The star of MindsEye and Mafia 3 discussed how headlining two critical disappointments impacted his confidence.
In an interview with the FRVR Podcast (via VGC), Alex Hernandez – who portrayed Jacob Diaz in MindsEye and Lincoln Clay in Mafia 3 – spoke about the insults he received for each role and his reaction to both games’ negative reception.
When discussing MindsEye‘s disastrous launch, Hernandez stated he received online insults from strangers that he knew they’d never say to his face:
“Gamers are a unique breed – and I’m one of them – where attachment to the experience and product is so strong that feelings become incredibly intense.
The internet is an anonymous place where people share things they’d truly never say to your face, ever. Even if they hated it, even if they thought it was trash, they simply wouldn’t look you in the eye and say: ‘Everyone who worked on this game deserves to die, this is so f**king terrible, you’re idiots, how could you make this.’ No one would ever actually say that to your face.
And I think, simultaneously, you’re entitled to that. You paid your $60, your pounds, whatever currency you paid for the game – it’s the internet, you’ve got your opinion, you want to share it.
For about 48 hours, I allowed myself the expectation and excitement of ‘It’s finally happening, it’s finally coming out.’ And I won’t lie – I’ll say it here, I’ll say it anywhere – that trailer was so damn awesome. The trailer they released, although people criticized it (validly) for lacking gameplay, but the trailer itself? I thought: ‘This shit is badass, it looks incredible.’
And then when you see that, you think: ‘Alright, maybe this’ll make a comeback, this’ll be amazing.’ But when people had the reaction they did – with all the criticism they received, valid or not – as resilient as I am, and as thick-skinned as I’ve developed throughout my career? I had two solid days of ‘screw it.’”
Hernandez said the game’s reception made him fear he’d never land another gaming role because people would associate him with a major failure.
“Based on the reaction – not the work itself, not the cinematographer’s work, the game designer’s work, anyone’s work – but purely the reaction, I thought: ‘Maybe I’ll never work in another game again.’ Because one side effect of being the box art face is that people, rightly or wrongly, will associate all their opinions and – more importantly – emotions about this game with my face.
And in the future, as they buy games, maybe develop their own games, critique and share with friends which games to buy or not, along with their experiences? My name will now be associated with something many consider really bad.
As an artist, as a man, as a gamer? That hurts. It’s terribly painful. After about two days of letting myself sulk, with my wife being incredibly supportive saying: ‘I get it, this was something you really enjoyed making, you truly had fun, you thought it would be great, it looked incredible’ – you move on. Because for me, stewing in that doesn’t allow growth.
The most important thing for me is that everything in life is a growth opportunity – successes and failures alike – and you learn more from failures than successes. So in this specific case, my biggest growth opportunity was that Serenity Prayer about accepting things you can’t change, courage to change what you can, and wisdom to know the difference. This was one of those moments.
Because while many people felt compelled to vent gameplay bugs and performance issues where they felt I was the appropriate Instagram page, Facebook account etc. – including claims their graphics cards (even year-old ones) weren’t enough to run the game – I don’t know why they thought I, of all people, was the right person for that. But you know what? I take it.
Because there’s also been a much larger group of people who specifically reach out to me saying: ‘Game may be crap, but you’re great,’ ‘Your performance is amazing, wish you were in a better game.’ And [I’ve learned] I did my job – I can’t be responsible for all that even if my face is on the box.
I must accept the reality that a huge number of gamers carry that negativity. Suppose I’m cast in some massive Rockstar project (ironically, of all places) or another huge mocap gig where my face is front and center again? I can already imagine YouTube comments sections boiling with: ‘That’s the guy from MindsEye and Mafia 3 – every game he touches is garbage, blah blah, it’s trash, it’s TRASH!’ And to that? All I can say is: ‘Yes, that’s a valid criticism based on how you feel.’”
Despite learning from the experience, Hernandez admitted occasionally feeling cursed by a reverse Midas touch after headlining two poorly received games, but maintains pride in his work regardless.
“I’m not a superstitious man, but I can’t help that Spidey-sense tingle like: ‘Is it just me? Do I have the opposite of the Midas touch? Like, the shit-brown touch? Everything I touch turns to crap?’ It’s the flip side of being the box art guy.
But here’s the bottom line, said without ego: I’ve got two game boxes at home with my face on them. I broke into game acting. As a 13-year-old playing games, I thought: ‘I wanna do this someday’ – and I’ve done it twice. Actually, I’ve done it over twenty times, though only twice featuring my face (the rest are voice roles). I’m blessed to work a job I love alongside phenomenally talented people. Even when things derail? There’s still excellent work in there.”
