GamePro Arcade writer fired for plagiarizing IGN review

GamePro has been under a lot of fire for their review of The Conduit, but that’s not the only issue that has arisen over the past few days. Today, someone discovered what appeared to be an editor of their arcade section plagiarizing a review from IGN. The article in question was about Water Warfare, a downloadable FPS for Wii. You can check out some of the similarities below.

IGN review…

On tap in this super soaker is a robust feature set including both single- and multiplayer modes. There is plenty to do here, even if you plan to wage war by yourself. The 40 single-player missions offer a variety of objectives and boss battles. If you just want to skirmish you can play against up to seven bots with three difficulty levels. As for multiplayer, two players can go at it in split screen or you can play with a total of eight via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Online, you can play against just your friends, play a friendly game against random strangers, or participate in a ranked match. While waiting in a lobby there is a handful of messages to send to your opponents/team mates. The four maps each come in a large and small variation.

You’ll find all the usual FPS weapons here (pistols, machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers…), but loaded with agua instead of bullets. Scattered around each map are also fun items like a raincoat that makes you temporarily water resistant and a towel to dry yourself off.

GamePro review…

Featuring over 40 single player missions for you to get soaked in, Water Warfare offers up a lot of content. In the single player missions you will have a variety of objective and boss battles. If you just want to skirmish you can play against up to seven bots with three difficulty levels. Two players can go at it in split screen or you can play with a total of eight via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You can play with strangers or just play a good old fashioned rank match on one of the 4 maps made. Team games include Battle Royale where the last person standing wins, Death Match is the standard FPS free-for-all, but should be called Wet Match, first player to 10 knockouts wins. Treasure Chest you have to find the opposing team’s chest and bring it back to your base. In assault you capture the flag, which I figured would be called capture the flag. Base you take control of bases and score 100 points to win. Finally in point rally you need to put your gun away and race through checkpoints.

Weapon wise you’re given the standard array of weapons, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and rocket launchers all filled with lovely H2O. The weapons control ok but feel like squirt guns that have no kick to them. Also perks are scattered throughout the map like a raincoat that makes you temporarily water resistant and a towel to dry yourself off.

GamePro did respond to the claims that the review was plagiarized and acknowledged that “the charges are true.” The writer responsible for the review was fired as well. However, the article has not been taken down so that GamePro can “be up front about the mistake that had been made and take full responsibility for it.”

Source – IGN review
Source – GamePro arcade review
Source – GamePro explanation
Source – Original discovery