Game Reviews: To Score or Not to Score

There's been a lot of talk recently about the state of videogame reviews and the editors of Tom's Games want to know what you think. Answer the poll question and post your ideas or suggestions in the thread.

Oops what I ment was each category should have their own score as well.

One thing I was considering was doing second opinion reviews so that readers can get an idea what some of the other writers/reviewers think of a particular title. Everyone had different tastes -- I prefer single player experiences, whereas others may put more value on multiplayer -- so having two or even three different opinions might help provide a more well-rounded view of a game.

I personally don't like scoring formulas such as those. In some cases, we may put a greater emphasis on certain aspects of a game -- story or audio, for instance -- than other aspects such as graphics. I think it's much more insightful to read about the author's own views, i.e "Where I'm Coming From," "What I Compared It To," etc.

Also, I like the idea of user reviews, but I'm just not sure if we'll be able to implement a system that's fair and won't lead to abuse. Still, it's a good idea.