About my New Review Scores--Starting With Infamous Second Son

         I have been struggling to come up with a rating system that is at once clear, fair, efficient and consistent. I looked at the 100-point system and this is how I began, attempting to translate my write-ups into an elegant and summarized numeral, but with those final numbers being vague and indistinct. The larger scales offer greater variability, but lack a pin-point consistency.  An 8.4 to an 8.5, or an 8.7 to an 8.9 it all blends together. I was so unsettled that with my last two reviews written I concluded that a system/scale needed to be more compact and telling. So, I thought, perhaps the 5-point scale could shed some much needed light here. But, in so doing, I came upon another conundrum, my own penchant for wiggle room. This in itself presents a staunch case for abolishing the score, or at the very least diminishing its impact. Games cannot merely be condensed into simple scores, these products of long creative endeavors deliver blooming experiences that require unique approaches to their analysis, and the analysis is formed by unique individuals with unique tastes. So while the 5-point was more manageable, I still thought that there was greater familiarity and maneuverability within the 10 or 20 point scales, in so far as each starts from 1(though at times this is hard to believe) and goes to 10--with the exception of the scoring systems that use 1-5 and half of a point, of course. So after some consternation, I have decided to settle upon a simple 1-10 whole number, halves only with exceptional cases, scale.The scale is below:

10-- Exceptionally Great Game. Not necessarily perfect, but with regards to its own execution, its a must play.

9-- Great game. This is differentiated by the amount of enjoyment. Or, otherwise, by the excellent design merits of the title.

8--Variably great. This is still a great game, but it doesn't quite go above and beyond the sum of its parts.

7--Good. These are, but what else, good games. Games that may have some nagging issues, do not shine as brightly or offer up as enjoyable an experience as something that would be given an 8. These still come well recommended.

6--These are average to mildly good and enjoyable despite their flaws. Those nagging issues in a 7 are more pronounced and irritating. Or the level of enjoyment just is not there, though this will be --as best possible--communicated within the review as to how.

5--Bellow average to bad experience. These are titles that are broken in more ways than one (glitchy, buggy, bad sound, poor presentation, bad controls, lack of direction, etc), but they have some redeeming factor, and as such, they come with caution--offered to only the loyalist of the loyal or something akin to this.

4--Bad. These are a varied degree of unexceptional, bland, buggy, broken and barely functional. A game down here might just be to archaic and obtuse in design. It might lack any source of enjoyment. And this title is just better than a 3.

3--Very Bad. Let's face it, these descriptions are already a difficult concoction to both make and swallow and they only get more difficult the more you create, so let's just call this one what it is, highly flawed and not much different from a 4 but if the review indicates it as such, well, there you go--a notch below bad very bad and nearly avoidable.


1-2--Take these two scores as an indication of a broken, unplayable or wall ramming with regards to its tedium and lack of a shred of entertainment. The distinction, again, will possibly lie in the text of the review. A 1 is just...well, it...uh...doesn't function--a 2 wouldn't be much better either. Let's say a 2 at least functions as a video game, but is devoid of all entertainment value or is just barely playable at that.


        I'm definitely not satisfied with the above, and most likely I never will be, but I understand that it is an exercise that will help me better organize my thoughts. This will not write the review, however, and the above only comes in to play once I have written a review, never before. Reviews offer potential buyers and players a chance to gather opinions, whether to share, to compare or to synthesize. The number, especially on larger sites, is often incompatible in cross comparisons, so I think it should still be taken with a grain of salt. I have, like many others, used review scores as an assessment tool, and this is one of their purposes, and I too can be accused of using the score arbitrarily without its accompanying written proportion, but I have long since gained an appreciation for the thoughts hidden in the texts that can't simply be diffused into the score.