Video Game Review Grading Scale

[Ayen]

Personally, I'm not surprised when I don't see the numbers 0 - 4 crop up that often if at all because I generally can't think of many games that would score that low. I've been reviewing for three years and there's only been two occasions where I scored something under five, which is below average for me.

What would a game have to do to score that low? Ride to Hell: Retribution was buggy to the point of unplayability, looked terrible, had a paperthin plot and was generally seen as an affront to gaming. The latest Rambo game is in a similar vein, being utterly bland and uninspired. What would you give those games if not below 5?

If a game is playable, that does not mean it is entitled to a 5. I also don't think we should not hand out 10s, because if you are weighting games against "THE PERFECT GAME" then most of them are probably in the negatives because the future holds endless possibilities. 10/10 means a game is near perfect or better, because perfection is subjective and nobody has a standardised scale.

The way I calculate my numbers isn't the same as other critics. I subtract by the cons. Every game I look at starts at ten by default until I find a con worth noting. A game would have to have ten cons or more to get a 0/10 from me and I'd have to play those games you mentioned in order to tell you how they'd rate. It isn't a perfect system and for a while I stopped using numbers altogether until last September. But it's worked for me in the long run.

What would you rate Tetris when compared to Grand Theft Auto V or Call of Duty: Ghosts? Tetris has trout graphics, repetitive music that relies on nostalgia, has tight but extremely limited and repetitive gameplay, and there is no chooseable gameplay difficulty or customisation options. Tetris also has no campaign, no multiplayer, and no free-roaming ability, let alone dialogue. 0/10.

Games are rated on a case by case basis for me. The only times I do comparisons is when the game is a sequel or a part of the same genre.