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For me, it breaks down into three sections: atmosphere, plot and gameplay.

By atmosphere, I mean the first thing that hits you, whether you be a casual, hardcore or a nongamer. This would include graphics, music and art style. Good graphics grab the player first, since many people like to see screenshots of upcoming games. Music enhances the game by setting tones for from epic to mystery games. Finally art style can range from the realistic designs for Resident Evil 4, to the cartoon world of Katamari Damacy.

Next comes the plot. Plot in other words is the story of the game. Now, some people may say that atmosphere and plot are the same thing, I have, but there are differences. RE4 had EXCELLENT atmosphere. The music was haunting, art was shockingly realistic and graphics were brutally detailed. When you look beyond those points, the story... fell flat. It didn't have the mysteriousness that RE1 had.

Finally the gameplay section is where... well the game is played. Many people have different tastes, from RPG to sports, fighting to puzzle or adventure to platforming. I like games that involve strategy in them. That way I can choose to do something in a variety of ways, to keep it fresh. Call it depth if you will. I don't like games where I get lost easily or have to solve puzzles with VERY vague clues.

So this is how I breakdown games and I'm wondering if anyone does it differently. I'd say games with good plots are very rare and even more rare are the ones that fufill all 3 requirements. Well, I'm tired, time to sleep.........

I measure games almost all like that but because of the new era (Online Capabilities)I look into the multiplayer alot more than I would when I would jsut play say with my brother...

Reveblade one thing you forgot is the Replayability... the game needs to last long and be able to be played over and over because its fun or there is different paths or stratigies to use. (Fable, SplinterCell, MetalGearSolid, Starcraft...) most games die because they have a lame replayability value people will play it... beat the game... Put it in the closet to colect dust.

Things that help replayability:

Scores: make you want to do better... Splintercell I want to get a 100% completion on all singleplayer levels for example... its quite hard... My highest is a 96...
Stratagies: Keep the game new everytime you play. Starcraft build building in new places... new maps... What units will you use to attack with? Golitaths? Mutalisks? Dragoons? carriers and corsairs?
Fun Factor: Plain and simple... the reason so many people play Halo2 is because there are fun things you can do in it... Blowing up banchees hitting grunts. Online its fun to own people and custom gametypes are a plus...

Yea, replayability and depth are important factors to add in. I consider them to be a part of the gameplay score to be exact. Games like Starcraft, Warcraft, fighting games or chess have great replay value. Games that offer many unlocks are also there as well. These games tend to be multiplayer, since the human mind is much more flexible than AI will ever be. Singleplayer games tend to wear out, but that's because player to cpu interaction can only go so far.

Quake 3:
Pretty graphics. Yep. They aren't super realistic but they are pretty and attractive.
It has different map themes and it's an online game. They all look nice and fit.
Plot/Story: ugh... It's a multyplayer game! Frag or be fragged
Gameplay: Competetive gameplay at its best

That didn't work quite well.

My components:
The looks. (graphics basically)
The feel. (atmosphere, style, speed)
The play. (aka gameplay - ugh, many factors here! Netcode, weapon balance, pace of the game, popular 'pro' features...)
The story. (for a sp game mostly. but I like to hear explanations to how did that or this works and alike)
Tweakabilty/Customizability. (You can quake3 to run on 'ugly' graphics or fully customize your hud and/or effects)

Additional points for...
being fun
not boring
strategic
hard
good mature community


I might have forgotten many things.