The "Characters being all 'buff and manly', I'd never planned on that," Cliffy B on Gears of War

The Gears of War franchise is well known for its over the top violence and masculine characters, but according to Cliffy Bleszinski, former developer of the series, this was not the original plan.

[Excalibur]

It's probably best it turned out how you didn't want it to Cliff because what you wanted sounded like every other military shooter out there now.

[nukeitall]

Actually, I found the first Gears of War to have that strong sense that CliffyB is talking about. However, the 2nd and 3rd game completely departed from that, the tone changed and colors was introduced.

Anyhow, whatever way it could have been, the way it turned out was f'in awesome!

Mass Effect and Gears of War are two of my favorite IPs last generation, and I cannot wait for another Gears of War on Xbox One!

[Baka-akaB]

What bothers me , is that he is only saying this now , and was in a position where he could have changed that . Too late and to easy now to wholly exonerate yourself from those decisions

[Gazondaily]

"Too late and to easy now to wholly exonerate yourself from those decisions"

What is there to exonerate? The protaganists being all buff and manly didn't really take away from the game. They were a reflection of the harsh world they were living in (look at Marcus Fenix's face for proof).

The whole "lol dude bro" thing is just a case of hipster gamers jumping on the hate bandwagon.

[Baka-akaB]

I didnt say it did , even if i'm not fan of the artstyle . I just find it odd he's like "i didnt want any of this" right now .

Not like there is a sin or mistake to be absolved from , and he did have a big say in game's design .

[agonism]

I owned a 360 last gen and it was my console of choice for numerous reasons, but the exaggerated and overly masculine features of the characters was one of many reasons why I never had any interest in Gears of War. I wonder if anyone capable of applying critical thought relevant to the media they consume, however enjoyable, can be categorized as a hipster?

I love fps and multiplayer modes (until they become repetitive after having lost the initial thrill) but I feel that even if nobody plays for the campaign, those that heavily incorporate aspects of social reality and the prevailing discourses into their narrative can justifiably be criticized for what they basically are, inadvertantly or not: propaganda for the US military that at times can be so effective in propping up these discourses that the development studios should be receiving government subsidies.

There are of course a few developers who have been performing minor subversions, although there's nothing really revolutionary about the video game industry given its hierarchical structure and the innate drive for profit accumulation to remain viable. But yeah, u even know any hipsters bro?

[porkChop]

What are you talking about? He's been saying this for YEARS now, but no one seemed to listen to him. The buff characters were out of his control.

[4ShotKing]

Well it suited the game IMO, can't imagine Gears of War without the overly muscle turtle men now.

[Gazondaily]

Exactly

[BattleN]

The huge characters do look ridiculous though, even today I look at them and say, why are you characters so ugly and huge lmao!

[nukeitall]

It really added to the game, so I really liked the overly big and burly men. Heck, the women looks hot too!

[Summons75]

Mhm cliff, if you didn't want that you COULD have done something about it...however you didn't because you're just trying to cover your a**.

Why is it a lot of devs are incapable of admitting when they messed up, it just makes them look bad. Being 'buff and manly' isn't so much a mistake but it looks bad the fact he is trying to blame everyone he worked with instead of saying 'yeah it was a pretty dumb choice, just like the choice to not use any color besides brown'.

[4ShotKing]

Just curious, why do people hate Cliffy B so much?

[Baka-akaB]

Has to do with giving yourself that kind of nickname , the perceived attitude and some of his interviews . Look at that single article , where he seems to shift some of the blame for the game's look , when he was quite happy with it previously

And of course some exagerate , are jealous and/or dislike his Gears of War serie . Or personally what he turned Unreal tournament into , with UT3 .

[Lukebb91]

The violence and muscle is not the issue, as good as the story is they all always miss out on the opportunity to give more depth. Apart from doms wife and his ending as well as marcus and his fathers story the game lacks a bit, which is a shame because the books and comics tell vast in depth stories.

An example people that only play the games consider the story to be COG = good guys, stranded = cowards and locust = dumb bad guys

After reading the books and comics COG = secretive, sly and shady, stranded = bitter, scared (of locust/cog) and locust wanting to adapt and take the world for their own while destroying their enemies.

How many of you know about the COG breeding farms, or doctors lying to gears saying you dont have rustlung just a virus.

[FaSCoRP]

Do not click on the "article", it only hast two tweets from CB and filler text:

The Gears of War franchise is well known for its over the top violence and masculine characters, but according to Cliffy Bleszinski, former developer of the series, this was not the original plan.

Somehow we landed on ‘Predator’… the characters being all ‘buff and manly’, I’d never planned on that.

Instead, Bleszniki intended for the titles to have more of a deep emotional tone that touched on the history of WWII.

It didn’t wind up what I’d hoped; I’d pitched it as ‘Band of Brothers with monsters’ — you know Band of Brothers is well-done and emotional, telling the story of the Greatest Generation and what they did in the war.

He expresses disappointment that Gears ended up as the action oriented game it is, pointing out the lack of depth that the series ended up having.

At the end of the day, you’re shooting fucking lizard-men in the fucking face with a fucking chainsaw gun

[hazard17remedy]

Yeah, NOW he says that. But when everyone was praising, giving him ***jobs for the great game he made it, receiving the big cash and eating classy foods in Ibiza, he said something? No, he didn't

[xx4xx]

Yup. Easy to dismiss the part of the game that gets criticized, Cliffy.

I will say that while they are over the top, at the same time, they do look good and properly proportioned on screen. The characters got knocked for their big Locust stomping boots....nut the female characters added later had such tiny feet and legs.

Regardless of what Cliffy says, still excited to see what Rod will do for the next gen Gears.

[shaft0140]

Am I one of the few who wasn't a fan of that big-buff style? Good gameplay, but the hard as nails, steroid-soldier look never was my thing.