It’s more difficult than ever to critique a video game properly. That’s because interactive entertainment blurs the line between traditional art and technological showcase. Critics will ideally understand the developer’s vision as well as the functional mechanics that make engaging with it possible. But while many games are simple or direct, others are meant to grow, evolving over years or even entire hardware life cycles. Evaluating that kind of experience is no small task.
However, that’s not really the hard part. Instead, the challenge comes from breaking down what these experiences have offer to players. Games take time to enjoy, they cost money, and they’re not all available to everyone. These constraints make it necessary to approach releases with a more discerning eye; not to cherry-pick components, but to understand whether or not something is actually worth your while.
This is why we take a slightly different approach to reviews and scoring. Guide Fall adheres to a 10-point review score system, with half points used occasionally where appropriate. However, in our scale, numbers corresponds to a specific description. Each number represents our experience with the game overall:
- Terrible – extremely or distressingly bad; sinister; causing or likely to cause terror
- Worthless – having no value, use, or good qualities; deserving contempt
- Broken – having given up all hope; despairing; having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order
- Bad – of a poor quality or low standard
- Disappointing – failing to fulfill hopes or expectations
- Mediocre – only of moderate quality; not very good
- Decent – satisfactory; of an acceptable standard; conforming with generally accepted standards
- Good – to be desired or approved of; having the qualities required for a particular role
- Great – of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above the normal or average
- Outstanding – exceptionally good
- Beautiful – of a very high standard; excellent; pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically
We make every attempt to play new games with unbiased eyes and a clean slate, regardless of previous entries or headlines regarding the development or publishing team. Our goal is to give readers a synopsis of the game, along with a basic understanding of what they can expect from the experience. With that said, some games just don’t work, whether it’s technically or artistically. Ultimately, we base our final score on how well we believe the creative vision was realized.
We are also excited to share that our reviews are now OpenCritic approved! If our Reviews page doesn’t suit your fancy, please feel free to check out Guide Fall on OpenCritic. For any questions about our review policy, you can contact us directly at kevin.tucker@guidefall.com or andrew.smith@guidefall.com.