Whether you believe CNET editor Jeff Gerstmann was canned for a critical review of an advertiser's product or other causes, this much is clear: Someone took offense at his video review of Kane & Lynch, a release by CNET advertiser Eidos, and the clip was yanked offline. One insider alleges that the review was deemed "unprofessional." We've watched it and just don't see it, but the clip is above and you can judge for yourself.

The only offense we see is that his words were much harsher than his written review. Gerstmann called Kane & Lynch an "ugly, ugly game" and characterized the developers as "lazy," but he still gave the game a 6 out of 10 score. Some choice quotes from his video review:

It's a really clever idea because you never really know who's gonna turn and win. Unfortunately the shooting isn't very accurate or very much fun to pull off. Also, the AI's in the exact same spot every time you play the map. So it's like, you know that these cops are gonna be here, there's gonna be two cops over the fence ... it just becomes really repetitive really really quickly ... By and large, it's a fairly standard shooter that doesn't really have mechanics that live up to the standards of the genre. If you're a fan of shooters, you're gonna be frustrated... If you have a chance to see it ... Take a look at it, but it's probably not worth purchasing.

Sure he's saying viewers shouldn't buy the game — but isn't that the point of a review, to tell readers whether or not they should plunk down their dollars?