Review Myths – Playing The Entire Game
Before I launch into my epic multi-part treatise on the fine art and hacked together craft that is writing video game reviews, I need to say something about one of the things that makes video game reviews so difficult to write well.
You don't need to play an entire game to write a good review of it.
Video game reviewers seem to take a lot of cues from film and book criticism, something that's good if you're interested in producing articulate material. Unfortunately, neither literature nor cinema properly reflect the interactive nature of video games. In basic terms, they're a form of linear media that you experience from start to finish. Not so with video games.
When you sit down to watch a movie, if you watch the first half and then leave for the second, you've missed out on the core experience of the film. The same is true of a book that you leave half finished. Better yet, consider what it'd be like to start from the middle, skipping the beginning completely? If you haven't experienced the core element of whatever you're criticizing, then you aren't being a fair critic.
The problem? The core element of a video game is the gameplay, and it usually gets handed to you all at once. Sure, games have difficulty progressions or introduce new gameplay aspects as they progress, but for the majority of video games you'll find that what you're playing at the end of the game looks a lot like what you're playing at the beginning of the game.
In this regard, I find it pointless to play through an entire game for the sake of a review, contrary to the advice offered by...pretty much everyone I can think of. Even Wikipedia talks about it. And they're wrong.
There are going to be games that you need to play through completely to review. If you're doing a story review on a JRPG, or you're trying to write a comprehensive review, then a full play through is definitely recommended. And in some games, you get a curve-ball that bears exploring. Think of the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2. If you didn't play far enough to get it, and then use it to kill zombies in Ravenholm, then you've missed out on one of the core gameplay elements in Half-Life 2, for the worse.
Most games can be figured out in a few hours. You don't need a rocket launcher to know that, hey, you're going to blow stuff up with a rocket launcher as soon as you get one! Take the time to understand the core gameplay, and start your review there. When you focus on the gameplay as your primary target, you're going to produce a better review. Think of the gameplay as the entire game. Once you've experienced all of that, you can push on and play the rest if you want, it just isn't strictly necessary.
And most of all, don't feel bad about putting down a bad game before you've finished it. Our time is too precious to waste on a horrible video game. Waste that same time revising your writing instead.