[KillerGremlin]

My low effort response would be a 10 out of 10 game would be a game that is polished and developed to a point where you won't encounter any glitches or weird bugs during extensive gameplay, the gameplay is both innovative and fun, the game offers multiple levels of depth, the gameplay is addicting and has replayability, the graphics both excel in art style and pixels, and game has a moody soundtrack and great sound.

How many 10 out of 10 games have I played? By my count, two. One is Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and the other is the original Half-Life. I believe both games would qualify as 10 out of 10 affairs, and that they are pretty much perfect in every aspect, or at least they were when they came out. I don't really expect to be able to defend my claim. 100% is an achievable number, so, I think to some extent, a 10 out of 10 should be achievable for a game. But it has to be really really really good. I think stuff like glitches can be forgiven as those can be patched up.

But this review thing becomes infinitely complicated. There are so many factors, like, should online gameplay count towards the game's review. Should mods (like counter-strike) count towards the review. Should a game like Bioshock, a first person shooter, be penalized for having week RPG elements, even though it is a first person shooter. Should a game lose points if it doesn't stand the test of time? Can we review a game two years after it comes out.


I've taken some pretty heavy English-Cinema classes. Cinema is actually a very highly respected medium. It's also extremely complex. At some point, I think video games will be respected just as much as movies. And, when that time comes, I anticipate that there will be some good insight into this complex subject.

In the meantime, I rely on the number rating system as a guideline, just as I do for movies. I'd much rather read a review though.

Yahtzee has the right idea. He points out game's flaws, but a lot of the flaws are subjective to him, so by listening to his reviews he offers a pretty good insight into why you would or would not like a game. You don't have to agree with him; and I think that's what he understand better than IGN or these other huge game review sites. I think a lot of reviewers caters their game review to the game's target audience.