Post by BrainCleaner on Mar 28, 2009 5:25:13 GMT -5
Hello. I thought I'd write a short guide on writing reviews. Remember that this is just from my own experience, opinions and observations. This isn't a "This is how it must be done" guide, but it might help some people who want to do a few reviews but don't know where to start.
1) Remember, this is a gaming forum, don't tell people what they already know. Don't say "Far Cry 2 is a shooting game where you see through the eyes of a merc in a full world you can explore and go anywhere you want and are not forced down a set route" when you could say "Far Cry 2 is an open world FPS". Don't bore the reader with redundant facts and information, stay on point.
2) Don't fluff your review out with information that can be found in the manual. Simple. There are ways to bulk out your review, telling people the stats of the guns in the game isn't one of them.
3) Talk about the main "selling points" of the game, what makes them selling points? Don't say "In L4D you can shoot gas cans and create barriers of fire" do say " In L4D you can play Vs mode and be the Tank!" Think about what the game wants you to be talking about
4) Spell check. This forum has a built in spell checker, use it.
5) Get someone to read your review before you post it. If you either can't or don't want to do that then read it out loud. Don't proof read in your head as you will skip over the mistakes you may have made as you know what you were meaning to put and your mind will just flash over it. Read it as if you were read to a group, you'll pick up any mistakes a lot faster. Don't rush your review.
6) Pep it up by varying your choice of words and making the review exciting to read. Don't write " Stranglehold is a good shooter. In Stranglehold you shoot gangsters", say, "Stranglehold invokes the spirit of John Woo and Hong Kong action movies! The most fun is diving and sliding around the back alleyways and warehouses shooting gun toting mobsters."
7) Note down what you want to be the key points in your review before you start writing. This gives you a structure to build up from. If you start writing the review with a good idea of what you want to get across you'll find it easier to elaborate on these points later and flesh out your work.
8) Try to think like the reader who might want to play this game? What do they want to know?
Hope this helps
1) Remember, this is a gaming forum, don't tell people what they already know. Don't say "Far Cry 2 is a shooting game where you see through the eyes of a merc in a full world you can explore and go anywhere you want and are not forced down a set route" when you could say "Far Cry 2 is an open world FPS". Don't bore the reader with redundant facts and information, stay on point.
2) Don't fluff your review out with information that can be found in the manual. Simple. There are ways to bulk out your review, telling people the stats of the guns in the game isn't one of them.
3) Talk about the main "selling points" of the game, what makes them selling points? Don't say "In L4D you can shoot gas cans and create barriers of fire" do say " In L4D you can play Vs mode and be the Tank!" Think about what the game wants you to be talking about
4) Spell check. This forum has a built in spell checker, use it.
5) Get someone to read your review before you post it. If you either can't or don't want to do that then read it out loud. Don't proof read in your head as you will skip over the mistakes you may have made as you know what you were meaning to put and your mind will just flash over it. Read it as if you were read to a group, you'll pick up any mistakes a lot faster. Don't rush your review.
6) Pep it up by varying your choice of words and making the review exciting to read. Don't write " Stranglehold is a good shooter. In Stranglehold you shoot gangsters", say, "Stranglehold invokes the spirit of John Woo and Hong Kong action movies! The most fun is diving and sliding around the back alleyways and warehouses shooting gun toting mobsters."
7) Note down what you want to be the key points in your review before you start writing. This gives you a structure to build up from. If you start writing the review with a good idea of what you want to get across you'll find it easier to elaborate on these points later and flesh out your work.
8) Try to think like the reader who might want to play this game? What do they want to know?
Hope this helps
