So beloved gamespot reviewer Kevin VanOrd is to leave the site this week and I am saddened that I won't be able to read and watch his reviews anymore but happy of course that he had found a new exciting adventure to pursue. I often think about how someone can have a huge affect on your gaming choices without them ever knowing about it and what a strange relationship that really is.

I use an example in the form of Kevin's Dark Souls review. My favourite kind of reviews are the ones in which a reviewer will put his or her personality into it and the way in which Kevin talked about this game was something more than just a checklist of what makes games good or bad. I really felt like he understood what the true soul (pun most defiantly intended) of the game was and how it was trying to convey that said soul to the player. This was a game I was unsure about buying but Kevin's words swayed me and I've never looked back since.

Words have always been powerful throughout history when spoken by the right person and indeed have been used in both good and evil ways. They have the ability to inspire, inform, persuade and move a person to tears if they connect to the audience in such a way. Now a video game review is perhaps not up there with religious texts or presidential speeches in terms of how they can shape the world but in my own little world of videogames Kevin's voice will be sorely missed.