Google it. EA has been caught doing crap like that for years. Youtubers, reviewers, and whatever else.
You don't think it is odd that the game gets top scores in all the reviews (even the PC reviews) and absolutely no bugs are reported? Look at the reviews from the users. That tells a whole different story. No way this game is a 9 or a 10 out of 10.
But it
is speculation, right? We don't know this for sure?
On your advice, I Googled "EA caught buying reviews" and I came across a Kotaku article saying that some EA reps in Europe were sending Battlefield 3 reviewers obnoxious questions that looked suspiciously like they were trying to filter out reviewers that didn't meet their standards:
Scandinavian outlets requesting review copies of the game were asked for their mailing addresses. Standard question! They were then, however, asked a bunch of other questions, like:
Did the reviewer personally review BFBC2 or Black Ops?
What score did he give it?
What is his past experience with Battlefield?
Is he a fan of Battlefield?
Is he a fan of Call of Duty?
Has he been playing BF Franchise? BFBC2? 1943? BF2?
Has he expressed enthusiasm or concern for BF3? What are they?
Did he play the beta? Did he enjoy it / get frustrated with it?
What is his present view on the game?
Each question may seem harmless on its own, but together they make it clear the publisher was trying to filter the reviews so they’d be handled by people that would be pre-determined to give the game a positive score and/or slag off Modern Warfare 3 in the process.
I can't seem to find anything else in regards to this practice being a regular thing or outright buying of reviews.
Not saying that it doesn't happen, but I'm not yet convinced it's something that happened with DA:I.