Crysis 2 Writer: Halo is "Full of Bullsh*t"

[MatsVS]

"I can't believe that there are players out there who rush through Dead Space, or BioShock, without taking any time to just look around or to take in any of the story strands. Why would you pay 50 bucks for a game, then ignore 50 percent of its content? It's like, 'Hey, I'm reading this book, but it's a bit long, so I'm going to rip the last half out'."

And yet Halo had a massive amount of backstory and expanded universe stuff yet apparently that doesn't count to him.

Yeah, but that's all fluff, which while occasionally interesting, is still nonsensical in the context of the step-by-step narrative. The characters are still bullshit space marine nonsense. Honestly, that only works for Warhammer 40.000, and even they try to move away from that particular aspect of their archetypes in their Black Library novels. Without deep characters, there can be no profound emotional impact, and without that there can be no story worth shit.

 

[xavierxenon]

Sci-fi author and Crysis 2 [http://www.ea.com/games/crysis-2] writer Richard Morgan says he doesn't like Halo because it's filled with "bullshit archetypal characters" and fails to deliver any sort of meaningful, memorable story to go along with all the shooting.

I don't recall Crysis' cast being any different, but this time round it seems they'll focus on things other than making it pretty.

But really, this guy is on a roll dissing just about all the competition so when Crysis 2 fails to make any particular impact storywise I'm just going to laugh.

When are companies going to stop acting like kids an just keep their mouths shut on opinions like these? It seems the best way to sell a game now is to start slagging off just about everything that may contend with your game (I'm looking at you Bad Company 2)

 

[Matt King]

i enjoyed the halo games but the story was rubbish i mean i loved and i mean LOVED bioshock but all my friends says it was crap but can i ask how anyone likes halos story (and they actually said halo had the best story line ever :O)

 

[sueyed]

The most frustrating thing about Halo and Gears of War is that they actually do have some depth to them, it's just this depth is not shown in the games themselves, instead it is in the books and other forms of media based upon them. Anyone who thinks Gears of war is just full of macho, steroid inducing hard-asses should read 'Aspho Fields' and 'Jacinto's Remnant'.

Literary works for the purpose of creating a game's story rather than expanding on it are the fake tits of the gaming industry.

I hate fake tits.

 

[Icehearted]

I think the guy's got a point, Halo 2 had a crap story with a truncated ending. Fun as hell to play, but aside from a few moments that made me chuckle slightly, the story was pretty weak. In fact I'd say it was weak pretty much all the way through the trilogy. I can't help feeling like he's overly promoting his own work, but I know the writer's mindset, and it's easy to fall in love with your own work... a classic blunder in the biz.

Final judgment reserved for the final product.

 

[Legion]

I agree with him 100%, but that kind of comment is best left to when your new game is out already and has raving reviews about fantastic characters and story lines.

If Crysis 2 doesn't deliver on both fronts then he will become a laughing stock.

I personally don't understand this. Why does the public view of his opinion on writing depend on how good his own writing is?

I honestly don't get how this is confusing.

If he says that Halo has poor writing publicly then he is basically saying, as a game writer, that he can do better. If Crysis 2 has poor writing then he will get laughed at because he tried insulting someone else's writing.

It's like being in school and laughing at someone for getting a simple maths equation wrong, and then answering '14' to the question "What is 3x5?". It's usually not a good idea to criticise someone unless you are in the position to.

In this case the position would be a game writer with a game that has critically acclaimed writing.

The phrase "Can you do any better?" being the gist of it. If he can, then he has every right to say what he wants, but that is yet to be proven.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Crysis 2's story better be fucking fantastic.

Otherwise he will be the biggest laughing stock in gaming. Next to Ubisoft.

Yeah, you'd need to do something really bad to be worse than Ubisoft now. I'd say what was nigh-impossible, but some really weird person would probably take it as a challenge and actively set out to do worse.

 

[ddq5]

Tomorrow: "Crysis 2 Writer says Gears of War is 'majorly fucking retarded.' "

He does seem to enjoy dissing mainstream games, especially their stories. I supposes Crysis 2 will have to prove that he isn't just talking out of his ass.

I agree with him on his bashing I know of so far (Modern Warfare 2 and now Halo) however, though I do agree, I see this as being a little bit too cocky for his new product. Hopefully Crysis 2 lives up to all this talk.

Tommorow..."Crysis 2 Writer: Starcraft isn't story driven enough and Gears of War is just a bloody eyesore"

I feel a meme coming on.

"Crysis 2 Writer: Mass Effect 2: 'Sucked and should be ashamed of itself'"

 

[oliveira8]

Oh that Richard Morgan...The same ass that said that LotR could be improved by having Denethor hacking orcs like a madman.

Yes. This guy is just two steps of being Goodkind hack type. Time to ignore him.

 

[j0z]

Crysis 2 better have a story to rival that of Half-Life 2 and Bioshock, or surpasses it. Else he will be a huge laughingstock. Personally, I didn't find the storyline of Crysis to be all that great, but I have to say that I had a blast playing it, well... until the third act when the aliens showed up. Everything before the level in the spaceship was awesome.
And I agree with him on Halo's storyline, just not that interesting.

 

[dehawaiiansupaman]

I have to say I agree with him. I used to like the Halo games when I was in High school but looking back I have to say he's dead on; the games has no real value in the story or the characters. Doesn't mean its horrible just that its uninteresting.

 

[JeanLuc761]

"Crysis 2 Writer: Mass Effect 2: 'Sucked and should be ashamed of itself'"

The difference between Mass Effect and Halo/Gears of War/MW2 is that ME has really GOOD writing.

Not sure where you were going with that

 

[nightwolf667]

I like this guy, he seems to know what he's talking about (on the writing side of things) which is more than I can say for most video game writers. He's also right, but a lot of gamers are going to get very angry with him because he just chewed on one of their favorite games.

 

[Jesus Phish]

"I can't believe that there are players out there who rush through Dead Space, or BioShock, without taking any time to just look around or to take in any of the story strands. Why would you pay 50 bucks for a game, then ignore 50 percent of its content? It's like, 'Hey, I'm reading this book, but it's a bit long, so I'm going to rip the last half out'."

And yet Halo had a massive amount of backstory and expanded universe stuff yet apparently that doesn't count to him. Not that I'm saying Halo has the greatest story, but it's certainly a bit much for him to call it bullshit especially when the game he wrote for isn't out yet.

I don't spend my money on a game only to find out if I want the real story to it, I've to go shell out more cash and spend more of my time getting to it.

I'm not saying that expanded media is a bad thing, but in the case of video games, I shouldn't have to play Gears or Halo first as a primer for a novel. They could take those novels and use them to flesh out the game that I just paid a lot of money for.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I agree with him 100%, but that kind of comment is best left to when your new game is out already and has raving reviews about fantastic characters and story lines.

If Crysis 2 doesn't deliver on both fronts then he will become a laughing stock.

I personally don't understand this. Why does the public view of his opinion on writing depend on how good his own writing is?

I honestly don't get how this is confusing.

If he says that Halo has poor writing publicly then he is basically saying, as a game writer, that he can do better. If Crysis 2 has poor writing then he will get laughed at because he tried insulting someone else's writing.

It's like being in school and laughing at someone for getting a simple maths equation wrong, and then answering '14' to the question "What is 3x5?". It's usually not a good idea to criticise someone unless you are in the position to.

In this case the position would be a game writer with a game that has critically acclaimed writing.

The phrase "Can you do any better?" being the gist of it. If he can, then he has every right to say what he wants, but that is yet to be proven.

Maybe I'm just looking at this different. Let's take me for example: I'm not a published writer, and while I think I'm good, I know I need improvement. Does that make my opinion on someone else's writing less valid because my own writing isn't up to snuff?

 

[Andraste]

Crysis 2's story better be fucking fantastic.

Otherwise he will be the biggest laughing stock in gaming. Next to Ubisoft.

I'll reiterate what I said above. Why should his opinion be valid only if his own writing is good?

An interesting question. It's because of the subtext involved.

If it were me or you (assuming you aren't a game writer!) or Andy saying "these stories are for the suck!!1" it's an amateur's opinion. We don't have a true idea of what it means to write a great game, we can only subjectively say we don't like it. Valid opinions because everyone's opinion is valid, however un-/informed.

Because he's a professional in that field, we label him as informed and perhaps even expert, and assume he knows what he's doing. Taking that assumption further, if he knows what makes a good game, if he knows what he's doing, then he will natch deliver said good game. If he doesn't ... well, he looks kinda like an idiot because either: a) He doesn't actually know what he's talking about or b) He does, but chose not to do it. Either way, lulz.

At least that's my thought process. Thanks for making me go through the mental exercise of that.

 

[Space Jawa]

Isn't "All the shooting" the basic reason anyone played any of the Halo games to begin with? Seriously, no story in the world will make a game worth playing if it isn't fun or entertaining.

And honestly, to say his game is "fundamentally about firefights" right after bashing the Halo games for being the same thing is nothing other than pure hypocrisy meant to get attention. That, or he's simply jealous because Halo's sold umpteen billion copies.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

While I agree with him in regards to Halo, this guy is throwing his weight around a little more than he deserves to be. You don't see Chris Metzen going out and trash talking other people's games. So on that note, if he doesn't put his money where his mouth is and deliver a story with Crysis 2 that is positively Shakespearean, he's going to get burned.

 

[ddq5]

"Crysis 2 Writer: Mass Effect 2: 'Sucked and should be ashamed of itself'"

The difference between Mass Effect and Halo/Gears of War/MW2 is that ME has really GOOD writing.

Not sure where you were going with that

Morgan seems quite content insulting very popular games, I wouldn't be surprised if he attacked ME. Or...

"Crysis 2 Writer thinks Battlefield: Bad Company's Story is 'Pretty gay' "

 

[Joshimodo]

Am I missing the patch that gave Crysis, FarCry 2 or FarCry 1 good narrative?


I think I am...