We need a new 2 dimensional grade system for video games.
By dagas 60 Comments
Since people started to review games they have used a 1D system consisting of only one axis. Very much like the dark/light side in games like KotOR. What I would like to see is a 2D system with two axis. More similar to morality systems in more modern games it has two scales. The first one is on a scale from 1-5 says how good the game is from an objective view point (I know that true objectiveness cannot be achieved in practice, but it should be the goal). The second scale should be how good the game made you feel or how much it meant for you. There are games that are clearly bad games, but you love them still. Just as there are great games, that for some reason doesn't do it for you.
You might say that some sites use a multi-dimensional grading system having story, gameplay etc in separate categories, however those are then baked into some sort of total score. I want the objective and subjective (I call them that even though that's an oversimplification) scores to be seperate and in fact it would be wrong IMO to try to turn them into one score.
A few examples for me would be Dreamfall obj: 3 sub: 5, Gears of War Obj: 5 sub: 2, Mass Effect obj: 4, sub: 5
This would make things more clear if the reviewer things it's a well made game or a game that he/she loves because of it's charm. As it is now it's impossible to distinguish between a well designed game that is still not that fun to play and a not so well designed game that still is fun to play both which might be given 7 out of 10 in the system most people use today even though they are clearly very different games.
This could mess things up for gamerankings and metacritic, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book since 75 % doesn't say much about a game anyway.
EDIT: Sorry for the bad English, I could blame it on not being a native English speaker, but mostly it's because I'm tired and it just turned midnight here. I just needed to get that rant of my chest before I could sleep ^^
EDIT2: So it seems most people think it would be a bad idea. Then I ask how else should be solve the problem I was talking about? For example, should I give Dreamfall a 7 because it's not that good gameplay wise and put it in the same score department as Tomb Raider and such games with better gameplay but worse story even though Dreamfall moved me emotionally more than almost any other game? The other option would be to give it a 10, but that seems just as wrong as it clearly is not a perfect game or even near being perfect. And any score in between would just be a poor compromise.
Do you at least understand my dilemma?
The only other solution I have is to go the way book reviews are and not try to put a number on how good it is, simply explain what we like and dislike about it and why. Because it just seems wrong IMO to put a game I care nothing about, but that is a competent game and another game that I care very much about but that isn't really a good video game in the same category.
61 Comments