Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week July 12 - 18: Your mother ate a tasty pasta dish!

This (regrettably late) topic covers three eligible reviews, because Joe submitted a review the previous week but also judged the RotW topic that made it ineligible, and because my two reviews were held over for EmP's topic.

Apologies for being late. I didn't actually know I had a topic due until yesterday, when EmP reminded me. But enough about that. On with the reviews!

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Third Place: Ape Out (PC) by JoeTheDestroyer

There are a few minor errors throughout the review, as you dust off the writerly cobwebs that tend to develop after a period away from the keyboard. Here's one example: "Though you fail a few times, you eventually emerge victorious as the soundtrack reach a climax." I'm sure you can look the sentence over and see it without me saying more, because you know this stuff and that much is clear throughout the bulk of this excellent review. Also, I felt you nailed the introduction. ;-)

Runner Up: Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PS3) by overdrive

There were a few mildly rough spots in this review, but I won't point them all out because this isn't a critique. Still, here's a sentence to look back on: "Move on to the cave and Ratchet's main task will to regularly grab brightly glowing grubs in order to chase away invincible nocturnal creatures who would chew through his life otherwise." Near the start, you need to add "be" after "will," or "will" should be turned to "is." Whatever you prefer. Given the remainder of the paragraph, I'd probably go with the first option. Then there is this sentence: "However, I never found myself paused for too long on anything and found the game to be breezy and enjoyable to get through." You say "found" twice in short order, so maybe rephrase it? Anyway, this is a good review and you do a good job of putting your complaints in perspective so that I know the game is probably worth playing if I get around to it, but not essential.

Review of the Week: Toree 3D (PC) by mariner

I thought your opening "33 cents per D" line was a clever way to bring up the game's price and make it feel relevant to the review of your remainder, which in some cases is harder to accomplish than in others. I'm less in love with the way there are a few words throughout that you repeat a bit too often, but it's never super distracting and it never obscures your meaning. Your concluding paragraph is excellent, as it nicely sums up your review and capably makes me join you in wishing there were more to the game, that it could offer a fuller experience worth a higher price tag.

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Thank you for your contributions, everyone! This was an exceptionally close week, with three reviews that I liked approximately equally. But a three-way tie doesn't cut it, so the above order is what you get.

There are so many thousands of games available now, ensuring there will never be a shortage of new stuff to cover. The reviews we post are drops in the metaphorical bucket, but I maintain they are worthwhile drops and I'm happy to see the dripping continue!

"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