Scoring System Explained
Game reviews come in all shapes and sizes. Some still enjoy the old-fashioned approach to scoring games based on various categories and metrics, others prefer a more straightforward approach, simply saying whether or not you should buy a game.
At Gamers Heroes, we use a 0-100 scoring system with 5 point increments. We decided to use this system as we believe there is a difference between a game that scores 90 and another that scores 95, but not so much between a 95 and a 96, reviewing games is not that exact of a science.
Below is a breakdown of what our scoring system means to us. We felt it was important to clarify because we still use 5 as an average, which isn’t always the norm.
For more information, be sure to check out our Review Policy.
Nobody enjoys giving low scores. It disappoints players, excited about an upcoming release, and nobody wants to hear their hard work was rated terrible by a critic that has never developed a video-game in their life.
That said, some games just don’t make the cut. We typically reserve our lowest rating of 0-10+ for games with next to no endearing qualities.
Buying a game we rate 0-10+ we expect you to refund it, set it alight, or throw it into traffic. These aren’t even games that are so bad they are fun, these games are just awful.
Games We Consider Absolutely Terrible
Thunderbowl
So Long Grandma
Freebot: Battle For FreeWeb
Factory Of Monsters
Life Is Pointless
Chi Busters
Timmy’s Cooking Show
A Wild Time Travelling Clone Dancing
Cosmic Zephyr
Synthwave Fury
Stepping away from the typically broken beyond all saving of the 0-10 category, games we score in the 20+ category suffer from a barrage of issues that make it difficult to find any redeeming qualities.
It does mean you can expect these games to be a slight improvement over our lower scoring games, but not by much.
Games We Consider Very Poor
KillSteel
Daddy (2018)
Super Pillow Fight
Monster Truck Drive
Steel Arena Robot War
Roller
70 Seconds Survival
Synthrun
Parcel Panic
Vacuum Story
Slowly, we begin to approach games with redeeming qualities but that fail to deliver across much of the experience. These games are considered to be well below average and with perhaps very rare exceptions, it’s best to avoid these games regardless of genre or franchise.
Games We Consider To Be Poor
Arc Of Alchemist
InkSplosion
Jumponaught
Manaya
Curling World Cup
Visceral Cubes
Blood Waves
Dead Dungeon
Rogue Reaper
Impasto
Games that just struggle to meet the lowest of expectations, teetering on the edge of average but not quite making the cut. These are quite often well-designed games that perhaps struggle with serious technical problems or a couple of huge flaws that are tough to ignore.
Some players may enjoy games scored in this range, but a heavy passion for the genre or franchise will likely be required.
Games We Consider Below Average
Shenmue III
Necromunda Underhive Wars
Little Dragon Cafe
State Of Decay 2
Wheelchair Simulator
Metal Division
World War Z
Night Book
The House Of The Dead Remake
The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum
Scoring in the 50+ range means just that, here at Gamers Heroes, it’s a bang on average experience. This is often seen as a negative in the gaming space because, well, nobody really wants average.
As a consumer, you don’t want to purchase an average product. As a developer, you pour your heart and soul into a game and the last thing you want, is for some idiot critic to call it average (sorry devs).
Buying a game in this rating range typically means we think you’ll find it okay. You probably won’t finish it and it’s not a game you’ll try and sell to your friends, but it does its job well enough.
Games We Consider Average
Jurassic World Evolution 2
Blood Bowl 3
Space God
Space Hulk: Death Wing Enhanced Edition
Watch Me Jump
WWE 2K19
Overkill’s The Walking Dead
Fallout 76
The Dark Pictures: Man Of Medan
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires
Breaking into the above average space now, although you’ll be hard-pressed to find many folk that consider a game scoring 60+ as anything but a negative.
Much like an average game, even an above average game is sometimes considered a disappointment with all the fanfare surrounding today’s biggest releases. That said, there are some solid games that don’t quite hit that great mark at launch, but the potential is definitely there.
Games We Consider Above Average
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition
Sword Of The Necromancer
Beat Rush
Scarlet Nexus
Vampire: The Masquerade Swansong
We Happy Few
Vampyr
Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise
Just Cause 4
Often described as average by seemingly everyone else in this industry, a 70+ here at Gamers Heroes means this game is very much above average and touching on greatness, but it’s that short step short of greatness that some find disappointing.
While it may be difficult to come to terms that the game you’ve been hyped for all year hasn’t quite reached the level of greatness expected, a score of 70+ still promises a lot of fun.
Games We Consider Very Good
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot
Robot Island
Biomutant
Wild Dive
Donut Dodo
Forspoken
Swords Of Ditto
Earth Defense Force 5
Dead Or Alive 6
Borderlands 3
Whether it’s the latest AAA release or an indie darling you’ve been hyped to see, an 80+ rating here at Gamers Heroes means its going to be a fantastic experience enjoyed by all.
These are games that have reached the mark of greatness, delivering a consistent and rewarding experience from start to finish.
Without a dislike of the genre of style of the game, we expect almost all players to enjoy games we score in this range.
Games We Consider Great
Helltaker
Summer In Mara
Little Nightmares 2
The Ascent
Heal Hitler
King Arthur: Knight’s Tale
Trek To Yomi
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge
Sonic Mania Plus
Rival Megagun
Games scored in the 90+ rating are the games we all dream of, players and developers alike. These are games that reach the very pinnacle of this industry and blow away nearly all expectations.
For all intents and purposes, these games are the best you’re going to get throughout much of the year. Only a short step away from the very best, but still a game we expect all genre fans to enjoy.
Games We Consider Epic
Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
Elden Ring
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Street Fighter VI
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Detroit Become Human
Moonlighter
Red Dead Redemption 2
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Control
No video-game or work of creative art can ever be perfect. Objectively, subjectively, perfection is never the goal. That said, sometimes, and it’s very rare, an incredible game comes along that shakes up the entire foundation of the industry.
It defines a genre unlike any before it. It showcases development talent and creativity beyond even the loftiest of expectations. It’s that special game that you tell all your colleagues at work about, even the ones that call every console a Nintendo.
Buying a game we score 100, we expect to offer the very best in genre. A game you’ll be excited to play day after day, and one you’ll recommend to everybody you know.
Games We Consider A Masterpiece
Baldur’s Gate 3
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Forza Horizon 4
Roguebook
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Scoring System Summary
You’ve probably read through our scoring system, seen some of the games listed, and questioned what the hell you just saw.
It’s important to note that this is an ever-changing industry. Our editor’s can only review the games placed in front of them at the time. This often means games with severe technical issues or shortcomings, that are later fixed, are judged harshly in retrospect.
The likes of Cyberpunk 2077, World War Z, No Man’s Sky, all games that vastly improved in the weeks, months, and years following launch, didn’t review so well at launch.
As we don’t change review scores once published, it’s a good idea to seek out more recent reviews on these games as time moves forward.
We can’t promise you will always agree, but we do promise that we will only ever deliver our honest opinions, free of any pressures or demands.
MetaCritic
Most of our reviews can be found on popular review aggregate website, MetaCritic. On our MetaCritic page you can find a breakdown of our score distribution, our average score compared to other critics, and direct links to most of our reviews.
We joined MetaCritic in 2018 so some of our earlier reviews are not featured. Whenever a new review is published, we contact MetaCritic with the URL, score, platform, and snippet. How the review is featured is solely at the discretion of MetaCritic.
OpenCritic
Our reviews are also featured on OpenCritic, which also includes additional information such as our average score, median score, and total games recommended. OpenCritic boasts a much larger library of our reviews, including those before we joined the platform.
Our reviews are submitted to OpenCritic manually by one of our editors. How it is featured on the website is solely down to OpenCritic.
Our Expert Reviewers
Every member of the Gamers Heroes team has been playing games for 20-30 years. Every major console, every genre imaginable. Hundreds of game reviews and thousands of guides over the years. For a more detailed biography on each of our reviewers here at Gamers Heroes, check the links below
Review Policy
To understand more about our review policy, the requirements and expectations we expect our editors to reach, please check out our official review policy.