No one received review copies before the release. They started playing this on the same day as everyone else. If go to metacritic you will see there is still a number of reviews in progress from other sites so its not like GS is the only site doing this.
I wouldn't call it clone just because its uses a same style hud. Its skill tree and how you buy items is totally different compared to any other APRG. Having same type of hud isn't going to cause a lawsuit.
You make it sound as if Shadow the Hedgehog was praised when it got bad reviews all around. Same with Sonic: Lost World, its getting medicore reviews from just everyone.
I've been playing this for the past couple days and its great. I use play the original all the time back in the day so its cool to see a remake of it. I agree about check system it can hurt the platforming parts and optimization issues but there are some simple fixes you do in the config files to make it run better. Changing the framerate smoothing values helped out a lot for me making the framerate more solid and not dipping down like it was doing before.
The game is still rough around the edges but the devs are listening. Don't let this review throw you off if you looking to get this but your still probably better off waiting for the devs to release a patch to fix the current issues.
Not really. Skyrim and all those other games were already on sale for $30 a couple days ago, Max Payne 3 went for $15. I got Saints Row 3 the full package for $12.
ShawBrothers' comments