Fire Daemon said:
No there shouldn't be a game that is given a 10/10. A score of 10 says that everyone who plays this game will enjoy it and I don't think that everyone can enjoy a single game.
Why?
A review is subjective. I would give fallout 1 a ten out of ten, because there is nothing in that game I'd change for anything else. The same goes for Portal. Sure, it would be fun if they were longer, sure, graphics could maybe be improved, and possible bugs removed. That doesn't change the fact that I think those two games are as good as they will ever be. I had enough fun playing those games that I consider them deserving of full scores.
That doesn't mean everyone will agree. Most people picking up a copy of Fallout for the first time today and be forced to play through it would scream, scream, scream for days about the awful graphics that hurts their eyes. Many people will disagree that it is as good as I think it is. That doesn't change my score, and my score doesn't imply that everyone will like it.
No one can ever judge something for everyone, someone will always find something wrong, so NO review EVER can mean that everyone would think something is great, no matter how high a score that review gives it. A score of ten says only that the reviewer loved the game and that anyone with similar taste will too. NOTHING else.
I agree however that not many games deserve a 10. And if there was a more precise scale, no game could ever reach it. If you give a game a scorde between 1 and 10 however, that 10 is attainable. If a flaw is mentioned, then no, the game shouldn't be given a 10. Then again, there are horrible technically flawless games.
I think that a game deserves the highest score if that game fully utilizes what it has. Withing a deep forest for example is a very simple game. It doesn't offer too much, it doesn't offer amazing graphics, deep storyline, very much immersion, etc. It offers a fun gameplay and some interesting puzzles. It does those things extremely well however, and makes no pretense to offer anything else. In my eyes that makes it a candidate for a 10/10 score. It does what it's supposed to perfectly. It's not much, but it's right. It's got a few glitches, it gets awfully frustrating sometimes, but it still deserves a ten, because it delivers what it promises perfectly.
I don't agree with William in the least. Giving something a high score for effort is like rewarding someone for showing up in class, or for trying to answer a question. A rating should be fair. If someone has a great idea and executes it in a horrendous fashion it doesn't deserve a high rating, no matter how great the idea is. Just if it has a great concept, and lives up to it and delivers can such a high rating be achieved.
