Gears of War has always been ridiculous. It’s a game about overtly muscular walking phalli with chainsaw guns that hack up creatures resembling steroid-infused bipedal frogs. All games are a little absurd though, if you try and compare their necessary mechanics to other media.
Former comic book writer Josh Ortega clearly sees the farce in Gears, and when he was writing Gears of War 2, he had to come to grips with the way a videogame works. According to MTV, Ortega couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there were so many ammo drops just lying around, before being told it was simply a “game-ism.”
“[Epic told me] ‘Dude, it makes the game fun,'” explains Ortega. The writer actually gets to poke fun at the situation in Gears 2, when co-star Dom acknowledges the abundance of ammunition by stating that “someone really needs to do an ammo sweep.”
Amusing anecdote, but it’s also very interesting to think about. Clearly Ortega doesn’t appreciate how videogames bend the rules of logic in the name of fun, while we accept some ludicrous things without letting it dampen our investment in a game’s world. Then again, maybe Ortega’s just acting like that smart-ass kid who complains throughout Tom & Jerry that a “cat’s head can’t turn anvil shaped.”
I hate that kid so much.
