Here at GameVisions we aspire to do things differently! We know games carry a large price tag, and you want to make a game purchase knowing what you're going to get. You also want to know what games may appeal to you, despite critical success or failure. Our aim is to provide some of the lengthiest, most in-depth reviews in the industry, even if that means getting the story out later than most. We give games substantial playtime in order to understand the nuisances of the game, even if that means reviewing less titles than other publications. We want you to get the full story, so you can get the right game!

While our numeric ranking system is generally accurate to our feelings, the numeric score should be considered less important than the description of the strengths and weaknesses of a game. Numeric scores don't tell a complete story. Did the game rate poorly because of graphical performance issues? What if you're uninterested in the graphics? Maybe it rated well because of its multi-player component. That's fine, but maybe you're looking for a great single player game! Numbers don't tell the whole truth.

Our scoring system breaks down the five major elements of the game: Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Depth, and Multi-Player. Graphics rates the level of quality in the visuals, the production value, the physics, and modeling, as well as performance. Sound rates the quality and effectiveness of sound, ambiance, music and voiceovers. Gameplay rates both the "fun factor" and the mechanics of the game; truly the heart of any title. Depth rates both the depth of the story and the depth of gameplay knowledge and challenge. Multi-player rates the value of the multi-player experience with the game. Our reviews are generally single-player oriented, as that is the "boxed game" as it is, but gives some weight to the included multi-player capabilities as well, since we know that is popular. Games that center on multi-player however will be covered more from the multi-player perspective in the review.

The overall score is *NOT* an average of the break-down. A game can be worth more than the sum of its parts, so the overall score is independent of the individual scores and represents our general impression of the game. While we do score in a percentage for flexibility in scoring, scores below 50% are unlikely, and scores below 70% would be relatively rare. Any commercial game, with a few exceptions, has some inherent quality and strengths, and is deserving of a generally good score. Very, very few games will obtain the coveted 90% or higher scores, however.