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The 100 lamest game-industry clichés

Learn the lexicon of laziness that makes all game reviews sound the same

Words: Mikel Reparaz, GamesRadar US

92. No holds barred - Although this phrase has evolved from its wrestling origins to imply unrestrained action without limits, in the context of videogames, it almost always means "you'll punch some dudes in the face a whole bunch."

93. Recipe analogies - Take one part repetitive, add two parts horrible, garnish with boring and serve with a twist of tiresome, and you've got one of the worst clichés ever devised!

Above: This is not a videogame, so stop pretending that it's made the same way

94. The beginning of a beautiful friendship - The closing line from Casablanca, a movie watched by only one percent of the people who quote it.

95. Overall - See All in all

96. Totally unique twist - It was zombies the whole time.

Above: OH NO ZOMBIES!

97. Blockbuster lineup - A handful of shitty games that were all rushed out the door so as to coincide with each other. May contain 1-3 good games, but only if balanced with 3-5 shovelware "casual" games. In rare cases, every single one of the games will be good, but they'll all be eclipsed by each other and disappear into obscurity (ex. Ubisoft's 2003 holiday lineup).

98. Accessible yet challenging - The game has exactly one action button, but will earn your admiration and secret hatred when it mobs you with hordes of ridiculously tough triangles.

99. Rock the competition - Mildly annoy the competition.

100. "Top XX" list articles - Who writes these? Not us, that's for damn sure.  And we sure as hell don't write them every week, and you certainly can't see some of our best ones here.

Hear more about this article in TalkRadar

Jul 22, 2008


 
10 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
Kirbykiller4  - 11 months 7 days ago 
I don't actually think I could snap a controller in half with my bare hands anyway.

And no,I'm not saying first,most sites ban people for saying that,and I'm sure this site will eventually.

FFFFFFFUUUUU- I just said it
Chicago  - 10 months 3 days ago 
Nos 25, 96, and 100 are the best. But for 96 what game is that?

Recaptcha for this

legal $53.620,924.90
GamesRadarMikelReparaz  - 7 months 10 days ago 
That would be Resident Evil on GameCube.
AlpineGuy  - 5 months 10 days ago 
How DID that PSP break, anyway?
Regardless, great article!
caboose4400  - 5 months 8 days ago 
i dont think i'd be able to break a controller in half xbox controller no normal person could break but PS2 maybe....any way great article
winner2  - 5 months 6 days ago 
number 69 made my day lol
Danomeon  - 5 months 6 days ago 
I generally find that all of these cliches are unavoidable in writing a review. The point of a review is to inform others how good or bad the game is, and some of these phrases are overused simply because they get the job done.

Everyone knows what "Action packed" means, and that word is a good descriptor. I hear people say that a game is "Beautiful" alot and do I mind it? No, mainly because it is the most simple way to describe the graphics.

Not to mention the fact that some of these words can be used to further bring others towards a good game. For example, if you said that Okami (You know you cannot resist this game!) was "Revolutionary" and "Action packed", people would want to purchase it more.
CombatCat120  - 3 months 24 days ago 
Never knew that so many words used in reviews meant the same(See All in All)
theschwartzb  - 3 months 6 hours ago 
Hahahahaha. "This game sucks shit throug ha giant straw", that is classic GR, and also why I come back for more.
olio  - 1 month 10 days ago 
Man, this article suddenly makes me self-conscious about my own writing... It was still funny, though. There's a lot of spinning going on in the gaming world, and it's funny to see that somebody's finally getting called out on that crap.
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