When fun steps aside

My one pet peeve against game reviewers is the fact that they will review a game taking every aspect into consideration except for the aspect that matters most: fun. I don't understand reviews that focus on games that are visually stunning or really took a chance on creating a different kind of world. Those things are all great and I respect developers that are willing to evolve the video game genre, but sometimes I feel that they sacrifice fun to do it. When did that not become the the one reason most people play games?

I'd hate to bash on BioShock, because it is an extremely stunning game. The first time I crawled onto land and looked up at a golden statue, I had chills. The opening sequence was immersive, I wanted to find out what happens next. Then I realized the game was exactly like System Shock 2. The looting system took me out of the flow of things, the enemies are surprisingly dull after a few Big Daddies, and I just wasn't having a pleasurable time while fighting my way to the next chunk of story.

Then there are games like Rez, which nobody cared to play when it came out in in 2002, but it gets released on Xbox Live Arcade in HD and suddenly it is a cult classic that everyone who knows games should have played six years ago and must pick up again now. For anyone who doesn't know what the game is, it's basically Panzer Dragoon with techno/dance music. You add to the soundtrack when you kill enemies, but the sound effects don't seem to make any sense. It's not particularly rewarding to go into a rhythm. It's not to say i'm not a fan of music games, I think Lumines (by the same creator, but 5 years later) is a great example of a game that rewards you for playing well both in terms of the music and also in your score/advancement.

So what makes a game fun? Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions, but here are some things I look for:

• Intuitive, easy to learn, but rewarding for being good (The whole Othello mentality)
• The pacing of the game is steady and can be hastened or slowed by the player's skill, not force by the gameplay or environment
• Responsive controls that let a player do what he is thinking (this is a combination of intuitive gameplay and pacing)
• Short levels/checkpoints/missions/travel so that a player can feel rewarded for his efforts at regular intervals.
  

Think back to the truly classic games like pacman, donkey kong, or tetris. They all had these elements.