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

[AceDiamond]

"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.

Which is exactly what they did. To be perfectly honest there is enough story in the games alone for people to understand what the heck is happening save for a couple of moments I could mention, but most people "blow right through the game" without caring, so again he can't go around calling it bullshit if it's just another one of those examples like Dead Space or Bioshock. Just because a game isn't handing you everything with flashing lights and buzzers doesn't mean it's not trying to tell you something. I do agree that Halo has more atmosphere in the games than actual story, though.

 

[MR T3D]

true story
[HEADING=1]Crysis 2 writer: Episode 3 has taken too fucking long to make, setting fanbase up for disappointment[/HEADING]

 

[JEBWrench]

It's still someone who is skilled in crafting a story, someone who is experienced in developing setting, tone, and characters. Regardless if he writes movies, TV, or books, it's still a big step up from what the gaming industry has to offer. Like I said, by hiring someone who is considered an acclaimed novelist, it at least means that there is potential for good writing and a game story (let alone FPS story) that is above the average of what we are used to seeing.

But the way you develop setting, tone, and characters (caveat: in my opinion) is different based on the medium - the methods available to a novelist are different by nature of the medium than those for a poet, a filmmaker, and a game writer. I'm not meaning to say it's impossible; certainly there have been some who've been able to spread to other media and be successful.

 

[SextusMaximus]

I call bullshit on him, for bullshitting another game. A developer can complain about a game all he wants, so long as he keeps it formal. I'm a Halo fan, and if he had merely dismissed it as a poor game, rather than full of bullshit - then this wouldn't have agitated me nearly as much as it did. Fuck him and his company, and if he has a kid I hope he dies in a fucking car fire...


...That's me being civil.

 

[chronobreak]

He says the characters are bullshit, not that the game is full of bullshit.

 

[Cuacuani]

"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' "

"Crysis 2 Writer thinks Fallout 3 was 'a bit shit, really.'"

 

[Doc Cannon]

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

Not exactly, notice how he praises Bioshock, and seems to at least reckon there's some kind of worthwhile content in Dead Space besides gameplay.

Also: I trust this guy to give Crysis 2 what the first one lacked: a cool story.

 

[MatsVS]

That's why I said two steps away. ^^He is slowing reaching there. The guy writes a article berating LotR then closes by saying:
"I don't know how people can read that stuff...but you can buy my book which is way cooler and mature, adult and all that stuff."

Even if you are joking that is a crap comment to make. And it isn't to far from "I don't write fantasy novels I write BRAIN FOOD!" Goodkind delusions.

This is, though, all the things he criticized Tolkien for in the essay, was absent from his own novel. He walked the walk, as it were, which gives a lot of leeway in my opinion. But yeah, writing a negative essay about Tolkien is a cheap way of getting some free publicity, and it's been done before by better writers than he, Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison for starters. I must still vehemently object to The Yeard comparison, though. His "thriller" novel... *shudders*

 

[GrandmaFunk]

he's trolling to bring extra attention to his game

please stop posting his retarded statements and giving his game the free publicity that this is really about.

 

[The DSM]

Ermm...

Crysis 2 story Synopsis: New York is attacked by aliens.

Perhaps he should remove his head from his own arse before complaining about unoriginality.

It has only been done by oh I dont know, 20 films...

 

[DuX1112]

Nicely put. I've always loved a good story. And I look forward to reading a book of his.

Oh, and: Crysis didn't have bad writing. It wasn't too original or God-knows-what, but at least the aliens didn't LAND this time (we dug them out), and they froze the whole island, and the levels inside the alien ship were awesome (someone had to write that too, you know), and I don't know about other people, but when I finished Crysis, it felt like finishing a rather epic SF/action movie. Well, at least to me. The setting did a lot of the mood too (just sprinting through the jungle makes up for a Predator/Tarzan/Jungle Boy backstory in itself).

And I sure hope the story in Crysis 2 will get A LOT better cause there is a lot of room for improvement.

 

[Starke]

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.

Uh... no, he already did that. It's in the same interview. Though he doesn't call it 'majorly fucking retarded'.

 

[Andy Chalk]

No matter what happens with Crysis 2, his point is perfectly valid. Will he be one of the few to break the pattern? We shall see. I hope so. I enjoyed Crysis immensely.

It's funny how people who share a passion for games, and shooters in particular, can be so far apart on this issue. Some of you, as noted, couldn't care less about the story. You just want to blow shit up. I, on the other hand, am having a terrible time forcing myself through Bioshock 2 because the story so grossly warps, ignores and bends over the original. It's killing the game for me.

I'm a big fan of Serious Sam. I'm a huge fan of Painkiller. But a great shooter paired with a solid, "real" story? That's the kind of combination that really makes an impact.

 

[CloakedOne]

he just summarized my exact feelings on pretty much everything he just said.

 

[mchoueiri]

lol. I love him.....this is exactly what i've been saying since Number 1. Let it be known i enjoy playing number 1 just not 2 or 3....Number one was good even though it had a lame story. Not Great or amazing Good....

EDIT:

"I can't believe that there are players out there who rush through Dead Space [http://deadspace.ea.com/], 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'."

So true lol.

I wouldn't say that Crysis has an amazing plot or story ether. It is just a flashy shooter that is average also many people were not able to even play Crysis because it would not run on most PCs but that is a story for another time. My main point is that no one bought halo for it's story it has a straight forward story line and thats all it was not horrible. Same goes for Crysis. Also Video games are a different experience to everyone who plays them. not everyone wants to play it the same way and thats fine. People should not look down gamers because they do not like to explore the entire game if they are allowed too.

 

[li-ion]

A professional writer from a different medium. You don't hire a plumber to repair your air conditioner.

Apples, Bananas...
Better comparison would be: you don't hire someone with a MSc. in electronics to connect your phone, but he can sure as hell do it. But try to get the guy who connects your phone to design one. A lot of video games look to me like they are written by people who don't really read books themselves, and get all their inspiration from movies instead. That's why MW2 looks like a rejected script of a Michael Bay movie.

he's trolling to bring extra attention to his game

He's complaining about one-dimensional characters in video games. Hardly something that wouldn't exist. Or do you seriously want to argue that the characters in Halo or Modern Warfare 2 are oh so well developed?

 

[[BDS]Omega]

Even if Crysis 2 has a completely cliche story that rivals the Halo series, the writer is a genius for saying this because its creating more publicity for Crysis 2. It worked since I had not heard anything about Crysis 2 until he made his remarks about Halo and Modern Warefare 2, which are justified since there really was no story for either of these games.

It seems like all the FPS games lately are about online multiplayer with a story tacked on as if the developers went "oh shit, this game ships in a month and we need a story for it". Bioshock was excellent since it actually had a pretty immersive story with a backdrop of an FPS. You can always tell the truly excellent games from the ones where the developers buy their review scores since the really good games always have a coherent narrative that drives the story instead of using the story as an afterthought. This is why Bioware is so excellent, they seem to start with a story then make a game out of it.

Props to this guy for saying what most gamers with a functioning brain have been saying about the story of those games. Of course if he doesnt deliver on his own story (he should, hes an author for gods sake) he has given us all licence to mercilessly mock him too.

 

[DuX1112]

@ Andy Chalk

Yeah, I enjoyed Crysis too.

But I too have a friend who, surprise surprise, finishes games in a single night, and hardly remembers who he fought, why he fought, and what this all meant to the story. And he routinely skips cut-scenes, no matter what. Except in the COD series, of which he's an avid fan. And then replays the campaign some 30 times skipping the cutscenes again...

Oh, bother. I never understood people's disinterest in the wholeness of whatever they were doing. I can understand having no time, but time's not the issue here. It's more like a character thing, some kind of a personal underlying anxiety that nothing is really worth their time. Sorry if someone gets offended by this observation of mine, but I'm just stating my opinion.

Heck, I even had trouble with immersion in ME2. How can't I, when the game's telling you (at one hand) that the Reapers are just behind the corner and it's only seconds before all hell beaks loose, and on the other hand, tha game tells you, "Look here, you've got 10 team mates, and they don't give a rat's ass about the Reapers and all that, now go make love to them, talk to them, go play for a whole week [in the game world] completing their missions, because you know, the Reapers can WAIT until you decide WHEN to face them." I'd say this is a case where sandbox isn't implemented very well. You just can't have impending doom and a sandbox "oh just do your thing, Evil can wait" sandboxyness. That's why I liked Half-Life 2 so much - it DRAGS you through an epic story. Meh, however, some twists saved ME2. Clever writing worked its magic, I guess, and made me oblivious to the obvious clash of story VS game mechanics.

To me, at least.

 

[puffenstuff]

I won't argue with the guy. Halo's story, especially after the first one, was full of lazy writing. Every once in a while they would try remind us that "Hey guys, remember that Halo is the spiritual successor to Marathon. Remember how awesome its storytelling was? That means Halo's story is DEEP!" What a slap in the face to those of us who enjoyed Greg Kirkpatrick's writing.

That said, Crysis's story was worse than Halo's.

Scientists: We have some evil sealed in a can. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SealedEvilInACan]
Military Comanders: [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneralRipper] Open it. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooDumbToLive]
Scientists: That is a bad idea but ok.
Aliens: Boo!
Soldiers: Oh God with the freezing and the dying. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlemqwa8sph9eh4]
Player Character: I are going in alone.
Player Character: I are Lost.
Player Character: I are found again.
Player: Well that was stupid
Soldier: GET TO THE CHOPPAH!
Military Comanders: [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneralRipper] Nuke Em from orbit... You know why [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NukeEm]
Scientists: Nukes never work if the military suggest them.
Military Comanders: [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneralRipper] Do it!!
Aliens: You have activated my trap card! [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Yu-Gi-Oh]
Soldiers: Oh God with the eviscerating and the exploding. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RunningGag]
Scientists: Nuke em with a rocket launcher... [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NukeEm]
Player:Um... doesn't that kind of contradict... [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrokenAesop]
Scientists: Do it!!
Game: A winner is you. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AWinnerIsYou]

This guy had better put up or shut up with Crysis 2.

 

[Dectilon]

I'm a big fan of Serious Sam. I'm a huge fan of Painkiller. But a great shooter paired with a solid, "real" story? That's the kind of combination that really makes an impact.

While I wasn't the biggest fan of Painkiller I can't but appreciate the final level in that game. The depiction of hell was really quite clever. That's a game that really didn't need a story other than the themes in the levels themselves.

This dude is going to catch an enormous amount of shit when it turns out he's no better at writing games than any other writer who tried to enter the industry. I'm not saying I disagree with him, I'm just saying he doesn't have the experience needed for this sort of thing (unless I'm missing something).