• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Metacritic Spammed With Fake Positive Reviews of Assassin's Creed Origins

Raevenlord

News Editor
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
3,755 (1.24/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name The Ryzening
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard MSI X570 MAG TOMAHAWK
Cooling Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO
Memory 32 GB G.Skill Trident Z F4-3733 (4x 8 GB)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti
Storage Boot: Transcend MTE220S 2TB, Kintson A2000 1TB, Seagate Firewolf Pro 14 TB
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG270UP (1440p 144 Hz IPS)
Case Lian Li O11DX Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) iFi Audio Zen DAC
Power Supply Seasonic Focus+ 750 W
Mouse Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Keyboard Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Software Windows 10 x64
Metacritic has been invaded by a veritable flood of what appear to be semi-sentient robots, spamming the website with favorable Assassin's Creed Origins reviews. This isn't a common occurrence, but isn't unheard of either - there have been a number of scandals regarding fake reviews on Metacritic and other review score aggregators, with some publishers having even been brought to the center of the discussion.

The semi-sentient part derives from the fact that usernames are obviously a mashing-up of keyboard keys, and no amount of effort has been put towards hiding the fact that these are fake scores. The wording is practically the same, as sometimes even the English in these is of dubious quality. This type of actions usually hurt more a games' reception than help it, if done badly, as these reviews are. So if the idea is to improves Assassin's Creed Origins in the eyes of potential buyers, certainly the fact that these are clearly fake reviews will affect perception negatively. This reminds this editor of those Chinese review farms that were reported some time ago, where entire companies were created that devoted employees towards simply posting positive reviews for apps and programs, while being paid to do so.





"It's not a frequent occurrence - maybe 2 - 3 games a year," Metacritic co-founder Marc Doyle told Kotaku. "We've been moderating those reviews (and suspending those accounts - most off of which [sic] had one single review in their history). The people doing it appear to be changing it up with the chunk of text they keep replicating, but our moderators are working overtime to combat it."



Some user reviews on Metacritic said it best, though: "Ways better than assassins creed unity and assassins creed syndicate, it is more mature and bayek is interseting character, and de historical characters are handeld well."

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
227 (0.04/day)
Location
Finland
Processor 5800X
Motherboard Strix B550
Memory 32GB 3600MHz
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1070 SC Black Edition
 

silentbogo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
5,542 (1.37/day)
Location
Kyiv, Ukraine
System Name WS#1337
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard ASUS X570-PLUS TUF Gaming
Cooling Xigmatek Scylla 240mm AIO
Memory 4x8GB Samsung DDR4 ECC UDIMM
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio
Storage ADATA Legend 2TB + ADATA SX8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s) Samsung U24E590D (4K/UHD)
Case ghetto CM Cosmos RC-1000
Audio Device(s) ALC1220
Power Supply SeaSonic SSR-550FX (80+ GOLD)
Mouse Logitech G603
Keyboard Modecom Volcano Blade (Kailh choc LP)
VR HMD Google dreamview headset(aka fancy cardboard)
Software Windows 11, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
The next thing you know, Ubi will blame russian hackers... :laugh:
 
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
3,015 (0.83/day)
System Name The beast and the little runt.
Processor Ryzen 5 5600X - Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING - ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570
Cooling Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4a - NH-D15 chromax.black with IPPC Industrial 3000 RPM 120/140 MM fans.
Memory G.SKILL TRIDENT Z ROYAL GOLD/SILVER 32 GB (2 x 16 GB and 4 x 8 GB) 3600 MHz CL14-15-15-35 1.45 volts
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC LOW PROFILE - GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC
Storage Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB + 2 TB - Samsung 870 EVO 4 TB - 2 x WD RED PRO 16 GB + WD ULTRASTAR 22 TB
Display(s) Asus 27" TUF VG27AQL1A and a Dell 24" for dual setup
Case Phanteks Enthoo 719/LUXE 2 BLACK
Audio Device(s) Onboard on both boards
Power Supply Phanteks Revolt X 1200W
Mouse Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse
Keyboard Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum
Software WINDOWS 10 PRO 64 BITS on both systems
Benchmark Scores Se more about my 2 in 1 system here: kortlink.dk/2ca4x
So not only do they make crappy optimized games and cpu strangeling drm.

Now they also make fake reveiws.

How low are ubisoft willing to go, for selling there crap.

Ubisoft sucks.
 
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
18,584 (2.69/day)
System Name AlderLake
Processor Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory 32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s) 23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s) Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.87/day)
Far Cry (original) was good. The rest was just endless milking of the franchise. Just like pretty much everything under Ubisoft's belt. Their cookie cutter milking model is even worse than EA's was when they were slamming year numbers on games every single year...
 

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast
Supporter
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
13,996 (2.34/day)
Location
Louisiana
Processor Core i9-9900k
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax ETS-T50 Black CPU cooler
Memory 32GB (2x16) Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX 4070 Ti Super OC 16GB
Storage 1x 1TB MX500 (OS); 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 2TB MX500; 1x 1TB BX500 SSD; 1x 6TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s) Infievo 27" 165Hz @ 2560 x 1440
Case Fractal Design Define R4 Black -windowed
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-1000 Gold
Mouse Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)
Far Cry (original) was good. The rest was just endless milking of the franchise. Just like pretty much everything under Ubisoft's belt. Their cookie cutter milking model is even worse than EA's was when they were slamming year numbers on games every single year...

Well, AC Black Flag was pretty different. So much so that many AC fanatics feel it isn't really even an AC game, just a really good pirate game.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,489 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
Silent Hunter was the only good thing Ubisoft ever did.

They also killed it, so it's a neutral point at best.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
797 (0.16/day)
Processor Intel
Motherboard MSI
Cooling Cooler Master
Memory Corsair
Video Card(s) Nvidia
Storage Western Digital/Kingston
Display(s) Samsung
Case Thermaltake
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic
Mouse Glorious
Keyboard UniKey
Software Windows 10 x64
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
1,190 (0.27/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 3700x
Motherboard asus ROG Strix B-350I Gaming
Cooling Deepcool LS520 SE
Memory crucial ballistix 32Gb DDR4
Video Card(s) RTX 3070 FE
Storage WD sn550 1To/WD ssd sata 1To /WD black sn750 1To/Seagate 2To/WD book 4 To back-up
Display(s) LG GL850
Case Dan A4 H2O
Audio Device(s) sennheiser HD58X
Power Supply Corsair SF600
Mouse MX master 3
Keyboard Master Key Mx
Software win 11 pro
Silent Hunter was the only good thing Ubisoft ever did.

They also killed it, so it's a neutral point at best.
I actually think that the games made by Michel Ancel are among the best games that were made.
Rayman , (the 3 was insane) beyond good and evil... rayman and the raving rabbids wasn't made by him, he was only a character designer, that was just Ubisoft trying to milk the franchise, but then Rayman went back to greatness with Rayman origin (made by him) who also happened to be DRM free.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Messages
3,244 (1.23/day)
System Name Grunt
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte x570 Gaming X
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory Corsair LPX 3600 4x8GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 6800 XT (reference)
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Display(s) Samsung CFG70, Samsung NU8000 TV
Case Corsair C70
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Win 10 Pro
I wonder why Ubi would resort to this. It seems beneath them.

Or am I giving them too much credit? lol
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
6,077 (1.14/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
definitly russia...

covfefe
 

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
9,090 (1.72/day)
Location
Internet is borked, please help.
System Name Monke | Work Thinkpad| J1nnx took Old Monke
Processor Ryzen 5600X | Ryzen 5500U | FX8320
Motherboard ASRock B550 Extreme4 | ? | Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling 240mm Rad | Not needed | hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB | 16 GB DDR4 3600 | 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB | Vega 8 | Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) | some samsung SSD
Display(s) Dell 2723DS | Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS | Dell 2240L
Case Ant Esports Tempered case | Thinkpad | Antec
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 | Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply Corsair RM750e | not needed | Corsair GS 600
Mouse Logitech G400 | nipple
Keyboard Logitech G213 | stock kb is awesome | Logitech K230
VR HMD ;_;
Software Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores There are no marks on my bench
Why not just shut off the voting system for the game completely and give it a pathetic rating since its being clearly funded by Shittysoft themselves?
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
251 (0.05/day)
Remember Failcry 2 that as fake-rated 9/10 while being worth at most 4 ? You know....the no AI no story no action buggy one with sucky sound enemies shooting backwards, useless road trips etc...
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,489 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
I actually think that the games made by Michel Ancel are among the best games that were made.
Rayman , (the 3 was insane) beyond good and evil... rayman and the raving rabbids wasn't made by him, he was only a character designer, that was just Ubisoft trying to milk the franchise, but then Rayman went back to greatness with Rayman origin (made by him) who also happened to be DRM free.

I was speaking more of the modern "corperate Ubisoft" from the Uplay and forward era.

In it's earlier years, Ubisoft had some moments.
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
2,199 (0.43/day)
2017 and these people cannot even think of some anti-bot registration and posting. GEEZUS.
 

AsRock

TPU addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
19,094 (3.00/day)
Location
UK\USA
Hmmm... But I do like the Far Cry series...:oops:

It's getting there slooooowly,like come on they know how to make a good popular game "COUGH Ghost Recon" but they don't want to do some thing so open to the public.

They don't want you to be able to make maps and complex missions as that don't make them money.

Well, AC Black Flag was pretty different. So much so that many AC fanatics feel it isn't really even an AC game, just a really good pirate game.

Black Flag after the updates was awesome, well then they spoiled the experience with that add on content which had no were the attention and love.
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
1,268 (0.29/day)
System Name Gentoo64 /w Cold Coffee
Processor 9900K 5.2GHz @1.312v
Motherboard MXI APEX
Cooling Raystorm Pro + 1260mm Super Nova
Memory 2x16GB TridentZ 4000-14-14-28-2T @1.6v
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 LiquidX Barrow 3015MHz @1.1v
Storage 660P 1TB, 860 QVO 2TB
Display(s) LG C1 + Predator XB1 QHD
Case Open Benchtable V2
Audio Device(s) SB X-Fi
Power Supply MSI A1000G
Mouse G502
Keyboard G815
Software Gentoo/Windows 10
Benchmark Scores Always only ever very fast
And a streamer on Twitch claims this crap is better than Witcher 3. Perhaps try playing W3 first?
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
7,062 (1.01/day)
Location
USA
System Name Computer of Theseus
Processor Intel i9-12900KS: 50x Pcore multi @ 1.18Vcore (target 1.275V -100mv offset)
Motherboard EVGA Z690 Classified
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S, 2xThermalRight TY-143, 4xNoctua NF-A12x25,3xNF-A12x15, 2xAquacomputer Splitty9Active
Memory G-Skill Trident Z5 (32GB) DDR5-6000 C36 F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RK
Video Card(s) ASUS PROART RTX 4070 Ti-Super OC 16GB, 2670MHz, 0.93V
Storage 1x Samsung 970 Pro 512GB NVMe (OS), 2x Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB (data), ASUS BW-16D1HT (BluRay)
Display(s) Dell S3220DGF 32" 2560x1440 165Hz Primary, Dell P2017H 19.5" 1600x900 Secondary, Ergotron LX arms.
Case Lian Li O11 Air Mini
Audio Device(s) Audiotechnica ATR2100X-USB, El Gato Wave XLR Mic Preamp, ATH M50X Headphones, Behringer 302USB Mixer
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex Platinum SE 1000W 80+ Platinum White, MODDIY 12VHPWR Cable
Mouse Zowie EC3-C
Keyboard Vortex Multix 87 Winter TKL (Gateron G Pro Yellow)
Software Win 10 LTSC 21H2
Well, AC Black Flag was pretty different. So much so that many AC fanatics feel it isn't really even an AC game, just a really good pirate game.
Yeah it was the best of the games, funny that the worst part of ACBF was doing the eponymous assassin crap.
 
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
12,062 (2.61/day)
Location
Gypsyland, UK
System Name HP Omen 17
Processor i7 7700HQ
Memory 16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s) GTX 1060
Storage Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s) 1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s) Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply 230W
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD+
Software Win 10 Pro
Confused... I didn't see anywhere that Ubi was behind this...

Did I miss something or is everyone piling on the lemming train of unsubstantiated hate?

The odds of Ubi behind behind it are slim to none. Considering the sheer money publishers spend on marketing, they'd probably pay native english speakers to post fake reviews and/or hire YouTubers/Streamers to give positive reviews (the latter they already have been doing for years). People just hate Ubisoft so much (and with fair reasoning) that they're attributing dodgy practice to them.

They could pay PewDiePie a few hundred thousand and that would probably net them more guaranteed sales than using some backwater Chinese/Russian fake review botnet.

EDIT: I'd go as far to say as this is purposefully being done to bring the game/publisher into a negative light. Astroturfing a bunch of blatantly fake positive reviews is a great way to bring Ubi's and AssCreed's image down.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
8,259 (1.32/day)
Processor Intel i9 9900K @5GHz w/ Corsair H150i Pro CPU AiO w/Corsair HD120 RBG fan
Motherboard Asus Z390 Maximus XI Code
Cooling 6x120mm Corsair HD120 RBG fans
Memory Corsair Vengeance RBG 2x8GB 3600MHz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 3080Ti STRIX OC
Storage Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB , 970 EVO 1TB, Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD, 10TB Synology DS1621+ RAID5
Display(s) Corsair Xeneon 32" 32UHD144 4K
Case Corsair 570x RBG Tempered Glass
Audio Device(s) Onboard / Corsair Virtuoso XT Wireless RGB
Power Supply Corsair HX850w Platinum Series
Mouse Logitech G604s
Keyboard Corsair K70 Rapidfire
Software Windows 11 x64 Professional
Benchmark Scores Firestrike - 23520 Heaven - 3670
This shit is the reason i dont go by what other people have to say about a game or a movie because primarily, they dont speak for me. I play what looks good and not base what I wanna do, play, or watch off of what someone else thinks. Thats being a sheep. I have a mind for myself.
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
553 (0.21/day)
Location
Here
Processor Intel i9 11900K
Motherboard Z590 MSI ACE
Cooling Corsair H80i v2
Memory Ballistix Elite 4000 32GB 18-19-19-39
Video Card(s) EVGA 3090 XC3 ULTRA HYBRID
Storage 2x Seagate Barracuda 120 SSD 1 TB, XPG SX8200 PRO 1 TB
Display(s) Acer Predator Z321QU
Case Fractal Design Meshify C
Power Supply Asus ROG Strix 1000W
Playing right now and i like it. It's has good twist in the series, more like an action RPG. No problem running it at 1080p on ultra settings.
 
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
759 (0.13/day)
Location
Pacific Coast
System Name Z77 Rev. 1
Processor Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Cooling Water Cooling
Memory 2x G.Skill F3-2400C10D-16GTX
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1080
Storage Samsung 850 Pro
Display(s) Samsung 28" UE590 UHD
Case Silverstone TJ07
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME 600W Titanium
Mouse EVGA TORQ X10
Keyboard Leopold Tenkeyless
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy: 7695
The odds of Ubi behind behind it are slim to none. Considering the sheer money publishers spend on marketing, they'd probably pay native english speakers to post fake reviews and/or hire YouTubers/Streamers to give positive reviews (the latter they already have been doing for years). People just hate Ubisoft so much (and with fair reasoning) that they're attributing dodgy practice to them.

They could pay PewDiePie a few hundred thousand and that would probably net them more guaranteed sales than using some backwater Chinese/Russian fake review botnet.

EDIT: I'd go as far to say as this is purposefully being done to bring the game/publisher into a negative light. Astroturfing a bunch of blatantly fake positive reviews is a great way to bring Ubi's and AssCreed's image down.
:toast:
My thoughts exactly.
 
Top