Scoring Policy

It’s inevitable, we’re going to get some smart arse saying “OMFG why did you rate Assassin’s Creed 9.6 when it deserved a 9.9????!!!?!?!?! It’s game of teh year you friggin n00bs”.
Well this, fellow reader, is a scoring policy. Let’s talk about the aspects we focus on when reviewing a game:

Gameplay:
Well, what good is a game if it’s not fun to play? Gameplay will differentiate depending on the title, the series and the genre. Take the Grand Theft Auto series, Gameplay will be marked on how it has improved from previous instalments and how it compares as a standalone game.

Graphics:
The beauty of the evolution of games... With better hardware comes better looking games, right? Well, while focusing on how the game looks nice we need to consider stuff like lighting, textures, character models, special effects. We also must take into account that games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero don’t focus heavily on graphics.

Sound:
Yeah, it plays great and it looks great, but do you want to be listening to terrible voice acting and a looping track that makes you feel as though you’ve been face raped? No! Of course you fucking don’t. Sound will be rated on bit rate, quality of the music and the use of voice acting. Just everything you can hear.

Value:
How long will you be playing this game? That is the question, a low value rating could possibly determine if we recommend renting or buying a title. Taking Grand Theft Auto as an example (again), it’s a single player orientated game and what makes people come back to it is the ability to cause absolute mayhem, or drive through the stunt markers. Call of Duty 4 offers a deep multiplayer experience that shooter fans will enjoy, making it worth a buy. You get the picture.

Overall:
OK, just to get this straight, this is not an average of all gameplay, graphics, sound and value. Overall is the reviewer’s final score for the game. Yeah, so what if we give a game 9, 9, 8 and 7? We could give the overall game 9.5, not saying we would, but you get the point.
--360Stage--