Ubisoft demands high Assassin's Creed 2 review score?

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9:00 AM on 11.08.2009, Jim Sterling

95 comments | 27276 views

Ubisoft demands high Assassin's Creed 2 review score? photo

#Assassins Creed #Controversy #top stories #Ubisoft

We hear about these situations far too much, where a publisher is accused of attempting to broker a guaranteed favorable review from a press outlet. The latest to face such allegations is Ubisoft, having been named and shamed by German magazine Computer Bild Spiele for demanding a high score for Assassin's Creed 2. SCANDAL!

"Our reviews are tough, but fair. We will not give up our independent scores for the sake of a timely review," explains the magazine in its latest issue. "This holds true for Assassin’s Creed 2. The publisher asked us to guarantee the score 'sehr gut,' otherwise we would not receive a review copy, thus we will publish our review in next month’s issue. We’d be more than glad to give the game a ’sehr gut’, but only if it deserves it."

Sehr Gut is essentially Computer Bild Spiele's version of an A-grade, meaning that Ubisoft was only willing to trade a game copy for an incredibly positive review. Of course, asking an outlet to guarantee something like that before they've played the game is asking them to trade in every ounce of integrity they've worked to build, and if these allegations are true, it's a shame that Ubisoft felt the need to barter against someone's self respect like that.

In any case, Computer Bild Spiele has probably ensured that it won't be getting any more games from Ubisoft. Good for them, and let shame rain down on any writer that actually agreed to such shenanigans.

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next 50 comments

95 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Los255

Wow. You'd think with all this work they're putting into the game after all the criticism of repetitive gameplay in the first one, they'd like to earn it.

whatthi

saw and played the game in a recent convention in Melbourne and i have to say i dont think its that far off from the original, sure graphics might have been better, new gadgets are added, etc..
but i felt like i was playing the first AC which IMO wasnt that great from the start...man AC1 had so much promise until it was killed by repetitious gameplay..

psycho terror2

this pretty much makes any good review of AC2 before release worthless.

well done UBI, this game has now slipped from a probable "day 1 purchase" to a "wait and see" for me.

Xzyliac

I'm waiting for the day a huge Game Informer scandal breaks. I was subscribed to GI for the last bit of it's "good run" and once they started trying to flashy up the 'zine they convienently started handing out 10s to every hyped game in town.

I've been meaning to resubscribe just because I did like the excessive amount of previews and occasionally there was a good editorial but god do I hope those reviews have been toned down.

Recap: Paid off reviews bad! Grr!

Monodi

Well, I DEMAND THEM to make a good game without buggy bullshit if they are going to make ports.

Diogo Ribeiro

It's also the German's way of saying "very good", by the way.

bjornandreas

wtf? this is unheard of. I completely lost all my respect for ubisoft now.

Grande C

It's unfortunate, but they wouldn't even bother to attempt stunts like this if there were no reviewers acquiescing. Specifically Jim.

Havoc Fang

Aww. Now the only reviews of AC2 that can really be paid attention to are the bad ones. -2 To Trust, Ubisoft.

reindall

Something similar probably happened to FIFA 10 (PC). But here EA probably knew how shitty the game is and blocked all reviews regarding it, so people get fooled with PS3 and 360 review scores into buying it.

D-503

Woah, just had an Arkham Asylum flashback!

BattyAdroit

game reviews are serious business.

Booerns

@ Xzyliac

I wonder if it's just the power of suggestion, or the Kane and Lynch review firing BS, but I feel like Gamespot, which used to have tough as nails reviews for even big budget games, also hands out 9.0-10.0's like Chickletts anymore. I remember back when Tony Hawk 3 and Zelda were the only 10's. It's only a matter of time before the huge grain of salt that I need take when reading GS reviews raises my blood pressure to the heart attack zone...hio?

njsykora

I still have my preorder as like D-503 said this same thing happened with Arkham Asylum, which turned out to actually be good. It's certainly a shame that they feel they have to do this though.

carg0

well, despite the fact that the first one sold several million copies it was an overrated, mediocre title at best. the polarizing scores (as low as 50%) say it all. the marketing team saved ubisoft's ass and they know it which is why they're afraid gamers won't flock to AS2 prematurely, like they did the first one.

it doesn't surprise me at all that they'd try to buy some scores here and there. Ubisoft's got a ton of money invested in AS.

Mace

This happens relatively often. But I do not really see it as being a big issue.
Quite often the games in question are really good anyway and will likely be getting a high score (Batman: Arkham Asylum is the last game that I recall something like this happening with). When the games in question are not good, it does not exactly take a genius to notice that the game has been reviewed by some outlets much earlier than others and that the early reviews are far more favourable.

sheppy

Here is the saddest part. Having the Assassin's Creed review means shit for their bottom line. But now that they've "taken a stand" and "all teh blogs be wif us," they've now sold more copies of their magazine, increased "street cred" by calling out Ubisoft.

It amuses me that publishers still attempt this tactic. It's immoral to begin with but gaming fans do so love the "righteous stands" and all they've accomplished is making a villian of themselves and a madre of the magazine.

Hell, I remember the greta Kotaku Sony Blacklisting. They reported on someone breaking embargo, Sony asked a pull, Kotaku refused, Sony blacklisted and demanded a return of debug kits, and it was all "Poor Kotaku, Sony is teh evil." Meanwhile, to this day, Kotaku regularly pulls content under the request of outside parties. But sure, Kotaku sure is Teh Hero thanks to that. Lik_Sang! LIK-SANG!

Ball Buster

Sounds a lot like the Dirge of Cerberus incident with Famitsu. They delayed publishing the review for that game because of pressure from Square Enix. They couldn't have people knowing that the almighty creators of FF7 can make a game that gets an unspeakable 7/10.

More power to Computer Bild Spiele though. Imagine a world where a game's success depends on its gameplay, not the number of zeros in its marketing budget.

KrazyKraut

lol^^ i dont like th�s magazine so much, but thats awseome what they did.

Onlineatron

Not getting the game till Christmas but I feel bad for all those who have based their purchase decision (next week) on potentially false reviews

GoldenGamerXero

That's an Edios move. I expected better from them.

Mazed

This isn't the first time they've pulled this.

Back during the run of Electronic Gaming Monthly, they didn't give a shiningly perfect review of the first Assassin's Creed.

Ubisoft blacklisted them. They never sent them any games to review again. EGM stood by it. I'm still sad that magazine's been canned.

It's absolute bullshit. Ubisoft makes decent games, and I want to like them. However, I can't do that when they pull this sort of crap. There is absolutely no excuse for it.

SPNKr

@ Mazed

I do have to agree with you on the absurdity of what they do with reviews but it has not kept me from enjoying Assassins Creed 1. I will most likely not be getting AC 2 as it appears to be more of the same with a guy that dresses just like Altair.

Threaded

Gaming consultant here, maybe you should make good games so you don't have to worry about poor reviews Ubisoft. Now where can I pick up my check for this genius consultation?

Brlito

Haha, now I want to buy this game even less. Preorder getting cancelled.

hjd uk

Right, Fuckem. I haven't bought the 1st and now I definitly wont buy either of them, ever.

Comrade Snarky

Ubisoft always seems to do this kind of crap.

Anyway, the first game was great as a Third Crusade-era Jerusalem/Acre/Damascus simulator, but horrible as a videogame. I've yet to see anything that suggests Ubisoft learned anything about making a half-decent game since the first one ("ZOMG 2 hidden bladez! lol!!1!")

Spike941

I knew the low IQ commenters would jump all over this. You think your sale matters more than a low Metacritic score? Get with the fucking times and learn what sells games these days.

P.S The game will probably suck.

Mazed

@SPNKr

Honestly, it actually looks like it'll be a genuinely better game, with a lot of better thought-out gameplay and an environment that looks way more interesting to explore. The character's costume seems designed that way just to maintain a recognizable motif--all reports say he's got a different personality and motivation, for what that counts for.

But, yeah. It still doesn't excuse that...boycotts really have no power beyond effectively consoling one's own sense of integrity, but it doesn't feel right to feed that kind of egotism. There's a lot of nonsense throughout the game industry, but we don't need more of it.

What REALLY bugs me about this is how truly senseless it is. As said, Ubisoft's games aren't bad. Not PERFECT, but all their big-name titles are consistently worth a go. If they made consistently mediocre games, reading news like this would feel different--it'd be a laugh. But Ubisoft doesn't NEED to bribe/threaten the press for good reviews, given their good track record, yet they do--why? There's something inherently slimy about it.

hjd uk

My sale matters, especially if they are going to such lengths to GET said sale.

And BTW im pretty sure Eidos had nothing to do with this, I feel bad for the devs that the c*** publishers are giving their work a bad name.

Primee133

Gotta love how everyone's hating the game now because the developers are acting like dicks. My opinion on the company may have changed, but not on their game quality. I'm still definitely getting the game. After all, Steve Jobs used to be a dickhead back when he worked with Atari, and people still bought his stuff regardless.

Bioautographical

@Primee

I'm pretty sure the pubs are the one with the problem here, not the devs. Maybe splitting hairs a bit, but I'll hazard a guess that the developers wouldn't feel the need to stoop to this level, probably because they feel they HAVE made a game that can score well on its own merits.

Cyber Altair

Seeing as how the PR heads will go off should they get one bad review I see where they and every company come from. Still not cool.

Spectreman

* Not a surprise. The same thing happenned with AC1 and EGM. Ubisoft and Aidos/Square-Enix are too much dickheads.

Im OK

I usually take stories like this as an indication that the game in question sucks horribly. For example, while I didn't play Kane and Lynch myself, I heard it legitimately licked some fetid fecal follicles*.

However, the first Assassin's Creed game was actually pretty good, despite the naysayers, so I don't see the second one suddenly sucking either, and so I don't get why they'd even need to do this shit.

Also, Eidos supposedly pulled this same crap with Arkham Asylum, and yet that game ended up rocking utterly. So, I'm not sure what to think.

Bottom line, I guess, is that if you want good review scores for your game, how about you, oh I don't know, perhaps make a good game and one that isn't some stanky ass? Trying to buy good review scores will only fuck you up in the end, if^H^Hwhen the news gets out, whether your game actually ends up being worthy of the scores or not.

* - Dingleberries.

MCChampaignMillionaire

Well I think they want this good review score to keep the series alive...anyways COMPUTERBILD SPIELE Reviews suck ass...

ShadokatRegn

Ouch - way to go Ubisoft! So much for credibility on behalf of publishers and reviewers.

Xzyliac

@Booerns
Yeah I remember being a part of the GameSpot community and they started dishing out 10s. The thing that sucked about that was after they started being more lenient about their reviews a whole new influx of fanboys rushed into the forums to brag. It sucked. Even user controlled boards weren't safe and they didn't have nearly the amount of mods to handle it or the right system in place to promote mods. Even mods were dicking around in flammatory arguments.

I have to say regardless of this story I'm still looking forward to AC2. Ubi has one hyped title this holiday season AND it's going up against MW2. Not saying I condone their actions but I'm not in the least bit surprised.

Like Im OK said even with Arkham Asylum they tried to pull this and that was an epic victory. Publishers don't know much about the quality of their game like a hands-on dev does. Publishers just know they need it to sell well. I don't think this move is Ubi saying it'll suck. Just Ubi saying they need the sales.

Elsa

eh... I don't trust early reviews anyway. I'd far rather wait for the game to come out and hear what real gamers have to say - people with no stake in a review. If I want to buy a game on launch, well then I take my chances...

Gee-Man

Eh, maybe it's just the cynicism, but I'm not too outraged by this. Ubisoft knows that AC2's release is right next to Modern Warfare 2's, and even though the games are completely different, thye know that there's a lot of competition in the form of just one game. If I was the head of a company that was in direct competition for the holiday season, I'd do my best to ensure good reviews. AC2 was never going to be a first day purchase for me, I'll just be a little more cautious until more reviews come in.

WarZombie

INTEGRITY.

Some people don't know the meaning of the word, but I'm glad to see that someone had the balls to say "Fuck You" to Ubisoft. However, you would think that after talking about the game as much as they have, that Ubi would like to see that work pay off with some good reviews, but apparently even they aren't that confident in their own game.

Kaspar

How much longer will it take before the evil publishers die?

Dexter345

I have to wonder what publishers are thinking when they pull stuff like this. Like, you're offering an advance copy of a game, which may improve magazine sales, marginally, and expecting in return a high review, which almost certainly results in high game sales? No.

Dan CiTi

Yeah, this game seems to be like the original on better tech and with a different setting.

Solidus187

It's funny how when you post footage of the game, people are all over it and love the steps they took to make this one different (read: better) than the first. Yet, when you post something that the developer told some reviewers, everyone abandons ship. Does this really have that much of an effect on you guys? Really? Business is business. The game itself is what you should be here for.

marktime

It's a sad state that publishers blacklist reviewers for giving a less than good score. It's why I find it near impossible to trust game reviews. You'll be reading a review and the way it's written indicates the reviewer doesn't like it much, then it gets an 8. There something is seriously wrong with that. I'm not saying implying they were paid off, just that they were afraid of giving it a low score out of fear. Games shouldn't be rated on a 6-10 scale.

Shadowiii

So pretty much I have to ignore any review that comes out before or on the release day?
Shame on you, Ubisoft! I'll stick with my Destructoid review, thanks (can't wait to see Anthony throw a fit about it again :P)

capitan

the problem is that a lot of game magazines now take the lazy route. they don't even play the game and then review it for the sake of getting paid not for doing their actual job.

Projectexodus

I guess it's safe to say that I'll wait for the Destructiod review of the game.

But I am nonetheless optimistic about this game. I liked the gameplay in Assassins Creed, but what made it suck so much was it's repetetive open world structure. It seems like they're fixing that in this game. Hopefully it also has subtitles this time.

ace of knaves

Wow, a story involving Germany and video games where I strongly support what the Germans did. Way to go Ubisoft, you made it happen.

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