Any magazine with Playstation, XBox, or Wii in the title is biased to some degree...  They may not be owned by the big three but without the brand that particular magazine would not exist so it is in their best interest to promote exclusives.

9/10 from a Playstation branded magazine is a good start.  On Metacritic I can expect the game will get between 80% and 89% now.  With the best games Sony has typically allowed reviews to come out a month in advance.  We didn't see that for MAG and I doubt we will see it for Heavy Rain.  But I think we can all agree both games will beat Lair and Haze!

Big difference with MAG, Heavy Rain and things like Uncharted 2 for example, is that the latter was finished way ahead of its release and one knew the reviews would merely create more hype. MAG and Heavy Rain are being tweaked until the last moment (I've received three (!!) preview copies all in one week where bugs were being lifted as I was previewing it). That's the biggest difference imho.

thats good this game got a 9 but its not my type of game.
i saw some in game trailers of the guy drinking orange jucie and the gfx
got downgraded. plus there is to many QTE's

I'm looking forward to this game.
And this review pretty much cemented my purchase even more.

@ coolguy: you'd have to play the game to know whether there were too many QTE's, no? Or are you taking a wild stab at it because of selected trailers and the like?

this is oPm uk no? actually one of the more Honest mags around.

Its wierd we have become spoiled with this scores...everything has to be a 9 or above...

nen-suer said: Great first review Congrats QD

def excited..

Pretty much this. Even if Sony doesn't own POM its still biased because its a PS Magazine.

I understand that Heavy Rain brings something almost totally new to gaming, with it's control scheme, very mature storyline, and ability to continue the game even when main characters die.  But what exactly does Alan Wake, and this is not to say it won't be an incredible game, bring to gaming that changes or raises the bar?

Edit:  Also to those who say POM is biased, what precedent are you basing this on?  I mean I could see what you're saying if they gave, say Haze, a 9/10.  But they didn't.  It recieved a 5/10 and POM UK gave it a 6/10, which is in line with a lot of reviewers' scores.  So if HR gets 8's and 9's from other reviewers, are they still biased?

@cgi

You and leo-j are not alone in the whole Lair love.  I bought it just to see how "bad" it was.  Especially after everyone complained about horrid controls.  I found the controls to be pretty engaging and fun.  I had no problem pulling off 180's, somethin IGN said you could barely do in the game.  Besides, they released a patch so boring ( ) people could use their analogs.