Space Marine "Rips Off" Gears of War

[TNYSLMN]

I've played a lil gears of war for the pc...and I demoed the space marines game..
If its a rip off, they didn't rip much, Unless you think of it as a mini low budget version o.1
The only obvious rip is there space suits,witch clearly came from the tin man from the original wizard of oz...lol

 

[lordlillen]

what is so gears about space marine? its a hack'n'slash with guns while gears is a coverbased shooter.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Your damn right Warhammer came first and showed people how to make giant towering men with giant guns kick ass.

Space Marines, as a concept from Games Workshop did indeed come first. What people making this very argument tend to forget is that Gears of War gave us "Giant towering men with giant guns" in the form of a video game far, far sooner.

Sure, space marines had been in video games before. You could command them in games by Relic and still others (that were more faithful) long ago. And at least once (that I can recall) you even got to shoot at them as some Tau peon last generation. But, before now (at least to my knowledge), you have not gotten to play as a Space Marine in an action game.

Thus, while the concept might have been stolen by Gears, accusations of stealing basic gameplay mechanics are perfectly valid. If you overlook the simple fact that Space Marine trades the cover mechanic for something (at least on the surface), you'll find (at least I did) that the game feels remarkably similar.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I am actually more of the impression that the space marines were inspired by the Dune series, and the emperors elite troops. Starship Troopers always struck me as more of the imperial guard. Ofc there may have been more inspirations than that.

The average "trooper" in Starship Troopers was in a mobile suit that was heavily armored enough to shrug off all but dedicated anti-armor weapons, absurdly mobile (they could perform what could effectively be called flight if memory serves) and had enough firepower that a single soldier could level a city with ease.

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

Warhammer 40k came before:

Halo
Gears of War
Starcraft



Keep inserting topics where Men in Power Armor fight Aliens in Space

1987 - X

Also...I dont play Warhammer but Ive read around on the http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warhammer_40k_Wiki
and its pretty badass and Im glad Space Marine came out...since Im not good at RTS games

 

[Axolotl]

Thus, while the concept might have been stolen by Gears, accusations of stealing basic gameplay mechanics are perfectly valid. If you overlook the simple fact that Space Marine trades the cover mechanic for something (at least on the surface), you'll find (at least I did) that the game feels remarkably similar.

What gameplay mechanics did Gears of War have apart from the cover system? Seriously I don't see what else you could steal from it.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Thus, while the concept might have been stolen by Gears, accusations of stealing basic gameplay mechanics are perfectly valid. If you overlook the simple fact that Space Marine trades the cover mechanic for something (at least on the surface), you'll find (at least I did) that the game feels remarkably similar.

What gameplay mechanics did Gears of War have apart from the cover system? Seriously I don't see what else you could steal from it.

All of the parts of the game that feel eerily similar to Gears of War (i.e. moving, shooting etc). While the aesthetic considerations can be easily excused (and I'm perfectly willing to overlook the mechanical ones), the comparison to Gears isn't made on looks alone but rather because the games feel so similar - a direct result of more or less making the same game except without the cover system. I'd compare it to the similarities between Oblivion and Fallout 3 - there are plenty of mechanical differences but when you play Fallout 3 you can't escape the feeling that you're just playing Oblivion with guns.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I am actually more of the impression that the space marines were inspired by the Dune series, and the emperors elite troops. Starship Troopers always struck me as more of the imperial guard. Ofc there may have been more inspirations than that.

The average "trooper" in Starship Troopers was in a mobile suit that was heavily armored enough to shrug off all but dedicated anti-armor weapons, absurdly mobile (they could perform what could effectively be called flight if memory serves) and had enough firepower that a single soldier could level a city with ease.

I havn't read the "Starship Troopers", so its only said as an impression of the film. If what you say is true, then the movie isn't representing them correctly.
I still argue that the Sardaukar are at the core of the Space Marine idea.

They are more or less the best of a survival of the fittest style prison planet, made super soldiers. Their psyche is very similar to that of the Space Marine in the sense that words like pity and mercy are dirty words, as well being undeterred in any kind of combat against any odds. Not to mention an undying loyalty to their house. Now they dont have the power armor setup because the dune series is heavily inspired by the Arabian culture, but they also have the same rank in society as a noble even thou being soldiers. Something else they share with the idea of space marines.

The movie and the film are only loosely related to be honest. The only things in common are the fascist government and the basic plot of a war against the bugs. The book, which included all of the various details of power armor and whatnot was written nearly a decade before Dune incidentally.

And, while people can argue indefinitely about who came up with the Space Marine element a and where element b came from, I think that the reality is simply the unified idea of the Space Marine is probably most easily attributed to Warhammer. Sure power armor wasn't new (Iron Man was a popular character for decades when space marines were invented) and the idea of a zealously religious, dogmatic order of badass soldiers wasn't new (just historical context alone gives you countless examples), nor was the idea of genetically modified and cybernetically enhanced men. But while all of these things came from somewhere else, I think you'll be hard pressed to find an example of all of them together in one place before 40k.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Well true, thats why I said inspired.

I mean things like genetics were only understood on a basic lvl when Dune was written so, when Space Marines gets made there are better understandings of science in order to make more relevant science fiction. It is original. I am not arguing anything else. Just people kept pulling out the Starship Troopers as an inspiration because they got power armor where I on the other hand think that the key to the Space Marine idea is the mindset.

I think the reason the armor gets brought up so regularly is simply because that is what is most universal about the whole Space Marine thing. That the men inside that armor are superhuman in every sense of the word doesn't even enter into it. If you put a regular man inside a suit that magnified their strength such that they could tear through steel like paper and shrug off rounds meant to kill tanks he would be superhuman enough. When you look at a picture of a space marine knowing nothing else, all you see is a dude in a really big suit of armor.

 

[repeating integers]

Well true, thats why I said inspired.

I mean things like genetics were only understood on a basic lvl when Dune was written so, when Space Marines gets made there are better understandings of science in order to make more relevant science fiction. It is original. I am not arguing anything else. Just people kept pulling out the Starship Troopers as an inspiration because they got power armor where I on the other hand think that the key to the Space Marine idea is the mindset.

I think the reason the armor gets brought up so regularly is simply because that is what is most universal about the whole Space Marine thing. That the men inside that armor are superhuman in every sense of the word doesn't even enter into it. If you put a regular man inside a suit that magnified their strength such that they could tear through steel like paper and shrug off rounds meant to kill tanks he would be superhuman enough. When you look at a picture of a space marine knowing nothing else, all you see is a dude in a really big suit of armor.

The thing is thou if you only look at the armor the Space Marines become very generic very fast. That is why I want to stress what makes the Space Marine special is the psyche + setting.
Thou I think its a pity people will only notice the power armor when there are so many telling details. Always set in poses moving forward showing aggression and resolve (see moviebobs video on sexism). The armors and weapons are always decorated show that this is as much an functional item as it is an ritualistic item. If the char is important he wont be wearing a helmet even thou it should be a better idea to do so. The reason being to show the resolve even further.

There are so many telling details and yet its always the power armor people fall back on.

Yes, because people are determined to find evidence for what they believe, no matter what. I believe that's called Confirmative Bias.