Apparently, Eidos was mostly displeased with the 6/10 score that Gerstmann decided to add at the end of his review:
“Between your poor accuracy, the enemy’s sharp accuracy, and the boneheaded AI from your squadmates, this all adds up to you keeping your squad on a very short leash.[…]
But when you consider the nearly ridiculous number of extremely high-quality shooters available recently, there’s not much room for something like Kane & Lynch, even taking into account the somewhat unique nature of its story. That said, the multiplayer is a smart idea that’s worth seeing, even if playing it makes you wish that it was used in another, better game.”
Furthermore, the company was also very unhappy with the video review, which painted an even bleaker picture of the game.
In the mean time, Eidos’ Kane & Lynch was heavily advertised over at GameSpot, reason enough for the plot to thicken and the reviewer to take a short trip to the corporate executioner.
None of the involved parties officially confirmed the rumor (nor they will ever, given the delicate nature of the situation). Still, if it proves to be true, it would be a hard blow for this branch of journalism. It’s been widely rumored that many reviewers tend to boost the marks a bit and overlook some unpleasant facts just to get along with the publishers and this latest mishap only serves to strengthen them.
It might just be that Gerstmann’s leave had nothing to do with the review (posted over two weeks ago). But, even so, GameSpot couldn’t pick a worst time to fire him.