[CardJoe]

The way I look at it is this:
1 - Something I'd probably not review unless it was important
2 - Garbage which you should destroy
3 - Really, not worth your time
4 - Not worth your time unless you are a massive fan
5 - is the bog standard you EXPECT from a game (that it works, that it does what it says)
6 - Problems outnumber the advantages, but the game is still fundamentally playable
7 - What you HOPE most games will offer as minimum (good levels, fun story etc)
8 - Damn good, some flaws
9 - Must have
10 - the best a genre has yet reached

Given the quality of most games now though and the type of games we review, 5 is considered a lower score than average. That's just perception though because most games do what they say on the tin and then layer in some additional elements to impress us.

I don't think averages work that well personally. A game can have great graphics but crap gameplay, scoring high on one and low another which makes a score which isn't representitive of the overall game. Tetris is a perfect example - crap graphics, repetitive gameplay, but still awesome and high scoring game.

To be fair, somebody who judges a game solely on a score is stupid anyway. The point is that you read the review, see our thoughts and from that forms YOUR OWN DAMN CONCLUSIONS. If I tell you that a game like Boiling Point is sandboxy, massive and fun but is ruined by bugs then you decide for yourselves whether you think you can cope with the bugs and you decide to buy the game or not. You should never just skip the whole text, see the score and go "hm, Joe gave Boiling Point a score of 6", I will/won't play it.

We're here to guide your and help you make up your minds by giving you facts and opinions based on facts, not to tell you what you must and must not play based solely on a numerical score which we include primarily because people expect it.

Translating a feeling into a number is a notion born to fail, so never rely on it and you'll start to see reviews as being more useful and helpful to you.