Harvey Smith gets blunt about BlackSite

  • By Polybren, GameSpot
  • Posted Nov 29, 2007 12:13 pm PT

Attendees of the Montreal International Game Summit 2007 this week were able to witness an alien autopsy, as Midway Austin creative director Harvey Smith delivered a postmortem dissection of his latest title, BlackSite: Area 51 for the Xbox 360 and PC. (A PlayStation 3 version of the game is set...

Attendees of the Montreal International Game Summit 2007 this week were able to witness an alien autopsy, as Midway Austin creative director Harvey Smith delivered a postmortem dissection of his latest title, BlackSite: Area 51 for the Xbox 360 and PC. (A PlayStation 3 version of the game is set for release next month.) According to a Wired report, Smith was brutally candid about the game, which debuted on store shelves earlier this month and received middling review scores.

"This project was so f***ed up," Smith said. Developers were given little time to polish the game, Smith said, reportedly describing the situation as "completely reprehensible." He also said that having to share the technology under the hood with other teams and other technical issues set the project back on several occasions, and laid some of the blame at his own feet, saying he had been more excited about another project he was working on at the time.

Smith also addressed the game's political satire elements, something he proudly trumpeted in early interviews. He admitted that those parts of the game didn't really take shape until the final year of development, and was disappointed more people didn't latch onto them upon the game's release. Specifically, he referred to a part of the game in which military veterans that the government had turned into monsters attack the player in a veterans' memorial.

"How can you look at all these elements and not think this is super f***ing subversive," Smith reportedly asked.

140 Comments

  • hardcore_gamer1

    Posted Dec 2, 2007 12:31 pm PT

    I thought this game was going to be good but i guess it was a letdown.

  • ctg867

    Posted Dec 1, 2007 10:08 am PT

    Well Midway sorta had to bring out another FPS game this year that was much better then Blacksite, so I would assume that there would be more support from them getting the development house up to shape if that wasn't the case.

  • jimmyshabadoo

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 7:22 pm PT

    Wow, he's Audi 5000.

  • vr2L_grafx

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 12:19 pm PT

    We've heard an unsettling rumor today from an anonymous tipster that longtime game reviewer Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot has been let go. That wouldn't necessarily be newsworthy, but the conditions under which he was allegedly dismissed were. According to the source, Gerstmann was fired "on the spot" due to advertiser pressure for his review of Eidos' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. A visit to Gamespot shows that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game has taken over the site very prominently, with backgrounds and multiple banner ads all pitching Kane & Lynch. Allegedly, publisher Eidos "took issue with the review and threatened to pull its ad campaign."

    Jeff's review was certainly less than glowing. He assigned the game a 6.0, otherwise known as "Fair" on the Gamespot scale. The game is currently enjoying a Metacritic score in the 65 to 69 range, which the site describes as "mixed or average reviews." According to our tipster, it wasn't necessarily the score that was reason for Gerstmann's rumored axing, but the "tone" of the review.

    Gerstmann has been no stranger to controversial reviews, as his scores of 10 for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 8.8 for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had sensitive internet users up in arms. It's now possible that many bitter fanboys may have had their wishes for his firing granted.

    As our tipster points out, if the rumor is true, it could point to a distressing precedent at Gamespot and parent company CNet. "As writers of what is supposed to be objective content, this is our worst nightmare coming to life," wrote the tipster.

    Our efforts to confirm the story with Gamespot haven't proved successful. Our current requests with PR, Gerstmann and other CNet contacts have either gone unanswered or yielded a "no comment." http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/gamespot-editor-fired-over-kane--lynch-review-328244.php

  • Mr_Unknown

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 10:22 am PT

    How come Gamespot is not reporting on Jeff Gerstmann's departure - Yahoo news has it for God's sake!!!

    Losers!

  • MrM3th0d

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 9:28 am PT

    I hear that this morning Harvey Smith quit his job as Creative Director at Midway Austin.

  • neverland

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:52 am PT

    2003 Midway Stock $2.00 -- 2005 Midway Stock $20.00 -- 2007 Midway Stock $2.00 -- Shipping unfinished games will create current revenue, but it's more of a "Band-Aid" to the accounting books. Polished games create company stability, which will allow them creative freedom, & time to polish their franchises.

  • dergy

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:36 am PT

    well, there are 3 main publishers i dont trust. Midway, Activision, and Atari. each one has iffy games and i always wait a few weeks before buying it even if it is good. cant trust them. said with eidos.

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:21 am PT

    Warlypwnage, i agree but i also have another take on the situation, this could prompt midway to give their developers more time to put out quality games. yes i know UT3 is midway but it is also from a major developer so epic probably has more pull, i donno i all i know is that if a game is pushed up to polish before release great, because i want quality games not quantity. PC FTW

  • NikBZero

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:18 am PT

    Midway well atleast we know how they got thier name, finish making the games Midway!

  • kingv99

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:14 am PT

    "Gamespot you need to explain yourselves. If you delete this post then you are saying that you do not care about Truth in game media at all and you do not care about what your users have to say at all."

    No F**ing way!!! This explains a lot of things to me!

  • NewGameMedia

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 7:39 am PT

    Important news that must be read by every gamespot user. http://www.destructoid.com/gamespot-drops-reviewer-to-appease-eidos-w-r-hearst-rolls-in-his-grave-56683.phtml

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/29

    Gamespot you need to explain yourselves. If you delete this post then you are saying that you do not care about Truth in game media at all and you do not care about what your users have to say at all.

  • geist9049

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 7:20 am PT

    i dont think he is talented enough to make such statements about his own game and still expect to be hired by another company after this. was he high at the time?

  • zeke2040

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 7:18 am PT

    well thanks god i didn't get it.. and i was planing too for the ps3, at least smith was honest about the work, not many compaines will do that...

  • MasterChief725

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 6:55 am PT

    Yeah, midway is definately gonna fire that guy. He cant say that about his own game. Not only that, but, what has Midway been thinkin recently?!?! Hour of Victory, now this? What is goin on over there! Next thing u know, UT 3 on PS3 will bomb!

  • jknight5422

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 6:46 am PT

    Ok...If the game sucks by the words from the developer of that game, why are they selling it? Why would anyone buy it? If you know the game isn't going to work, why did they not take it back to the drawing board & fix it? I question the Publisher for pushing out a broken game. It's bad for the entire business. It should be illegal. I'm certainly not going to touch it, unless it's going to give me 1000 easy achievement points from a $5.00 rental!

  • imnotacrook

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 6:32 am PT

    I watched the GT review, and it defiantly didn't look like that game was not finished and was just pushed out to be on the Christmas sale selfs. Though with being on X360 and PC, I think both platforms already have enough FPS's to last them this season. And I could say the same for PS3, so there really was no point unless you wanted to push out a shoddy product to make a quick buck.

  • burko_brunch

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 6:28 am PT

    Whining about the public's failure to appreciate the game's "subversiveness" isn't going to do this guy or Midway any favors. I'm all for a developer being realistic about a game's shortcomings, and contextualizing those shortcomings, but this just sounds like b*tching to me. I tend to intuitively avoid Midway -- their games tend to seem boring and I never feel like they really have it together as a company. This just adds to that impression.

  • kingv99

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 5:34 am PT

    This guy is going to be gone within a week. You can not make these kind of statements in public!

  • Fatality4u

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 3:59 am PT

    Well, while it may suck for him in the end, I give him props for speaking up.

  • devil_1994

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:44 am PT

    wow this is pretty surprising

  • GeigerdolylWodd

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:43 am PT

    It makes you wonder why he came forth did someone threaten to Black mail him? What was he doing?

  • GeigerdolylWodd

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:32 am PT

    Last gen? They also published Unreal Championship 2 the Liandri Conflict for Epic Games. I think Nba Jam used to be one of their franchises, it was a great game. I think its been a while since they've had a hit that wasn't made by another developer or a sequel though.

  • GeigerdolylWodd

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:28 am PT

    '" frankeyser yet another midway finished game from MIDWAY. How have they stayed in buissness so long?"'

    MOR-TAL KOM-BAT!

  • ibanezdropd

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:27 am PT

    i played the old demo... back ... a while back, but nothing recent.... i thought it looked beatiful, but beond that.. nothing grabbed me... i like subversive and interesting themes, but nothing made me want to buy this game

  • Jimminyfixit

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:15 am PT

    Basically, I'm disgusted that they released a game for full price when they weren't that interested in it anyway.

    I think I'll stay away from Midway in the future...

  • Jimminyfixit

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:08 am PT

    That's disgusting! You don't sell a product @ FULL PRICE and then say it didn't have as much of his attention because "he had been more excited about another project he was working on at the time"

    %$&K You! You half arsed moron!

  • nappan

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:04 am PT

    Big whoop... the guy makes a lousy game and admits it. I believe that's called "rubbing your face in it". It's not as though we all NEEDED him to tell us the game sucked... I'm just glad I wasnt' dumb enough to buy it.

  • mashom

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 1:54 am PT

    unexpected game.

  • zeus_gb

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 12:46 am PT

    I'm quite surprised that he's said what he's said but speaking so openly surely has to have repercussions on him.

  • Carpe_Noctum

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 12:19 am PT

    Good for him! MIDWAY has blown for the last 15 or so years. MIDWAY needs a complete restructuring, that is for sure. I know a guy that works for them and it's a joke in many ways. I still have a place for MIDWAY in my memories, just not my wallet.

  • v8nnwilder

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 11:16 pm PT

    You see that's why I don't really mind delays. At least you know that when you do get the game it will be all good and running 100%!!! I mean that's what will reflect on your company in the end... Not the fact that you delayed it (MGS4 Haze & GTAIV) but the fact that when it came out it was everything (And More) than what people expected it to be! People don't remeber a title for being delayed they remember it for being Good or bad in this case...

    They should have delayed it to make it worth while... Especially coming out so close to COD4! Modern Warfare really pulled it off nicely so any game coming out so close top COD4 must be above ordinary.

  • hilltops

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 11:04 pm PT

    wasnt planning on getting this was already turned off..
    this is the death-nail!!

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 10:04 pm PT

    Big deal! Demo looked good, so I'll just spend my money the way I want to and play the thing!

  • drogaz

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 9:44 pm PT

    It's a shame that it was rushed. It looked like a pretty cool game.

  • Alfredozero

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 9:19 pm PT

    Come on MIDWAY stop making crappy games and focus on MK8 and in PSI-OPS 2

  • italianmafia23

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 9:10 pm PT

    Personally, I found Area 51 for PS2 to be a pleasant surprise. I hadn't expected much. In fact, it ranks in my top 10 favorite PS2 games of all time. It is a terrible disappointment to hear the lack of effort that was put into a sequel that had so much potential...

    I had been looking forward to BlackSite Area 51 since it was first announced, and it was probably my personal most anticipated game behind Metal Gear Solid 4, and Starcraft 2. Hopefully Kojima and Blizzard won't disappoint.... Midway continues to lose fans by the truck load and rub salt in their own gaping wounds with this continuous streak of inadequacy.... What a waste. Certainly the most unreliable major gaming company out there right now.

  • mcderek3000

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 9:07 pm PT

    The subversie component just looks like bad satire. No surprise there, Deus Ex (also from Harvey) was also clumsy from that perspective. As for Harvey himself, he knows perfectly well that his future employment depends more on quality than sales (just ask Tim Shafer), so he's just washing his hands clean of Blacksite and trying to remind prospective employers of his past success (eg Deux Ex). I don't thnks he wants to keep his job at Midway.

  • ARMY--SNIPPER

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 9:01 pm PT

    hopefully time will tell but i agree the game is not as good as expected

  • Kfoss

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 8:59 pm PT

    whoops...hope he has a job left..but really the game does suck

  • HitmanAgent47

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 8:52 pm PT

    Maybe if he hadn't put the whole mentality of "progressive liberal ideas are good and everything else is bad" he might have scored some brownie points on the plot.

  • burnteyeball

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 8:43 pm PT

    Well I'm glad hes honest. I did expect a better game. I played the demos first and it wasnt all too bad. The game sure did feel like it wasn't polished anuf. I just wish they had a good voice cast like the first one. I might buy it now that this guy came out of the closet with how he feels about this Black Site.

  • man_alive

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 8:19 pm PT

    personally, i think it's wrong for the government to turn veterans into monsters. i'm sure Haliburton was behind it somehow.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 8:13 pm PT

    WoW that is one interesting article lmao he bashes his own game ....

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 7:41 pm PT

    good he is open with all of this

  • Misfit1119

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 7:25 pm PT

    Well at least he realizes why the game stunk. Then again, seeing as how he was more interested in another project I doubt he fought too hard to make sure that this game was treated the way it could have been. God, Area 51 for the arcade still has all of the console games with that name beaten.

  • XAF1

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 7:24 pm PT

    What most people have to consider is that he is probably telling the truth because he takes pride in his work. If a developers says a game isn't or wasn't ready then it wasn't. But publishers/etc don't always want to hear the truth. They just want to see the green. There needs to be more developers that are honest and then we as gamers know that it wasn't their decision to screw us over but the powers that be. So I commend him for his honesty.

  • Captain_Campion

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 7:21 pm PT

    Harvey's politics in the game aren't subversive, they're juvenile one-liners with no depth or greater meaning other than taking pot shots. If he had spent more time focused on improving the game than making sixth-grade-level one-liners maybe this game could have lived up to its potential. He needs to get himself a blog for his hobby and do a better job for the people writing his paychecks.

  • Drakshon

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 7:17 pm PT

    I've been to a few events where he has spoken and he always seems to talk straight from the heart. I think he is very creative and it would be foolish for Midway to let him go.

  • charma

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 6:53 pm PT

    Wow, I can understand his frustration but isn't he turning potential buyers of his own game away?

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