Humor in games: what happend?

[Nurb]

Has anyone actually laughed at something clever in a game the past 5-10 years? It seems like decent writing and funny dialogue has suffered worse in games than it has in movies. Games are filled with snarkiness that's supposed to pass for funny dialogue.

It seems like nothing is like the gold age of pc gaming when I spent days laughing at the original Sam and Max Hit the Road, and Grim Fandango or the original Fallout. Fallout 3 had nothing funny because nobody on the team could write, and the voice actors delivering lines from a lifeless looking 3D character makes it look like zombies trying to do stand up on open mic night. The new sam and max seasons are not as good, a lot of the jokes are forced because they don't have steve prucell writing for them this time. (and remember Lucas Arts axed the cleverness division)

what's your opinion? Has humor disappeared in sarcasm and dick 'n shit jokes?

 

[quiet_samurai]

Saints Row 2 is pretty funny in it's entirety. So is the new Ghostbuster's.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Blazblue has made me laugh a lot. For once, a fighting game as a great story.

 

[lostclause]

A nostalgia thread. Of course humour hasn't disappeared. Look at banjo kazooie, even halo had its moments (sarge's tank gift variations spring to mind).

 

[BolognaBaloney]

There's just more of an emphasis on big meaty macho men right now (Killzone, Gears, Halo, God of War), but that's just the current trend. Hopefully it will shift back to humorous and clever writing again soon.

 

[Sporadic chaos]

I found Portal to have some funny lines in it.

 

[Harold Donchee]

I thought there was some funny stuff in GTA 4. Like if you pick up your fat cousin with a bike he'll say something like "You just want me to grab on to you dont you cousin?" It got old after awhile since almost all of his funny comments were gay jokes or about titties though. A few other characters had a sense of humor too so there were a few funny times.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Disgaea.

Your concern is unwarranted.

 

[HentMas]

no

i have found the humor in placess people often overlook them

Fallout 3 is a good example, there are quite a lot of good jokes in there, among wich you can find them in what is written as your response, it´s not always "GOODY GOOD" or "JERK" there is also "why the hell would i say this??" wich makes it funny to see the reaction when you press that option.

and humor haves A LOT of different points of view, so you are not wrong, but also not right.

 

[Zildjin81]

I found Portal quite humorous.

 

[War Penguin]

I think humor is still alive in games. Just look at Portal or Psychonauts (it may be a few years old but only a few).

 

[Crapster]

Well... Thanks to studios like Telltale Games and what not, adventure games like Monkey Island are making something of a comeback. So there's still a place for humorous games!

 

[not a zaar]

Maybe you're just older now so you don't find games as funny as you used to? Those old Lucasarts games had some wit but they never made me laugh out loud.