Has Games Master UK sold out to Eidos over Batman: Arkham Asylum?
Earlier this month, Eidos was accused by a blog for attempting to fix review scores for Batman: Arkham Asylum. Remember that? To refresh your memory, The RAM Raider revealed that Eidos has imposed an embargo on negative Arkham Asylum reviews. According to The RAM Raider, Eidos offered a way around this embargo:
If you dedicate the cover of your mag to Arkham Asylum and guarantee a score of at least 90%, Eidos will allow you to run the review early.
Today, I was browsing around Metacritic for what’s latest in reviews. Guess what I found: Prominently displayed in the games section of the aggregate review site is Batman: Arkham Asylum. This only meant one thing—the first review is out. Below the game’s title is a boldfaced line that confirmed this:
The first magazine review has hit the streets.
Looking at the reviews list, I saw only one publication and it have an incredibly high score: Games Master UK has given Batman: Arkham Asylum a score of 96%.
Let’s go over Eidos’ alleged requirements one more time:
- Dedicate the cover of your mag to Arkham Asylum—check.
- Get a score of at least 90%–check.
- Run the review early—check.
According to the Games Master UK review, Arkham Asylum is “Not only the best Batman game ever, but one of the finest adventures of its generation.” In the love/hate section, the critic hated “that it has to end” in the first bullet point, and “waiting for the inevitable sequel: in the second bullet point.
Suspicious? I’m sorry to say this, Games Master fans, but yes, it is suspicious.
Disclaimer: I’m not saying that Games Master UK has indeed sold out to Eidos and that Batman: Arkham Asylum doesn’t deserve the 96% rating. For all we know, Batman: Arkham Asylum might really be that good. My alarm bells ring because of dubious circumstances.
Does Batman: Arkham Asylum deserve a 96% or has GM fallen over to the dark side?
Popularity: 36% [?]
July 29th, 2009 at 5:19 am
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
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July 29th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
mike, do you have that actual copy of GamesMaster? It’s kinda sad, they canceled the GM here in the Philippines…
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July 29th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Unfortunately, no. I don’t own a copy.
Yes, I was also a bit sad about Games Master Philippines’ passing when it was first announced, but I felt better eventually. If you recall, the writing in GM was atrocious.
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John Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Hey mike. do you know how long the game is?
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Mike Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I still haven’t played the complete game. Let’s wait for the rest of the reviews.
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August 4th, 2009 at 1:37 am
[...] I wouldn’t trust those reviews too much… http://ramraider.blogspot.com/2009/0…or-arkham.html http://www.mikegotgame.com/has-games…arkham-asylum/ [CPU: Q9450 @ 3.6Ghz|RAM: Corsair PC2-8500 (2x2GB)][MOBO: Asus P5Q Deluxe (1406)|HDD#1: Samsung [...]
August 7th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Offical PS mag may have done the same.
They advertised in last months magazine that Batman would be on the cover, so did they know in advance they would give it <90% or did it happen to deserve <90%??
It scored 9/10 FYI, and based on the demo released on PS Network yesterday I think it falls short of that….maybe a mid to high 70’s, because combat feels repetitive (1 attack + 1 counter button), and its very linear - the joker threat of “you wont go anywhere I dont want you to” could also be the mantra of the programmers, thus staging the game (via set bosses and set pieces) they way they want.
I’ll probably buy it, but I’ll wait for a proper review.
I feel sorry for Rocksteady…they’ve made a good game, and the demo may be an old version, but they appear to be getting tarred with the Eidos brush.
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Mike Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I can’t say for certain if Batman: Arkham Asylum does deserve the high ratings because I haven’t played it myself. I do hope to get a crack at it once I download the demo.
I really want this game to be good because hey, it’s Batman, and I love me some Batman.
Good call on waiting for the review. I agree with all your points, especially with the effect this fiasco has on Rocksteady.
Speaking of reviews, is there any particular publication that you do trust, or are you more of a Metacritic kind of gamer?
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August 13th, 2009 at 5:45 am
An important thing to note at the bottom of every RAM Raider page:
“Everything on this blog is the personal opinion of the RAM Raider, and is all lies (Apart from the comments, which are the personal opinions of the commenters. And are all lies.)”
Um… maybe people should read more carefully before making a big deal out of everything? Besides, why would Eidos try to pull the same thing with this game, especially when all the previews had already voiced good opinions about the game?
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Mike Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I don’t know if you noticed, but that statement is said as a tongue-in-cheek joke. The statement pretty much says that ALL comments are lies–it’s a direct giveaway.
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