Playing computer games, or gaming, is almost certainly the most preferred pastime in the world. Children do not play football in the street t as far as they did, they sit in their bedrooms or in computer cafes playing computer games. This means that there are always millions of kids playing video games, talking about video games or reading about them.
Reviews of computer games are everywhere, but still there is a huge requirement for more. If you would like to write reviews on video games, you will find eager publishers on Web gaming sites and if the reviews are good, you might kave them published in gaming magazines too. So how do you go about writing a review of a computer game?
The first thing to do is determine your target audience. Gamers are on all sorts of levels, but in essence you can say that there are beginners, hobbyists and experts. So who are you capable of reviewing for. Naturally, an expert will be looking for a more detailed review than a beginner.
What is your own degree of expertise? You will find it almost impossible to write on a level a lot higher than that and still be credible. If you try to fudge it, people will see through it and know that you do not truly understand what you are writing about, so write to your ability / knowledge of the game and try to increase your ability / knowledge.
Every game tries to be different, but they share a commonality nonetheless. So, there is a fundamental set of questions that has to be addressed no matter which game you are reviewing.
The questions include: does it load swiftly? Is there a selection of characters? What are their powers? Is the action smooth and fluid? Are the colours accurate? Is the action fast? Does the game crash? Can it be played by more than one player at a time? Can you play it on the Internet?
Players on each level would like to know the answers to questions like those. Other vital information is: which machines can it be played on? What specifications does that machine or PC require to run the game at top speed – CPU speed, RAM, HD free space and screen resolution.
More advanced players will want to know about specific locations or characters in the game. They may also be searching for a way to get out of a situation that they find impossible to sus out. They will want to know how to earn ‘trophies’ and what these trophies bestow upon the owner.
Experts and hobbyists might be searching for so-called ‘cheats’. Cheats are special, undocumented commands that permit someone ‘in the know’ to do something special. They might bestow unlimited lives or super powers or permit you to jump to any level in the game.
Experts may also be interested in the heritage of the game: who wrote it, who programmed it, who did the graphics, whether it is based on another game and other technical details.
So, you need to have a deep understanding of the game by having played it really often and to a high level if not the highest level and you need to be honest with what you find and give your findings in an unbiased manner.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is at present involved with Mortal Kombat Trophies. If you have an interest in gaming, please go over to our website now at Mortal Kombat 4.