Expectations, Scores, and the Sports Gaming Review

[Hooe]

I still think the best "scoring" system for video games is the simplest - five star scale, with no half stars allowed.

Rev3Games did this while renowned video game critic Adam Sessler was part of their production at his insistence, if I recall correctly, and that scale made it very easy for me to discern if a game was worth playing:

Five stars: can't-miss; a classic (note: does not imply flawless)
Four stars: a very good game, has a few flaws which hold it from true greatness
Three stars: a good game, has some notable flaws; check it out if you're a fan of the genre
Two stars: an okay game, has some major flaws; look over with a discerning eye before purchasing or wait for a discount
One star: not worth playing, few or no redeeming qualities

Unfortunately, the need to cater to Metacritic and its scoring aggregation discourages from using this scale, because a 3-star score gets converted to a 60, which in Metacritic terms is bad given how hyper-inflated other review scores are.

[martinezevans]

Great post!