By now most of the gaming populace knows that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has caused widespread disappointment across fans and reviewers alike. With misguided gameplay, a weak story, and an abundance of bad ideas stitched together with good ones, Lords of Shadow 2 has been quite the hot topic since its release last Tuesday. It wasn't long after release that an alleged MercurySteam developer spoke to Vadejuegos condemning the studio's CEO Enric Alvarez as the reason behind the game's inconsistent quality, painting the CEO as an egotist that had to be appeased by the rest of the studio staff. These accusations have not been confirmed by anyone by name, as sources have remained anonymous.
Alvarez himself responded to these claims on Twitter, claiming that what had been said about him were lies from “an enraged ex-worker”. But now, by way of VG247 and a translated interview by Eurogamer Spain prior to the anonymous MercurySteam blame-game, it appears that the Lords of Shadow Alvarez saga has not concluded. Whereas alleged MercurySteam developers have blamed the CEO for the game's problems and poor reception, Alavarez is pointing his finger at critics.
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In response to Edge's 4/10 Lords of Shadow 2 review calling the game a “cluttered, bloated and forgettable mess”, Enric Alavarez had the following to say, “It’s true that Edge liked the first game but they didn’t enjoy this one as much. I also think that what happened is terribly unfair. One must be blind or stupid to give a 4/10 mark to a game with whis quality. With a 4/10 people think it’s a crappy game, badly done, one that’s broken with gameplay mechanics that don’t work and awful graphics. If I were a reviewer I’d know this, and I don’t think that LoS2 deserves the score of a crappy game.”
When asked about how the press have received the game as a whole, Alvarez said the following comment, which does no favors to the allegations of him being an egotist, “I tend to think positive after reading some things. I’m glad that some people are writing about games instead of making them. I have to take it well, otherwise I’d do something else. But there are also people that appreciated the game. Any game is a complex work, and sometimes I think there’s a lack of professionalism in the game press, who should judge things for what they are and not what they want them to be.
“I agree that, in the end, it’s an opinion, and an opinion is totally respectable, but let’s not confuse an opinion and a review. The review is about the object and the opinion is about the subject. You can say “I do really rock but I hate opera”, and this is an opinion, not a review.”
A review and an opinion are not the same, according to Alvarez, whose comments bare resemblance to that of angry commenters that lack the understanding of what a subjective critique is.
“When you say in a review that textures or the engine are not the best, or that the gameplay is not up to it, you have to know it right. You can’t just say “I did not like it, and as I don’t like it it’s bad”, because that’s incredibly arrogant,” Alvarez told Eurogamer Spain.
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There you have it. While I can understand any creative individual being upset about poor reception to his or her work, Alvarez's comments come off as unprofessional and shallow. There's a great game in Lords of Shadow 2, but it no doubt had development problems, keeping it from being the grand conclusion that it should have been. We can't blame Alvarez and label him as the reason for the game's problems, but I can say that his comments do nothing to make me respect him.
What do you fine folk think of this matter? Is Alvarez spouting bitter comments, or do you believe that the game has received unfair criticism?