third place: overdrive's Doom II: Hell on Earth review

Mmm, those are some delicious member berries. How could anyone review Doom II and not give it full marks? It is nigh unfathomable. You might be able to justify giving it four out of five stars by pointing out its flaws (such as the lackluster end boss fight, which you touched on), but doing so might run the risk of being shunned by your fellow gamers like a leper at a cocktail party. Any way you slice it, Doom II is irrefutably one of the most important pieces of video gaming history, and beyond that, it simply holds up as a great game even today.

Thus, it's no surprise that you decided to take the praise approach with your review, and it was certainly a nice trip down memory lane. However, I couldn't help thinking about all the younger gamers out there who may have never played Doom II and might not have any idea what you're talking about. There are so many references in here to specific levels and enemies - all of which I understood, including the reference to the Requiem TC, which I have actually played through - but without adequate context it all becomes a little bit opaque and exclusionary. For example, what's a WAD? I know what they are, because I was into the modding scene myself, but I doubt everyone would.

Regardless, your passion for the subject matter is evident, and your review has a good, conversational tone. You also did a good job of summarizing the new features of the console version. I was a bit surprised to learn that Doom II handles well with a controller, but I will trust you on this. After all, I did manage to muddle through Doom 64 with one of those god-awful N64 controllers, and hardware design has come a long way since then. I'm also glad to hear that the new episode holds up. I was appalled by the crappy fourth episode that they slapped onto The Ultimate Doom, and it's good to know that history hasn't repeated itself here.


Second place: JoeTheDestroyer's Final Fantasy: Record Keeper review

Mmm, more member berries! The idea of a Final Fantasy equivalent of Evoland is pretty neat, and the fact that it's packed onto Android devices is an interesting twist. I can't help but feel that the series may be a little too big for its britches if it's producing vanity projects like this, but you nevertheless convincingly tell the tale of how this game is actually pretty cool if you can deal with the grinding. And if not, take a pass. Yeah, seems fair.

This review is also packed with references, much like overdrive's review, but the difference is that you had to make these references in order to describe a game that is entirely composed of references to other games. I will admit that most of these went over my head, as I have not played many of the Final Fantasy games, yet somehow I managed to follow along and understand what you were saying. Most of the time.

But that's okay, because this game is obviously intended for people who are familiar with the series and no one else, and therefore there's no need to go back to the beginning and explain what the hell a "Final Fantasy" is, and why, if it's supposedly so "Final", did they go on to make 14+ titles?


First place: Roto13's Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ review

It feels a bit odd for me to give this one the win, because there's not a lot here. However, that seems to be largely due to the fact that there's not a lot to the game itself. It can be hard to write a compelling review when there's not a great deal to talk about, and in this case the conciseness of this review actually works to its advantage. I appreciated how it got right to the point, stayed focused, and told us exactly what we need to know about this lackluster visual novel while remaining well-written from a technical perspective (aside from that missing period at the end of the first paragraph. For shame!)

This review had a bit of the reference-itis that the others did, but in this case it was necessary to explain the game's pedigree and how it failed to live up to it. It remained informative rather than distracting away from what the review was trying to say. Good work, man!

I've been remiss in regards to commenting on this topic. Thank you for the placement!

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

No problem, thanks for the good read! :D

placid like acid