We have made the decision to slightly adjust the scoring system for our site reviews, and will now be doing away with decimal places as we shift to traditional out-of-ten integer scoring. This isn’t a major change, as our previous system was already a ten-point scale. However, our hope is that using integers across a broader spectrum will eliminate some of the ambiguity introduced by that 0.5-point variance, and provide a clearer indication of a game’s quality at a glance. User reviews and aggregated community scores will continue to use the five-star grading system to help further differentiate from site reviews.For reference, here’s a quick rundown of what we perceive each of the grades to represent, although as ever, there’s a reason we provide lots of words as well as the number with our reviews — reading the text will often give a much better sense of context and reasoning than you’ll get from just scrolling down to look at the number, and we’d encourage readers to take the time to actually read through articles before taking to the comments.10 — A genre-defining release. A 10/10 score does not suggest perfection, rather a title that is the pinnacle of what gaming can offer.9 — An amazing experience, with maybe just a few minor foibles keeping it from the top of the pile.8 — A great game, if perhaps one with some issues or more limited appeal when compared to those that score higher.7 — Enjoyable and entertaining — a solid effort and one likely to find favour with fans of the genre.6 — Shows promise in some aspects, but either unambitious or held back from greatness by glaring issues.5 — An average or mediocre game that excels in no area and does nothing to advance the genre or medium.4 — A sub-par offering or one marred by unignorable problems, although genre fans may still tolerate it.3 — A legitimately bad game with only a few saving graces.2 — Truly woeful, and practically impossible to recommend to anybody.1 — Genuinely unplayable, and not in a temporary way.We’ll leave you with a few reminders:Reviews are opinionsSubjectivity is always going to be part of a review, and the extent may vary from writer to writer. While we often discuss opinions and scores on-team ahead of posting site reviews, a review article is ultimately (in most cases) the opinion of a single author. We actively welcome civil discussion and disagreement in the comments, but please refrain from insulting or attacking individuals for having an opinion that may differ from your own. Reviews are our ownWhile we may receive advance copies of games to facilitate timely coverage, no external factors or figures will ever influence what we cover, how we cover it, or what scores are awarded. Integrity is incredibly important to us, so please think carefully about posting inaccurate allegations regarding reviewers being ‘paid off’ if you value your posting privileges.
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