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Bad writing? Sure. Worst in the industry? Far from it.
And either way, they managed to tell a pretty fun and interesting story in spite of their lackluster writing skills. I could say the same thing about Stephen King (and I hear he's pretty popular, too).
And either way, they managed to tell a pretty fun and interesting story in spite of their lackluster writing skills. I could say the same thing about Stephen King (and I hear he's pretty popular, too).
As a diehard Gears fan I agree. The first two were passable but Gears 3 shit the bed in the writing department. Fun game and I still play it regularly but the writing is godawful.
Awww shit, watch out for Cliffy now. Everyone saw what he did to that paper with his toy chainsaw gun. Chuck better run. Maybe he could hide behind Max?
Yeah, not the worst. It was what it was (a bit of story that's an excuse for action). Kudos for slamming his own game too. Is recommend reading the whole thing before commenting though folks.
It is a silly claim I mean look at Blades of Time that game has some of the worst writing too. While I will agree the writing makes Gears of War very forgettable. It definitely isn't the worst this industry has seen I mean I could make a Jill sandwich with all the game discs alone with poor writing. It'd taste great.
I feel he may be referring to the amount of stereotypes with character archetypes and poor plot lines that try way too hard to get you to care about the already poorly designed characters.
I feel he may be referring to the amount of stereotypes with character archetypes and poor plot lines that try way too hard to get you to care about the already poorly designed characters.
@tristy
Oh the world would be so boring if they just did that. And c'mon, at least he picked a solid target. I'd even argue bulletstorm had more story and charm going for it than gears.
Oh the world would be so boring if they just did that. And c'mon, at least he picked a solid target. I'd even argue bulletstorm had more story and charm going for it than gears.
This is very unprofessional and reflects poorly on him, not on Epic, whatever one thinks of Gear's writing.
I agree that Gears has awful writing. Thing is, most videogames do.
In terms of narrative, most videogames play out like B-rated action movies. This is hard to avoid when the gameplay is centered around shooting people with big guns.
A smartly written videogame needs to have equally "smart" gameplay, otherwise it may come across as pastiche or parody.
In terms of narrative, most videogames play out like B-rated action movies. This is hard to avoid when the gameplay is centered around shooting people with big guns.
A smartly written videogame needs to have equally "smart" gameplay, otherwise it may come across as pastiche or parody.
Gears 3 writing was pretty bad, even compared to the first two games. But definitely not the worst in the industry. I heard the books aren't half bad.
C'mon now, at least give the Walking Dead game time to come out before we start crowning the worst game writing. Those guys are working their asses off, and its not fair that they not be given time to compete.
*ZING*
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fire up the ole PS3 and pop Vanquish in for the first time. I hear that shit is like Shakespear meets Sylvia Plath. So well written that it makes you want to stick your head in an oven.
*ZING*
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fire up the ole PS3 and pop Vanquish in for the first time. I hear that shit is like Shakespear meets Sylvia Plath. So well written that it makes you want to stick your head in an oven.
I think a bit of context would be nice. I suspect alot of people will jump on this calling him a douche and quickly logging on to amazon to write bad reviews.
His comments seemed rather honest and I appreciate that.
His comments seemed rather honest and I appreciate that.
"His pick for a good game story is Portal 2"
...My main issue with Portal 2 was the story, to me it was far too much a change in tone and humour when set to the side of Portal 1. I just found it annoying and misplaced all the time.
Then again, opinions and all that jazz.
...My main issue with Portal 2 was the story, to me it was far too much a change in tone and humour when set to the side of Portal 1. I just found it annoying and misplaced all the time.
Then again, opinions and all that jazz.
I'd tell the police to guard Chuck Beaver, because Jimmyx and Omar gonna go full gangsta rage and probably do a drive by
Really now? Worse than CheetahMen's story(which the 'writers' were somehow confident would establish the game as a permanent pop culture fixture)? Worse than the Onechanbara series'(though does intentionally cheesy trump unintentionally ridiculous)? Worse than Joust? Worse than X-Blades? Worse than Street Fighter(2010 or the fighting games)? Worse than the other GoW 3? This can keep going indefinitely.
Doubtful to the extreme in all cases.
Doubtful to the extreme in all cases.
Producer offers candid opinion of a thing during an interview. Opinion is straight forward and harsh. Producer then goes on to admit that his own thing is not a flawless diamond made of butterfly vaginas and pure unicorn scrotum fuz.
I see no problem here. This is neither unprofessional, or reeking of the snobbery like some of the industries favorite shit slingers. He was asked a question during an interview, and I applaud him for being honest, regardless of what people will say.
That said, I like Gears, Dead Space, and 90 percent of the other games out there that have plot holes, disconnected stories, and cliche characters. Because VIDEO GAMES.
I see no problem here. This is neither unprofessional, or reeking of the snobbery like some of the industries favorite shit slingers. He was asked a question during an interview, and I applaud him for being honest, regardless of what people will say.
That said, I like Gears, Dead Space, and 90 percent of the other games out there that have plot holes, disconnected stories, and cliche characters. Because VIDEO GAMES.
At least he's not touting his games as the best thing ever.
I've only played the first Gears, and while the story was pretty dumb, it was still kind of interesting just to see where it would take Marcus and the gang next.
I'm trying right now, and I seriously cannot recall the final boss sequence in Dead Space 2. I can still remember Dead Space 1's final boss; that was pretty memorable for me. Dead Space 2... can't do it.
Fun game, though.
I've only played the first Gears, and while the story was pretty dumb, it was still kind of interesting just to see where it would take Marcus and the gang next.
I'm trying right now, and I seriously cannot recall the final boss sequence in Dead Space 2. I can still remember Dead Space 1's final boss; that was pretty memorable for me. Dead Space 2... can't do it.
Fun game, though.
I think a bit of it has to do with the fact that's it very difficult to sympathize with the gears characters as anything other than tree trunk armed killing machines. You basically go from B action one liners "Eat Shit and Die!" "All aboard the Cole-train Baby!" to B drama "MARIAAAAAAAAAAA!!! /mantears". That said, I've always enjoyed the atmosphere and action of the Gears games...well at least the first two.
Since Gears basically takes place in a world made out of heavy metal album covers and doodles in Cliffy B's Trapper Keeper, that the writing makes any sense at all is something of an accomplishment. The game was never meant to take place in a believable world, but rather an awesome one.
When the death of a main character in GOW3 makes you laugh instead of make you sad you know writing is bad. It even had Madworld in the background and was still a laughable death it had issue but worst this gen im not sure
I only played the first two before I hung up my xbox coat for good, but the writing was at least better than the average Michael Bay film while relying on all the same tropes.
Not gonna disagree, Gears does have fucking awful writing. I doubt the people who buy these games buy them for the spellbinding narrative, mind.
Accomplished novelist Karen Traviss wrote the gears books and the story for Gears of War 3. Her track record speaks for itself.
@Faux Furry
I wouldn't say those have "worse" stories so much as stories in a different category of bad. Examples you listed like Street Fighter and CheetahMen had threadbare stories thrown in for no reason other than to give context to the gameplay, while Gears is intended to have a substantial narrative which, Beaver feels, fails to adhere to the rules of good storytelling.
I wouldn't say those have "worse" stories so much as stories in a different category of bad. Examples you listed like Street Fighter and CheetahMen had threadbare stories thrown in for no reason other than to give context to the gameplay, while Gears is intended to have a substantial narrative which, Beaver feels, fails to adhere to the rules of good storytelling.
I'm pretty sure Other M has the worst writing. Regardless, I don't play Gears for the story, I play it for the action. And I don't listen to devs who have nothing better to do than trash talk other devs. Make your games awesome (As the Dead Space games have been) and promote that.
I used to follow Cliffy B on twitter, and when Dead Space 2 came out he had nothing but amazing things to say about it. Call him a douche all you want, but he respects and supports the others in his industry. Wish I could say the same for visceral.
I used to follow Cliffy B on twitter, and when Dead Space 2 came out he had nothing but amazing things to say about it. Call him a douche all you want, but he respects and supports the others in his industry. Wish I could say the same for visceral.
In the first game they tried nuking the Locusts and that didn't work. In Gears 2 they try to kill an entire race of vicious aliens by...drowning them and sinking the last remaining human city? I haven't played 3 yet, but 2 ranks pretty high on the WTF were they think scale. He's right about one thing; as dumb as GoW is it doesn't matter. The games are fun.
I think they're all badly written dreck. I don't think I've ever played a game where the narrative was half as good as any mediocre work of literature I've ever read, but then what's popular isn't always what's good, Harry Potter or Twilight, for instance.
Also, with so many numbskulls out there claiming the story in a game is meaningless I imagine some of that manner of thinking permeates the creative side of the industry as well, making even the best intended role-playing games (for example) fall victim to their story taking a backseat to everything else.
Then again most companies can't even get sound balancing right, so I hardly expect much of them at this point.
Also, with so many numbskulls out there claiming the story in a game is meaningless I imagine some of that manner of thinking permeates the creative side of the industry as well, making even the best intended role-playing games (for example) fall victim to their story taking a backseat to everything else.
Then again most companies can't even get sound balancing right, so I hardly expect much of them at this point.
I don't agree. I was never a huge fan of Gears of War, but I enjoyed all 3 (Mostly, 3 was a letdown). One thing I loved about the series was the story. I actually cared about the characters. I cared about what they did, and the world around them. When something bad happened to them, I felt bad. I don't know why, since Epic wasn't really trying to make this huge heartfelt story, but for some reason I connected with it.
In both Dead Space games, I couldn't care less about the stories, although the gameplay was fantastic.
In both Dead Space games, I couldn't care less about the stories, although the gameplay was fantastic.
While I don't hate the Gears of War franchise, it wouldn't hurt Epic games to try and make the games "adult" rather than just "mature."
Gears of War has some of the worst writing in the gaming industry. It literally makes Call of Duty look like it was written by Tom Clancy. Good. I'm GLAD we have some fucking honesty in this industry. We need it.
And no, saying "look at this game with 1/10th of the development budget which was never marketed, sold like shit, and was published by some company we've never heard of" doesn't make the writing in Gears good. Let it go.
And no, saying "look at this game with 1/10th of the development budget which was never marketed, sold like shit, and was published by some company we've never heard of" doesn't make the writing in Gears good. Let it go.
Pffft....let be honest, if you really think about it excellent writting on a game like Gears would be a total waste of time and talent. The fans of that series doesn't give a monkey's uncle about all of that.
I just bought MW3 and while I enjoy playing it, the plot is basically "durr U-S-A U-S-A shoot people from other countries durr".
Videogames have a long way to go before gameplay and narrative can be successfully blended together. Until then, the narrative is simply a tool to move the character to the next scene.
The hardcore macho man strory of Gears is hilarious. The more serious it tries to be the funnier it gets.
No, overall it isn't that bad. Though, the entire ending to Gears of War 3 was indeed horrendously written.
Gears is hardly the worst in gaming, but the games certainly have an awful way of presenting any of the story.
He's clearly never played a Japanese game
Which is respectable, but I mean, literally every Japanese game makes Gears of War look like the Great fuck-off Gatsby
Which is respectable, but I mean, literally every Japanese game makes Gears of War look like the Great fuck-off Gatsby
Gears story might not be great, but I've always thought the dialogue seemed natural and enjoyable. And altought I love Dead space 2, it's story was perfect by any means.
That being said, in-game storytelling in video games is about 100x better than it was in the PS2/Xbox days. Things are improving!
That being said, in-game storytelling in video games is about 100x better than it was in the PS2/Xbox days. Things are improving!
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