Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW // 24th August – 30th August // The On Time Edition

I’m absolutely the only one left who turns these in on time. This is neither a brag nor a slight; I’m clearly doing something wrong with my life.

THIRD - Klondike Solitaire [SWH] Jason

Wherein Jason reviews a Solitaire game.

I mean, there’s not a lot more to say. To his credit, Jason absolutely commits to this review because this review game is serious business but, in doing so, there are perhaps a few cases where he teaches the reader to suck eggs. Look, we all know this kind of review isn;t going to win any awards around the “who reviews the reviewers” crowd, but Jason has a laudable habit of writing reviews that the rest of us wouldn’t bother with and committing them to record, and it’s very worthwhile. He reviewed a clock once. I could do without the last paragraph but you and I are forever destined to disagree on the worth of including price points in video game reviews.

SECOND - Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel [P360] Overdrive

This is a Rob review, so I doubt he’ll mind so much if I go into a little “Let’s talk about meeeee!” moment. Steam tells me I’ve put about 50 hours into Pre Sequel, and I’m pretty confident that I’m sitting near the end game, but one day my interest just vanished and I’ve not picked it up for months. The point being I’m pretty familiar with the game, which is just as well because Rob’s review assumes that. Which isn;t particularly unfair, I think; it’s game 2.5 in a 3 game series, so interested readers probably have some familiarity with the series if they’re showing an interest.

I think the review gets a little bogged down in all that though, going hard into the plots and the people but not so much into the actual loot shooter game itself. The review would probably benefit from a little more balance between the two rather than going all in on the story. It absolutely bears fruit at points though; I can’t agree harder with you about how the game’s sporadic highlights are when Jack is slowly twisted from a slightly naive guy trying to do what he thinks is the right thing into a power hungry sociopath trying to bring an entire world under heel.

I’ll go out and find you some screenshots later. Never let it be said I don’t look out for you.

WINNER - Giga Wrecker Alt [SWH] Mariner

The intro is pretty fun until you then dismiss it all for being cliche, but, to be fair, you’re not wrong. I think the review really starts to come into its own when you start talking about the scrap metal collection aspect of the game, which makes it sound like a unique idea, but don’t let that stop you from pointing out why it doesn’t work that well. The best part of the review is describing how the chaos of the physics engine sometimes made solutions for you out of pure luck, which was a great gaming moment, but how that can’t be relied upon, and you’re mainly stuck shuffling things about in an attempt to force progression. From there, you talk about the game’s flaws, making it sound like a real missed opportunity. Very good middle-of-the-road-game reviewing..

TAGLINE OF THE WEEK
Rob Hamilton says: "Rejected Ad Slogan: It's just like Borderlands 2 except not as good!"

For us. For them. For you.

I may yet review another clock, EmP. Don't think for a second I don't already have one downloaded to my 3DS for precisely that purpose! Oh, the games I might someday review... :-D

(Thanks for the topic, and congrats to those who placed ahead of me!)

"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 on secret doors to another world2

Thanks for the comments and placement. And I see what you're saying about the balance between plot and gameplay elements. I think that's one of those things that happens when a person plays and reviews three games in a series in a fairly short period of time (one a year over three years). I re-read those first two reviews after posting this one and noticed that I'd gone more into the nuts-and-bolts of things in the first one and did less of that in each successive one.

To a degree, it just felt redundant to go over the same ground repeatedly because I think I had some memory in the deep recesses of my brain of saying those things before. Does create an interesting ABOUT WRITING question: If you are reviewing multiple games in a series and that series' core gameplay remains the same or very similar throughout those games, how much of the basics should you reaffirm in that second, third, etc. review involving the series?

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

A review should be able to stand alone as the only document someone will ever need to read to understand your opinion of the game in question (since it likely WILL be the only document they read from you). As a writer, you should cover what's relevant to the experience within each review. But maybe change the level of attention you pay some elements and link to the other review if you've already covered that same ground. That's how I see it, anyway.

"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 on secret doors to another world2