The Boss Deserved Better

[chinangel]

Fanboys. People will go on and on about how 'great' Halo is as a shooter but Yahtzee nailed it: it's mediocre. Generic, run-of-the mill. I still have no idea how it got so popular: it' sjust your generic 'humans-shoot-aliens' scenario. The story is dry, the characters are cut-outs, and master chief is so monodimensional that he's practically invisible.

 

[camokkid]

I find it more surprising that Commander Sheperd/Shepard was behind Ethan Mars.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Even reading the post above mentioning MGS I still don't know who the boss is. Presuming the MGS comment is correct maybe because Metal Gear is a ridiculous, convoluted mess?

From what I understand, MGS3 (the game where The Boss shows up) was far less of a ridiculous convoluted mess than the other installments.

 

[ShakesZX]

This month's Game Informer listed the '30 Characters' that Defined a Decade', with of course GLaDOS as number 1. That's fine, but here's the thorn in my side: Master Chief was 4, while the Boss was 19.

*Makes sure capslock is off* How does a personality-less, barebones backstory space marine rank out higher than one of the most tragic figures in one of gaming's greatest franchises? Speaking of tragic, he outplaced the Wanderer from Shadow of the Collosus, one of the front-runners in the games are art catagory.

Someone please explain this to me, because I'd LOVE to hear it

I think because the title is "30 Characters who DEFINED the DECADE" not "30 Characters with the best story" or "30 Most fleshed out and realistic characters" etc., etc. ...

It's not about favorites or how many copies a character sold, it's about how recognizable and influential they think the characters are. Honestly, I'd kinda forgotten who The Boss was until i read this thread. Also, printing a numerical list like that is just asking for these kinds of flame-war-starting threads to pop up all over.

 

[Korten12]

Obviously the poll was written by fools.
master cheif DOES make sense, in that he was the most popular faceless hero of the decade, he made the faceless space marine idea popular, for better and for worse.

the bigger WTF is glados being 'number 1'
riddle me this, what AAA games this decade were influenced by this 'character'?
hell, would you kindly throw down the link to it?

Technicaly he isn't faceless.

 

[Ken Sapp]

The reason is in the title of the story. Personally I have no idea who the Boss is since MGS games are not my cup of tea and I came into this thread expecting something about Springsteen. Looking at the list I wonder why some of those characters are even on it as I would assume that anyone who could be described as defining a decade would be known by the general gaming public and not just the people who had actually played the games.

 

[seekeroftruth86]

I can understand your confusion. Why would GLaDOS, who is an incredibly interesting, funny, and somewhat well-fleshed out character, get the most iconic position, and still have a relatively flat, dull, stoic character like MC, be ranked higher than a comparatively more interesting and developed character like the Boss?

I don't really see what they're using as criteria. Really, if FPS and space marines defined the decade, then MC should be first, or at least Snake, or Fenix, or (insert manly soldier-type here). GLaDOS and Portal haven't defined the decade. If that were true, First person puzzlers with witty writing and ingenious desing would be the hottest games on the market; and my video game collection would be much larger...

That being said, MC really is more identifiable than the Boss, and I think your criticism, while valid, may be a little off what the pollsters intended. I agree though, I liked MGS much better than Halo. It was better written and more interesting than running around to point A to point B to do the same thing all over again. I tire of space marines really.

 

[teutonicman]

How on earth did Bonnie MacFarlane get on that list? Is the bar for this list really that low? I think a decade is too large of a time for a majority of the characters to define.

 

[Auron555]

It's a list of characters that defined a decade. If Master Chief and The Boss were in a lineup, the majority of people--not just gamers--would probably recognize Chief over Boss. It's all about image when talking about who defined a decade--see Extra Credits on Approachability. That's why Mario is such a beloved character: he's recognizable. Ignore anything that makes a good literary character, such as motivation, inner conflicts, flaws, etc. Mario must save Princess. Mario saves Princess. Profit. Master Chief must kill aliens. Master Chief kills aliens. Profit.
You're right. The Boss is a deeper character. But that green helmet is recognizable; it's just about the golden arches of the gaming world.

 

[ThePizzaGuy556]

I will never understand what is so great about portal and SoC they were good, but not close to great.

 

[Cowabungaa]

The amount of people not getting the point of this list is...astounding.

Seriously people, can't you read?! It's not about how good those characters are, how emotionally deep and well-written they are, it's about whether they DEFINED. A. DECADE. That's a huge difference right there.

Fanboys. People will go on and on about how 'great' Halo is as a shooter but Yahtzee nailed it: it's mediocre. Generic, run-of-the mill. I still have no idea how it got so popular: it' sjust your generic 'humans-shoot-aliens' scenario. The story is dry, the characters are cut-outs, and master chief is so monodimensional that he's practically invisible.

*deep sigh* Halo really suffers from the Seinfield is Unfunny Disease. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny]

Also, it's "realistic" shooters set in the present that are overdone. Halo has a lot more in common with Doom-like games, and you barely see any of them now do you?

 

[seekeroftruth86]

The amount of people not getting the point of this list is...astounding.

Seriously people, can't you read?! It's not about how good those characters are, how emotionally deep and well-written they are, it's about whether they DEFINED. A. DECADE. That's a huge difference right there.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how GLaDOS defined the decade. I can actually see MC defining the decade more than her. A lot of the characters on the list are niche characters. They haven't really defined anything to me.

Of course they may have defined something to someone, but I still can't understand the criteria. It just seems like padding.

 

[BiggyShackleton]

Fuck that, the horse from Shadow of the Colossus should be on the list at some point.

 

[Cowabungaa]

The amount of people not getting the point of this list is...astounding.

Seriously people, can't you read?! It's not about how good those characters are, how emotionally deep and well-written they are, it's about whether they DEFINED. A. DECADE. That's a huge difference right there.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how GLaDOS defined the decade. I can actually see MC defining the decade more than her. A lot of the characters on the list are niche characters. They haven't really defined anything to me.

Of course they may have defined something to someone, but I still can't understand the criteria. It just seems like padding.

Defined anything to you =/= defined the industry and the videogame genre as a whole. Fact is, GLaDOS is a much quoted and extremely recognisable character.

 

[seekeroftruth86]

The amount of people not getting the point of this list is...astounding.

Seriously people, can't you read?! It's not about how good those characters are, how emotionally deep and well-written they are, it's about whether they DEFINED. A. DECADE. That's a huge difference right there.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how GLaDOS defined the decade. I can actually see MC defining the decade more than her. A lot of the characters on the list are niche characters. They haven't really defined anything to me.

Of course they may have defined something to someone, but I still can't understand the criteria. It just seems like padding.

Defined anything to you =/= defined the industry and the videogame genre as a whole. Fact is, GLaDOS is a much quoted and extremely recognisable character.

Good point. I think I'm beginning to understand the poll now.

Never really was all that into the polls actually. There was one poll that voted on who was the most significant female protagonist in videogames. Samus Aran got number 10, while Lara Croft got number 1. Suffice it to say I wasn't happy about that one.

 

[Griphphin]

Speaking of tragic, he outplaced the Wanderer from Shadow of the Collosus, one of the front-runners in the games are art catagory.

It's "Characters that Defined a Decade," not "The Best Characters of The Best Games." Say what you will about MC having the personality of a pet rock, but people are talking about him far more than they are Wander, who had just as little personality really. Wander wanted to bring his girlfriend back. That was all to his personality. The only other defining trait he had was the lengths he went to to make this happen. MC had a voice, he reacted to his environment, he showed emotion as well.

 

[BenzSmoke]

Well I've never played a MGS game. So I don't really don't know why The Boss is such a tragic character.
But I agree that Master Chief doesn't deserve number 4 on the list. I have the magazine in front of me and they talk about game mechanics instead of the actual character for the second half of the article. Someone's worth as a character shouldn't be defined by the mechanics of the game they're in, but by the character itself. Master Chief is just known for his reputation as "the guy that kills lizard people from space."

Yes, he is a defining character. He just doesn't deserve to be held above better written and more personality filled characters.

(He is, according to Game Informer, a more defining character than Alyx Vance, Andrew Ryan, Commander Shepard, Niko Bellic, Phoenix Wright, Jade, and Razputin "Raz" Aquato.)