What does it all mean?

Ok, with reviews of Star Ocean, Prototype and Fight Night imminent, I figure that I’d better lay out what my scores mean. Shortly after, I’ll give you an idea of what score I’d give to certain games, so you can have an idea of how I mark.

1/5: Pretty much has to be a broken game or at least so poor that you wish it was. In the vague hope that it will provide half an hour or an hour of diversion before you realise that, and because the case might come in handy, it gets one star.

2/5: Not actually broken, but no fun either. Dull, repetitive, hamstrung by difficulty issues or just lacking in any real enjoyment or point.

3/5: A perfectly acceptable game, nothing notably wrong with it, but nothing to stand it out above the crowd either. Sometimes, niche games will make it in here as well, by dint of being ideal for their target audience, but having a target audience so small that giving it a higher score would risk misleading the majority of uninterested gamers.

4/5: An excellent game, one that eliminates all other spare time possibilities. If your usual leisure time options are a trip to the pub, or picking up a good book, or watching a film, then forget it. In my opinion, a four star game will be enough fun that all your spare time will be spent on it.

5/5: Perfection is unattainable and I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but a five star game can at least be counted on to provide you with an all-consuming game experience. Forget taking over your existing free time, a five star game is one that forces you to create extra free time - cancel all your plans, forget about sleeping, phone in sick for work. If it earns five stars it will be as addictive as crack, or even really good Stilton.