Joe adds sketches, original content, and a well rounded approach to his reviews. He brings in a character that can be a little tough to swallow at times, but says out loud what most of our internal dialogues say to us already about bad games. Joe comes with a wealth of knowledge, weighs the pros and cons of each game he reviews, and tends to take an objective, yet passionate approach to gaming reviews. While the sketches aren't perfectly crafted, it's authentic in the sense that Joe loves what he does, and it shows.
Joe has been known to add more sketches to his material as of late, and while they add some fun to his reviews, they can turn some people off that are just coming to see a well balanced review.
While it can not always be avoided TotalBiscuit states that he tries to stay as objective as much possible. He goes out of his way to accept no gifts from developers or publishers as well as stay completely out of their social circles, as to stay as objective as possible about their products.
The Framerate Police is a Steam Curator channel that TotalBiscuit started as a reaction to Steam no longer listing the framerate games play at on their store. This way users can see what games play at the often considered low framerate of 30fps and then discuss if the frames can be unlocked and how. This is one in the many ways the John Bain pushes for pro-consumer ideals.
Not many reviewers/critics go so in depth in a games menu as Total Biscuit does. Many games he will spend 20 minutes just in the option menu in order to show how many graphical settings there are for a game and what each one does. For those interested in how they can tweak their games this is highly informative and difficult to find elsewhere.
As TotalBiscuit himself will be quick to point out, TB doesn't do reviews, he mostly does first impressions. That means that the games he showcases and critiques on his channel he has not completed and so has only partial knowledge of the game.
Yahtzee is mainly know for his Zero Punctuation show in which he delivers highly critical reviews at a very fast pace. It's combined with unique minimalistic cartoon imagery to help illustrate topic at hand.
Yahtzee criticizes overuse of quick time events, obsession with graphical fidelity at the expense of story or gameplay, motion peripherals, yearly franchise releases, etc in many cases as hindering the advancement of interesting games.
Doesn't spend enough time with games to get very in-depth with them. Videos often have errors or misconceptions about games. With longer games he might not even get halfway through.
Super Bunnyhop tends to be miles above other reviewers and critics in his analysis of a game by breaking down all of the components in a manner that is easily accessible as well as highly researched.
The host has a journalism degree and follows the rules, ethics and qualities expected of a professional Journalist.
When a subject is being explored, viewers are first given some prior knowledge required to understand the subject at hand. Sources and other information is also made readily available for anyone to use.
While the information often provided is very detailed it can be long winded which means it takes time to watch, which is an investment from the viewer that is not always able to be given.
The videos are as long as he feels they need to be to address everything - the Devil May Cry & Dark Souls entries are entire playthroughs of several hours whilst discussing the games - far more analysis than a standard Lets Play video. His critiques are also concise and straight-to-the-point, instead of extensively rambling about a single point where it's not required.
One aspect of game design that often gets overlooked by other critiques is atmosphere, which is something that he is excellent at dissecting (as evidenced by his Majora's Mask, Team Ico and Demon's Souls videos).
Several critics tend to provide long detailed (often surface-level) descriptions of games without talking too much about the merits and pitfalls of the actual gameplay. As a programmer, he understands what goes behind-the-scenes in game design, useful for starting developers. Having played an extensive array of games that goes beyond the mainstream, he can effectively compare games to highlight a specific aspect of gameplay (such as combat, puzzle-solving or level-design).
If you're going to create a game, Matthew will sometimes provide behind-the-scenes stories about how a certain game was made or game mechanics worth improving or experimenting on. These videos make it seem like games are far more complex and exciting on the inside than they first appear.
If you're looking for comedy or exciting gameplay, you will not find it here. His sense of humor is subtle and sporadic, but that boils down to personal opinion. Long videos are both a blessing and a curse, providing a lot of information, but some people just can't make it through.
He edits his critiques in a way that flows like an audio book. In terms of effective critiques there arent many to be found here. He uses reductive anaylsis, throws out opinions as if they explain anything like a journalist with quality research could.
Worth A Buy does not cater to saying what people want to hear but says what he thinks no matter the blowback he may receive. While not always stating something many will agree with it is refreshing to hear someone unafraid to state their opinion when they know it may be unpopular.
Worth A Buy covers many early access and alpha/beta products as just that, products and then rviews these titles on if they are currently worth the money being asked. This can be refreshing to hear if an EA game is actually worth the current price for what is on offer instead of hearing about intended promises that may or may not make the final release.
Many people may not agree with the reviewers stance on outing certain tactics in the gaming development community, which can be a turn off in watching.
NerdCubed's channel mostly consists of Let's Play content. While LPs can be used to get an impression of a game and NerdCubed does remark on certain characteristics of games while playing them, his channel is an entertainment channel first and a critique channel somewhere down the line.
Idiotech channel is run by a person who has been a developer in the gaming industry for most of their adult life and so have a view on gaming that many other Youtube critics may not have, making ofr some insight that may not be gained elsewhere.
Idiotech uses Twitch streaming for games the channel is planning on reviewing. This allows users to see some of what the channel thinks of the game before a review comes out as well as see the gameplay before the full review.
While being a less popular channel may not degrade the reviews it does mean that there may be less reason to continue their job in reviewing games, so time invested in following the channel may lead to an abandoned channel at some point due to not making enough funds for the time spent reviewing games.
As Sterling has a tendency to cover (often touchy) topics in a somewhat inflammatory, unapologetic manner, he often gets perceived as being needlessly hostile.
Jim Sterling is known for stepping on toes once in a while. In 2009 he gave Assassin's Creed II a 4 our of 10 when most reviewers praised the game, he heavily criticised Peter Molyneyx, a respected industry figure, for constantly overselling and under-delivering his games and manipulating the consumers, etc.
Whatever gamers are upset about this week, expect the Jimquisition to be following along promptly with a preachy, whiny summation of things everyone said already.
While Jim is known for pointing out glaring anti-consumer behaviors there are people that feel he often chooses small targets like unknown publishers on Steam. While not always the case it does look to be a trend. Even when he chooses to voice concerns over AAA, it is often issues that many gamers have already pointed out, which leads to people believing that Jim is a bit of a echochamber repeating what he knows gamers will agree with him over. People also question why he chooses to not voice concern over corruption in games media, which plays a big role in the anti-consumerism that affects gaming. May other gaming critics have discussed this issue with the people such as Total Biscuit covering it extensively.
Jim Sterling has criticised Valve's Steam Greenlight for having a lack of quality control, multiple developers of "asset flipping" (presenting ready-made game engine assets as a game), the mainstream media for portraying games as causing violence, etc.
There are games so bad, that while playing them comes a point where the experience and the opinion on said game is unsalvageable. At that point one can, in good faith, review the game without finishing it. And then there are games that blow up monitors.
Inventors of the only truly objective review system - Crate Review System. The point you encounter a Crate in the game signifies when the developers have run out of new ideas, the longer it takes to encounter a Crate the better the game (e.g. it takes longer to encounter a Crate in Blood than it takes in Half-Life, therefore Blood is the better game game).
Analog Reviews provides a Steam Group to their viewers where they can play games with them as well as discuss the games on the platform where they are purchased.
While it is mostly impossible to make enough money (especially for four people) doing Youtube reviews as a full time job there can be lulls in the uploads to this channel.
For those that like to read their reviews over watching them there is a companion website for VideoGamerTV called VideoGamer.com. They offer not only text reviews but also gaming news as well as a forum for interaction and discussion.
Their site, podcasts and Youtube channel are not earning enough to sustain themselves and have started a Patreon account in order to find more funding for their buisness. This is not reassuring that they are spending more money than they are taking in which could mean trouble in the future if Patreon does not fully support their costs.