Here's a little more controversy about Kane & Lynch reviews, already the subject
of a firestorm over the GameSpot situation that surfaced last week
(
story).
GameBump points out the
Flash introduction on the
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men features some
finessed review quotes and scores that do not reflect the actual reception for
IO Interactive's new action game. The intro lists the following blurbs, each
preceded by five prominent stars: "'…it's the best emulation of being in the
midst of a Michael Mann movie we've ever seen.' GameSpy," and 'A mercenary, a
psychopath & a bundle of cash… what could go wrong? Game Informer'." The
trouble is
GameSpy gave the game three stars and
Game Informer scored the game seven out of ten, and neither related quote is
from the reviews, the GameSpy quote is from a
E3 preview of the game, and it's not clear where the GameInformer
quote/marketing blurb is from (presumably the print magazine). Finally, there's
an article format Q&A with
Jeff "Gertsmann" Gerstmann on Joystiq (thanks
FiringSquad) where the ex-GameSpot editor cannot go into the reasons behind
his parting with the website, but does defend his Kane & Lynch review, and says
this recent experience does not leave him sharing the concern that "game writing
is ethically bankrupt."