THE EIGHT PILLARS:
1. Campaign (includes story, characters and level design)
2. Multiplayer (includes level design, but NOT cooperative)
3. Cooperative
4. Graphics
5. Gameplay (includes menus and ease of access)
6. Sound (includes music)
7. Replay Value
8. Controls
These 8 elements compose the total score, which is out of 100 (each pillar is also out of 100). However, each pillar is "weighted", that is, a perfect Sound wont boost the score of an otherwise crappy game but terrible graphics wont doom a otherwise spectacular game).
Originally, cooperative would be included with multiplayer or campaign, but many games offer a very separate cooperative "survival mode". Any game that lacks a pillar wont be punished unless it is a serious flaw (i.e. a shooter without gunshots or a game without gameplay).
OVERALL RATINGS:
100+: Classic
96-99: Perfect
90-95: Spectacular
85-89: Outstanding
80-84: Impressive
75-79: Enjoyable
70-74: Fun
65-69: Passable
60-64: Not Fun
55-59: Pitiful
50-54: Crap
10-49: A joke
<10: These developers need to be fired
