Tanukitsune Posted November 9, 2004 A Spanish PC gaming magazine is looking for review contributors, and I think it's worth a shot (it has to better than being a butcher working without a contract for less money than a burger flipper makes).... I have to send a couple of reviews with a resume... I know we have lots of game reviewers here (DUH!), so I was wondering if I could get some tips, do's and don'ts and all that rot... The reviews have to be of recent games, damn, I don't have that many... Recent, that is, just Nitro Family, LSL:MCL, Silent Hill 4, Doom 3, Neighbours from Hell 2.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted November 9, 2004 If you write a review of Silent Hill 4 that's not in Spanish, I'd like to read it. I loved SH2 and 3, but SH4 seems almost impossibly hard, with monsters that can't be killed and stuff! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted November 9, 2004 toblix said: If you write a review of Silent Hill 4 that's not in Spanish, I'd like to read it. I loved SH2 and 3, but SH4 seems almost impossibly hard, with monsters that can't be killed and stuff! Sorry, it has to be in Spanish... I might translate it to English... If I actually choose to make a review of it... Which reminds me, do you actually have to beat the game to make a review? If not how much do have to play? I only played SH4 it for 20 minutes... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manny_c44 Posted November 9, 2004 Uh, you're probably going to want to play alot more than 20 minutes. If you're going to write a negative review atleast stick with a game for 5 hours, until you're absolutely positive there is no redemption. If its good, you should be playing it until the end anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roderick Posted November 9, 2004 I think it'd be wise to just make formulaic review with a twist. If you go all avantgarde on their asses they may think you're not fit for their magazine. In that case it shouldn't be too difficult: just look well at other reviews to notice a general make-up of positives, negatives, little details and a conclusion, and you're off. Think well what you want to say, what aspects of the game you want to stress and what the dominant theme of the game is. Mention who will enjoy playing this, and maybe what other games resemble it. I don't know, just some tips. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lechimp Posted November 10, 2004 Well I really don't have any advice about writing reviews, but I recommend not doing a review of Doom 3. If you do, you'll end up competing against a bunch of other people that are writing reviews of Doom 3, doing a review of a different game might make your review stand out a little more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted November 10, 2004 I wonder if I should go to the store and get Midway's Arcade Tresures for PC, nobody has reviewed it yet.... It's only 15-20€... It also has the advantage of not having to play it that much to review it... I already know the games... Edit: I've looked in the last issues of the magazine and it appears they haven't made a review of Nitro Family yet! I'm definetely making a review of this one! (Is four months old still recent?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted November 10, 2004 It might be too old to publish, since print magazines generally have a long lead time, but if they like it they could always ask you to write something else. Don't forget to inject some kind of personal feel into your review. It shouldn't be too sterile. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted November 10, 2004 Chris said: It might be too old to publish, since print magazines generally have a long lead time, but if they like it they could always ask you to write something else. Don't forget to inject some kind of personal feel into your review. It shouldn't be too sterile. I'm already making a small review (they did say brief article) of a new game that hasn't been reviwed by them yet... But I can't find any other new games they haven't reviewed... They didn't say anything about reviewing a game they've already talked about... Which reminds me, should I include screenshots? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RLacey Posted November 10, 2004 Tanukitsune said: Which reminds me, should I include screenshots? This depends on whether you are posting or emailing the review. If email, the no - it just makes the email take longer to download, annoying the reader. If you're posting it then you can, but don't just include them for the sake of it. Most magazines have an art director, and someone will probably pick a load of different screenshots from what you came up with anyway. It's also not uncommon for the screenshot captions to be written by somebody other than the reviewer. Balancing up what I've said, I wouldn't add screenshots unless you were asked to, or unless you're making a point that only works when accompanied by a screenshot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loonyboi Posted November 11, 2004 I'm no longer a game reviewer (at least, I don't get paid for it, anyway), but here's some general tips for reviewing games: - Finish the f#(^)king game before reviewing it!!! You cannot review a game until you've seen the closing credits. Period. Unless it's a game like The Sims that *has* no ending, you have to finish it before you have the authority to write a single word about the quality of a game. Tons of games are great at the beginning and then get really, really, really bad towards the end (I cite the case of Metal Gear Solid 2 vs. Gamers Everywhere), so you *have* to finish the game before reviewing it. - Get some balls You are a game reviewer. You're not out to make friends with PR people, no matter how cool we are. We respect people who are honest. - Tell the truth Related to the last one. Be bold in your statements, but don't LIE. Yeah a game might suck, but is it REALLY the worst game you've ever played? A good example is a certain unnamed gaming publication that recently gave a 0 out of 10 to a game published by my unnamed employer. It wasn't one of my games, but still, that hurts. The game in question was far from a good game, but was it as bad as Drake? Hell no. - Keep in mind that your scores are relative This is a toughie, because it requires you to remember every review you've ever written. Set out for yourself *clear* standards of what game deserves what score, and then stick to it. If you say that every New Hot Game is a 10 out of 10, it loses its impact. That's all I got for now. I'm sure something else will come to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loonyboi Posted November 11, 2004 Oh, and as for screenshots: your editor will tell you whether or not you need to take them yourself. In my freelance days, sometimes I had to take them, and sometimes they were provided by the publisher. We like to provide screens so they don't wind up looking like ass. Once a game's out we can't stop someone from taking all the shots they like, but ours tend to be better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AGA Posted November 12, 2004 Read other people's reviews, and copy the style and layout. I'm not suggesting you plagiarise them in any way, just write about the gameplay where they do, and the graphics where they do, etc. After doing this for awhile, you'll be able to adjust the layout slightly to your own preferences. All reviews essentially say the same things, it's just the order and way in which they're said that differs... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted November 12, 2004 If you do that make sure you look at the right reviews for guidance, i.e. not IGN. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted November 12, 2004 And you probably wouldn't get very far doing that by looking at Thumbs either, actually... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AGA Posted November 12, 2004 No, I mean, you know, good reviews. Like ones written by people who know what they're talking about... ¬_¬ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted November 13, 2004 GameSpot is a good example of consistent by-the-numbers consumer advice. From what I've recently read PC Gamer UK and GamerTM also have good mainstream style reviews that are interesting and entertaining (not always the case with GameSpot). Their reviews would probably serve as good examples. Whatever you do, don't segment a review into seperate sections for graphics, sound, etc. unless the magazine you're writing for does that. Most publications don't like that style, and will immediately disregard any submissions that have seperate headers for each aspect of the game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted November 14, 2004 ..... I finished the reviews... And I showed them to my sister... She says I shuould cut down on the "..."... .... I don't overuse the "...", do I? Hmm.... .... Nah... ... (Me) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
