Paradroid (Commodore 64)

[digitalpress]

Critique the critique!

Rate this review on a scale of 1-10. Please explain your score. Was the review entertaining? Informative? Well-written? All of these things should go toward your critique.

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/contest/paradroid.htm

[digitalpress]

Critique the critique!

Rate this review on a scale of 1-10. Please explain your score. Was the review entertaining? Informative? Well-written? All of these things should go toward your critique.

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/contest/paradroid.htm

[Trellisaze]

9/10 (Very, VERY Good)

A couple of things that make this review shine are the reviewer's enthusiasm and clarity.

It's certainlt not the writing that's clear (it's pretty clunky, actually.) Rather, the reviewer's ideas are structured in such a way that s/he tells as much as possible in the least amount of space. There's no extraneous information here.

[Trellisaze]

9/10 (Very, VERY Good)

A couple of things that make this review shine are the reviewer's enthusiasm and clarity.

It's certainlt not the writing that's clear (it's pretty clunky, actually.) Rather, the reviewer's ideas are structured in such a way that s/he tells as much as possible in the least amount of space. There's no extraneous information here.

[maxlords]

Great review, covers a lot of info....it sounds intriguing! You can feel the love in this review, and the gameplay is explained quite well and summed up well, but gameplay and lack of classification is most of the review. It feels a bit incomplete. Maybe that's just me or the style of game, but I can't give it full marks. 8/10...almost a 9 but not quite.

Oh...and can I get this game for Amiga? :D

[maxlords]

Great review, covers a lot of info....it sounds intriguing! You can feel the love in this review, and the gameplay is explained quite well and summed up well, but gameplay and lack of classification is most of the review. It feels a bit incomplete. Maybe that's just me or the style of game, but I can't give it full marks. 8/10...almost a 9 but not quite.

Oh...and can I get this game for Amiga? :D

[Mayhem]

Yes you can. Paradroid 90, though the game was changed slightly so that is only scrolls vertically and not horizontally as well.

Also there is a game that copies Paradroid, namely Space Station Silicon (or whatever it was called on the N64). I give the review a good 8/10 here :)

[Mayhem]

Yes you can. Paradroid 90, though the game was changed slightly so that is only scrolls vertically and not horizontally as well.

Also there is a game that copies Paradroid, namely Space Station Silicon (or whatever it was called on the N64). I give the review a good 8/10 here :)

[hamburgler]

9 of 10

Summed up writting in a very good form.

[Flack]

9.

It was written exactly how I like reviews written. Had an introduction, a summary of the game, description of gameplay, a conclusion, and flowed logically. Obviously written by someone who loves this game.

[Jorpho]

Not bad. Organized and well-written. But still, I'm not quite getting a feel for the game. For instance, what is the strategic value of the different robots? What are these weapons? How fast is the game when you're not taking robots over?

7/10

(Oh, and if anyone's interested: http://paradroid.sourceforge.net/ and http://freedroid.sourceforge.net/ )

[zmweasel]

* The first paragraph could've been a great opening hook, but it meanders instead of getting to the point ("I've played 5,000 games for the Commodore 64, and exactly one of them stands out: Paradroid").

* Excellent gameplay description, if a little overenthusiastic.

* Doesn't mention any knock-offs or the superb Amiga sequel.

* A couple of typos, but well-written regardless.

7/10.

[Rezrov]

9/10

The author's enthusiasm really shines through and makes me want to go out and find this game just to play it. Any review that does that has to be on the right track.
Best review of the bunch.

- Shawn

[Ed Oscuro]

Mr. Meston confirms my suspicion that the opening sentence was a bit clunky. I would've kept the time frame but worded it differently, though to be fair wording it just right would've been a challenge. As it is, it's still a nice hook and a bit of a jolt to make you sit upright. While the hook really should've been no more than two short sentences (with the second a simple line such as "That game is Paradroid") I don't find the hook to be a turnoff at all.

However, questions as to the reviewer's familiarity with games still comes up.

a.) As Zach says, there was a sequel.

b.) You can't think of any game that used concepts from this one? How about any of the hacking games out there, and what about the System Shock games?

Beyond that, however, this game sets a clear goal of describing the game and at that it does a great job. I've never played the game but I have a clear idea what the game's like.

Finally, the final paragraph was a good idea. Even if you can't tell us about those other games, you leave us with the impression that this game has kept you going for nearly twenty years, which isn't a bad record at all and sticks with the reader.

However, there should've been point totals for the different categories, especially now that you've given us these two beautiful screenshots to ogle.

9/10, no more.

[Drexel923]

A good review overall. Everything is explained well. I would have liked to have some more info on the robots and their abilities though.

9/10

[Ascending Wordsmith]

What an excellent review. I've never heard of this game, and at first glance to the screenshots, I don't want to hear about it. Then I read the review. It was easy to read, full of good information, and covered all the areas. Then I looked at the screenshots again and thought, "Yeah it DOES make sense!" Great review.

9/10

[Captain Wrong]

Writer actually tells why he likes the game. There isn't any real discussion of graphics, sound or things like that. If the writer discussed some of the other things about the game, and maybe went a little lighter on personal notes, this would be a contender. No scores given so I'll take a point for that.

Score: 8

[digitalpress]

I'll give this one a 9/10.

When a review is given scores this good, I EXPECT it to sound enthusiastic and passionate, as well as explain to me why it's SO good. This review does all of those things. It's also one of the best descriptions of a game - more impressive when you consider that Paradroid is fairly complex and not simple to describe - I've ever read. Good enough to make me want to drag my C64 out of retirement, high praise indeed!