Its a non functioning product at launch, something that should be called out in a review.

It literally functions. I’ve played it at launch and will continue playing it. Watch Austin’s review on SkillUp, who had the benefit of releasing his review some time after launch but started during the embargo period, to see why a reviewer would not call it out.

The Suicide Squad was a bad game, someone liking it does not justify a dishonest or lazy review

The quality of a game, and the evaluation of it in a review, is entirely subjective.

Neither of which are true is a bold statement that needs more then a “trust me” level of response.

Try looking right under the comment where someone who has been a paid reviewer called it out as nonsense. Or ask literally anyone in the industry. It’s come up on podcasts like Friends Per Second and Giant Bomb over the years enough times. If this was all a big marketing stunt where reviews were bought and paid for, someone would have blown the whistle by now.

You seem to be pushing the idea that its the audience is wrong and desperately assuming that people don’t like the media state due to an inability to reconcile their own preferences with the articles (wild and odd).

And yet you’re doing it right now. I can see why you would distrust a review if you don’t understand what a review is.