http://games.ign.com/articles/122/1223471p1.html

How do you feel about that?

Considering what just happened with Mass Effect 3 I dont think anyone from EA (or Bioware for that matter) is in a position to insult other people's writing.

Gears in itself doesn't really have a serious bone in its body. It still has a storyline though. If you can get past the 5000 pound space marine chainsaw bayonet soldiers who swallow rocks when they talk, it's pretty serious. Gears 1 really had me on edge, especially with the Kryll at night. THey still freak me out just flying in the sky. Gears 2 and 3 were both pretty emotional IMO with Dom. The ending to it all seemed fairly Deus Ex Machina but oh well.

So, all in all, I'd say it doesn't have the worst writing. That honor goes to Skyrim. I don't say this because it's writing is bad, there's just so much lack thereof, which in any case would qualify as "bad writing."

Gears of war symbolises everything I hate about modern gaming.

Bad writing is part of the video game medium.*


* I know, there are exceptions. But if you want a good story, you better go read a book or watch a movie.

Games can convey great stories. Movies and books are just as susceptible(sp?) to horrid writing as games are. Ultimately, the best stories are usually people who want to convey their story and ideas and share it with the world, and the people who get X millions of dollars and are expected to make the money back usually don't have good stories. Sadly, games are falling in that trap too. M.Bay style games are popular, despite being shallow and quite bad. However, they may set a graphical or gameplay standard that indie devs have a hard time matching. Books are probably the hardest medium, since most people's cranial graphics card is shot.(drugs, lack of a proper education and or are part of the ADD generation.

Sure they can, but you can watch an average movie in about 2 hours and read a book in, let's say 5-6 hours. With video games the investment is vastly superior, and if you start a game hoping for a good story only to realise 15 hours + into it how lame it is, then you can be really disappointed, much more than you would be after watching a movie with a weak plot. Which is why, imo, stories rarely are the main selling point of video games.
Also because it is an interactive form of entertainment I would argue that good stories adapted to this medium are much more difficult to achieve (you have less control on the pacing of the story, for instance) and since (in my opinion) the best storytellers are not in that field of the entertainment industry you end up with many mediocre stories.

Not every game needs a great story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is08Fon2Qsw&context=C4e3c31bADvjVQa1PpcFOzqO2i3L4K1HkpP12EpDYkI1ddw4_M1fg=

EA says this?

HAH!

I agree.

The story is definately not Gears of War's strongest point, but I was having a blast with my friend playing through the campaign of all the games and going trough all the strange and creepy places Marcus and his team stumbled into.

I didin't know Gears Of War had writing, that's news to me.

EA shouldn't talk either, Mass Effect 3 is basically Gears of War with Story or should I say horrible story with an even worse ending. You want good writing, Witcher 2 has that in spades.

Gears of War had its moments, and because I did play the ever living [censored] out of it, I did begin to feel for the characters involved. Dom mercy killing his wife in GoW2 was huge dealio. Worst writing? Not by far. It's only bad if people take what bashers have to say. Certainly not the best, but it was able to convey emotion when necessary, which is all it really needed to do, other than some nice gore fest killing.

Either you only plays games like Torment, or you're blowing air out of your ass. If you're expecting some extremely deep writing, you should really consider reading the books in TES, and realize the game is an open world RPG, not some giant political and character driven single players RPG. Even still, there are VASTLY worse games, in terms of writing and narrative.

The writing is a bit cheese-ball in places, but I never found it offensive. The Gears of War books though actually have some pretty good writing compared to other video game books.

EA DICE has the title for the worst stories.. for all of their games with em

Especially in the last 3 BFs.

But either never played GoW so can't tell you on that front. But it cannot be worse then DICE's Bad Company crew as well as Battlefield 3 campaigns.

COD is also failing in the story department as well since COD4 which was honestly the last decent SP campaign they have had.

Of course all these titles have one thing similar they are all shooters. And unlike the rare ones like Duex ex; shooters especially ones that are focused on MP as much if not more fail in the terms of story. I am fine with because no matter what campaign it has it only lasts 6 hours MP is where the longevity of that certain game is. Having backstories per map like the older Battlefields games had were nice but you do not need more then that if its MP shooter.


Is it the worst? no but Skyrim has no conclusion more so then Oblivion did or previous titles. Kill big bad dragon yet smaller big bad dragons keep appearing forever while in Oblivion you shut the gates of Oblivion then send Big Bad Stompy DEVIL MAN!! back to Oblivion and your actions have made an affect on the world a Statue in your honor as well Tiber Septim resting place in the Imperial city. Lacks in other areas as well. Yes it's not a linear game but do praise it as if it could not better BGS lacked in that aspect of story replaced with "dynamic" quests.

With Mass Effect 3's ending Ea has no right to say things.

Pretty much. GOW might not have the best story (nor does it claim to), but with DA2's fiasco of a story and ME3's fiasco of an ending, this statement just smacks of EA trying to save face. And failing miserably.

Very good post, this is pretty much how I feel about the game aswell.

I've played the [censored] out of it myself, single player, multiplayer, co-op campaign tousands of times through the games with friends etc. The characters grow on you, and the characters and the story is actually deeper than what most people think, you just have to look up the story and learn about it. It's far from as simple as some people put it.

Lol trolls, after what they did to the ME3 ending? To the entire series? They need to go back to university and take some writing courses again. Their ego has inflated their heads too much.

Most games when you boil it down becomes "kill the big bad and save the world." Does it fall on parts? Definitely. Worst? You have got to be [censored] kidding me. Obvious Skyrim bashing is obvious.

And as I said, there is a much more when you read the books, instead of just paying attention to only the dialog and looking at Skyrim as though it was the worst thing in the world.

Along with obvious other-bashing. Yes, some of the games mentioned have some weak points. But singling them out as "so-and-so has no room to talk, after travesty ______" is about as silly as EA winning that "worst company" contest. There's far worse out there, but the "popular" targets get singled out because they're known.

EA didn't say this. Chuck Beaver, the story producer for Dead Space, said it. The comment wasn't endorsed by EA, nor did Mr. Beaver have anything at all to do with Mass Effect 3.

Please actually read the article before posting before turning this into an anti-EA flame thread.

If he's talking about the first game, then yes, it had terrible writing. It got much better in Gears of War 2 though. Gears of War 3 really caught my attention though, since Karen Traviss was lead writer. Her books based on the series were really good.

Top comment on the article got it right.

Since it comes from a Dead Space writer, I can say that he knows what he is talking about.

EDIT: Ahh, story producer. Oh well, still an important guy.

GoW had the best story ever. Why? Because you're a soldier and told to blow [censored] up. They don't try to force stupidly detailed and irrelevant plot down your throat.

That was hilarious.