Shadow of Mordor buying off reviews?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL-hkc7_7cs

Brand deals basically give out free copies of the game if you agree to say this or that about it. Makes sense considering new ip. Marketing is really sketchy though. Destiny knew they had hype and marketing muscle and were getting first day sales so review embargo.

Shadow of Mordor sleeper and probably the sales weren't looking too good. So a swarm of great reviews come out right before release.

A lot of money invested in these games. It happens. I'm not sure why it's legal. It also doesn't say much for gamers when they can be bought so easily.

Which is why you don't trust all reviews.

The sources I trust say its a great game, so I don't know.

I bought it and played about an hour last night, fun game so far. Very similar to Assassin's Creed/Arkham games

I'm not saying the reviews are inaccurate and it's not a good game. But just weird how these companies get their sales. And sketchy to me. It's pretty obvious when Destiny had a review embargo because they are trying to maximize their first day sales based off of the hype. Then Shadow of Mordor they were basically giving out free copies to reviewers and all these reviews come out.

It's exactly what happens too and I know it because I've seen it enough. There is a lot of money invested in these games and marketing is what it is.

I would laugh if people give GOTY awards to this over Destiny.

Most video game sites get early copies to review, this happens for all (majority) games.

They basically control the marketing on their own products and control the reviews in a lot of ways. They do in a way that is considered "legal" as well. Because they have so much money and power to do so. It's their product. If they release it they have a right to control what is said about it apparently although free speech is in question imo.

Is that fair to other games that aren't getting the same backing money wise or other ideas that might be better? Not really. You upset bobby kotick no money or marketing for you.

Does it keep the money being funnelled into the same guys pockets? Absolutely.

Is that fair business practices or a monopoly?

Its hard to believe these guys afford to buy out reviews when destiny didn't

Destiny could have but didn't need to. They had a huge amount of hype build up due to the marketing of the game. Shadow of mordor did.

If you look at sales of games in recent times AAA titles most of their sales are 1st day sales. They get people hooked in the build up then release DLC after that. It doesn't even matter if the game delivers or not. If they remove things just more things to sell to gamers who bought the game later.

Shadow of Mordor was not going to have huge first day sales. It didn't have Destiny's hype or build up.

It looks like an Assassin's creed game which is good but the fighting engine needs to change. Thankfully it seems like this game's fighting engine is a bit tougher than AC or Arkham games which is press a to attack then when big slo mo part with caution sign comes up, press b to counter.

I like the way it looks though.

I might pick it up. It interests me more than destiny out of the big budget games released of late. More just a question whether this is good for gamers or the industry itself. Only so many AAA or AA titles get released. SHadow of Mordor probably fell into that AA hype and needed the extra help so more money being funnelled into the industry. It's basically going to a couple games though and game types. It still seems all so controlled to me. I get it and everything am smart at business but still when you have a few guys deciding what is released it leads to a lot of the same. Still waiting on NBA 2k15 and Drive Club. New ip in Drive Club so they are releasing part of it free to hopefully help sales and get people into it. AC unity. Dragon Age. Evil Within. Those are the big titles coming this winter. It's like 5 games going to have millions of sales.

Maybe my cynical side too but just seems like everyone can be bought and lied to and not overly good. I kind of agree with Tim Schafer when he called Kotick a jerk, but Kotick is like the soup nazi with that stuff lol.

Playing it now, it's pretty fun.

All they were trying to do was increase review exposure to make up for the relatively small marketing (ads) budget. That's not a crime.

Ever get a free pin with a custom logo of a company on it? Same thing.

Ever get free goodie bags from a convention of any kind? Same thing.

By putting your product (or at least its name and concept) out there, the better it's going to sell. Day 1 marketing. Some companies can afford more than others. That's it.

I'm still baffled by this conspiracy theory that major review sites are bribed or otherwise paid off.

I agree although it's not really a conspiracy with me. It's marketing. It's more a question from a humanistic standpoint if this is good. Do you want one guy controlling what you can say or do? They can't by law. Free speech still exists. I can write this for that reason but from a marketing perspective they do kind of have control over what you can say as far as stuff like that. They kind of sent out th ese review copies and it created a stir before release. It was probably planned and a marketing pr stunt imo.

They are bringing in the money. Is it fair to other companies trying to start up and get their foot on the ground? I'm not so sure. But that's how it works. From a business perspective it's probably more complicated than that and they';ve made room for the whole indie scene and everything because it's good for the business too.

When you have ignorant fanboys on the internet attacking people who just have a different viewpoint are trying to have fun themselves though is that really healthy? There is a lot of ignorance out there man. A lot of kids play these games too.

what does free speech have to do with any of this?

If they are, they're not the first ones to do it. You're foolish if you think this isn't a common occurrence in the industry.

The sources I trust say that it's a good game, and after playing it for awhile I must say that they've done a better job than Arkham series when it comes to combat.

I think this is just genuinely a good game.

buying? i don't think so, it's really a fun game

I'm basically saying that I am under no contract to say anything by anyone except myself. I can say whatever I want as long as it fits within gamespots guidelines on these forums lol. Which is sort of ridiculous as it is. Just more joking... Because it's sort of true lol. What I say can be interpretted by me and completely misinterpretted by someone else as well. But free speech is still kind of important you know? For that reason because just because someone thinks i said something doesn't mean it's what I said. That's just a basic right for a reason because there are some crazy people out there.

I can say this and say what I think about shadow of mordor because i might buy the game and never signed anything prerelease to say this or that. That's all i was saying. It was more just a joke. Because free speech is an important thing as far as differing opinions and the truth is concerned.

Meant it more simple that though but difficult to explain. Just more meant it at face value. People have a right to their opinion is all. I can still say what I think about the game and my own opinion of it. That's what matters vs what reviews say anyways. Not sure if i'm explaining that well but whatever.

This just seems like an ad for your youtube channel.

If you just said so, ok. But under the guise of something else, it's deeply upsetting.

Woe.

Who cares? This is the best Assassins Creed game ever made.

This is what I meant by crazy people because I actually just saw that on youtube and am just a gamer who has a life. no agenda with me at all.

I just saw that video because i was searching for reviews of the game on youtube because i was considering getting it. I noticed the same thing with the review embargos on destiny. Just came here and posted that vid because i thought it was interesting.

Is Destiny even really in the run for GoTY? Seemed to me it has been universally regarded as a huge disappointment.

I like how this video opens up with an ad with them gassing up angry birds

It's kinda of irrelevant, gamespot is more interested in shoving it in the consumers face whenever humanly possible, that's the main priority.

I don't believe that giving, say, Polygon or IGN a copy of Shadow of Mordor (who gave it 9.5 and 9.3 respectively) influences their reviewer.

Some of you people are naive as **** about this.

Review copies is one thing, that shit isn't under embargo to a brand deal (notice the 6/10 for for it on Destructoid), its video content. Day 1 and Pre-day 1 video content requires you to say positive things or agree to say things they want or else you can't show footage of the game. That is sleazy as ****, there is no way to spin that.

Which in this instance has less to do with game reviewers, who have been up front have not done that shit, This how ever speaks more to which youtubers had access to that game early. In the case of Lets players? no harm no foul, in the case of youtube personalities who paint themselves as critics? Big fucking deal. It means they are glorified dick riders, at the least for Shadow of Mordor.

That all comes down to the integrity of the youtubers though, which I don't have a lot of faith in.

Unless it's the Beacon of Truth, because he has maximum integrity.

Well, like they said, all the big companies do this, and that doesn't mean the game won't be any good, they seem quite optimistic about it.

You must only have a PS4?

It's not even in the running.

the main reason this game is getting played because we are real geeks of LoTR lore. If this game was set in anywhere else these scores wouldn't be this high

Some maybe do, but as a whole there will be plenty of reviews who give an honest opinion.

mgs4 did it worse noone cared

basic you needed to review the game with konami checking it

edit

also this channel looks nice thx

Idk what to think but all this praise seems shady to me. Its not that the game looks bad or anything but in a time where everyone calls for inovation, ME:SoM does so little new and what it does isnt that special either. All the footage I've seen of it made it look like yet another AC clone with none of AC history charm... but thats just my opinion that might change once I play the game

Ppl reviewing the game and stating their opinion before they even play it

Rich

Which is why you can only listen to Kevin V and Angryjoe reviews. These two won't disappoint

Reviews say that it's fun but repetetive. I'll accept that.

I'm not going to buy it at full price. I did buy FF XIII though, lol.

I'll pick it up later in the year. Not paying $60 for it.

@silversix_: not really

Kevin just gives 8s and Joe just makes a tv show :p

I have played the game for like 10 hours, it does have a personality of its own and I have learned the hard way that this game does not play like AC and if you do you will die ALOT. You can't just stealth ninja your way through everything you have to use all your tools and abilities and the Nemesis system is really cool getting killed by other captains makes the enemies fell personal.

Scratch my back and I'll scratch your back has been a problem with game review sites for years. Some sites still maintain high integrity while others assume some bias

I expect the same thing, perhaps worse, with the review copies shifting to the youtubers. I can see more of them actually being twisted to tow the company line even though they might not realise it.

maybe but both give you solid reasons why X game gets a certain score

@silversix_: I agree with Kevin a lot, but his use of 8s are misleading and wrong. TERA's review a perfect example. I don't like TERA that much either, but point is his views are inconsistent and constantly changing. He'll praise game A for xyz and shit on game B for xyz yet give them both 8s. Then he responds in comment section and sometimes act bewildered as to why some of the comments are repugnant.

As far as Angry Joe is concerned, he wastes your time. As the name infers, most of his reviews are really entertainment episodes depicting his childish rants and cosplay. That is his selling point. I'd expect the average kid or teen who watches his show to be content, but I doubt the average gamer would sit through 20-45m of bull fucking shit. Just get to the point. Also, Angry Joe mainly just hops on the bandwagon way too often so its hard to discern what he actually thinks. An angryjoe review is literally just a video version of a Reddit thread.

Shadow of Mordor out-creeds Assassin's Creed and out-Arkhams Batman. It's the best game I have played this year.

i don't agree on Joe's part at all. Most of his reviews i watch are from the games im currently playing or played and they're mostly spot on. Yes, he adds entertainment (i mean, he has 'angry' in his youtube name, of course he's here for that) but when you've played the game and listen to him giving his strong/weak points of a certain title, its really hard to disagree and Destiny is the latest example.

Man, I really didn't like the video editing. It was really cliche youtube style cuts, but overly used and annoying.