Words and Phrases That Should be Banned from Game Reviews

[Jmustang1968]

I take all reviews with a grain of salt. I don't really care if they liked the game or not. I notice if a reviewer says a game is horrible or broken, but that's about it. Or I guess if a game keeps getting heaps of praise for various sources in might interest me to check it out further and see what all the fuss is about.

I read reviews to get an inside and hopefully in depth look on gameplay and mechanics. I want the description of what it is not necessarily if the reviewer liked it or not. From there I then evaluate if it sounds appealing to me. I may also watch videos and such as well to help form my opinion or expectation.

[Luke]

I take all reviews with a grain of salt.

As everyone should. My issue with GI is that it is a marketing tool. They always brush that issue off their shoulder as "we're super credible!".

But it is clear as the sky is blue, it's a publication funded by a retail store. It's a biased magazine no matter what they say. If GS offered their rewards card for $10 without the subscription to gi, I would be a happier man.

Oh, and "Gamer" is a word I could do without in reviews. It's like the word "foodie". It's simply unnecessary and already implied.

[Jmustang1968]

I take all reviews with a grain of salt.

As everyone should. My issue with GI is that it is a marketing tool. They always brush that issue off their shoulder as "we're super credible!".

But it is clear as the sky is blue, it's a publication funded by a retail store. It's a biased magazine no matter what they say. If GS offered their rewards card for $10 without the subscription to gi, I would be a happier man.

Oh, and "Gamer" is a word I could do without in reviews. It's like the word "foodie". It's simply unnecessary and already implied.

I am fairly sure GS owns them...

They are more harsh on some games than many other reviewers... if this were the case, wouldn't they say all the games are good? A sale is a sale, doesn't matter the title... now if it was a game publisher owned mag then I would have more issue with it...

[Erik_Twice]

I don't read enough professional reviews to even notice the cliches they use.

At the end of the day, I'm saddened to say that it isn't neccesary. The unnatural speech and turns of phrase are so obvious, so generic and so unequal in form that it's impossible for me not to notice. It's like seeing a politician talk, it's so awkard it pains me to hear them.


I haven't been able to find most of my notes, they are scattered among several papers but I also don't want to bore you with too many examples. Those are words and phrases that should absolutedly be avoided whenever possible and while some are clearly worse offenders than others, two or three of these in the same review would be enough for me to declare you critically dead.

Comments in bold
PD: Most phrases will have many variations, but they are all one and the same

it sucks
compelling characters (Non-specific, non-telling, completely overused. Compare to "beliable" which is more informative and requires less regulated writting)
- compelling narrative
- compelling gameplay
Ok,so...
- Ok, so here we go!
- Ok, so let's see...
The graphics are awesome, the music is great and the X is a lot of fun (For bonus points, waggle your arms for emphasis)
The most fun X
realistic
classic X action (as in, "classic plataforming action")
feels like work
boring (use "bland" or "insipid" instead, boring doesn't explain why
overrated
underrated
fiddly (Have you ever seen this word? Talk about irony!)
heavy
elegant
deep
brain burner
cutthroat
hard as fuck
- difficult as fuck
a breeze (difficulty-wise)
random (as in "random humour" or "random shooting game". Uggh.)
great music (It's always great music. Not any other adjectives!)
memorable Boss Battles
sense of speed
- unrivaled sense of speed
blazing through the streets of X
overly difficult
- overly short
open enviroments
huge sandbox
fast-paced gameplay
In conclusion (This is third-grader writting and unfortunatedly seen as good)
rose-tinted glasses (Meaning: You are a biased moron, unlike me)
repeated playthroughs
innovative
theme (instead of setting)
Comparisons to 1984. All of them.
classic (meaningless word)
cinematic (Meaning: Boring gameplay)
repetitive (prevents you from explaining why)
cheap
sense of progression
RPG-elements
dark/ dystopian world
dumbed down
highlights
a much more appropiate X
But once you get over the fact that
(People who like X) should give Y a look
gamepaly elements
a welcome addition to the genre
cartoony (Meaning: I have no idea what I'm saying)
sluggish controls
it's a shame X (isn't better)
no X at all
the fact that in (year) we still suffer from (X) is (unforgivable)
scratches an itch
- scrathces the same itch as
getting your X fix
without any bells and whistles
fun (weasel word)
colorful graphics
where it doesn't dissapoint
- and it doesn't dissapoint here
abandons the X gameplay of it's predeccesor
benefits from X
- benefits from the powerful X hardware
- makes the best use of the X capabilities
a common problem of X is that you Y
along the same lines as X
well-crafted
what X lacks in Y, it makes up in Z
a joy to play
There's more than the usual (mechanic) of X, here you...
For starters, X is (way to say bad, often a childish way to say bad)
looks like crap
- looks like shit
The X was good in it's time but
seriously, what the fuck were they thinking?
leaderboard (Scoreboard is not cool anymore)

I could go on and on. And don't think for a moment you need those to write a review, those phrasings are only useful if you want to write like a robot.

A dyslexic one.

Covered in pee.

[retrosportsgamer]

^ I think I did pretty well, but man, I know I used "fast-paced gameplay" in different NBA Jam pieces.

[Erik_Twice]

^ I think I did pretty well, but man, I know I used "fast-paced gameplay" in different NBA Jam pieces.

Don't worry about it, it happens. I wrote my lists to better notice what I write.

Normally "fast-paced gameplay" is used right when you introduce the game. Something like "With an incredibly fast-paced gameplay game X is surely to appeal those that...". Using it in other contexts seems fair to me, it's mainly that one that I think it's overused and often leading to bad writting.

I overuse myself some turns of phrase, specially the "With an X and Y this Z is (qualitative statement) kind. As John K says, I don't have an style yet, I have a collection of mistakes

[noiseredux]

People who like writing should give General_Norris' list a look. It's a welcome addition to the thread. Of course the fact that in 2012 we still suffer from cliched writing is unforgivable...

[MrPopo]

People who like writing should give General_Norris' list a look. It's a welcome addition to the thread. Of course the fact that in 2012 we still suffer from cliched writing is unforgivable...

Is that a "we" in the gaming journalism sense, or a "we" in the humanity sense? Because humanity still suffers from clichéd writing and they've been doing it much longer than journalists have.

[BoringSupreez]

People who like writing should give General_Norris' list a look. It's a welcome addition to the thread. Of course the fact that in 2012 we still suffer from cliched writing is unforgivable...

[Luke]

I don't read enough professional reviews to even notice the cliches they use.

At the end of the day, I'm saddened to say that it isn't neccesary. The unnatural speech and turns of phrase are so obvious, so generic and so unequal in form that it's impossible for me not to notice. It's like seeing a politician talk, it's so awkard it pains me to hear them.


I haven't been able to find most of my notes, they are scattered among several papers but I also don't want to bore you with too many examples. Those are words and phrases that should absolutedly be avoided whenever possible and while some are clearly worse offenders than others, two or three of these in the same review would be enough for me to declare you critically dead.

Comments in bold
PD: Most phrases will have many variations, but they are all one and the same

it sucks
compelling characters (Non-specific, non-telling, completely overused. Compare to "beliable" which is more informative and requires less regulated writting)
- compelling narrative
- compelling gameplay
Ok,so...
- Ok, so here we go!
- Ok, so let's see...
The graphics are awesome, the music is great and the X is a lot of fun (For bonus points, waggle your arms for emphasis)
The most fun X
realistic
classic X action (as in, "classic plataforming action")
feels like work
boring (use "bland" or "insipid" instead, boring doesn't explain why
overrated
underrated
fiddly (Have you ever seen this word? Talk about irony!)
heavy
elegant
deep
brain burner
cutthroat
hard as fuck
- difficult as fuck
a breeze (difficulty-wise)
random (as in "random humour" or "random shooting game". Uggh.)
great music (It's always great music. Not any other adjectives!)
memorable Boss Battles
sense of speed
- unrivaled sense of speed
blazing through the streets of X
overly difficult
- overly short
open enviroments
huge sandbox
fast-paced gameplay
In conclusion (This is third-grader writting and unfortunatedly seen as good)
rose-tinted glasses (Meaning: You are a biased moron, unlike me)
repeated playthroughs
innovative
theme (instead of setting)
Comparisons to 1984. All of them.
classic (meaningless word)
cinematic (Meaning: Boring gameplay)
repetitive (prevents you from explaining why)
cheap
sense of progression
RPG-elements
dark/ dystopian world
dumbed down
highlights
a much more appropiate X
But once you get over the fact that
(People who like X) should give Y a look
gamepaly elements
a welcome addition to the genre
cartoony (Meaning: I have no idea what I'm saying)
sluggish controls
it's a shame X (isn't better)
no X at all
the fact that in (year) we still suffer from (X) is (unforgivable)
scratches an itch
- scrathces the same itch as
getting your X fix
without any bells and whistles
fun (weasel word)
colorful graphics
where it doesn't dissapoint
- and it doesn't dissapoint here
abandons the X gameplay of it's predeccesor
benefits from X
- benefits from the powerful X hardware
- makes the best use of the X capabilities
a common problem of X is that you Y
along the same lines as X
well-crafted
what X lacks in Y, it makes up in Z
a joy to play
There's more than the usual (mechanic) of X, here you...
For starters, X is (way to say bad, often a childish way to say bad)
looks like crap
- looks like shit
The X was good in it's time but
seriously, what the fuck were they thinking?
leaderboard (Scoreboard is not cool anymore)

I could go on and on. And don't think for a moment you need those to write a review, those phrasings are only useful if you want to write like a robot.

A dyslexic one.

Covered in pee.

You and I should go and grab a drink. You did fail to mention "fail" and no "epic", but I hug your list.