We're very critical of bad games writing around here. You might say it's a thing that we do. Not for any noble purpose, mind you. We're not trying to save games journalism from itself or anything like that. We do it because we enjoy it. We're just a pair of snotty, obnoxious pricks, more or less.

Still, snotty and obnoxious as we are, we recognise that there's a small-but-growing corpus of genuinely great games writing out there, on that vast and wonderful interwebs. So, we figure, let's talk about some of that for a change. Let's spread the good word. Let's give some props and kudos and great big floppy dongs to the talented writers who're doing their best to make games criticism something more than a source of jokes for jerks like us.

Hence The Good Bits: a weekly feature thingy where we highlight a piece of games writing (old or new) that we like enough to share with you, our beloved readers.

For our debut entry, I've selected a review of the new Destroy All Humans game by one of the best writers working in the industry today – Ellie Gibson. This review, like a lot of Ellie's work on Eurogamer, is reminiscent of the "Golden Age" of British games journalism, in which classic mags like Mean Machines, Super Play, and CVG were at the top of their game. For those of you for whom that means nothing (which I assume is most of you), what that implies is that it's a tightly structured, highly informative, and effortlessly witty piece of work.

Perhaps the best thing about it is that, although justifiably sardonic in places, it never veers into outright nastiness, thus striking an admirable balance between personality and professionalism. Take the introduction, for example:

It's always best to approach the game you're reviewing without prejudice, but it's not always easy. Sometimes alarm bells start to ring. Like when the game is the latest instalment in a mediocre franchise that's nearly four years old. DING. Or when the original developer abandoned the series and has had nothing to do with this instalment. DING DING.

Or when the studio which took on development duties was shut down a month before the game's launch. DING DING DING. Or when the publisher informs you that due to a mysterious set of circumstances, review copies will only be available from the day of release. DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING.

But even if all of the above apply, as in the case of Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, it's important to keep an open mind. Better to conduct a thorough playtest and judge game on its own merits. Who knows, perhaps it will confound your preconceived notions and turn out to be an unexpected delight?

Or perhaps it will turn out to be a rotten, shuddering, shambolic fiasco of a game with less to recommend it than a weekend spent watching the Ocean Finance channel (Sky 888) while eating glue. Can you guess which category Path of the Furon fits into, readers?

See? Snarky, but still professional. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that's a difficult mix to maintain, but Ellie makes it look easy, and does it all the goddamn time. If I didn't find her work so enjoyable, I'd be jealous.

Come back next week for another Good Bit of games writing. And in the meantime, if you have any Good Bits of your own that you think warrant our attention, go ahead and link us up. Doesn't matter if you're the author or not – just so long as it's good.

Now go on and read the rest of that review already.