Do games, NEED story?

[RJ 17]

I think the most obvious answer to the question at hand is "Depends on the genre".

Indeed, sports games don't need a story. Racing games don't need a story (maybe a little background bio for each racer to justify their vehicle/racing style). RPG's obviously need a story because that's really all they are: a story you play through.

Shooters and Puzzles are really the only genres that I can see a grey area in. I mean it really doesn't matter WHY you're mowing down endless hordes of (fill in the blank), because you're going to be shooting them regardless. However personally, I do like having a bit of motivation. I like to know WHY I'm shooting these guys. Puzzle games are the same way. The biggest example I can think of is the Portal series. Portal 1 had a very faint story. All you know is that you woke up in a lab and you're being guided through a mouse maze of deadly traps. You get the sense that the computerized voice accompanying you is actively trying to get you killed, but it literally isn't the very end of the game that you get the story: AI went mad and filled the lab with nerve gas, that's why the place is "abandoned". But the game isn't about that, it's about the puzzles: literally moving from one room to the next just trying to figure out how you get to the next.

Portal 2, on the other hand, injected a lot more story into the game. Personally I enjoyed it, but I love a good story in a game. I can see how others didn't like it, though. It was a big shift from the simplicity of "Here's some puzzles: do'em while we have a dark-humor spewing AI talking to you" to all of a sudden learning the history of the characters and of the science facility. That said, however, the game that people fell in love with (Portal) was pretty much just 20 different puzzles with a puzzle-based boss fight at the end, showing that the story itself wasn't what made the game so popular.

So yeah, like I said: depends on the genre of the game.

 

[madkill]

Y'all forgetting about Unholy Wars, that had a story that I always skipped because I made up my own storyline between the factions.


My point being, you can just create decent and interesting characters and throw them in a universe with some minor context and any player with a willing imagination will turn it into whatever they want.

I'm expecting an 'artsy game' to appear base on my point now, that'd be neat!

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

no; the earliest games had NO narrative so there's no reason that ANY game actually needs a story.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I think games like CoD would be VASTLY improved if they just cut out the SP part of the game because they obviously spent little to no time on making it even half-assed.

I disagree. At least partially. I just played Call of Duty: Black Ops for the first time this morning and finished it in one sitting (The only other CoD game that I've played prior to this was World at War) and I found the story both interesting and engaging. To the point where I was annoyed that they were throwing so many guys at me to shoot because I just wanted the plot to advance already!

I wasn't planning on getting a Call of Duty game, but after Black Ops, I'll definitely be picking up BO2.

Edit: Well...I won't say that Black Op's story was something really special, because it was kind of cliche. I mean, I accurately predicted the twist concerning Reznov early in the game (Basically the first or second time that he showed up in Vietnam), but the presentation was still good. It was different enough to distinguish itself, and I think it should win some points for that.

 

[piinyouri]

I think games like CoD would be VASTLY improved if they just cut out the SP part of the game because they obviously spent little to no time on making it even half-assed.

I disagree. At least partially. I just played Call of Duty: Black Ops for the first time this morning and finished it in one sitting (The only other CoD game that I've played prior to this was World at War) and I found the story both interesting and engaging. To the point where I was annoyed that they were throwing so many guys at me to shoot because I just wanted the plot to advance already!

I agree as well. Granted I have not actually purchased any of the Call of Duty games, but, I had an encounter with the first Modern Warfare(I believe it was that one)

A copy had found itself left at my house, so because I'll try anything once, I popped it in.

It was surprisingly good. I was entertained. Hell I was enthralled, and by the time the nuke level came around(Which was totally unknown to me, not having internet back then) I was seriously into it.

Only gripe was it was too short.

 

[exessmirror]

if i have to pay more than 20 bucks on the game at the release yes

 

[Byere]

Tetris is the best game ever. Tetris has no story.

Basic casual games, like Tetris and Peggle, have no need of a story. HOWEVER, if you try to name any other game, there is always a story no matter how minute it may be. If it didn't have a story, every game would just be too basic to have any difference in them. Whether you have cut-scenes, text or any other kind of narrative or not doesn't matter. Without some kind of story backing there is no such thing as video games.

Take Doom for example. The original, I mean. No cut-scenes, a little text between each level being the only form of narrative you have. You get straight into the game. However, if you didn't have any story behind it, you would just be a stick man running around shooting pellets at blobs. Without the story to say you're a marine on Mars during an outbreak of Hell's minions, the game wouldn't be anywhere near as unique (at the time) as it was.

Without a story behind each game for it to be based around, every single game would be nothing more than Pong, Tetris or the like. It would be boring and there wouldn't be an industry for you to ask a question such as this...

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Not all games, only where it's appropriate.

I mean, puzzle games don't really need a story, right?

 

[Ryan Hughes]

I think it would be interesting to see a game where there is no spoken or written dialogue, and something of a minimalist story, where the "story" would be portrayed much like a ballet, through the actions of the characters.

That said, you can certainly kill a game with bad story, and many puzzle games have no story at all. On the other hand, great stories and characters can make even mediocre games truly great and meaningful experiences. In the end, it is up to the artist's intent, I guess.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Of course not.

I always focus a hell of a lot more on gameplay.

Most of the games I play, don't either have a story or I barely play attention to it.

You can think of it this way too; none of traditional sports have a story. It's all about playing and competing. Whether just for fun or competitively, or a mix of the two, as it usually is.

 

[IndianaJonny]

So let me give you a couple of questions, would you be ok with a devloper saying "I'm going to make a game with no story because I want to focus on the gameplay?" Would you play said game? What would you look for in said game?

Just food for thought really.

Hmm, if they're smart the 'gameplay' becomes the story: