Ratings scale
10 – Must buy, must play, must own
period. A classic in every sense of the word
9 – Amazing, wonderful. A game that
only a few minor things keep it from being a 10.
8 – Solid and well done. A game that
really belongs in your library, blemishes and all.
7 – Great. This is a game that
you'll enjoy, but maybe have to meet certain requirements (love of
the IP or concept)
6 – Good. These are not bad games by
any stretch, but maybe it's not for everyone.
5 – Alright, OK. A game that you
really should be a fan of to get, otherwise you might be
disappointed.
4 – Meh, so-so. A game that just
doesn't run on all cylinders. Maybe game play or bugs hold it back.
3 – Bad, terrible. A game that can't
overcome it's own faults.
2 – Oh boy... A game that really
shouldn't have been released into the wild.
1 – Why bother. A game that is
flawed top to bottom and is an affront to have on the shelf.
One of the things I want to do is use
the entire scale. It seems that most “blockbuster” titles rarely
fall below an 8. Heck, look at IGN and you'll see that %90 of the
games fall into the 8 to 9 range. That's their system, and it works
for them. But, I see comments all the time saying, “But this game
got the same score and it sucked in my opinion.” That's what I'm
here to do. Offer alternatives. Other sites will rate games and a
majority will fall into the top 1/3 or bottom 1/3 of the scale.
That's fine and looks good on Metacritic (or bad, in the latter
case). From my perspective, anything above a 5 is worth looking
into. Maybe rent 5s and 6s before buying, or look for them used or
on sale. I shall point out that 5s are by no means “avoid at all
costs!” They are just games that really have a lot of criteria to
meet before the full thumbs up.
