...but then they shouldn't have sent out the review code in late-December/early-January! If the game's not finished, it's not ready to be reviewed. That makes any disc sent out a full game preview and nothing more. Only these discs were sent out as review copies. I have to wonder why. And if you all put any value in video game reviews - whether or not they're from UGO (since it's pretty clear what most of you think of the site) - then you should be wondering too. View

What's wrong with you people? From the comments section at UGO:

"Jeez… you people are ridiculous. Is what Rusty’s saying even getting through or are you all too hung up on defending Killzone to notice?

Across the entire industry, any publication with access to debug consoles is going to get review code. These discs won’t play in retail consoles, but they are otherwise perfect reproductions of the final release which everyone will get to play when the game hits stores.

Increasingly over the past couple years, game journalists have been finding that this is not always the case. Ninja Gaiden 2, for example, arrived pretty early for most publications in review code form. The disc was accompanied by a note explaining the the final release would run more smoothly. It was pretty widely reported on, if memory serves.

This thing with Killzone however is completely new. The KZ2 review code has been in-hand for three weeks (or more). To get an updated build now, after so much time has passed, is quite frankly unprecedented. As Russ said, even though he’s already played through and beaten the game he’s now going to have to do it again. That’s a serious problem.

As soon as a reviewer can’t trust the content s/he is being sent to consider for review, it throws the entire process into question. Read and think before you respond. Whether you agree or disagree about the control issues, there is a different concern being addressed here. And a far more worrisome one, at that.
Posted by Adam R on 01/15 at 05:36 PM" View

FWIW I wrote the review and I am not a longtime fan of the series. Nothing against it at all, I just never picked it up until Origins. Played SH, SH2 and SH4 for a little bit, but none grabbed me for more than a couple hours. I'm sorry that wasn't made clearer. SH:H made a full-blown fan out of me, no question; hope to see Double Helix back at the helm for the next one.

PS2-era graphics though? Are we all talking about the same game? View

...that 9/30 US release is still happening. View

The game can only be started from the website. Clicking "Play Now" loads up a window-based portal where you can select and tweak your characters and missions. Entering the game from there switches to full-screen mode; no windowed play. What's more, the game supports widescreen and custom resolutions. View

I updated the description with a warning. Thanks for mentioning that. View

SSIA. This review was just written this week. Perhaps you're referring to UGO's review of the PC version of Kane's Wrath? That one was written by Eric Eckstein and this one, by Adam Rosenberg. Here's the older review:

http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html... View

The game is longer than 10 hours. View

Who said it's 10 hours long? View

@ SL1MDADDY:

C'mon... Lair did NOT deserve a middling grade like 7. Even with the newly added analog controls, it STILL doesn't merit such praise. The game is visually above-average, but playing it is a nightmarish exercise in futility. Haze is basically the opposite (crap visuals and writing, decent gameplay), and similarly meh as a result.

I'm totally with you on over-hype hurting a game - look at Mass Effect - but Haze and Lair are a different level of "not good." View

Just use the d-pad then View

...who thinks that this is by far the best Xbox Live Arcade game out there? View

Mega Man 2, Castlevania/"Vampire Killer," Donkey Kong and MGS were all on the short list. View

Who is taking a risk here? Namco can only benefit from including SW characters in SC4. They only stand to sell more units thanks to fans who step up only for the SW connection. Worst-case scenario, only fans of the series lap the game up because really, how many Soul Calibur fans can say they're not excited about having Yoda and Darth Vader to fight with.

The only "risk" that I can see is in making each character console-exclusive. But the worst Namco will really suffer from that is some scorn from the hardcore base. And you can bet DLC will eventually solve that for fans anyway. View

...but the fact is, Takahashi ignored a fundamental RPG mechanic as he played the game for review. There is no defense, no justification. Games are built around complex systems of rules; ignoring them alters the gameplay experience in a very basic way. That it is possible to play and ignore them in Mass Effect is besides the point; the ability to "level up" is core to the experience of every RPG and Takahashi should have been more thorough. It's easy to be lazy when "work" falls so close to "play," but that doesn't excuse the mistake. Takahashi owed his readers, not to mention BioWare and Microsoft, a retraction and a clarification, both of which he delivered in the linked article.

I'm not saying this to defend Mass Effect - I came down pretty hard on it myself in my own review for UGO - but rather to defend the ethics of journalism in general. On the most basic level, Takahashi wrote up a critical assessment of a product which he himself had not fully researched. He was called on his shoddy journalism by knowledgeable readers and subsequently came clean. View

I'll admit I never read the original review before seeing this. That said... well, I don't really know what to say. If we learn anything from 2007 it's that some standards need to be put in place for game-related journalism. The recently release Videogame Style Guide is a positive step in the right direction, but such a work needs to be embraced by the editors/writers before it can be effective. Perhaps it's time to organize game journos into something more substantial than an online community. View

I saw that too... I'm sure it'll be fixed on Monday. View

I do think that SKATE's fundamental design and control scheme is excellent and could eventually eclipse that of the Tony Hawk series. But I'll continue to stand by the belief that, for now, SKATE is just too features-light to keep me coming back to it again and again. View