this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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I can't remember the last time a review embargo was placed on a game, or when major outlets didn't get review code - and the game turned out to be okay.
It's a tale as old as time, and particularly egregious this time round with the late-notice addition of Denuvo.
I mean, die hard fans won't mind either way and good on them, I hope they enjoy it - but for others who pre-ordered the game, I suppose you're only getting what you deserve.
Doom 2016 comes to mind. No early review copies but it turned out to be a good game. It's very much an outlier, though.
Oh cool, that's an interesting factoid.
I suppose at least we had the open beta programme with Doom though - granted it's not review code by it's very definition, but it was something tangible to see that it was going to be not shit at the very least.
"factoid" doesn't mean "fun little fact", it means "Something unreliable that gets repeated so much, people think it's true".
Here's a factoid for you: it can also mean "fun little fact" due to it being used that way so much.
Well there we go, every day's a school day!
yeah i remember zenimax not sending review copies but dont remember if they did it with any other higher profile games
Basically all games have review embargoes. If you're lucky it's before release and you get the code even earlier, but there's almost always a date you can't publish before.
The issue you're looking for is not sending code out before release so that there are no reviews at launch, so they get more people buying it blind instead of consulting a bunch of negative reviews and deciding not to.
Yeah, that's a huge part of why I don't pre-order games anymore. If I wait a few days, I can get a pretty good feel for if the game is worth my time (relatively bug-free, fun, etc). Best case scenario, I avoid a dud and save myself time and money. Worst case scenario, I play a good game a few days after everyone else.
So, don't pre-order a game until reviews you trust are out. Being a few days late won't wreck your enjoyment of a good game.
The only review you can definitively trust is your own. No commentary playthroughs are abundant on YouTube. If you can’t scan through and find a fun mechanic in the first 20 minutes, the game isn’t worth playing, in my opinion.
Hi-Fi Rush last year. No review copies, since the game was announced and released on the same day. Turned out to be a really fun rhythm action game.
That's hardly an embargo, that's just an extreme version of "not having a crazy hype-campaign"
I'd say it still counts, since the question was about review embargoes OR no pre-release copies provided to reviewers. Hype or no hype, you'd still be asking gamers to buy it based on nothing but previews, trailers and/or developer rep.