Wanna be da best? (How To Write A Good Games Review)

Member Name: shadowhawk

Product:	How To Write A Good Games Review
Date:	18/07/04 (1757 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Make a good review, Become Popular in Dooyoo

Disadvantages: Takes time, Get Lost in a Computer World

Computer Review:

Dooyoo? well? get ready to be told a million different things from a million different angles about what is useful in a review but I am about to give you my advice. Reviews need to tell the reader if they are going to like the product or not so I find personnel experience is very useful some people prefer to just stick to the facts and some like this fair enough but most of that information you can get from their web-site so this is how I approach a review.

Remember ?natural progression? we all had to work on doing a good review and things will come more naturally to you as you write more and more.
(I will be putting an example of a brief Final Fantasy X, remember the amount I write is not enough to make a good review you really have to expand)

What made you first buy this product?
Give the reader some insight into what influenced you to purchase this product; it can be anything from a friend told you about it, its reputation, you were bored.

After a general start it is time to make it more product specific and I am talking about computer game reviews today.

Dialogue: This is like a mini-dictionary of things you will be referring to in the review that the reader may not know what it is. This can prove very long in high-fiction games.

Final Fantasy X has a game called Blitz Ball, this basically involves players playing a form of football with violence, and they are allowed to throw the ball and kick the ball.

First Impressions?
All games should come in a box what does this box look like; what expectations did this give you of the game.

Final Fantasy X sticks to the old style of having a rather plain front cover with some writing stating the name of the game and a fancy pattern at the end. Final Fantasy series has had this for a very long
time and it could be proving tedious to many but not to me I like the look has it sticks out in the shops. The pattern they have in my opinion is?

Now you have to decide what is important about a game normally it is:

Characters: Who is involved in the game, a little about them but not too much you give away the game. Enough information about a character is normally what you find out in the first 20 minutes of knowing the character anything further in the game will normally give away the story. A little bit on the look and believability of the character is usually a good follow up.

Final Fantasy X has a main character called Tidus at first he just appears to be a really weak bloke to me and I did not understand how was so good at fighting, but as the story unfolded it gave me the chance to learn a lot more about Tidus and in the end he grew on me and he ended up being my favourite character. Tidus was a blitz ball character that got caught up in?

Graphics: A big part in every game, for a new game how revolutionary is the graphics? How important are the graphics in a game because the graphics aren?t that good in ?Tetris? but everyone would agree it?s a classic (if they don?t its normally because they weren?t good at it). For older game put it in contrast with today?s graphics but also go into the age of the game and what it was like back in its prime.

Final Fantasy X has really clear and high spec full motion sequences that you can see every detail on every character, but when these fade away and you are in the game it can prove to have a lot of glitches with white edges appearing between textures. The enemies are really?

Sound Track: Good score of songs can make or break a game it sets modes and builds suspense. Sometimes I admit you do not even notice a sound track is there if not then just mentioned ho
w well or bad it settled in to the background, or maybe it was so loud that it over powered the game and ruined it for you. Also comment upon the sounds in the game, are they unrealistic or do they compliment the game extremely well.

Final Fantasy X has a mood-based soundtrack with exciting moments getting the full drum and bass while calmer moments get the full string section. I like this style it really gets you pumping when a big boss appears and in kicks the heavy beat makes you want to kick this boss back to the Stone Age. Calmer moments are?

Life span: How long do you play the game, but you have to follow up these kind of facts with opinion is it too long so that it grows tedious, or is it too short that you don?t really get a chance to get into the game.

Final Fantasy X lasts forever the life span is amazing as there is so much to do in the game and the final boss has you going around improving your strengths because he is really hard and long to beat. But the big question that comes up is does it get boring?

Price: For the amount you paid for the game was it worth it? Some older games may not live up to modern expectations but can prove enjoyable and because of the lower price prove to be a forgotten gem.

Final Fantasy X costs now a whole £20 but can you pick it up off Amazon for about £9.99 if you don?t mind someone else playing it before you. This is extremely cheap for the amount of playing that you will get out of it?

Controls: Normally telling them the button layout and following this up with personnel opinion of how good the controls are, the ease of using them works well. Are the important buttons to close or to far apart, it may take a master to work them, or it could be picked up easily be anyone for instant enjoyment.

Final Fantasy X lays out in the usual RPG P
laystation format with the main selection button being the cross and all the other buttons revolving around this. Being an RPG not many other buttons apart from the cross come in to play. In Battles?

Depth of Game: Many games have different levels you can scrape the surface but to get in further you need practiced skills at the game to improve you speed and reactions to situations. A good game will progress in difficulty and present a continual challenge, how well has your game done this? Does it throw you into instant difficulty or does it all prove just a bit too easy.

Final Fantasy X takes you really into deep, but all the basic skills you need you need from start to finish nothing much to learn, except with new weapons. Some weapons have certain strengths against certain enemies so learning what element is good against what is the further skills you need. Also as battling skills you need?

Plot: Story based games this applies to. Give a little about the storyline just the general outlay not too much to give away the game normally what you know in the first 30 minutes of the game will give the reader a good idea about the game, also what?s on the back of the case is an alright amount sometimes. How does the story progress does it keep you continually guessing like a good film or is it all a bit too obvious.

Final Fantasy X lasts for a long time and the whole time different parts of the story are unfolding, this keeps a continual interest to learn more and more going. The story starts of in a big city when a large floating monster comes and attacks then Tidus our main hero meets Auron and from there on in things go from weird to?

Menus: A game has to be nice and not stressful to navigate, so give your opinion on the layout of the game, how easy is it to use an item or select a map?

Final Fantas
y X has menu-based system, you have to go through menus to select things rather then having a little screen in the main one where you can toggle between things. The menus are easy enough to use as you just click in go up and down and select the category you want then go in. Finding what you want on the other hand is?

Atmosphere: Certain games build an atmosphere in the room this will be a mix of the story, graphics and sounds that will pull you into a game. A great atmosphere will cause you to time warp, you will pick it up play for a long time and not even realise how much time has just gone past.

Final Fantasy X has moments of sheer passion and this is thanks to the atmosphere you really feel the character emotions, and this is thanks mainly to the sound of the voices that they have given the characters. Can tell they have put a lot of effort into?

Loneliness: Talk about a games multiplayer options, the main things I find about multiplayer is how fun is it to play, can you really have a laugh with your mates on this game? Some multiplayer games are far to easy for a skilled player to dominate, but do you enjoy this does this make it competitive. Could come down to luck far too often.

Final Fantasy X offers no multiplayer options and as for taking turns do not even think about it this game is such a boring game to watch. But what is fun is when you buy it with a friend and you are racing each other to the end to complete it because the game is set out in a way it is not easy to compare who is winning one may be further into the story but the other could be?

Specific: Some games have things that are only specific to them talk about these how much they set it apart from the others on the market.

Final Fantasy X has side games that you can play after completing the game this includes?.

Overall: Give a qu
ick general look of your views, stating what you most enjoyed and what you would recommend or criticize this to a friend.

Final Fantasy X is my mind is the second best Final Fantasy to date, even though the seventh had worse graphics it had about the game playtime and story line I really enjoyed. But Final Fantasy X has a lot going for it and I really enjoyed?

That will be your game review over just remember to:

Read it over, because no-one likes a review written in haste like this one that they can?t really understand.

Make sure you really know the product you are writing about, as you can be a lot more helpful to a reader if they are reading the truth.

If you do not know what is useful yet read other peoples reviews, I wont get into new comers, if you want general advice new comers search ?Guide to New Users? in the search box found in the top left.

Have a nice day
© David Clark
(DavidJamesClark@hotmail.com)

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