<center><h5><h4>A Guide to Writing Reviews</h4></h5></center> <h5>For those who are writing reviews or are considering writing reviews, here are some suggested questions to help you brainstorm as you go.</h5> <h5>Opening comments:</h5> - What is the history behind this game? Is it part of a special genre or series? - In brief, how good or bad is this game? <h5>Gameplay:</h5> - What is the general plot or concept of the game? - How long is the game? - Are there different kinds of gameplay? What are each of these like? Examples: - Sports games may have single-game or franchise - Action games may have single-player or multiplayer - RPG?s may have field and combat screens - Some games may have offline or online play - What style of game is it? Examples: - Action, adventure, RPG, sport? - Button masher? Turn-based? - First person? (Halo, Metroid Prime, Unreal Tournament) - Third person? (Rachet and Clank, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) - Platformer? (Viewtiful Joe, Super Mario Sunshine) - Isometric view? (Baldur?s Gate: Dark Alliance, Diablo, X-Men Legends) - Solo (Metroid Prime, Doom 3) or squad-based (Freedom Fighters, Rainbow Six)? - ?Niche title?? (Animal Crossing, Katamari Damacy, Dance Dance Revolution) - Are there any big positives to the gameplay? (original story, good combat, just plain fun) - Are there any big problems with the gameplay? (too hard, too boring, too short, poor AI) - Anything else a potential buyer should know about the gameplay? <h5>Graphics:</h5> - What is the graphical style of the game? (Cartoon? Cel-shaded? Anime? Realitic?) - How detailed are the game?s graphics? - How good or bad do the character models look? - How good or bad do the backgrounds look? - Does the game have a good framerate? - How well does the game run? Any graphics glitches worth mentioning? <h5>Sound:</h5> - What is the soundtrack like? What kinds of music styles? How good is the music? - How good are the sound effects? Do they fit the game? - Are there any voiceovers? How good are they? Any famous names? <h5>Control:</h5> - How responsive are the controls? Can you do what you want to? - How well-mapped are the controls? Can you change them if you don?t like them? <h5>Stability: (generally for PC only)</h5> - Did you have any problems? (Crashing, bugs, etc.) - Have you heard of others having problems? - Is there a patch available to fix the problem? How big is it? <h5>Appropriateness:</h5> - What is the ESRB rating for the game and why? - How much of the following is in the game: - Violence / gore - Profanity - Sexuality / nudity - Potentially offensive religious content (i.e. occult symbols, magic) - Are there any issues in the game that might be of specific interest to Christians? (faith, sin, redemption) NOTE: Here are my appropriateness guidelines. Again, they are only suggestions: A = game is appropriate for all ages. This is a game that you would not have a problem letting your children play. Correspond to E-rated games. B = game is appropriate for most ages. The game may have some content issues, but they are mild and may go over a kid?s head anyway. Generally correspond to ?soft? T-rated games. C = game is, at best, for those over 13. Game may contain crude content or excessiveness in some other moral category. Generally correspond to ?hard? T-rated games and a few M-rated games. D = game is intended solely for adult gamers. Game contains mature content. With some exceptions, game usually corresponds to the bulk of M-rated games. F = game is probably best avoided, even for adult gamers. Game may contain explicit images that gamers probably wouldn?t want imprinted in their mind. Corresponds to ?hard? M-rated games or beyond. <h5>Closing Comments:</h5> - What are your post-game reflections? Did it meet your expectations? - Did the game deliver what it was supposed to deliver? - Would you recommend the game for others, either to buy or rent? BEFORE SUBMITTING: - Did you check your review for spelling errors? - Did you check your review for grammar errors? - Does your review meet the submission criteria on the sumission page?