Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week 12/21/2008 to 12/27/2008

This is the last Review of the Week of the year 2008; it seems only appropriate to extend the tremendous thanks of the HonestGamers.com staff to our talented and underappreciated user base. Your work is tremendous. We’re not really sure why you do it, but it makes the site a better place, and we’re in your debt. I check this site at least once per day, and it’s a delight to see a review waiting in the queue for approval. It’s like getting a present for no particular reason. It’s great.

Thank you.

Perhaps indicative of the user base as a whole, this week has no standout reviews. It has none because all six efforts are quality and they could have been ranked in any particular order, and I don’t think anyone could make a strong argument otherwise. So I’m left with the very unenviable task of making the distinctions between them. The usual rules spiel applies, but this week is all returning customers, so they know the drill by now.

Third Place

Guitar Hero: On Tour – Decades by woodhouse

Woodhouse’s consistence amazes me, taking the same levelheaded approach into any game and coming out with an informative and well-justified review. Moreover, I don’t think there are many writers here that know the target audiences of games as well as Woodhouse; almost every piece carefully explains how it stacks up amongst its predecessors and peers. Here, the subject is portable Guitar Hero, and if you’re the least bit interested, you’ll find everything you need to know here. Nothing extemporaneous. Nothing self-serving. I picture Woodhouse as the Wayne Jarvis character in Arrested Development: professional.

Runner-Up

Half-Life by dagoss

This is a review that sits better with fans and players of Half-Life (see the feedback forum topic) than it does with those of with little experience. When discussing Half-Life, dagoss’s main point is that it’s role-playing characteristics separate it from the pack; I’m ready to buy that, and it’s summed up with one fantastic line: “Half-life adheres to this narrative paradigm – which is one of the core tenets of any self-respecting RPG – better than most games that actually populate the formal genre.” I’m interested, but aside from much lauding, I don’t know the narrative and it’s not explained here. Neither is a lot else. I love this piece as an after-the-fact, VH1 “Why We Loved Half-Life” retrospective viewpoint. Anyone that has played Half-Life must read this, I think. Anyone wondering if they should play Half-Life might have to look elsewhere. But the review knows its niche audience and hits it.

Winner

Twinkle Tale by wolfqueen

A lot has been written about Twinkle Tale, but I like the way this review captures it, and the ease with which it introduces you into the game. It’s well paced. It doesn’t try to be slick, only suitably convincing. It doesn’t try to walk you through any particular scenario, but presents many. It offers up strategy to make the game more enjoyable, such as holding off better weaponry for boss battles so it’s not downgraded beforehand. The review has a somewhat whimsical, imaginative spirit to it that sums of Twinkle Tale well; I feel like if I didn’t play it before, I’d feel not only informed but comfortable the first time I played it after reading this. That’s a completely unnecessary but welcomed thing for a review to do, and it’s accomplished here. Great work.

2008 Statistics (to date):

Number of User Reviews: 499

Most User Reviews:
Pickhut – 33
Dagoss – 31
Whelkman – 27
Wolfqueen – 27
Disco – 26
Zippdementia – 25

Number of distinct contributors: 81

Most Covered Game: The Word Ends With You (Nintendo DS) – 4 Reviews

Thanks again for your spectacular work and have a great new year!

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Excellent work, all who contributed to this final (full) week in 2008! Drella said everything I would've said, so for now I'll say "ditto" unless the urge to post an inflated topic later strikes (it could).

I think the stats referenced at the end of the post show that we're doing very well as a community, so let's strive to keep the ball rolling through 2009 with more weeks like this one! As for the specific reviews referenced in this topic, I agree with the comments and also agree that reasonable arguments could be made to change the ranking. One of the most difficult things to do when you're reviewing is to consistently manage excellent material, and it's good to see you all doing precisely that.

"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

Very good RotW topic, both for the content in the reviews chosen for top billing, but also in the message it conveys.

I don't have to boost my review resume because I have a real resume.

Venter has a time machine.

I head spaceshit noises.

Wow. Well, I'll admit that I definitely wasn't expecting a win - or even a placement - this week with how I felt about the reviews after I wrote them this time. It's good to know that everything this week was fairly equal and in hot contention with each other.

Thanks and congrats to the other winners/contestants.

Hopefully next year will be more even more exciting.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

When did I find the time to submit that many reviews!?

I wonder how many of those reviews were spared from winning RotW thanks to WQ's efforts. Maybe it's just in my head, but it feels like it's happened more than once.

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25 reviews since joining up in... what? October? I'm feeling good about that.

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

Don't worry, dagoss. You're still beating me and probably always will be.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will