Why don't game reviews today tell you whether the game is fun or not. Instead they tell you about the games graphics engine and sound design. Why is that? Nintendo Gamer Thoughts takes a look.
Games Asylum: "Well, this is neat. As the name suggests, Wrath of the Mutants is the rarest of things – a genuine arcade conversion. With most modern arcade games being ticket redemption machines, this is something seldom seen. In fact, the last arcade conversion we can recall was Raw Thrill’s own Cruis’n’ Blast on Switch back in 2021. This is also based on an older iteration of TMNT, harking back to the series from 2012-2017. It’s essentially breaking franchise continuity (we’ve had two different iterations of the Turtles since) and could even be considered nostalgic for a select few – those who grew up with 2012’s Turtles are probably in their late teens."
Fuse ARPG, Soulslike, and cozy crafting mechanics for a one-of-a-kind adventure. Here is The Nerd Stash's early impressions of No Rest for the Wicked.
Starship Troopers: Extermination is continuing its early access period with a class system overhaul that will give players more options when it comes to pushing back the bugs.
It must be frustrating for these devs to see Helldivers 2 absolutely devour their lunch lol
-Oh my God, this game looks like a complete rip-off of Helldivers II!
-At least it gives Xbox players the chance to experience something similar to the PlayStation game!
Jokes aside it does make you wonder why Sony, who owns the IP for both, is continuing with two products when there is such overlap. Should it one day make a new Starship Troopers film or a Helldivers film instead?
The awnser is: nerds
Hmmm. Remember when Greg Miller at IGN did his review for Dead Space 2 and everyone tore him to pieces because it was written too simplistic? I'd say that's the problem. It's not enough to simply have a lot of gaming experience and an open mind, now you need to be a pseudo-intellect and find deeper meaning in things that don't have a deeper meaning.
Well, different things are fun for different people. And you need to back up WHY it's fun. You also need to describe what separates it from other games, since some genres are so bloated. Just "fun" doesn't cut it anymore. People have specific tastes.
I can tell people all I want that The Darkness II is a "fun" shooter, but "shooter = CoD" for a lot of people. I have to explain how the mechanics allow and require a lot of creativity in shootouts, and how the story is well-paced and does a great job screwing with your head.
Because games are more complex, and developers are marketing their game differently than in the past. Like sports games nowadays can legitimately mimic their real-life counterparts because of current-gen hardware, compared to the Genesis and SNES days, where you couldn't legitimately mimic a sport on 16-bit system and just had to make it more fun and game-ish than realistic.
For example, the Madden. Saying it's fun isn't a enough for some NFL fans who are expecting a game that's "true to the NFL", yet still lacks basic things (momentum, proper acceleration and deceleration, all the penalties, good challenge system) that not only sports games made by the same company have, but also games made on the PS2 and Xbox had. This borrowed from a forum:
"Over 8 years I've watched as the same issues show up year in year out. The line play has been abysmal, player movement is laughable. Animations that were used in games 12 years ago are rampant in Madden. Penalties and the proper rules have yet to show up in Madden. Playoff seeding was incorrect. There are still no real time injuries. The injury system still doesn't even have the real NFL statuses such as doubtful, probable, etc. Online franchise mode (and offline now for that matter) is still riddled with bugs such as accelerated clock, non-working sliders, no transaction logs, inability to roll back games or assign a winner. The challenge system works only SOME of the time, with other times not even allowing you to challenge a challengeable play. The commentary is still very subpar with few player names used and constantly saying incorrect things like "it's man coverage" when you called zone. Ball physics are still horrendous. Referees don't throw the flags on the field. Sidelines are not interactive. The web site supplied with online CCMs don't even show standings and stats and don't even allow you to do basic things like set a depth chart or make team moves. Route based passing still does not exist and players will warp to the ball because they are tethered to it."
There's much more to a game than fun:
http://penny-arcade.com/pat...
Plus, just doing that would be way too simple.
If you've got an audience that craves that sort of review, then write that.
But different sites/magazines have different audiences who tend to like different things. I don't see the problem in writing for your demographic/audience's preferences.