The Alters, developed byThis War of MineandFrostpunk’s 11 bit studios, has launched to strong reviews. It currently sits, as of this writing, with an 84 Metascore on Metacritic and an 86 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic. Still, severalreviews ofThe Altersskip over an important make-or-break detail.
InThe Alters, players take on the role of Jan Dolski. Jan, trapped on a deadly planet, must make pseudo-clones of himself with a physically constructed body made of Rapidium and memories, skill sets, and life experiences created by a Quantum Computer. At the heart of it is ultimately a question of regret: “What if you made a different choice at important junctures in your life?” Players utilize common survival and resource management mechanics, as well as social simulation mechanics, to see an engaging story unfold before their eyes. According to critics, most of these all-important features are very good. Very few, however, mention Alex Jordan’s name.
Every Alter is the Result of One Actor
The Altershas earned rave reviews across the board, but the vast majority have overlooked one of its most impressive elements—the fact that actor Alex Jordan is not only playing the prime Jan Dolski, but also all of his clones, each with their own unique personality traits, characteristics, mannerisms, voices, and life experiences. Alex Jordan is perhaps best known for his video game roles as Rook inDragon Age: The Veilguard, Mr. Hands inCyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and as sex noises inBaldur’s Gate 3, but he’s also appeared in movies and TV such asPaddington 2, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, andThe Amazing World of Gumball.
Complete Alex Jordan Gameography
As of this writing, there are 63 reviews ofThe Altersonaggregate site Metacritic(45 PC reviews, 2 Xbox reviews, and 16 PS5 reviews). Jordan is only mentioned in 11 of the PC reviews, neither of the Xbox reviews, and only 3 of the PS5 reviews. In other words, roughly 78% of reviews do not mention his name whatsoever. ForAltersreviews that do mention Jordan, it’s mostly an acknowledgment or footnote and not a critical analysis or evaluation of his performance.
On the contrary, pretty much all reviews acknowledge theirlikes and dislikes of the Jan Dolskis, the storytelling, the emotional impact, the “what if” experiences, and the direction of the narrative, in all of which Jordan’s performance is vital. Not only does he play nearly a dozen different characters in this video game, but he has to make sure that the delivery makes them each stand out—but not too much. There have to be differences in their mannerisms and their voice, but they have to come from a realistic place based on how similar or different their path is from the main Jan. The level of nuance is incredible, and Jordan’s performance nails this at every turn.
Many reviews, put simply, fail to give flowers to the one man who made this possible acrossevery version of Jan Dolski inThe Alters, and the reviews that do so are still brief and quick to the point with their evaluations.
Why This is Important
It’s worth mentioning that this is not uncommon in the industry, as many reviews will be sharp-witted when actor performances bring down a game, but there will be crickets if performances are anywhere from good to great to game-defining. There are exceptions, of course, but these are exceptions that prove the rule.Baldur’s Gate 3is easily one of the biggest hits in the game industry in recent years, and the various companions and the actors behind them are huge factors. Something tells me if I checkBG3reviewslike I did theAltersreviews, my findings would be similar. A review of art not discussing the quality of performance suggests that performance is not important, and that treatment is a reality actors have to live with every single day.
It’s also worth mentioning that actors have to fight to exist within this industry. AI performances are becoming more commonplace, withSAG-AFTRA striking a tentative deal with game publishersjust recently following a 10-month strike to acquire some degree of protection against AI. A 10-month strike, I will add, that has impacted game development across the industry. Meanwhile, modern and evolving technologies mean they are as exposed to the public as any other actor. Actor Debra Wilson, for example, has been criticized (all in bad faith) for facial capture technology that has ensured she is FULLY characters like Cere Junda in theStar Wars Jediseries. And these are just two examples of hardships plaguing a passion for people who love this industry and sacrifice for it.
Video game development is a collaborative process, one that often fails even those directly involved. There have been manyscandals of developers going uncredited in video games; that should change. There is a serious, dehumanizing, and sometimes seemingly intentional reduction of people, literally and figuratively, in this industry; that should change. And these are the people who we treat like pixels and not like people; that should change. If this industry doesn’t treat its people like the stars they are, how can we expect anyone else to ever watch them shine?
