Remember a few weeks back when it was alleged that Eidos had put certain conditions in place with a number of UK magazines, offering an early, exclusive review of Batman: Arkham Asylum if they were met? Rumor had it that Eidos would let reviews go up early if the game scored over 90% and got the front cover of the mag. Well guess what -- UK magazine Games Master just so happens to have an "exclusive" review, and it meets Eidos' terms to the letter.
To say the review is positive would be to severely understate the meaning of the word. The review claims that Arkham is "Not only the best Batman game ever, but one of the finest adventures of its generation." When listing the positive and negative points of the game, Games Master only has one negative: "It has no end."
With a score of 96, a cover story, and nary a bad word to say, it would appear that GM has toed the line perfectly. Whether this is the result of sordid backstage shenanigans, we'll never know for sure, but it's certainly one heck of a coincidence that this "world exclusive review" does everything Eidos supposedly wanted, isn't it?
Eidos has an alleged history of attempting to rig scores and meddle with reviews, so it's not surprising on their end. However, if GM took the bait, or indeed any other media outlet, I'd like them to let me know, just so I make sure I never, ever apply for a job there.
Contest:
3:31 PM on 07.25.2009
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ha ha HAHAHAHAHAHA Oh god, this makes me laugh so hard, so happy right now.
Play and GamesTM were always better anyway, but this is just pathetic.
Seriously "It has no end".
I'd be more willing to disbelieve them if Arkham Asylum didn't look so awesome.
Also, I second Halfleft and ToiletDuck's statements.
No, you haven't.
Pointing fingers doesn't do anything.
Also please fix the typo and factual error in relation to the negatives section.
Also, (lol) at all the people who haven't seen the repetition and choppy combat in action, yet are defending it because "it's Batman".
It's easy to say they were bribed. But there is no proof, but more importantly, no other reviews to compare this to. I'm not saying they couldn't have been bribed (they very well may have), I'm saying that in order to back up such claims, proof would, you know, help.
If the first review was a 5/10, people would've said, "No wonder Eidos was bribing people!"
You can't have it both ways.
What the fuck?
Come on man. Read a couple comments. If you did there's no way you would have said that.
I haven't been at Destructoid for a terribly long time, but I'm beginning to get the idea that I should just skip Jim Sterlings writings from here on out. Maybe I'll give a couple more a chance. They just always seem to be inaccurate.
When they (Edios) first announced the delay, I posted a comment that postulated that the reason may have been that the Bat did not stack up well against other super-hero games (Wolverine, Infamous, and Prototype) in the way of pulse pounding action. The mere “human” aspect of Batman lends for combat that is much more “earthbound” than what is found in games based on heroes with powers. Well, I was somewhat hammered by Bat-fans in that thread. Shortly after, I found a PS3 kiosk at Gamestop and played the game. I was kind of underwhelmed.
There are two types of fans that are sort of notorious in the comic world for being hard to talk to; Wolvie and Bat fans will argue you to death regarding the defacto superiority of any merchandise revolving around their heroes. They can beat ANYONE and ANYTHING containing them is pure gold! The Wolverine game actually deserved its praise; I will see when I play Batman whether this review and game lives up to the hype.
while i hope this game turns out worth my sixty bucks, the vast majority of games of the same style are the reason things like rentals and the pirate bay exist.
Skipping Stirling's articles would be like watching porno and fast-forwarding to the sex, and missing all the important plot developments! Jim is the repair guy who arrived at the sorority house to fix the cable.
His posts might not always be 100% accurate, or 100% spell-checked, but by god he's funny. And that has to count for something.
Come on man! Read some of Jim's articles (especially the funny ones like prototype vs infamous and How Microsoft ruined fun for everybody)... if you did there would be no way you would have said that.
"It has no end"
I have a copy of the issue right next to me, and the negative is "It has AN end"
I would say the typo made me lose faith in your post, but you're right. Something seems a LITTLE fishy in GM towers. Don't let this put you off reading games master magazine though, it really is great. Their reviews are usually really trustworthy. To the bat-cave, my fellows! This means... SUSPICION!