Whatever happened to videogames with a PLOT?

[somethingillremember]

Originally Posted by Squeek

I see nothing wrong with that.

Plot doesn't drive a game. Gameplay drives a game. If the game is 100% plot and 0% gameplay, then it's going to be a terrible game. I think video game designers do better without worrying about an engrossing plot.

I disagree with you that plot would make FPSes better. I think gameplay is the most important thing. Far Cry, Crysis, etc. They're touted for amazing graphics. Too bad they're terrible games. The gameplay is disgustingly bad.

You've broken down the overarching plot to "kill aliens", but that's not the entire plot. I started playing Gears 2 last night, and even as someone who has never played Gears before, I found the story good enough to want to keep playing. In fact, we didn't finish and I went home and was about to go online to look up how it ends because I might not have another opportunity to play again.

PS - way to generalize everything, thus proving that you haven't played anything.

PPS - Halo isn't bad for its terrible story. It's bad for its generic and unimaginative gameplay.

I wasn't generalizing. I was exaggerating to prove a point

Notice also that I did not say GoW2, which actually looks pretty good.

Also, can people please stop saying things like "way to do this" or other things that, at least to me, seem like forum allowed ways of insulting someone. I don't know if you intended it to be an insult, but to me, it felt like one. For the record, I'm sorry I generalized things, I'm sure all the games I mentioned have better plots than I said they do, and the Manhunt thing was really just a joke.

As for gameplay driving a game, yes, I think that's true, If a game is all plot and no game, it wouldn't be much of a game. But I think that it's also really hard to make single player gameplay that doesn't get repetitive after awhile, especially when players get stuck. If there isn't much plot, and a player gets bored with the game, then they have no reason to continue playing. If there is a good plot to go with the game, then a player who is stuck at a really hard bit will have reason to keep playing. When I got stuck at a boring part in eternal, the plot was what kept me playing the game, instead of switching to another one of the many free Marathon games.

Also, I think that there could be one game that sells well where it focuses on plot. It couldn't happen multiple times, but for one game people would like it. In other words, because so many games these days are focused mainly on online multiplayer, one game with a really good plot and not-so-great multiplayer might sell just because it was different. That's why I liked Eternal - it was a bit of a break. If I were to play another game like it, then I probably wouldn't care so much, but for one game it was pretty fun to have a bit of change from the norm.


On a slightly different topic, how was GoW2? I might want to get it if I get my Xbox fixed.