What Makes a Good Game and What Makes a Bad Game, plus Critique

What Makes a Good Game?

   There are many that factors that determine a good game from a bad one. Some of them are set in stone and some are subjective and differ from individual to individual. However, good games are generally...

Gameplay 

   Gameplay is a very important aspect of a game. A game with a good story and great graphics can be broken with bad gameplay. This can be in the form of a bad camera angle, field of view or even controls. Gameplay doesn't really have to be complicated, as proven by fun casual games like Angry Birds. At its core good gameplay is something that makes sense to the gamer and one that fits the overall concept of the game. You don't give casual games complicated keyboard controls and you don't force players of a realistic combat first person shooter to only use the mouse. All in all a good game has gameplay that makes sense and at best also has innovations. Still, this area is quite subjective because of personal preferences.

Story

   A good story can enhance the overall enjoyment of a game and a bad one can ruin it. However, a good plot or backstory is not really that necessary for making a good game, provided that it has good gameplay. A good example of this is the longstanding series Counter Strike. Counter Strike started out simply as a mod for Valve's very successful Half Life, and now has evolved into a separate stand alone game. Given this, Counter Strike doesn't have a story or plot, but it makes up for its lack of a plot with its awesome gameplay. Generally a good game can have a good story and gameplay or just good gameplay, but not with only a good story.

Graphics

   Graphics, the visual aspect of the game. This is also quite a blurry area as art is  subjective and interpretations differ from individual to individual. What matters most though is not the particular art style of a game but its overall visual cohesion, as in it all 'fits together' and each visual aspect whether its the environment or UI all blend together to make a great looking picture that is the 'look' of the game. Take for example Battlefield 4's ultra realistic graphics and Team Fortress 2's simple cartoony visuals. Both are first person shooters and both have equally good graphics. Why? Because all the graphical elements of both games come together to give great graphics that are gentle on the eyes.

Enjoyment

   A good game must have a 'fun factor', something that keeps gamers coming back to play again and again and even potentially get them addicted. This is quite a vague term, however it does matter to a good game. It can be an interesting story or setting, an innovative gameplay feature, great graphics, and even a great soundtrack. A good game stands out from the rest usually because of this factor.

....Now What Makes a Bad Game? 

   As I've discussed the qualities of a good game, now it's time to talk about what makes a game bad. Well, most of is really the opposite of what makes a game good. Bad gameplay, uninteresting story, ugly graphics that don't make sense and boring content can and will ruin a game. However there are additional factors that make a game bad, and these are:

Technical Problems

   Technical problems can come in the form of bugs, glitches in the gameplay, and other hardware and software problems. A game with great content will get a poor rating from gamers if it is full of bugs and glitches. Developers need to fully catch and remedies the bugs before releasing them to the public, and this is where testing comes in. The developers work in tandem with testers (usually the gamers themselves) in testing phases (e.g. Alpha test, Beta test, etc) to determine and iron out bugs and glitches. Even after releasing the game, the development team still has to maintain the game and fix possible errors that were missed during the testing phase. This can be done in the form of follow-up patches or game updates.

Poor Player Support / Player - Developer Relationship

   This is pretty much one of more overlooked aspects of a game, especially one that is online and has a huge player base (i.e. MMO's). A poor relationship between the developers and players can lead to a really sour situation for both parties and even worse, the ruining of an otherwise great game. Developing a good relationship with your player base should be one of the top priorities of game developers. If you piss off existing players, it can all cascade in a domino effect and before you know it gamers are leaving and refusing to play your game because of poor customer support.

Critique

   A critique is a careful judgment in which you give your opinion about the good and bad parts of something. This can be a piece of visual art, literature and even a video game. Critiques are usually in depth and is detailed examination of the subject of the critique.