I like to start out by soliciting bribes from game companies. The better I'm rewarded, the more favorably I'll write the review. Other factors come into play, of course. For instance, has the company given me bribes in the past, or early and free access to their games? Is the game heavily promoted with it's own beverage of some form? I don't care if it's Mountain Dew or slurpees, that kind of publicity will raise any game's score by at least 10%. Oh, and if I'm given free samples of this beverage, I'll throw in a really supportive video review as well. Another big thing these days is exclusive preorder-only content. If it a game has that, it's clearly a great product. Sure, I won't get it since I'm getting the game for free without the pretty box art, but I can admire what they're doing, because it's just so right. Oh, and if the game lets me boost my gamer score with minimal effort, that's just fantastic. I'll be so happy about it that clearly my joy will be reflected all over the review.
Okay, I'm really letting this get out of hand, so I'm gonna stop before people take it too seriously. Anyway, uhh... I look at a number of factors, and generally I don't review many games anyway. When I do, it's often quite a while after the game's release since I let it mull over in my head for a few months and compare it to what else is out there. Sure, people say you can't compare certain games because it's like apples and oranges, but I don't mean a straight contrast. Just the level of quality. The level of innovation. If the game pushes the envelope in any way. Really, though, I'm just going to cut my rambling short here, because what matters most, by and large, is the gameplay. How well it plays, how it controls, how fun it is to play, how much you'd like to keep playing it. I don't care what anyone says, there is no single aspect more important to a game than gameplay. You got people that claim story is most important, but they're flat-out wrong. Story can help engage a connection between you and the characters, and that can certainly alter your feelings for the game, but as we all know, games can do perfectly fine without them. Ever play a game with a really great interesting story and boring, dull gameplay? Yeah, it kind of sucked to drag yourself through it for the story's sake, huh? Exactly. So gameplay first and foremost, and the other elements should be taken into consideration as well. The style, the graphics, the music, the sounds, the characters, the story, the way the game impacts you as the player, how well everything ties together, etc. When I write review for games, I must have played it thoroughly. Preferrably to the end and further, trying out everything it has to offer.
As for the order, I usually start by giving a brief synopsis of the game. Just trying to give a little insight into what I know about the history of the game that I feel is important. It just serves as an introduction, then I'll probably begin to tackle the setting and atmosphere before diving into the gameplay. I think it's good to have some structure and not just throw everything into the mix all at once. The way that it's ordered could be altered by the quality or significance of that particular aspect in that particular game, but generally I'd probably go with an introduction, then the gameplay, the opening story (with no spoilers whatsoever, in fact I keep this as brief as possible because I like to go into games and movies as open-mindedly as I can), then the graphics and sound, followed by any other tidbits that I think are worth noting. Oh man, walls of text again. I'm sorry. This site needs a TheGreatGuero-Wall-of-Text filter.
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