By Guest Author Michael Record
After the first 20 seconds or so of watching your first Zero Punctuation review something becomes very clear: that this is a reviewer who is not easily impressed by the vast majority of video gaming clamoured for by the mass market. Zero Punctuation is the creation of British born (but Australian residing) speed-talker, Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw and has been filling the internet with its skilfully crafted destruction of the biggest titles in the industry since 2007.
After releasing just two videos on YouTube (reviews of ‘Heavenly Sword’ and ‘The Darkness demo’ respectively), Yahtzee was snapped up by online magazine ‘the Escapist’. Zero Punctuation updates weekly with video reviews of the latest games (although occasionally featuring some classics) and Yahtzee both delights and infuriates games fans with his own peculiar brand of extreme criticism, creative bad language and hilarious stop / start visuals.
The visuals are a combination of bare bones simplicity (quite often the game itself is anthropomorphised by being depicted as the box artwork with crude arms and legs) and ingenious visual gags sending up the perceived flaws present in the game. The video adds extra humour to the audio that Yahtzee is galloping through by bringing a visual flair to the already darkly comic script; and considering that the script often throws in bizarre gags (such as describing a character as “some kind of combination of Hitler and Skeletor whose piss is pure liquid malevolence”) this makes for a double whammy of surreal comedy goodness.
Zero Punctuation is so named due to Yahtzee’s lightning fast delivery style. He barely pauses for breath whilst sprinting through a variety of insults, derision, venom and occasional praise. Whilst never actually being incomprehensible, the breakneck delivery adds an extra layer of urgency to the proceedings. This is compounded by an expertly written (and often hilariously crude) misanthropic hatred which, in less skilled hands, could have been wincingly unpleasant. As it is, the creativity of each gnarled simile and ridiculous metaphor shows there is far more to Zero Punctuation than dumb rage. This is a man for whom a wicked turn of phrase is ingrained skill.
If you are going to dedicate the next 40 hours of your life to a new game, and empty your wallet in the process, then some honest help can be gratefully received. Although nothing entertains quite so much as a savagely witting dissection of something, in actual fact the vitriol can often reveal more truth than flat sensible comment. Zero Punctuation is not only for gaming fans but for anybody who delights in the dark articulate humour. It continues to thrive and is well worth the watch.