Comparative reviews are one thing and obviously must be done as objectively as possible but reviews of individual items are in many ways more difficult because there is no context against which to base them. As such, they should be handled as objectively, as fairly, as possible and the following is my way of trying to review something fairly.

As a critic, it is not enough to simply say you loved a film or hated it, you must be seen to be consistent so proper evaluation is necessary. This can be painful at times but it is, I feel, worth the effort, working quite well and often giving some quite surprising results. The following outlines the review method I use and the categories I use to do so, all the reviews on this site follow this method. I've given some considerable thought to these categories and hope that they make the review that little bit more objective and interesting.

Most reviews on this site will be books but occasionally I will also review film and DVD.

Books are typically evaluated against the following categories:

• Action: How much action (as opposed to violence) in the book.
• Originality: How innovative the concept behind the story is.
• Plot: How good the basic story is.
• Presentation: Pictures, introductions and various other aspects of the book.
• Romance: How well/appropriately the romance & sex scenes are handled.
• Scope: How wide-ranging the book's scope is.
• Suspense: Well we didn't see that one coming ... or did we?
• Violence: How much violence (as opposed to action) in the book.
• Writing: How good the author's writing style is.

TV, DVD & Film are typically evaluated against the following categories:

• Acting: Regardless of the script or direction, how good the acting appears to be.
• Action: How much action (as opposed to violence) in the film.
• Direction: Quality of direction and its effect on the final product.
• Effects: Quality, appropriateness & effectiveness of the effects.
• Extras: Quality and amount of extras (DVD only).
• Music: Originality and appropriateness of the score & other music.
• Originality: How innovative the concept behind it was.
• Plot: How good the basic story is.
• Presentation: Packaging, booklets & other extra stuff (DVD only)
• Romance: How well/appropriately the romance & sex scenes are handled.
• Scope: How wide-ranging the scenario scope is.
• Sound: How good the sound effects (as opposed to music) are.
• Suspense: Well we didn't see that one coming ... or did we?
• Violence: How much violence (as opposed to action) in the film

Games are typically evaluated against the following categories:

• Action: How much action (as opposed to violence) in the game.
• Addiction: How eager you are to get back into the game.
• Control: How easy the game is to control.
• Difficulty: How easy or hard the game is.
• Gameplay: Straight line play or can the player deviate from the path (linearity).
• Graphics: How realistic/smooth the graphics are in relation to the platform.
• Music: Originality and appropriateness of the score & other music.
• Originality: How innovative the concept behind it was.
• Plot: How good the basic story is.
• Presentation: Packaging & supporting booklets etc.
• Romance: How well/appropriately the romance & sex scenes are handled.
• Scope: How wide-ranging the scenario scope is.
• Suspense: Well we didn't see that one coming ... or did we?
• Violence: How much violence (as opposed to action) in the game

All reviews carry two further categories:

• Personal: A personal score based on the reviewer's gut reaction to it.
• Overall: Overall mark (calculated ... see below)

Guidelines for reviews:

• Reviewers can choose the standard suggested sets of categories or adapt them.
• Reviewers should not use inappropriate categories e.g. the action category would not normally be correct for a romance.
• Chosen categories should be accompanied by a short comment and/or explained in greater detail in the review.
• All category marks are out of 10.

The "Overall" score is calculated as:

        CAT = No. of categories Score + 1
        TOT = Sum of all categories except personal + 2 x Personal
        Percentage = TOT/(CAT*10)

Ultimately it up to a reviewer how they evaluate a film but this does, at least, allow for a degree of objectivity and if anyone has better suggestions we'll be only too pleased to listen.