Dead Space Story Dev: Gears Of War Has 'Literally The Worst Writing In games'

NowGamer: Chuck Beaver, story producer for the Dead Space franchise not a fan of Epic Games' space marine saga Gears of War.

[fastrez]

Oh snap.

[MAJ0R]

Oh snap indeed... but gears was never really known for it's story/writing.

[Razmossis]

Well, I wouldn't even say the gameplay anything special either. All you gotta do is hide behind cover and hold R2 until you beat the game, basically.

[sonarus]

Epic games have always focused on over the top action over story. The story and writing in gears is just as ridiculous as the Unreal Tournament series but thats their style and they have their fans. It was always laughable to me when the gears games were coming out how people would whine about spoilers like you could actually play the game for story.

That being said i do tend to like the hide behind cover and shoot gameplay especially the 3rd person view as opposed to fps view where you absorb bullets like a sponge. I think gears was the first game i played to actually do the 3rd person cover thing right.

For Gamer3000 below please don't compare gears and halo story line thats silly as there is no way they can be compared. Even if you didn't like halo story it at least had far better writing than gears

[Gazondaily]

@ Razmossis

"Well, I wouldn't even say the gameplay anything special either. All you gotta do is hide behind cover and hold R2 until you beat the game, basically."

Lol R2 yeah? Have you even got a 360?

[InTheLab]

LOL @ Septic

Ya beat me to it....

[jony_dols]

I love the series,
but I did get the feeling that Epic thought the story was better than it actually was.

It's cheesy & full of over-the-top melodrama.

[da_2pacalypse]

lol This is really stupid... It's like somebody saying "Michael Bay Movies have really bad writing"... Yeah No $hit! But nobody watches those for their writing.

Anyways, I thought Gears3 writing was pretty good compared to the other two games. But I mean, It's a AAA game, what do you expect?

[Patriots_Pride]

Well Dead Space does not offer a complex intriguing story - in fact its a very generic scifi space story seen in lots of movies.

The game it self can not hold a candle among the first 3 Resident Evil games story wise.

I love Dead Space but I hope the expand the universe more in 3 - I do not want to be stuck in a spaceship and I want to be introduced to more memorable characters. Dead Space gets an A+ in the scare department but falls short in making you connect with the characters and universe.

[WrAiTh Sp3cTr3]

What I find ironic, personally, is that Dead Space's story is more forgettable than Gears and the gameplay is even more worse and repetitive. Both franchises, imo, need tremendous work on their narratives--and even if they both mastered this, Gears would still be more interesting.

[sonarus]

WAAAAT you have got to be fukin kidding me. I personally think dead space was 1 and 2 were both fantastic games. Not ok games but fantastic. The story line wasn't necessarily original but the game was actually quite scary. I didn't play the original RE games very much i just played bits and pieces so i can't compare much but i did play resident evil 4 and 5 and 4 was amazing and 5 got by on coop fun but i can't say i was impressed by the story either. I like games like dead space and re from time to time because they are slow paced and it can be a refreshing change from other fast paced games that i play.

A story doesn't have to be complex or intriguing to be good. A lot has to do with the writing and the flow of the story. Dead space story unfolded as you played no cut scenes or non of that which i liked very much. Plus dead space was actually scary (in my opinion anyway) unlike RE. SMH @ dead space hate i love dat game

[SonyPS360]

The story/writing in gears is good.

It's not the best out there, but it fits perfectly with the style. I cared a lot about the characters in the gears series.

Dead Space games are great, but I wouldn't hold the writing of those games above gears at all.

[SephirothX21]

Health regeneration should be done away with. It is ruining fps and tps games. Although I like both franchises, in Gears and a lot of the time in Uncharted, the player is not forced to change cover but can just pop up shoot a guy, get shot, get down and recover, pop up again and rinse repeat. You could not do this in Uncharted 1 because you would run out of ammo and be forced to move or enemies would come in to blast you with a shotgun if you ran out of ammo. AI in shooters needs to be drastically improved anyway. Also, why is there no proper stealth tps game that has the stealth and boss battles of MGS along with the shooting of Uncharted?

[Dante112]

I agree, their writing was terrible, especially in GeOW3 ("Dad?..DAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!) . Surprised we have a few people here defending Epic's writing lol.

[Anon1974]

I disagree with this guy. I must be one of the few that plays Gears of War for the single player campaign but that's always what kept me hooked. Sure it's more than a little, b-movie sci-fi-ish but that's what I dig about it. Still haven't played the 3rd yet, but I will - without a doubt just because I want to see how it all wraps up.

I enjoyed the first Dead Space but I gotta say, I came pretty close to finishing Dead Space 2 before going "Meh" and just shelving it because I really found I didn't care about the characters or what was going on. Although, to be fair, I just watched the ending now on Youtube and I kinda wish I had finished it but back when I was playing it it just seemed to go on and on...

[starchild]

I love Dead Space and Dead Space 2, but the writing in those games isn't that amazing either. Gears of War is not my favorite series or anything close to it, but I enjoy them and the storytelling isn't any worse than most other action and shooter games.

Of course, this is N4G so we will obviously get hundreds of PS3 fans agreeing with this guy and bashing Gears of War. But the reality is, Gears of War has no worse of a story than games like Killzone, Resistance, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and many others. In fact, I would argue that its storytelling is better than some of those other games.

[SilentNegotiator]

Let's all be fair here.....

"Worst" is indeed ALWAYS a strong word. But we could always dig through garbage and find something smellier than a pile of poo, also. So "worst" is always a tough world to use unquantifiably.

That said, it's definitely fair to say that its writing kinda sucks. You toss the characters into any other universe without dull unwavering fanboys, and no one would defend their insane lines and rock-level of emotion. Not even the "professional writing" that came into play starting at 2.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Love the Gears games but as far as the story goes, after the first one they just threw in a few scenes of cliche tearjerker BS and tried to pass it off as "deep storytelling." It was all very, very cheap.

[Old McGroin]

@Dante112

"I agree, their writing was terrible, especially in GeOW3 ("Dad?..DAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!) . Surprised we have a few people here defending Epic's writing lol."

Haha, obviously someone who thinks "Snake? SNAAAAAAKE!!!" is great writing! Get a life troll.

[Awesome_Gamer]

i agree, that is why i prefer Uncharted

[sikbeta]

Playing Gears for the story = doing it wrong

lol

[Gamer3000]

well i didn't love the story too and the same for halo
that's my opinion
after gears 3 i sold my xbox
and never look back

[Bladesfist]

I enjoyed the story of halo 1, but that could just be nostalgia talking

[Patriots_Pride]

I never liked the Halo story either until I read the books. I was amazed on how much you can learn from the books that the game simply can not offer.

A simple thing as how Master Chief became a Spartan can leave you in WOW this game is not just about Humans vs Aliens and you appreciate playing the game after you read the books because you know what Master Chief had to sacrifice to become who he is.

The Master Chief, originally named John, was born in 2511 and first lived with his family on the human colony planet Eridanus II. Large for his six years of age, and approximately a foot above his school peers, he is described as a typical boy with brown hair, freckles and a gap between his two front teeth.[18] In 2517, John and dozens of children his age are covertly taken from their homes and replaced with clones to hide the kidnapping. The original children are brought to the planet Reach, one of the UNSC's bastions, to begin intense physical and psychological training to become "Spartan-II" supersoldiers.[18] They are assigned new identification numbers instead of last names; John becomes known as John-117. Approximately eight years later, John and the other children are biologically and cybernetically augmented and enhanced. These procedures have substantial risks;[18] only John and thirty-two other Spartans survive.[18]
After the Spartans' first successful operation, John-117 is briefed on the threat posed by the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of alien races, and witnesses the utter devastation wrought by a single ship.[18] In 2552, the Chief and Spartans return to Reach, where the UNSC High Command has developed a last-ditch plan to capture a Covenant High Prophet, who they hope could be used in order to barter a truce.[18] The Master Chief's armor is upgraded, and he first encounters the artificial intelligence (AI) Cortana during a training mission.[18] The Covenant arrives and invade, despite the best efforts of the Spartans and other UNSC forces. Aboard the spaceship Pillar of Autumn, Cortana plots a random course of escape.[20] Seemingly the last Spartan alive, the Master Chief enters cryonic sleep along with the Pillar of Autumn's crew.

[shinrock]

sure you did.

[SPAM-FRITTER-123]

gamer300 LOL, we all know you have never owned an xbox.

[Jazz4108]

@ darkride...your not the only one. I enjoy the sp geow experience very much and have played the entire series to see what happens. Their writing is not brilliant but the go for the fun factor and al2ays have. Now this deve from deadspace needs to keep his mouth shut. What's their to gain by upetting the 3 or 4 million people that by gears and enjoy it. I enoy deadspace but the writing is not why I enjoy that game either but because these devs have to go off and insult other teams I loose respect for people like that. If I recall isn't deadspace published by ea? If so that says a lot.

[Eyeco]

gears of war writing and script is absolute ass, how can anyone disagree with that,and before anyone goes on about the "deep backstory" the Serans are supposed to be a couple centuries ahead of earth humans yet they had no knowledge of the geology in their own planet ..pfft. the Game is still great tho

[mochachino]

Gears 1 set up the series for a great storyline - it had an interesting world, characters and overarching crisis with the a great mix of seriousness and silliness, but it all went down hill from there and entirely lost focus.

Gears 1 started that feeling of hopeless desperation, then Gears 2 and more so 3 just failed to impress the fact that humanity was on the brink of extinction and replaced it with bad jokes and trivial missions.

In terms of Gears 3, there was more story in the 30 second commercials than in the entire game.

It's still one of my favourite series though, it just wasted its potential - that writer should be fired.

[BlackPrince 42]

I feel like Gears would have worked better if it were mock serious.

Like when Marcus is mourning the death of (I won't spoil it just in case but you know who) it's freaken hilarious. Almost like The Room.

If the whole game had been like that, you know, an ironic satire of gruff space marine melodrama. That would have been great.

[spicelicka]

@mochachino

i agree with that. The gears universe is awesome and the premise of the story is amazing. They set it up really good, it's just the writing that's bad, specially the queen my god she has the corniest lines ever.

Even though it's an amazing amazinggg game, they pulled an extremely stupid move by hiring a random lady who had no idea about the universe. Seriously, i was so pissed at how little knowledge she had about the game. She probably had some story planning in mind for a book or something and forced it on the game.

[ritsuka666]

Haters always consistently bash Gears of wars, storyline. But it's got one of the best plots than 90% of games exclusives in PS3.Characters are all likable, it's original and it's simply a enjoyable read regarding the books, comics and or informal aticles about Gears 3.

[Crystallis]

You're kidding right. I wouldn't of said anything when you said the plot was one of the best but when you mentioned ps3 exclusives you just sound like a fanboy. The characters are dry, the voice acting is horrid and don't get me starting on the plot.

Now what Gears does great are the visuals and the online shooter aspect of the game.

[Krakn3Dfx]

You're right, the storylines in games like Heavy Rain, Infamous, Uncharted, MGS4, Heavenly Sword, and Resistance don't hold a candle to the literary masterpiece that is the equivalent of a football team fighting aliens.

[shinrock]

@Crystallis.no one wants to be a helgast,but they do want to be a COG.people don't want to be drake,but they want to be master chief. people dont want to be kratos,oh wait...... scratch that one. the only people who like ps3 exclusive characters are ps3 hardcore fans.

[Hicken]

No one wants to be a Helgast? Riiight. That lets me know exactly how little you know of what you're talking about. You probably think Rico and the ISA are the main characters, too. Your similar remark about Drake is also disregarded.

You also left out Cole and Snake, too. And I'm certain there are a few more you could think of.

Well, since you're a fanboy and a troll, maybe not.

[BlackPrince 42]

@Shinrock

What do you mean who wants to be those characters? You mean for Halloween? For real? To make believe pretend to be?

Do you mean people look forward to playing as certain characters? That might make some sense, but obviously people do like to 'be' Drake or 'be' a soldier in Killzone because those games keep selling.

But do you really look forward to playing Halo and Gears for the characters? The characters in those games are pretty one dimensional. They grunt words and shoot things. To my mind, playing those games is more about the action and set pieces, not because your invested in the characters.

[spicelicka]

stop turning this into a battle of exclusives you ignorant lowlives. Wtf does the gears story have anything to do with any ps3 exclusive? An exclusive is no different than a normal game u retard so why are you generalizing.

You disgrace me and i dont even have a ps3!

[TheTwelve]

Who plays Gears of War for the story? It's a bunch of muscle-bound brutes fighting aliens. I mean, I didn't play it in order to be impacted by deep thought and plot.

For that reason, it was kind of funny to see the writers attempt to create dramatic scenes within the game. I was like, "C'mon, that's not the main reason why folks play this game, move on to the next fight please..."

12

[GameOn]

The 2 dramatic scenes in Gears 3 were pulled of very well in my opinion. In fact i cant think of many shooters that did a much better.

[StraightPath]

he could of gave an example..the characters in Gears series were memorable and great and story was not that bad as he makes it to be...millions of people enjoyed it. Not the most amazing story but a statisfactory one it was. other games have worse stories.

[kevinsheeks]

Never played gear's but from what i hear its amazing O.o

[Jim Hawking]

I agree with the dead space guy in every way possible

[Legion]

Oh snap... someone from literally the most boring space story game I have ever seen has commented on another game that has have terrible writing!?

Maybe he should write something that doesn't consist of something everyone else has done and then come back and talk to us?

[belal]

it's true :P but thats not what makes gears of war great, it's the gameplay, cover system and boss fights. the story is quite simple: kill the enemy.

[jimmins]

Almost goes to prove it doesn't need a story - look at doom/quake. Next gears should be a tournament shooter.

[ardivt]

absolutely this.
I play most games for the gameplay and not for the story.
sad to say but of the hundreds of games I played there were maybe 20 with a touching and deep story. hell, my favourite game series like unreal/quake/c&c/ghost recon have ridiculous stories and I would not want to miss them.

[Ravenor]

@ Ardivt

GR1 didn't really have a story...

[TimmyShire]

Very good point. Why should we care *what* someone is saying if the gameplay is good?

[Gazondaily]

Precisely.

Gears of War does a lot of things right but the writing isn't one of them.

There was potential in the story but Epic squandered it away with hollow characters with cringe worthy dialogue.

Gears to me is all about the gameplay. No one can deny that it gets that right.

[_Aarix_]

I still liked the story though. The whole experience is amazing.

[Cosmo811]

The *ahem* "bit" with Dom in GoW3 was one of the most emotional parts of any video game I've played. Fuckin onions man.

[Kalowest]

I actually like the Gears of War series story, and I'm a story driven person.

[Cajun Chicken]

QFT

[TimmyShire]

Stories and writing in games is almost always awful. I can think of a few that aren't, but on the whole gaming has nowhere near the quality of films - and that's clearly what they're trying ape.

[Lilioups]

metal gear solid
Mass effect trilogy say hello

[LightofDarkness]

I know the fanboys will eat me alive, but MGS has some pretty bad writing. It's filled with Mcguffins, "Deus Ex Machina" plot-hole-be-gone explanations for things they couldn't come up with a half decent explanation for (nanomachines!), and dull, overly lengthy and self-indulgent expository dialogue and scenes. The man needs to hire editors.

[SpecialK]

Im a massive fan of MGS but trying to tie everything up with a one size fits all answer of nanomachines did make me cringe a little.

You could even tell even Hideo didnt quite understand it since it took a 30 min sequence to be explained...

[Ravenor]

Metal gear Solid 4: The Movie.

It had better have a decent story considering how much time you spent sitting there staring at a screen while the game "explains" itself...repeatedly.

[Drano]

As a hardcore walking Metal Gear Solid bible fanboy, I gotta agree with LightofDarkness: it's not good all the way. Metal Gear Solid 4 is especially good for looooong empty cutscenes but at least, even if not all the answers were satisfactory (Vamp and Naomi as a prime example), Kojima Studios still managed to wrap the series up.

Still prefer a heatlhy dose of the "expository dialogues" over a "The Island was in your heart all along" ending à la Lost.

[pandaboy]

How can you dislike the nanomachines explanation? Graphene nanomachines inside your body is literally the technology of the future. Forget that supernatural nonsense. The story as a whole may be told unconventionally, but that is what makes it so interesting and rewarding.

p.s. I remember the Gears fanboys not long ago arguing that their game told a better story than Uncharted xD

[ThatEnglishDude]

@SpecialK

Yeah Hideo did struggle with MGS4. Bare in mind, it wasn't even his intention to continue the story past MGS3. As a result, we get a game that (although brilliant in design) resorts to using a simple explanation for everything that comes off in a desperate attempt to wrap up the story. Hideo HIMSELF wants to be done with the story. Fan demand got the better of him I guess. MGS4, the character of Snake being tired and wanting to die was almost like Hideo himself saying 'Look...I want to be done with this. Let me move on' at least, that's what I got out of it.

He took a story, wrapped everything up not only with the Metal Gear SOLID storyline, but also tied it with the original Metal Gear story - which by now is a franchise that has lasted over 20 years. So yeah, of course it's going to feel half hearted. YOU try wrapping up loose ends to a story you started over 2 decades ago, desperately trying to plug every plot hole in the series up to that point, and end the storyline. He tried so hard to address any story thread he could as if to say 'Look fuckers, this happened here, this happened there, this is what happened after this...this explains that. The end, happy?"

Kojima has said in many interviews he wants to do something new. At the same time, he's his own worst enemy because it's his baby and he doesn't want to upset his fans. Metal Gear Solid is my most favorite series of all time but even I wouldn't want to see another game in the series. MG:Rising is a huge stretch and seems to be grasping at straws on the franchise. It would have been much better to have it as a new IP and not associate it with the Metal Gear name because as soon as people hear 'Metal Gear' they assume Solid Snake and the unrelenting fucks just won't stop demanding more games about him.

Again, that's just my opinion. Bring the dislikes mofo's haha. But this is about Gears of War, and yeah...the story sucks. It was fine in the original and served it's purpose but as the series went on, I can't help but feel they tried taking it too seriously and try to make us care about these one dimensional characters. It just didn't work.

[SpecialK]

He's said that a few times though hasnt he even before MGS3? Correct me if im wrong. Personally I think MGS3 was the best of the series, and both the second and original very closely followed.

I hope he does something new though. MGS4 wasnt quite as good as the rest but it was still a brilliant game, and he would be wise to leave it on a highish note before the series becomes tainted.

Unfortunately though This Metal Gear Raiden game could be the spin off to damage what is one of my favorite series =(

[LightofDarkness]

Yea, I got that impression from the game myself. I would much rather he made a new ZOE, or a new IP altogether.

[Feckles]

Agree. That bit when Dom died. LOL.

[TBM]

Agreed i was glad when he got off, i hated his character from the minute i started the first game. even though i like the gears franchise it doesn't give me that feeling of awe. the writing made me laugh with every game.

[redDevil87]

MAAAARRRRRRRRIIIAAAAAAAAAAAA!! !!!

[Ravenor]

If I hit this derelict busted car will it bring it across that I'm really torn up about Maria person better? No? I'm going to do it anyway!

[TekoIie]

I still think that some of the lines which people think are cheesy are pretty cool For example:

"I guess this is where you want me to say i always loved you. But i dont. I really really DONT"!

I dont care what anyone says i loved that scene :)

[GameOn]

That truely was terribly done but the scene where dom dies was actually done well and that pisses me off since it always gets slated.

[Spydiggity]

pot calling the kettle black.

sure, it's no mass effect, but neither is dead space.

[InTheLab]

Hell, Mass Effect is no Mass Effect. The first two games had great writing. This last one was on some soap opera bulls*** with ghost kids and one too many tearful bro conversations.

[Aloren]

Agreed. I mean, sure gears is not the best story around... but it's not like dead space is much (if any) better, both are pretty average. Actually there are far worse games than gears story wise... he's probably just bitter that dead space 2 didn't get the sales it deserved.

[TekoIie]

I would disagree with you on DS2. Its story was defo above average and i loved the ending!

But you know what gears should get credit for? Actually make a proper ending. Locust dead no exceptions THE END. They dont even leave it open for a sequel. I think there will be a prequel though since this definitely isn't the end of the franchise.

[MilkMan]

100000000000000000000000000000 0% agreed.
I've played this thing with friends a few times, my friends have played it, I don't know a million times and nobody knows anything about the events of this things.

All anybody wants to do is shoot sh!t.

Heck, we only know the name of the Boomers, cause they same there names. BOOM!

[Ravenor]

Are you all ADD cases? Maybe 12? Dropped babies? All the information in Gears 1-3 gets repeated constantly.

[TekoIie]

I lol'd XD

If you cant follow Gears simple storyline then something's wrong with you mentally.

[N4realGMRZ]

Gears dialogue was never meant to be taken seriously ......i always felt the game was similar to the Movies Tremors.....its was meant to be cheesy!

[Tainted Gene]

bubbles 4 mentioning tremors, luv those movies

[rezzah]

"Hellraiser"

May I have a bubble too?

Sure it is nice to be reminded of something nostalgic, but anyone could have mentioned a classic movie.

[Tainted Gene]

never cared for or seen "Hellraiser". Trumors to me is a cult classic, yeah its cheesey, goofy, and not really scary (anymore :) and usually ppl don't mention it. my 2 pennies

[tigertron]

Gears doesn't have the best writing, no, but it was much-much better in Gears 3 thanks to Karen Davis (or whatever her name is) writing the script. Gears 3 is by far the best in the series.

[REALgamer]

Exactly. When was the meaning of 'literally' changed to 'in my subjective opinion'?

Does Gears of War 'literally' have worse writing than the tons of shovelware games released each year? Does it 'literally' have worse writing than a middle-school kid's stick-man flash game?

Note to world: 'literally' should not be applied to opinions or ultimatums.

[adamant715]

I personally find the Gears franchise to be rather weak/generic in general.

[pucpop]

Gears of Pants. Next. I love Dead Space 2

[Lilioups]

True....
gears of wars story is one of the worst ever made this gen
wont mention the acting and the no brainers steroids marines to atract kids.

im glad this serie is over
time for epic to make serious games

[sjaakiejj]

It doesn't matter how good or bad the story of Gears of War is, because as soon as Marcus opens his mouth it's ruined for everybody anyway lol.

[MoonConquistador]

The good game play combined with rank story line is also an accusation that can be levelled at Killzone games too. At least with the 2nd one, the gameplay outshone the story line enough, much like the Gears games.

The poor gameplay/controls of the 3rd meant that now the gameplay and story were both as bad as the other.

Story was never Gears focus, so its understandable that it could be criticised. Just not sure why now though, this isnt news.

[BlackSharinganX]

you dont say?

[banner]

Not many shooters have good stories.. Its always either great gamplay or story hardly ever both...

Either way though i loved both... Maybe dead space a lil more just cause of the atmosphere..

[ddelella]

I think Dead Space was just terrible compared to Gears. Gears, Halo and COD all could make movies out the story line and be very successful in the action genres. Shame all the movie attempts have failed.

[HarvesterOSarow]

Give a few more horrible examples of good story why don't you?

Halo 1 is great, but every time I read a fanboy say, "The story in the book makes the game!" I want to punch his dumb little face. You shouldn't have to read the books to care about the story of a game, it should be WITHIN the game itself. Giving background and fleshing out characters is one thing, but none of those games you listed have decent stories.

The original Halo and MW are excellent games, but even their stories are average.

[mochachino]

I love the Gears series but Gears 3 totally botched the story imo, it became silly and shallow. I don't think professional writers are necessarily the best game story tellers.

I don't think it is the worst though, but definitely one of the biggest disappointments Gears 1 set-up a very interesting world and storyline.

[DasTier]

I think I traded in both Gears of war 3 and Dead Space 2 before I finished their campaigns. Neither were fantastic story-lines, but strangely I did finish Bulletstorm.....

O_o

Awkward...

[M1chl]

Bulletstorm story, aside from swearing, its actually pretty good...

[DasTier]

Really? The game was good and very fun, but the story? really?

[MoonConquistador]

Maybe it should be questioned why the need to combine the games with great stories with the games that provide great online multiplayer experiences.

Maybe if they sold both off as seperate, cheaper components, they would see which side of the game is actually holding up the other.

I'd buy the single player elements of Uncharted games, and leave the multiplayer, same with Dead Space, though both of these would work with online co op story play.

I think the vast majority of COD players would purchase the online rather than the single player bits.

Granted some games do it will and both sides are as good as the other (older PES games on the PS2, LBP, Skate etc)

[Tai_Kaliso]

Gears Of War as a story and game franchise is far better than Dead Space. The gameplay is fantastic and the only people that really complain about the story are people that haven't really played through the games or even understand it.

To be honest I didn't play Gears 1 or 2 online as I only bought Gears for the Story mode. Gears 3 changed all of that because they introduced Team Death Match and dedicated servers.

To each their own though, I mean its just his opinion, just like this is mine.

Cant really say monsters in space is exactly winning any prizes in the world of writing either though...lol

[ClimateKaren]

While I admit to finding it entertaining, I'm not sure what benefit it does a developer to make industry enemies by unnecessarily saying shit like that. I suppose it's good for promotion (ask EA DICE about that)to have people buzzing, but it's gotta leave a bad taste in many consumers' mouths while creating a standard that the outspoken developer may not be able to live up to. Ask EA DICE about that.

[taijutsu363]

The above comments talk about gameplay and well written stories barely go hand in hand and great 3rd person cover system... one game that comes to mind with great story, gameplay, and cover system is the Uncharted series. Not a fanboy, but you Gotta give respect where respect is due.

[baodeus]

Yeah i give you that UC story is much better than Gears (especially Gears 2 where some of the dialogues were plain stupid), but to me gears gameplay and MP are just better, and more personnel. It is probably one of the best MP out right now no less.

Any gears veteran also know that the cover system isn't just for cover; if you play it right, it actually better as an offensive maneuver than for defense.

@tigertron

I agree. Gears3 dialogue, written by a woman, at least was a big jump from Gears 2, written by a comic writer or something; It was comical at best.

But i think Gears 2 has better campaign (much more variety), although the battle with that dam mutated Berserker in Gears 3 (on insane difficulty) is probably one of the craziest, intense, nerve racking moment in gaming so far.

I put heavy emphases on story for any game except Gears series. Gears of War gameplay is just too good.

[BIGBOSS08]

gears of war was never gonna get people with the story because the characters are just shallow. you have to actually try hard to like dom or fenix. that dom/ maria cutscene from geow2 was laughable, it wasnt sad at all like they tried to make it.

[ritsuka666]

NOPE..this is the only scene.... in the only game.... that i have ever cried at...... BROTHERS TO THE END!

[Frankfurt]

The story is terrible indeed, but not the worst in gaming. There's worse. Oh, there's worse.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Its true but the game is still fun so im ok with that.

[sonarus]

precisely no game is perfect and gears of war offered one of the the first really nice coop experiences for me anyway and i really enjoyed it. When you play with a friend you tend not to give a crap about story anyway

[Kingdom Come]

And Dead Space 2 has one of the least interesting and innovative multiplayers of all time, also, the stories not particularly that interesting either, but the games enjoyable. What he's said is incredibly unprofessional...

I've been a fanatic of the Gears of War franchise since the release date of the original, it's my favourite franchise, why? The story may not be great but the characters and their interaction is great, the gameplay is fantastic and the multiplayer is the best around (IMO).

[iistuii]

Completely. Can't stop playing it, Horde is a beast, pardon the pun.

[Bimkoblerutso]

I agree about the gameplay and multiplayer in Gears, but I'm just not a big fan of the story OR characters in those games.

I'd just like to say, though, there's actually a lot more to the story of Dead Space than people give the game credit for. There's a pretty deep mythology and quite a bit of social commentary behind all the wanton gore and violence. The audio and text logs fill in a lot of that.

Though personally I kind of liked the relationship between Isaac and Ellie too, so I guess it's just a matter of taste.

[m23]

I hate developers talking crap about other developers. They should be supporting each other instead of publicly talking crap. Gears has some of the best gameplay and great multiplayer, which makes it successful.
The guy who made Fez talked pure crap about Japanese games and look how well his game did. This guy should be careful at what he says, I doubt I'll be buying Dead Space 3 anyway since I was never really a fan.
The story definitely isn't great, but this guy just seems like a loudmouth. He needs to focus on his game first before criticizing other more successful ones.

[Foxhound922]

Well if everyone agree's how terrible the story is, then why does it get a free pass in the reviewing department? Granted the game is pretty fun and so is the online but there are so many games that get docked for not having a good story and other stupid little things. Theres nothing overly special or groundbreaking about this series that sets it above other games to deserve such good reviews lol

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Ouch... talk about setting yourself up for some backlash. While this guy was busy baggin on Gears of War did he bother to comment on the piss poor final encounter of Dead Space 2? Plus, while Gears was no literary champ I can name countless games that had FAR worse single player story writing.

[Mikefizzled]

Problem is I enjoyed Gears 1 & 2 a hell of a lot more than I enjoyed Dead Space

[sandman224]

I agree, but gears 3 has a great multiplayer that makes up for a linear story.

[OmegaSaiyanX]

I can think of plenty of other games that have story lines which have been written poorly anyone remember Bullet Witch? Lol

[retro]

They put a motherfcukin' chainsaw on a motherfcukin' gun.

And YOU expect good writing? SRLY?

[Noticeably_FAT]

Wait, wait, wait...so Gears writing is terrible, yet it has an expansive library of novels, comics and books and he thinks games about stow away monsters in space is so original?

In my best Bostonian accent "Get outta here!".

[NewShadow101]

why all the gears hate... damn. its not like halo pulled off a better story, i didnt connect to anything in halo. i just shot some baddies when i moved to a new area

[Virus201]

You do that in every shooting game.

[Nunchez]

Story and Gears don't go together I actually don't even remember what happened. I just remember having a kickass time playing it.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Um... Gears of War, maybe.

Gears of War 2 and 3 had fantastic writing. An actual professional sci-fi writer did 3...and it was great! She also wrote the books.

[kungfuian]

With the exception of Uncharted, Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver, and Portal 2 (insert your favorite game I missed), story telling in games is just pitiful. IMO, with the exception of Amy Hennig and the guys at Valve, almost all game writing amounts to unimaginative stereotypical bs designed to appeal to the very lowest end of teenage sensibilities.

But you know what, No one plays these games for story, we play them in spite of the story.

Mario Galaxy has a horrible story and was a fing blast to play, and shadow of the colossus and journey have almost no dialog but great emotional stories told through experience, etc, etc

This is just a marketing tactic, "there's no such thing as bad press" and all that :-)

[SaffronCurse]

I still can't finish Gears 3, it just didn't interest me as much as the first two.

[blackburn10]

Well already knew that. The plot of Gear was basically 'We are soldiers, fight evil monsters now'. Even the scene where the guy found his wife was flat and unemotional.Only Gears fanboys pretended that the story was anything to write home about.I remember someone trying to convince me that GOeW's story was better then Uncharted's story and I thought that was so funny. I also once talked to someone telling me the moment the guy found his wife was the most emotional scene he has even seen in a game and thought he was joking and was waiting for the punchline and realized he was serious. I realize that the people who claim things like these have great 'stories' must of never picked up a book in their lives. Notice you never see Gears winning any awards or getting any accolades for story writing.

[cr33ping_death]

Gears is an amazing game, but yeah writing needs work

[gamer7804]

Well if it isn't the pot calling the kettle black.

[Cosmo811]

Absolutely ridiculous statement, total hyperbole. Literally THE worst? Sorry sir but you're clearly high. If he's telling me it has a worse storyline than, say, Duke Nukem Forever, then he needs to get the fuck out of the industry.

[TGF_Zero]

this guys a dutch bag

[256bit]

gow is literally like michael bay. even cliff for some reason compared himself to bay and bruckheimer.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

THere are way worse stories than GEars of war.

[kewlkat007]

There is 3rd-person and story telling\choose your fate games like Mass Effect, then there is Gears Of War......

Regardless of the story, most still enjoyed the game...

[spicelicka]

BTW bashing the writing is acceptable but gears has an awesome "story" so there's no need to bash the story.

[360ICE]

FINALLY! Sure, it doesn't have the worst story out there, but the story is awful and the fact that they spend so much time on the story in terms of cut-scenes in the game and hype before the game just makes the story annoying. The story in Tetris is more satisfying because it dosen't get in the way of the actual gameplay.

Great game, mind.

[BossPerson]

The writing was so goddamn cheesy, it was unbearable

[iNMyFiN4LH0uR]

its not about epic focusing on the gameplay rather than the story thus the poor writing. I'm started playing Gears 3 last month and just couldn't keep going because the plot was so stupid and boring that I did't really care to continue. Especially when I had just gotten Deus Ex along with Gears. Games have become more than just gameplay, they are an interactive medium that transcend films and should accordingly have plots that match movies today.

[Karum]

Meh the story isn't amazing at all but I always found it fun enough to compliment the gameplay very well. Though yeah the stories in the game isn't going to be winning any awards.

Gears games are fun, that's really all I care about with a game. Do I have fun? If the answer is yes then money well spent.

[Yodagamer]

Who plays gears of war for the story, I play it for the humor and gameplay.

[ShinraE5]

Was the writing in the gears games amazing? Not at all. The worst writing in games, in general? Nope. Most of the TPS/FPS space is filled with weak stories and worlds. You play gears for the amazing gameplay. Nothing more, nothing less.

And its really classy to trash other developers...

[GraveLord]

Ouch. Them some fighting words!

[YodaCracker]

He must be angry that Gears of War is a higher rated and better selling franchise than Dead Space will ever be.

[Eiffel]

True that.

Nuff said.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Old McGroin]

Yeah, that's why I bought all the Gears games, the Oscar nominated story. Nothing to do with the visceral, intense fire fights the series is known for. I challenge anyone to both name a potentially Oscar Nominated story for a game which is married to an enjoyable gameplay experience.

The usual comparison is Uncharted. I agree with anyone who says it's a great game but the story is a Frankenstein's monster of Indian Jones, Romancing The Stone & Tomb Raider and if anyone says they are great stories they do not know what a great story is.

At the end of the day a great game does not need a great story, it never has and it never will. It's down to gameplay. You don't hear movies judged on gameplay mechanics so it should not be judged vice versa, obviously a good story helps to enhance a game but gameplay should judge how good a game is, it's bloody obvious.

Stupid flame-baiting article.

[blackhammer]

Maria?

[stragomccloud]

I don't think anyone has ever even tried to defend the story. I don't think people are playing that game for that reason. Fun game by the way.

[HacSawJimThugin]

The characters in Gears are more memorable than anyone from Dead Space, I can't relieve the nerve of this guy. Dead Space offers a great experience but the COG are the rock stars of shooters very entertaining and cool to control.

[TheMutator]

agree!!!

[DeadSpaced]

Do people play Gears of War for the story? No. Is the story is dead space stronger? I'd say yes. Now, to clear things up. Gears of War has a decent story. Not good, not bad. It most definitely is not the worst.

[InTheZoneAC]

if you own a 360 and don't play halo/gears of war the most, why do you even own a 360 then? I'm not saying either series is great, but what is the reasoning behind owning a 360?

you guys without a ps3 have no idea what exclusives you're missing out on. And for those who haven't tried most and are quick to have an opinion on them don't waste your breath.

And you're missing out on PSN+

just saying...

[Old McGroin]

I have both but I think i speak for all normal people when I say grow up and get a life troll fool.

[InTheZoneAC]

it was an honest question. But because you simply bashed without answering, you would be the troll...

[Old McGroin]

@InTheZoneAC
Nope,your "honest" question is actually a deliberate provocation of xbox 360 exclusive gamers and serves no other purpose than to incite trouble,so in actual fact your "honest" question is the very definition of trolling. Get back in your cave.

[Ravenous_Syn]

I smell a flame war on the horizon.

[CYBERHATER]

Sounds like someone is hating lol!!

[DeadSpaced]

Seriously though, this is some very bad press for Dead Space 3. For being a huge fanboy, even I'm kind of ashamed for what he did.

[Rivitur]

All I got to say is SHIT YEAH!!!

[HeartDisease]

i enjoyed gears 1 and 2. thought the story was the best part, as i enjoy most things sci-fi. the overly dramatized parts were lame. roided out space marines whining about their girl friends is pretty lame though (mariiiiiaaaaa). im not a big fan of regenerating health and whack a mole gameplay but it was still fun on co-op. did not play gears 3. i do not own an xbox and my friend does not have his anymore.

i liked dead space as well, but not enough to warrant the purchase of the 2nd one. other games that interested me more out at the time sucking up my time and money. at least the game play did not consist of hiding behind walls and the scarcity of ammo made for some thrilling moments.

we can argue good gameplay and good stories all damn day and we will both be right as we have our own opinions. some of my favorite stories you all probably hate, and that is fine. we do not have to like the same things. variety is the spice of life. on second though forget that, your opinion is wrong and you all suck.

[Gigglefist]

I won't lie, the story is pretty poorly written. They tried to make Gears 3 so dramatic, when the entire series revolves around funny carnage. They added Dom's wife to add drama, but it was so out of place.

It's still fun as Hell to play, though. Good stories are nice, but if a game has excellent gameplay, the story doesn't matter quite as much. Just look at Borderlands!

[devilhunterx]

Glitches of War had a story?

[Sizzon]

Who cares about that in a Gears game? The series is amazing and worthy triple AAA that every gamer should experience. The online and the gameplay is so awesome, fluid, intense and smooth. Then 4 player online coop! it has a lot of content. I love the Gears franchise.