Tomb Raider: Underworld on PS3, Xbox 360 in review scandal
Just a day after I wrote an article asking Blorgers what ultimately made them buy a game, putting particular emphasis on the importance of reviews, a review scandal has erupted. Have the scores for Tomb Raider: Underworld been manipulated?
As I stated yesterday, there is no doubt that reviews affect how well a game does or doesn’t do in the sales department. And while the comments to that article suggest that very few people go purely on review scores, they do impact on people’s decision as to whether to buy a particular game or not, especially if the game in question is a new IP.
So it’s rather fitting then that a row has erupted over delayed reviews for the Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: Underworld, which was released last week on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But with the game getting released on Tuesday in the States and on Friday in Europe, Eidos clearly wanted at least one weekend of sales before poor reviews put a kibosh on the whole thing.
As The Telegraph reports, the first reports that something was wrong came to light on Twitter when Gamespot reviewer Guy Cocker reported being asked to delay posting his review if he’d scored the game any lower than an eight out of ten.
To be fair to Eidos, the makers of the game, it seems that Eidos wasn’t directly to blame, but rather the PR company it had hired, Barrington Harvey, were asking reviewers to hold of from publishing poor reviews until the game had been on sale for a while.
A spokesman at the PR firm explained the decision to Videogaming247, saying:
Just that we’re trying to get the Metacritic rating to be high, and the brand manager in the US that’s handling all of Tomb Raider has asked that we just manage the scores before the game is out, really, just to ensure that we don’t put people off buying the game, basically.
Barrington Harvey has since issued a statement concerning the scandal, which reads like one long excuse to me. It also doesn’t really explain why some reviewers were asked to delay their reviews while others weren’t. Surely the scores must have had some bearing on that decision.
This isn’t the first time Eidos has been involved in accusations of review manipulation, with Jeff Gerstmann famously losing his job at Gamespot over a negative review of Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. The problem was that the site was running a huge advertising campaign for the game at the time, and despite rebuttals, it’s thought Eidos played a part in having him fired.
This is also not the first time Metacritic has been gamed, but it’s usually opposition fanboys who do the damage rather than games developers and their PR companies.
This whole issue again raises question marks over the importance and reliability of reviews in this day and age. Before the Internet, review scores could be controlled via magazines, but with the amount of games Web sites and blogs around, that’s clearly much harder to do. Thankfully, it seems as though most journalists and games reviewers won’t allow themselves to be controlled. Something we definitely condone here at Blorge.
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12 Responses to “Tomb Raider: Underworld on PS3, Xbox 360 in review scandal”
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November 24th, 2008
What happened to Jeff Gertsmann was low. He got fired for being honest about a game that clearly sucked, regardless of how much money Eidos tried pumping through to advertise it.
Gamespot has gone downhill since he and the rest of the original crew left. Now it’s a site full of jaded, picky nerds who take points off games for the most miniscule flaws.
November 24th, 2008
Ugh… Where has our nice world of gaming gone. Fucking suits.
November 24th, 2008
Glad I have never relied on a system such as Metacritic if its so easily gamed. And you don’t hire a PR firm and then claim you have no knowledge? Come on Eidos…
November 24th, 2008
actually harry… I think gamespot is quite good… there was a low point when gertzmann left and their editor in chief went to EA…. then they hired a suit… who later got fired… now the crew is pretty solid…
so… all is well… and I wont buy fallout 3 on the ps3 becuase they took away 0.5 from the ps3 version
November 24th, 2008
Gamespot suck. There are about 3-4 updates a day, compared to other sites which do a lot more. They are constantly rating games lower than average, they’re just a bunch of jaded nerds critiquing every small flaw in a game.
November 25th, 2008
actually dave, your site proves reviews are not to be taken seriously. some reviewers and “gaming journalist” have hidden agendas and do not give facts in their articles, much like you and davep here at gamerblorge.
blame yourselves for destroying the credibility of reviews.. you did it to yourselves…
November 25th, 2008
My girlfriend has this… so I have been playing it over the past few days while I’ve been there. If you are a fan of the other games, you’ll be happy with it. The graphics and game play are both solid. There are a few issues with the camera here and there, but nothing major. It’s a pretty standard Tomb Raider game. It’s nothing really new, but not horrible either.
November 25th, 2008
Hey be happy guy you have something to glot about. It sold more copies on the PS3 then it did on the 360 and we paid for exclusive content. But the real reason it sold more on the PS3 is because it all come down to the choices you have. It’s on my list but Money is tight and there are a few titles that are priority before this game ever reaches my library and if there is no online paly it will become a rental only. I only buy games with replay value.
November 25th, 2008
The game is pretty good. I’ve always been a fan of the Tomb Raider series.
While Eidos has every right to delay reviews until after then game is released, at no point should they be delaying certain scores kind of lame. The game could standon its own merits without BS like that.
November 25th, 2008
Choices? Last I looked we both have all of the same third party releases (with the exception of Valkyria Chronicles and Left 4 Dead). It will be interesting to see if they throw PS3 owners a bone and patch in trophies since it is selling well.
I am a fan of the series. The new one is definitely a solid entry to the series. I agree with phranctoast, the game could have stood on its own without any intervention in the ratings.
November 25th, 2008
I would have to agree with Barnabe and phranctoast. This game is solid if you like the series. I rented it for my wife and got alittle gameplay in myself. The camera did start to piss me off a little, but it’s nothing more than an annoyance.
Cad,
I’m not into listing games so I won’t, but the PS3 has plenty of choices, too many for my pocket book!
November 25th, 2008
CAD,
I rarely have wish lists, but I tallied up the cost if I were to buy all the games I want RIGHT NOW, and it’s almost $200. With discounts.
Yeah, I won’t be buying Tomb Raider.
-Arvis