Game Reviews

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AZ's Rating System:

AeonZero is against pointless, bribery-fed, crowd-pleasing reviews that you see in (most) magazines.

AZ also despises the usual graphic-sound-playability review standard and the fact that the people that write game reviews as a job still haven't come up with something better.
So AZ spent some time thinking about what he would like to read in reviews and created 'THE STRANGE AEONS VIDEOGAME RATING SYSTEM' ©, which is explained here in detail. No more 93%s.

Impressions and comments of a constructive nature are welcome.

Strange Aeons Videogame Rating System©

There are 3 main sections: BODY , MIND and SOUL , each in turn subdivided in about 5 smaller sections.
Each one is rated 1-3, plus special-case scores:

Body ( We play games with our eyes, ears and hands. )
-INTRO
This is not about the actual game intro but a general impression of the game presentation and public expectations.
-GRAPHICS(Tech)
A generic view of the technical quality of the game's graphics, such as polycount and techniques used.
-GRAPHIC(Art)
The artistic quality and style of graphics.
-AMBIENCE
The game's audial quality. Includes music, fx and anything that you use with your ears.
-CONTROLS
Is the button layout intuitive? Do you get cramps after a while? We also look at alternative/innovative control systems and how functional they are.
Mind ( An overview of the game design and technical issues. )
-DIFFICULTY CURVE
Game difficulty & flow.
-LEVEL DESIGN
The design is then split into several sections like this in which we value the design by level/arena/track etc.
-PUZZLE DESIGN
Nearly every game has puzzles of some sort, which can be easy, hard, funny or just plain lame.
-FIGHTING SYSTEM
If there is one, we will value it here .
-MAGIC SYSTEM
Same here with added magic.
-DEBUGGING
An often overlooked point and a personal favourite. As games are sometimes rushed out, we will check engine solidity, look for bugs etc.
Soul ( Does the developer have a soul? )
-ORIGINALITY & INNOVATION
AZ despises derivative games nearly as much as pop music. Soulless people and their creations deserve to be punished, which we do here.
-STORY
An evaluation of how good and well-told is the story (if there is any...) and if/how it works within the game.
-ATMOSPHERE
Some people play games to escape reality, but is there anything worth exploring on the other side of the screen?
-ARTISTIC VALUE
Whatever people say, AZ always believed that videogames are an artform on their own. Here we don't look at graphics but value the immersive art of the videogame medium. Zelda has lots of it, Championship Manager v123.4 has none.
-PURE GAMING FUN
Finally, the raison d'etre of any game that deserves to be called such. Usually games are entertainment , but rarely they are fun . But when they are you will enjoy every minute of those games, you'll find yourself saying: 'I'll get to the next level and I'll turn it off' but noone will believe you, especially you. The games that will keep you awake until it is too late even for sleep. The games that are around to change history. They will get a good score here.
Extra info ( a couple of extra considerations )
-MULTIPLAYER
Anything not singleplayer.
-ONLINE
Anything not offline.
-HOURS TO COMPLETION
A pretty simple concept, the average player is considered, so don't e-mail me to let me know you clocked it faster than that.
-PLAYER CUSTOMISATION
Developer may include custom characters, maps, flags etc.
-EXTENDED & REPLAY VALUE
Is it worth playing again or getting 105%?
Final Score
AZ's final opinion. No numbers or percentages, but simply the way AZ will relate to the game. Needless to say, it's not an average.

 

Copyright 2005 StrangeAeons Industries London
Some of the images are ©Nintendo Co. Ltd. and are here used for flattery purposes.
May They lead the Videogaming World forever.

www.AeonZero.com