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Why do you review games?
Whilst we aim to be the first with news, that is not always the case. Whether due to either our personal situations or simply because we do not have enough hands on deck, we are on occasion behind the times. However, we do take reviewing games extremely seriously. Whilst our goal is to provide you with the most up to date information on discounted sales around at retail, it is also important to ensure that you have all the information available on those games before handing over your hard-earned money.
Our reviewers try to do two things: Give you the pros and cons of the game in question and secondly, tell you as much about the game as possible, to make sure you know enough about the game before buying it, thus ensuring value for money. This is something we pride ourselves upon and is the first and foremost task for our reviewers. Whilst critiquing games is not exactly science, it is an incredibly difficult process to review a game fairly. Whilst other outlet's review scores may differ from our own, Games Enquirer's review team works tirelessly to ensure every review meets the same journalistic high standard, taking into account all aspects of the game, good and bad, before giving the game its final score.
Why do you use 5 stars?
Similar to why we don't use a point structure (i.e. 7.6 out of 10), we also do not rate games out of 10, as we believe this would make reviewing games more difficult for reviewers when it comes to giving a fair score and in addition, for readers to understand. Our review scores are final and cannot be adjusted. We do not accept payment for higher scores and whilst we may have friends in the industry whom make games, this does not sway our overall score, regardless of our personal or professional opinion on the people involved. As gamers ourselves, our main goal is to provide all the information we have available at the time of the review, and provide as much detail as possible regarding gameplay, features, technical aspects [bugs and glitches], artwork, dialogue, story, soundtrack, and controls, with the question in mind, "What information would we want before buying or pre-ordering a game?"
As such we have provided this easy to understand essential guide to give not just our readers, but developers as well, insight into this process, on how we rate the games we review, and by according to what factors we judge and determine scores.
Whilst no game is perfect, an award of five stars is as close as it gets to the real thing. It is our way of saying we struggled to find a single fault and for us at least, this game is the best you'll find. Whilst this rarely happens, and is incredibly difficult to get, a five star review means that this game is the pinnacle of game design and what should be used as an example to others for years to come.
Example:
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God of War: Ragnarök
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Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
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Elden Ring
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Metroid Dread
A 4.5 out of five is a game that every gamer should own, or at least play once. If we rate a game 4.5, it means the game was near perfection and will be fondly remembered for it's ingenuity and design or its creative re-imagining of a popular game feature or story, but had one small oversight or issue (such as a glitch) that could do with a second look.
Example:
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Ghostrunner
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Forza Horizon 5
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A Plague Tale: Requiem
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Let's Build a Zoo
A 4 Star game is a great game that is still a must buy, but does have one or two issues that prevent it from becoming a 4.5. Usually, this can be something like clunky controls, pop-in or technical issues that require a patch, however they are absolutely worthy of a purchase.
Example:
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Chivalry 2
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Two Point Campus
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
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The Ascent
A 3.5 is a game that is lacking ambition, has a few bugs or repetitive gameplay but ultimately, is good to play in short bursts and has many redeeming qualities, more so than bad. Could it be better? Absolutely, but it still is worthy of picking up.
Example:
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Far Cry 6
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Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed
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Lego Bricktales
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FIFA 23
A game that is 3 stars is better than average but leaves us wondering "what if they did this instead?" Provided you can look over it's several faults, like extremely repetitive gameplay or uninspired combat mechanics, you'll likely only play it a few times before getting bored and moving on.
Example:
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Biomutant
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Remote Life
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WWE 2K22
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Call of Duty: Vanguard
Some may call games at 2.5 stars as bland or mediocre, we call them average. 2.5 rated games are not worth your time or money unless you find it in the bargain bin.
Example:
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The Fabled Woods
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Glitchpunk
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Last Visit
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Crackdown 3
Games that are rated 2 stars, are for multiple reasons. They may have one or two good features, such as a well composed sound track or a well written story but ultimately, are buggy, broken and/or riddled with monetization and thus are worth skipping for something better.
Example:
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WWE 2K20
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Dying Light 2
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Fallout 76
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Tom Clancy: The Division
We go through the pain and torture of playing these games so you don't make the mistake of wasting your money. They have so much wrong with them on almost every level, they belong in the trash. Whilst poor games may have one or two redeeming features, dreadful games are always, well, dreadful.
Example:
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Saints Row Reboot
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Battlefield 2042
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Chocobo GP
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Crossfire X
Being worse than dreadful is a feat in itself. These games are agonizing to play and a pain to sit through. If it wasn't for the fact that something about the game was half decent, like competent controls, they are otherwise like nails on a chalkboard to play.
Example:
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Babylon's Fall
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Sim City
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Duke Nukem Forever
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NHL 21
This is the lowest score we can possibly give. These games are so broken from the outset and riddled with bugs, they are completely unplayable and often, laughably so. We don't bother reviewing games these bad, but when we do, we give up pretty quick and you most likely won't even see a review.
Example:
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eFootball
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Darknot
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Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: Definitive Edition