Monday, October 22, 2012

VGCulture - Changing GameLight Review's Style

I want to change the review style a little more so that I can get major points across in a short and concise manner.  I would like to change each category into bulletin points rather than writing one entire paragraph so that I have a decisive take on whether something is good or not.  Here is a run down of how I'm going to be doing it:

[Title]: Of course, there's the title of the game.
[Official Page]: If there's an official site for it, it'll go here.
[Video Preview]: A video or picture will go here to preview the game.

[Developer]: As usual
[Publisher]: As usual
[Platforms] [Version Review]: I realize I never specify too much which version I'm reviewing, so I will do so from now on by placing a box around it.
[Release Date]: As usual
[Genre]: As usual

[Pros]: As usual
[Cons]: As usual

[Recommended]: I could put things like "for FPS fans" or simply "no" up on top for a direct answer of whether a game is worth getting/playing or not.

[Short Summary]: As usual, but I need to practice making this one paragraph more refined in the future.
-Game's Story and Concept: What the game's about/how it plays
-Presentation: Overall good or bad game?
-Thoughts: Personal opinions

So for all the major points, I'll be putting them in bullet form as a "+" or "-".  For example, I could talk about the Aesthetics of a game and say:

 + Beautiful environments: The background was color and detailed with an immersive atmosphere that really sucks the player into the world.

 - Horrible camera control: The handling of the camera was really poor which impeded the view of the enemies and environmental hazards.

In this way, I can get through more reviews as I already have a whole list of overdue reviews to do while it makes it easier for all the readers to get the gist of a game without having to read an entire essay and decipher whether an aspect made the game better or worse.  I'll be testing out this method of review in the following weeks to come.  Here's a quick overview of the aspects in reviews:

[Aesthetics]
 -[Art Style]: The type of art style the game went for such as 2.5D Cel shaded, or 3D realistic, etc.
   -Graphics: textures, sprites, models, effects, user-interface, menus and how they affect the game
   -Audio: music, sound effects, volume balance, engineering, and the way they affect the game.
   -Presentation


[Buttons]
 -[Controller]: The kind of peripheral used such as a PS3 controller, a fight stick, wiimote with nunchucks, keyboard and mouse, etc.
   -Controls: Key mapping, character/object controls, interface, motion control, ease of use, and/or bad design.


[Concept & Content]
 -[Overall Concept of game]: This will make it easier to explain the rest of the game if I can establish what kind of game it is: free roam, mission based, side-scroll progression, etc.
  -Design: Story, core concept, level design, goals/objectives, modes, characters, innovation


[Duration]
  -Time: Pacing, length, and Replay Value


[Fun]
   -First impression, Entertainment Value, and Last Impression


[Overall]
   -Review of all the points, overall feel of the game, recommend it?

No comments:

Post a Comment