We fear the inevitable day when video games will be crafted by machines (besides the robot that adds $60 worth of "better" to Madden every 12 months, of course), but it will also have its share of upsides. For example, we'll no longer have to worry about hurting actual people's feelings when we say awful, curt, snide things about their labors of love.
Kane & Lynch dev IO Interactive recently spoke to Games Radar about what getting negative reviews feels like, and you'll never guess the one that "really" hurt: "Then GameSpot reviewed the game. And they didn't like it one bit. I'm not quite sure why, but I remember that review hit the team like a hammer."
A heap of heartache as a result of GameSpot's Kane & Lynch review? Wow, and we thought Eidos and Jeff Gerstmann would never find common ground!
Reader Comments (67)
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 1:55PM Shagittarius said
This game was not ready for prime time when released, please read my poorly worded review from my classic gaming restoration site:
http://gamerez.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=30
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http://gamerez.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=30
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:29PM (Unverified) said
I liked how you informed the readers about the video card issue. It'd be nice if most reviews gave out more specific information like that rather than "sometimes there are glitches but we won't tell you why."
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 5:28PM (Unverified) said
He put another game above Halo! Kill him!
I really liked K&L, much fun and a gripping storyline, apart from the ending, the ending was terrible.
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I really liked K&L, much fun and a gripping storyline, apart from the ending, the ending was terrible.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:00PM (Unverified) said
I picked this game up used for around $20.00 at Gamestop recently. I have to say that while the game is not great it is also far from the terrible reviews it garnered. Probably a similar feeling to Too Human. It is a love it or hate it type of game. My only big problem outside of some technical issues was there was not a single character in the entire game that you could really root for as the good guy. It was like bad vs worse.
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:20PM (Unverified) said
A review of six or seven is not a terrible review, and I think the reviews are fair for both games you mentioned. I didn't particularly care for Kane and Lynch, but I can see where people would enjoy it. I'd say the reviews were right on the mark. It's a fun enough game, but not everyone will like it.
Too Human I have been enjoying, but it's flaws are evident. While I think it's great fun, there is enough wrong with it that I personally wouldn't rank it higher than a 7 (using a 1-10 scale).
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Too Human I have been enjoying, but it's flaws are evident. While I think it's great fun, there is enough wrong with it that I personally wouldn't rank it higher than a 7 (using a 1-10 scale).
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:01PM (Unverified) said
Gamespot? Really? I thought it had more to do with the controversy surrounding that review than the actual writeup. Had he not been forced to change the review or be let go because of it , everyone would've forgot about the review the next day. There's always one review that gets a low score for every game, unless it's utter crap. And it wasn't a REALLY bad score like H4.5E got.
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:01PM (Unverified) said
Ya know, I played the demo for this on 360 a while back and I thought it was kinda fun. This reminds me to pick it up, prob like 15 bucks now heh
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:02PM Eugimon said
All developers need to hire outsiders to come in a periodically take a look at what they're doing and provide some honest feedback.
I think too man games get ruined because the developers live in a closed loop system and get a bit of myopic vision when it comes to their babies. It's perfectly understandable, and that's why it takes an outsider to be able to make an honest assessment about what works and what doesn't.
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I think too man games get ruined because the developers live in a closed loop system and get a bit of myopic vision when it comes to their babies. It's perfectly understandable, and that's why it takes an outsider to be able to make an honest assessment about what works and what doesn't.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:08PM (Unverified) said
The idea you're suggesting is called 'focus grouping', which is the sole influence responsible for dumbing down both Hollywood and games. Every game that is 'focus grouped' before release becomes flavorless mush - like Bioshock - that appeals to lots of people but isn't much of a game.
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:49PM silverwolf761 said
@Bass Masterson
Focus Testing also produced the monstrosity that was the Original XBOX controller.
Must have been a group comprised entirely of Gorillas and Sasquatch
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Focus Testing also produced the monstrosity that was the Original XBOX controller.
Must have been a group comprised entirely of Gorillas and Sasquatch
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:02PM Neon Jebus said
Man I was looking forward to that game. I had probably watched the trailer about 50 times. I had really high hopes.
Then the game came out all buggy and the controls blew goats. I was a sad marsupial.
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Then the game came out all buggy and the controls blew goats. I was a sad marsupial.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:47PM BlaznGoldstein said
I agree.
If you (you're) going to put something into the public space(,) prepare for it to be reviewed and probably ripped apart.
Overall I give your post a 67.2/78. It makes a valid point, but a few grammatical glitches hold this back from being a truly memorable post.
(Disclaimer: I am only joking. Thank you.)
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If you (you're) going to put something into the public space(,) prepare for it to be reviewed and probably ripped apart.
Overall I give your post a 67.2/78. It makes a valid point, but a few grammatical glitches hold this back from being a truly memorable post.
(Disclaimer: I am only joking. Thank you.)
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:10PM totorototoro said
from the original article "sales have been ok"
According to NextGen, they sold over 1 million copies of the game. Sounds like a pretty successful run, esp. given the reviews/controversy.
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According to NextGen, they sold over 1 million copies of the game. Sounds like a pretty successful run, esp. given the reviews/controversy.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 5:38PM (Unverified) said
I think Gerstmann was fired because of the tone of his work, not necessarily the 6.0 he gave Kane & Lynch. There may also have been some problems between him and management regarding how gamespot gathers ad revenue.
I wouldn't go so far as to call him an asshole though. I think he is someone who is genuinely concerned for the development of the video game industry. He an a few people who left gamespot have a new website called giant bomb (www.gianbomb.com). Its pretty good.
I usually use my own judgment when it come to buying games but like Snowblind, I no longer visit gamespot, and am very skeptical about reviews.
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I wouldn't go so far as to call him an asshole though. I think he is someone who is genuinely concerned for the development of the video game industry. He an a few people who left gamespot have a new website called giant bomb (www.gianbomb.com). Its pretty good.
I usually use my own judgment when it come to buying games but like Snowblind, I no longer visit gamespot, and am very skeptical about reviews.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 7:29PM (Unverified) said
Wow, the comment system has been spanking me today
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:23PM (Unverified) said
I said it once and I'll say it again, we don't really know why they fried Jeff Gerstmann. Everyone just assumes it was because someone paid gamespot to do so "or other theories in that area".
To me, there is a good possibility that he is just an asshole. If you read his other reviews, you could certain see his "tone".
The game itself, I enjoyed it. It wasn't ground breaking by any means, but it was enjoyable. Around the same level as army of two, maybe worse in gameplay. However, the story was better, even though you didn't really like any of the characters "I think that was the point". I certainly wouldn't have given it that low of a score.
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To me, there is a good possibility that he is just an asshole. If you read his other reviews, you could certain see his "tone".
The game itself, I enjoyed it. It wasn't ground breaking by any means, but it was enjoyable. Around the same level as army of two, maybe worse in gameplay. However, the story was better, even though you didn't really like any of the characters "I think that was the point". I certainly wouldn't have given it that low of a score.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:39PM (Unverified) said
I said it once, and I'll say it again.
"When there's doubt, there is no doubt."
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"When there's doubt, there is no doubt."
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:23PM Snowblind said
No, we don't know why he was fired, but Jeff Gerstmann was a great reviewer, I think he's one of the few that didn't fall into the big hype traps of games like Twilight Princess, GTA IV or Smash Brothers - most reviewers gave these games extremely high scores, because they seem like such great games at first, it's not until later on you begin to see the flaws, and I think Gerstmann was one of the very few big reviewers that picked up on things like that.
And the fact Gamestop was plastered with ads for the game for weeks, and then he was fired and had his review pulled after giving it a low score was very suspicious.
I certainly avoided the game, and the site after that whole thing.
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And the fact Gamestop was plastered with ads for the game for weeks, and then he was fired and had his review pulled after giving it a low score was very suspicious.
I certainly avoided the game, and the site after that whole thing.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 4:24PM (Unverified) said
Again, speculation, even though, his reviews are, as you put it "I think he's one of the few that didn't fall into the big hype traps of games" Maybe, or maybe he just wanted to create controversy. So he would give those games a bad score, and more people would look at his review and complain about it, giving it a later view count. IE, similar to Cartman from south park. He lives for it. Maybe the higher ups got tried of negative feed back "that back fired!"?
In fact, that whole fiasco just reeked with it.
Again though, more speculation.
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In fact, that whole fiasco just reeked with it.
Again though, more speculation.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:25PM s7r1k3r said
I always wondered what it would be like if a reviewer created a game. Would it be perfect? because they seem to know what works and what doesn't. Also I know they need to be objective but still. Let's get these hard ass reviewers to direct one game and let everyone judge how it turns out.
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:04PM totorototoro said
I think there is a difference between a critic and an artist. I think you can be a good critic in a field without having the actual talent to personally excel in that field; it is really two different skillsets.
I don't think it would hurt for critics to learn more about the *process* of game development, so they have a better understanding of what it really takes to get a game out the door.
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I don't think it would hurt for critics to learn more about the *process* of game development, so they have a better understanding of what it really takes to get a game out the door.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 3:09PM (Unverified) said
Well, look at that hack ZeroPunctuation. Guy never made anything but crap side-scrollers and the like, and he actually thinks he has the credentials to 'review' games (it's okay though since all his reviews are Americans=bad, all games suck except the latest art-house darling, etc, etc).
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Posted: Sep 10th 2008 8:30PM Dummy00001 said
One artists said long time ago something along the lines. He was asked how he reacts to what critics write about his works. He replied simply: "we do not see much monuments around to commemorate critics."
Analogy is of course false (artists vs. business) yet there is a grain of truth to it when applied here.
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Analogy is of course false (artists vs. business) yet there is a grain of truth to it when applied here.
Posted: Sep 10th 2008 2:28PM (Unverified) said
Is this an example of how disillusioned game developers become? Better yet, I'll bet this applies to most creators of anything that gets a bad rap from the media.
The game just wasn't that great. Period.
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The game just wasn't that great. Period.
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