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Gears of War 2 was a Revolution in Interactive Storytelling

Video games, by virtue of being a different medium, require a different way of presenting stories. Gears 2 uses lines of dialogue specifically designed with the player's presence in mind. Characters use dialogue to echo what the player is thinking (or what the developers think the player will think… argh now I have a headache). This helps the player connect and identify with the characters. Allow me to present a few examples...

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Viewtiful - contributor
Published: 396 days 12 hours ago | Article | Xbox 360

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cain141 - 396 days 12 hours ago

1 -

Before someone posts this isn't about Gears of War, read the second page lol...

I'm not a huge fan of the story myself, but the author does bring up some good points.

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HighDefinition - 396 days 11 hours ago

1.1 - "Gears of War 2 was a Revolution in Interactive Storytelling"

No.No.No. GeoW2 is a GREAT game.

BUT,

Shadow Of The Colossus ***IS*** a Revolution in Interactive Storytelling

No game even comes close IMO. (maybe ICO, LOL)

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miniduf1 - 396 days ago

1.2 -

I can think of two games that come close. Bioshock had an amazing story. And if you are talking about interactive storytelling Mass Effects story and dialogue sequences were brilliant. Oh and Final Fantasy 6 had a tremendously good story.

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HighDefinition - 395 days 16 hours ago

1.3 - ^^^^^^

Don`t agree at all. Bioshock and Mass Effect is all text based story.

SOTC is built from the ground up on "the vibe".

It`s says SO much w/o saying really anything, that`s impressive.

And that is what I consider a Revolution in Interactive Storytelling.

Other games like Bioshock and Mass Effect have great story line, but it`s NOT the same, not even remotely.

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italianbreadman - 396 days 12 hours ago

2 -

Great article!

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Viewtiful - 396 days 12 hours ago

3 -

I hate the Gears series, but this article does bring up some good points.

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cain141 - 396 days 12 hours ago

3.1 -

Why is that?

Personally I'm not a huge fan, but they are strong games...

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agmsd - 396 days 9 hours ago

3.2 -

I support him.. because this game is nice but I hate playing it on console that will drop dead on me every now and then... :P

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Mikito - 396 days 12 hours ago

4 -

Nice article. Something to chew on.....

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TheReclaimer - 396 days 12 hours ago

5 -

I really did enjoy the first Gears' story, but I haven't gotten to experience the second yet.

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Viewtiful - 396 days 12 hours ago

6 -

Gears is spectacle. There's no substance to it. Stuff jumps out of the ground and you shoot it. It's a 30 million dollar version of whack a mole. I've played tons of games, so I like when they at least try to do something new. Gears made some steps but none of them were interesting because they were all in the area of presentation.

But maybe that's just me because I'm the guy who only updates his graphics card once every six years because I just want the gameplay side, and graphics don't matter as much.

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bloop - 396 days ago

6.1 -

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I agree gameplay is and should always be priority, but gfx also play a very big part. It all adds to the immersion. For example, I don't think a game like Dead Space for instance, would have had quite the same impact if it had been released back in the day of the good old PS1. So I think gfx can be equally as important. But, having said all that, it's still the gameplay that brings me back to Gears :-) And Epic infinitley improved on the plot from the first game. (well, except for the ending :-O)

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Nick2728 - 396 days 12 hours ago

7 -

It's always good to see a game which keeps in mind the reactions of the player to what's going on in the game. It's particularly true in such cinematic style games like Gears of War, which it's hulking macho men doing bold and brave things all over creation, to have dialogue which can link the player to the characters.

Otherwise it'll all be mush.

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OnslaughtX - 396 days 11 hours ago

8 -

I'm sorry, but while its a well written article, Gears 2 is hardly the first game to present a story in such a manner. If the author thinks this is metaphysical, then Sons of Liberty will make his head explode.

Hardly a revolution, Gears 2's plot is passable and passably presented. The game succeeds on its visceral thrills, solid co-op, and kickass MP modes. The story? Revolution in presentation? No.

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gambare - 396 days 11 hours ago

8.1 -

Certainly the author hadn't played Myst or Of Light and Darkness or even Vampire: Bloodlines... but he got some good points but he didn't put enough recent game sources with deep history telling like the MGS series or Mass Effect.

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Lord Vader - 396 days 11 hours ago

9 -

The campaign & story of Gears 2 was excellent. Best graphics I have ever seen on a console video game. Gameplay was excellent & Insane was even a bigger challenge this time around.

Mass Effect though is the best story in video games this gen & I would consider it to be a true "Revolution in Interactive Storytelling".

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OnslaughtX - 396 days 11 hours ago

9.1 -

I'd like to see the dialogue trees expanded in gaming. Often games with said trees have only one or two eventual outcomes, I'd like real implications from EVERY conversation. Then again, designing such a game would be mindbending.

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Kuest - 396 days 11 hours ago

9.2 - Yes,

I enjoyed Mass Effect a great deal; however, its story progression (with regards to branching plot scenarios) was a paper thin veil, one which would shatter under the tiniest bit of curiosity.

As I recall, the middle and top dialogue choices were quite similar, if not virtually the same. As such, i would hope the next installment allows for a more colorful conservation option, not just the hum-drum "I'm a jackass", or "I'm a logical, rational, good-to-do soldier". Perhaps its the strict military, uptight feeling that bothered me...

Anyways, Gears? Good Story? Sure. Revolutionary? Nope. I did enjoy some of its minor (and not so minor) plot twists, however, ultimately the game is about having a good time. To that degree, it did the job with flying colors, though surely I wouldn't shout out "oscar" just yet.

By the way, onslaught, you get bubbles. Not specifically for your post above, but for the several comments you made over the past week. I've been greatly impressed with both you, and Bodhi.

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OnslaughtX - 396 days 11 hours ago

9.3 -

Why thank ya. And yeah, Bodhi is a pretty cool guy. It's nice when a gamer will take the time to discuss something. Especially those without a fanboy stick in his azz. ;-)

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Sharpshell - 396 days 11 hours ago

10 - No...

its...not...

First of all it doesn't qualify as story when some over the top touch guy cliche says over the top cliche things. Secondly its hardly a revolution in anything since this is a standard practice in video-games. I get it, you like GeOW, get over it. This is worse than when my friend trie to convince me Mario64 has a great story jsut because he enjoys the game therefore whatever it does is some convoluted "revolution"

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harry190 - 396 days 11 hours ago

11 - Stop

promoting this article by posting in it with numerous comments. It reached the front page just because the same guys posted 6-7 comments in here and I bet they are going to do it again.

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Viewtiful - 396 days 9 hours ago

11.1 -

lol "poor posting ethics" says the guy with only two comment bubbles.

Newsflash: an article only gains heat from one comment per user. Otherwise every post on the front page would just be one guy posting over and over again.

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iggypop123 - 396 days 11 hours ago

12 -

gears story was boring. im so glad that in insane i can skip the cutscenes. its all about headshots and killing in this game. story just gets in the way. i will admit when dom went crazy near the first part of game it was funny

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socomnick - 396 days 11 hours ago

13 -

Yes GEars 2 pwns.

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Sony Rep - 396 days 11 hours ago

14 -

And MGS4 wasn't? Noted. Media is bias.

I certainly didn't see this article when it came out.

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ChrisGTR1 - 396 days 9 hours ago

14.1 -

gears 2 just came out so stfu fanboy.

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Milo Garret - 395 days 17 hours ago

14.2 -

He was paid of, obviously... And so is ChrisGTR1.

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OSIRUSSS - 396 days 11 hours ago

15 -

Interactive Story telling is the Future.

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MvmntInGrn - 396 days 11 hours ago

15.1 -

Maybe, but that has nothing to do with Gears 2 since the story isn't interactive...

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Ceekay - 395 days 16 hours ago

15.2 -

Heavy Rain is the future!

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sinny - 396 days 11 hours ago

16 -

Tetris has better story :P
nah, really, gears 2 it's better than the first one in that field, but that doesn't mean nothing
Revolution?

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MvmntInGrn - 396 days 11 hours ago

17 - Um....No...

Just...No...I mean...Really?...NO!

So MGS4 was denied the interactive storytelling title it actually deserved, but Gears 2 gets it?

I feel sick, I mean can people really believe this? Its surprising what some theatrics and BS heart felt commercials can do. Really gaming can never be taken serious can it...

EDIT: @ person who mention SOTC, ya that game really felt amazing as far as connection to the character. That is interactive storytelling.

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Relwyn01 - 396 days 11 hours ago

18 - I think the story is pretty good.

Not the best, but good for what the game is about. If you have a chance to pick up the Gears Aspho fields book, get it, it really ties a lot of things together.
But, I guess since the co op is not 8 players, it sucks right? lol
Or maybe Killzone 2 will be the greatest story ever told. I bet it sells as good a gears2.
Sorry, just figured I'd post it before the comment section was full of R2 and KZ2 stuff,lol.

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shawnsl65 - 396 days 11 hours ago

18.1 -

i highly doubt KZ2 will be the greatest story ever told (i know you're kidding and are just bringing up a point), but yeah, gears 2 isn't anything "revolutionary" on the story side. It fits with its genre, just how every other game is. Heavy rain on the other hand might actually be the very FIRST interactive story game. I'm curious how it will turn out.

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MvmntInGrn - 396 days 11 hours ago

18.2 -

People don't exactly flock to FPS for a good story, however I will have to say that the day an FPS pulls off something truly emotional with a story will be awesome. With the war-like themes there is the potential for true emotion but I have yet to see that feel genuine.

Heavy Rain looks very good but I won't lie, I'm afraid the story will get ruined like in Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy). It does look quite interactive though.

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shawnsl65 - 396 days 10 hours ago

18.3 -

maybe they'll make a RAMBO V movie/game for you mvmntln ~_^

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akaFullMetal - 396 days 10 hours ago

19 -

sorry but gears story isn't revolutionary compared to mgs, indigo prophecy, god of war, hell even halo has a better interactive stoytelling than gears.

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Imallvol7 - 396 days 10 hours ago

20 -

Doesn't take that much to impress that guy, lol. I laughed at most of the dialogue.

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FantasyStar - 396 days 10 hours ago

21 - MGS4 > Gears 2 "Interactive Storytelling"

I can't think of a better game that deserves an award when it comes to story. You can't beat 20 years of quality story-telling that defined 3 generations of gaming.

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TheDesperado - 396 days 9 hours ago

22 - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Gears...story...LOLOLOLOLOL!

It's an average game with GARBAGE "artistic" elements. It's worse than a pre-schooler's fantasy scribblings.

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baum - 396 days 9 hours ago

23 - lol

Gears' might be an excellent game, but the storyline sucks. This guy must be a teenager to fall in love with such a cliched storyline. I don't really identify with the world presented by Epic, much less with the Space Marines that look like tough rednecks.

NEXT please.

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Viewtiful - 396 days 8 hours ago

24 -

Of course, it would be simply too troubling for most people to actually read the article they are deriding. They'd rather just read the headline and infer.

Anybody who said something bad about this article because Gears story actually stunk, shouldn't be allowed to comment anymore. This article had nothing to do with the quality of the story. It was about how the game used dialogue to interact with how the player was feeling and help the player connect to the characters.

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Figboy - 396 days 8 hours ago

25 - ugh.

ok, i'm willing to say that the Gears games have excellent, fun, visceral gameplay, but i have to absolutely, positively draw the line at "Gears 2 was a Revolution in Interactive Storytelling."

games like Mass Effect, Bioshock, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted, and even Indigo Prophecy have been true revolutions in interactive storytelling.

those games managed to combine the story with the gameplay in a way that the Gears games could only DREAM of.

also, add Half Life and Half Life 2 to that list.

Gears 1 and 2 are great games on the gameplay side, even though i'm not a fan, but the story is laughably bad. it has a B movie like charm to it, but really, people don't buy Gears for the story, they buy it to f*ck up some Locust scum (and who DOESN'T like to f*ck up some aliens with sick weapons?)

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titntin - 396 days 5 hours ago

26 -

Gears 1& 2, great games , but most assuredly not great stories.

The clichéd predictable dialog thats on offer is a very long way away from interactive story telling, and there are a great number of titles that do the job immeasurably better. Half Life springs to mind, mass effect also deserves mention, let alone some of the classic JRPG's or the incredibly evocative 'ICO'.

Gears is a great action game. But lets not pretend it has a brilliant story...

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thereapersson - 396 days 5 hours ago

27 - lol

People that write articles like this obviously haven't been playing videogames for very long...

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GarandShooter - 395 days 16 hours ago

28 -

'When the characters are first told about the existence of the Locust queen, one of the characters pipes up with something to the effect of, "What the hell is a queen?" exactly as the question ran through my head.'

Gears 2 is a great and immersive game, but this guy lost me here. Let's see, what is a locust queen? Locust is an insect reference, bees have queens in their hive (which is the name of an act in Gears 2), it doesn't seem to me you need to be Stephen Hawking to understand the reference.

However I also disagree with those who say the dialogue sounds like it was written by a 15 year old. The dialogue sounds as if it were written by an action flick screen writer. (Think Roddy Piper in 'They Live' as he walks into the bank: 'I'm here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum.')

Revolution in interactive story telling, no.
Game of the Year contender, definitely.

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Ceekay - 395 days 16 hours ago

29 - Speaking of interactive storytelling...

Fahrenheit > Gears of War 2
Heavy Rain >>> Gears of War 2

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Showing: 1 - 11 of 11 Comments

1 Kush_Reaper | 396 days 12 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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GiantEnemyCrab - 396 days 11 hours ago

1.1 -

You know I would agree with that statement. MGS4 is definately revolutionary in story telling and more so than Gears 2. However, read the article he brings up some great points and I believe Gears 2 can also receive this title as well.

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Killjoy3000 - 396 days 11 hours ago

1.2 -

Sorry, but that's PS3's field, crab. MGS4, Heavy Rain, God of War 3, and Uncharted have amazing stories. And the way these stories are told and paced far surpasses anything Gears has to offer. Even Xbox fanboys know how sh!tty the story is in it. I mean, don't get me wrong, the action is cool, but the storyline and character development just plain sucks. Gears is a multipayer game. Everybody knows that.

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Irishrocket69 - 396 days 5 hours ago

1.3 - WOW...

Heavy Rain, and God of War 3 huh? Ask Doc Brown to bring me back an alminac next time you go into the future to play video games. You are a failure!

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Killjoy3000 - 396 days 3 hours ago

1.4 -

I guess that's fair for you to say, seeing as how there 's no future for Xbox except more Gears and Halo. The reason I'm bringing up those games is because -
A. Heavy Rain is completely built around an interactive storytelling model and confirmed to have a great storyline.
B. Everyone knows how bad ass the story is in God of War, and this iteration is certain to follow.

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Irishrocket69 - 396 days 1 hour ago

1.5 - Yeah,

But I live in the now, and you are speculating on games that may not even be out for years, but if you don't mind being retarded who am I to judge you. Plus if you really believe that their is nothing coming to the X360 in 2009, you really are retarded, because even though MS doesn't announce something that doesn't come for three years (Home) I would rather have them deliver when they say they will, instead of leading me on for so long (KZ2). But you have already been to the future so you know everything!

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Killjoy3000 - 395 days 23 hours ago

1.6 -

Look, douchebag, the bottom line is LittleBigPlanet and MGS4 are the best and highest rated exclusives on any system. Wanna suck it now?

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Irishrocket69 - 395 days 14 hours ago

1.7 - Maybe,

But low sales numbers, get some tissue and stop crying.

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Killjoy3000 - 395 days 3 hours ago

1.8 -

I don't play sales charts, buddy. I play games.

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DNAgent - 396 days 9 hours ago

2 - Wait, what?

Gears of War 2 has a storyline?

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Magic_The_Celt - 396 days 8 hours ago

3 -

ah ha ha ha ha ha ha

*reads title again*

AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

that is *laughter* so damn *tries to control laughter* CUTE!

awww bless them! :(

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