Forum: Writers


Subject: Reviews?

Mercy opened this issue on Feb 25, 2004 ยท 8 posts


dialyn posted Wed, 25 February 2004 at 10:41 AM

Well, I've done all of two reviews for the Renderosity Magazine, so I don't consider myself much of an expert. zI will, however, happily share my advice, such as it is. I reveiwed software and a book, and in both cases what I did was give a little overview of the product so that people could know what it was about. Then I tried to think what I would want to know if I was reading the review, so look at if from that direction. When you read a movie review or game review, what is most helpful to you? To me, in a game, ease of use is always a question...I don't like wading through a giant manual to figure out how the game works (some people are just the opposite). Is it interesting, does it break new ground, or is it the same old thing we've all seen a hundred times. Is the animation good or excellent? What kind of computer would I need to use it? Is it for a beginner, moderate user, or expert gamer? What kind of game is it...mystery (clues), action, violent, demeaning to anyone (women, police, whatever), is it intellectually demanding or something to take up your time without much effort? Movies...I want to know if it is well plotted, is it going to hold my interest, does it makes sense within its own world, are the characters well developed, does it have anyone in it that is particularly interesting to watch, who directed it...what is their track record...or is this an up and comer I should be looking forward to for future movies, who worte it...same questions. Is it just another sex and/or violence for money film (yawn) or does it bring some new insights or thoughts. Who is the target audience? Children? Teens? Young adults? Older adults (rarely are movies for us anymore, it seems, but I can dream). Is it a comedy, drama, animated feature, is it a fantasy or realistic, does it cross genres or is it solidly a western, mystery, romance or some other genre? Back to the original statement...think what you would want to see in a review and then write that. What you should not, should not, should not do is give away the secret of the ending or any part of the game that would destroy the act of discovery that may be an essential part of the experience. I like to add a list of extras...if you like this game, you might also like that game. If you like this movie, you might want to read the book it is based on, or this other movie. If it is part of a series, I would let people know that. Does that help??? This isn't a fiction only list. It's whatever we want it to be. :) Oh, and come back and tell us where to find your website so we can read your reviews. :D