180°

Tomb Raider: Underworld reviews under 8/10 silenced until Monday

Eidos UK PR firm Barrington Harvey has confirmed that British sites are being asked not to post Tomb Raider: Underworld reviews with scores lower than 80 percent until Monday.

The game releases today for 360 and PS3.

Gamespot UK journalist Guy Cocker revealed the tactic in a Twitter post on Wednesday that said: "call from Eidos–if you're planning on reviewing Tomb Raider Underworld at less than an 8.0, we need you to hold your review till Monday."

More through the link.

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videogaming247.com

[via twitter.com]

Alternative Sources:

Tomb Raider: Underworld Doe... - ps3attitude.com | By: Danny_D

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Tubby McNutsack - 405 days 15 hours ago

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1 -

Lmao wtf.

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badz149 - 405 days 15 hours ago

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1.1 - yeah...WTF!!

that's ridiculous!

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Mr Bun - 405 days 14 hours ago

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1.2 -

Eidos: Can you hold off on release low review scores...

Translation: Our game sucks and we need people to fork over the coin before they have a chance to be informed.

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Calcio - 405 days 14 hours ago

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1.3 -

Got it in one. And fair play to VG247 for reporting it - they won't be going to the Eidos Christmas drinks now...

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vitz3 - 405 days 13 hours ago

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1.4 -

You hear that! They'll can your ass just like Gerstmann.

@Mr. Bun
8/10 is a crappy game?? o_0 Since when? Twas my understanding that 5-6/10 is average.

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Fishy Fingers - 405 days 15 hours ago

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2 -

Ridiculous. Reviews need to be given free reign or they're pointless.

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Raoh - 405 days 15 hours ago

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3 -

I just had a flashback

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Johnny Cullen - 405 days 15 hours ago

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4 -

I smell trouble for Eurogamer.

They gave it a 7/10.

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lordgodalming - 405 days 12 hours ago

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4.1 -

X-Play posted a 3/5 (or 6/10 if you employ some simple math). Of course, their site also lists the TR:U as only on the 360. Hmm.

Edit: Did I just admit that I watch X-Play? /facepalm

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qqjohn - 405 days 15 hours ago

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5 -

What´s wrong with Eidos? Kane & Lynch scandal all over again.....

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tplarkin7 - 405 days 14 hours ago

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5.1 - Eidos are thugs.

They got lucky with Tomb Raider in 1996. I really wish a good developer/publisher would buy the property. I want to like TR, but it's just a cash cow.

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Raoh - 405 days 15 hours ago

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6 -

Also this puts further spotlight on metacritic's reliability.

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BrianC6234 - 405 days 13 hours ago

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6.1 -

I wonder how many gamers even read the Metacritic numbers to decide if they want a game? I don't. If a game is just released and I want it I just buy it. If I'm not sure I check out reviews on the Web but mostly I check what real gamers say. If this story is true Metacritic's score will go way down next week. So I guess they hope everyone just buys the game this weekend.

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AngryHippo - 405 days 15 hours ago

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7 - Thats......

....really pathetic. All reviews should be allowed to come out well before the games release so that people can make a well informed decision on whether to get the game or not.

If publishers have a problem with scores a games getting, try putting more effort and time into making sure it doesn't get poor review scores.

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Calcio - 405 days 15 hours ago

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8 -

It's an absolute disgrace - it seems to be an unsavoury part of the games industry that is growing and growing. This is Kane & Lynch all over again. Disgusting

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zoydwheeler - 405 days 14 hours ago

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8.1 - But all they want to do

Is make the scores higher on the metacritic... what is so bad about that?

Oh, hang on, it's BOTH unethical AND stupid isn't it? Aah, I see...

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mchax - 405 days 14 hours ago

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9 - Stupid, stupid, stupid

Can't believe this. Hopefully the stupid, pushy PR person gets the sack. You can't stifle people's opinion. You can try, but it will just come back and bite you...

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Fobuo - 405 days 14 hours ago

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10 - If there's one thing we'll never forget about this generation of gaming

it's the amount of BS that goes on in the industry

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Sarcasm - 405 days 14 hours ago

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10.1 -

AMEN!!!

In the innocent days where N4G never existed, we would have never known the true nature of the industry. There's so much BS from all different types of companies it's ridiculous.

Sometimes, I wish I was a stupid consumer who didn't know anything.

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va_bank - 405 days 14 hours ago

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11 - It's business.

These sites live off the advertising. If Eidos places ads on their site and pays for them - they will ask to at at least hold off the review, since they can't legally force them to give it a higher rating.

All about money. Face it, we wouldn't have these sites if publishers didn't pay for them to exist.

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12 FunkYellowMonkey | 405 days 14 hours ago - deleted by mod -

bpmurr - 405 days 14 hours ago

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13 -

I thought the demo was ok. It seemed like a solid game but nothing amazing. I'm not sure what they are worried about? It's not like what I played was a pile of trash.

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1nsp1re - 405 days 14 hours ago

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14 - hmmm

I am playing this game.....graphics r good and gameplay is good to....

gamesradar gave it a 9.....

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Bengoshi-San - 405 days 14 hours ago

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15 -

Watchout massive layoffs to all reviewers who gave an honest review!

LOL

It's Kane & Lynch all over again.

They had a good shot at recapturing the action/adventure throne and they threw it away. Sloppy controls, graphical bugs, glitches, boring gameplay... you name it.. they got it.

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Gothdom - 405 days 14 hours ago

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16 -

Here in Canada, this kind of practice is illegal in the consumer law. God I love the consumer law of Canada.

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kwyjibo - 405 days 12 hours ago

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16.1 - Canada?

What are you talking about? Review embargoes happen all the time, remember Assassin's Creed? Publishers exercise this option for every one of their major releases.

Are there any Canadian sources with any kind of global reach or influence? How is your law protecting you?

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Gothdom - 405 days 10 hours ago

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16.2 -

It is illegal in the way that it influences the consumer choices. Embargoed is ok, as long as everyone gets embargoed, not only those that gives a score lower than X.

I was given a full course on that law when working on a customer service and alot of parts were circled and the text next to it that was handwritten stated "don't let the customer know that".

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Arsenal4Ever - 405 days 14 hours ago

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17 -

just proves their game is not good.

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Yi-Long - 405 days 14 hours ago

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18 - What a morons...

... and any website who comes out with their TR review, after monday, and scores it lower than an 8, is now officially deemed 'bought' and unreliable, cause they caved in to studio pressure instead of doing their job and informing their public, ON TIME, about the quality of this product.

Utter utter FAIL from Eidos. I can only hope the idiot responsible for this is getting fired and will never work in this industry again.

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Yi-Long - 405 days 14 hours ago

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19 - The only RIGHT thing we can all do now...

... is go to Metacritic and all rate the game extremely LOW, so people who check the site will be warned by the low user-rating!!!

Metacritic here I come...

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kwyjibo - 405 days 12 hours ago

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19.1 - What a morons...

Anyone spamming Metacritic scores out of spite, are utter morons.

Resistance 2 - 1/10
Gears of War 2 - 1/10

All morons.

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NMC2007 - 405 days 14 hours ago

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20 - Well....

I actually think reviews greatly hinder the sales of games these days, everyone seems jaded and expect much more than what they get, but if you ask what they expect they wouldn't have an answer, I don't care for reviews, if I did I would not have bought a good amount of titles that I love, also, reviews are full of shiz most of the time(see Halo 3 & GTA 4)so, I don't see this as bad, Eidos wants to make money, so they don't need these negative jaded assholes complaining about every single thing, bringing the game sales down because nobody has minds of their own, and one bad review can make people not buy a game, which is sad.

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animboo - 405 days 13 hours ago

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21 - wow just wow

its tactics like this that makes this industry so dirty and disgusting..somebody should just punch his lights out..if they're afraid of low review scores they should have made it better..F****** A**h***..

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rrjim1 - 405 days 13 hours ago

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22 -

Only ignorant people use Metacritic!

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Why o why - 405 days 13 hours ago

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22.1 - Metacritic died....

when I heard an MS spokesperson use it to try and prove something.

It started to rot after i heard its only 1 person that makes the decision as to what sites get included in some scores and the weighing to those sites and we, the people who they serve, cant do sh!t about it

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BrianC6234 - 405 days 13 hours ago

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22.2 -

I personally have never used Metacritic. I check it out once in a while but I don't use it to decide if I'll buy a game. I know right away the games I want. I check out gamer reviews of games I'm not sure about. You can't trust professional reviews anymore. This Tomb Raider story isn't good. I've already noticed sites where the page is covered with Tomb Raider all over the place. Will those sites give the game a better score?

Also, why is it so hard for them to make a good Tomb Raider game? Look at Uncharted. That's a great game and it shows a new Tomb Raider game shouldn't be that hard.

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The Matrix - 405 days 13 hours ago

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23 -

That is so dirty.

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Cetra - 405 days 13 hours ago

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24 -

Everyone go grab your free copy of Tomb Raider Underworld from Bit Torrent! Cheers to Eidos!

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Jenzo - 405 days 12 hours ago

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25 - Correction:

Tomb Raider: Underworld honest unbribed reviews silenced until Monday.

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Ju - 405 days 12 hours ago

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26 -

There's my chance to get it for 40. LOL. I mean, WTH. They pissed off all PS3 users with their DLC policy and now this. I think I won't even get it for 40 any more.

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Irving - 405 days 12 hours ago

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27 -

Lol Guy Coker better start looking for job after revealing this. Remember Eidos' previous game Kane & Lynch?

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28 Bladestar | 405 days 12 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

divideby0 - 405 days 12 hours ago

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29 -

now I have read just about everything on the net.
the smell of desparation....LMAO

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Horny Melon - 405 days 11 hours ago

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30 - Does anyone else find it curious that

no game released this fall recieved a score lower than 8? Fallout locks up every 2 hours that still hasn't been patched, LBP buggy. Fable and Gears glitches. I'm not saying these are bad games but the scores didn't even take a hit.

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Ju - 405 days 10 hours ago

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30.1 -

LBP buggy ? What ?

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J@D - 405 days 10 hours ago

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31 -

So, its the Jeff case all over again... Well, almost lol.

This is pathetic!!!!

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Jager - 404 days 23 hours ago

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31.1 -

Bubbles for the Bleach Pic :D

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va_bank - 405 days 10 hours ago

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32 - New rule of thumb:

If a highly-hyped game has no reviews the day before it releases - it's going to suck.

P.S. I played the PC demo - got bored before I got to finish it.

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OnslaughtX - 405 days 10 hours ago

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32.1 -

If a highly hyped game HAS reviews BEFORE it releases, chances are that "world exclusive" review was bought with promises of a high score.

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OnslaughtX - 405 days 10 hours ago

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33 -

Shady dealings in the review sector? NO WAI!

Told you so. Reviews are a joke.

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