Which came first, Epic Games or Gears of War? There are honestly times when that doesn't seem quite as stupid a question as it is. The rope-necked, simian-armed action series has defined Epic in a way the venerable Unreal shooters never did, stamping its trademark bleeding skull emblem deep into the publisher's flesh.
But even the lumpiest, surliest warrior has to call it quits eventually. With the third and final outing of Marcus Fenix mere days from release, OXM pinned down proud parent Cliff Bleszinski for a teary-eyed retrospective.
This is the end of Delta's story. Are you sad to see the back of them, or happy to tie things off?
I've got a lot of mixed feelings. We've all been working on this franchise for a long time since the first game in 2006 - seeing the final cutscene and seeing how the story wraps up... I admit I got something in my eye, there. I'm a big softie - I wear my heart on my sleeve and it was a combination on Greg doing a great job on the cinematics within the game and Karen doing a great job of the writing, the voice actors knocking it out of the park, and getting attached to the project personally.
I think for a lot of us there's a lot of personal stuff in the game. Now we're on the homestretch and thinking about the hundreds of thousands of man hours we've poured into the three games, seeing it as a whole trilogy is going to be hugely rewarding.
Do you think it'll be an emotional moment for players too? More profound than Maria's death?
Maria's death certainly has its share of people who love it - if you look the scene up on Youtube, around three quarters of the hundreds of comments on there say the scene made them cry. That said, we can always do better - we may not have earned it that well; we didn't build up Dom and Maria's relationship enough to get players attached to it - but that's the kind of narrative we often do, we're very cut-scene based. You can't force emotion on a player, but we're hoping players will feel something because they've been attached to these characters for so long.
Absolutely - I think users are getting even more savvy than ever. We've had director's commentaries on DVDs for a while, but I think Valve are taking that one step further with Portal 2. It's the new thing - people want to know these things when they're fans of the franchise: how the project began, what decisions were made, what led to the game they're playing.
Is it also an instance of the games industry trying to legitimise itself a little bit?
I think it's partly to do with the industry trying to legitimise itself, but I also think the fans want to know. It won't be 100 per cent of the fans, it'll maybe only be 2-5 per cent. But the ones who want to know? They're the ones who go to Comicon. They're the ones who get the tattoos. They're the uber-fans of your franchise who are almost like your shamans, who'll go out and preach to the masses - you want to keep them happy, and fans of the games as well as the studio, because they will go and recruit for you.
Are you ever scared of those fans? Some of them sound pretty intense...
We've had a few close calls with some creepy moments. It's a good problem to have, but you've gotta be careful - it's a connected world.
6 comments so far...
OXM ETboy on 6 Sep '11 said:
Going to be rocking Gears of War 3 multiplayer this week, with a view to feature overload on release week. Is there anything you're particularly desperate to find out? Which are you looking forward to most - TDM, Beast or Horde mode?
ridinglikesatan on 6 Sep '11 said:
Must be hard to let your child go, and in answer to your question ET, Beast mode
Hobbes2594 on 8 Sep '11 said:
As a celebration of Gears and as an entry into the competition, I decided to summarise the story so far... in limericks. That being said I only got as far as Gears 1 but I hope you like it and I might do another for Gears 2.
Oh and just in case anyone hasn't played Gears 1 yet; SPOILERS.
On a far away planet called Sera
The threat of the Locust drew nearer
Which was made most profound
When they sprung from the ground
To make their intentions much clearer
Fourteen years on from E-day
And extinction is well underway
With Marcus in prison
For some ill-thought decision
Which was never that clearly conveyed
Luckily Marcus's friend
Had the thoughtful conviction to send
A squad for his rescue
To the rubble strewn venue
Which the Locust had failed to defend
Once united with Dom and with Delta
He discovered their latest agenda
Was to use ultrasound
To map underground
With a thing called the resonator
With the wheels of the plan set in motion
The team soon ran into commotion
And when Kim ends up gored
By an oversized sword
Marcus gets an impromptu promotion
Some other COGs chose to enroll
Like an old thrashball player named Cole
Who when he's in focus
Could murder the Locust
With effortless style and control
Drones endeavoured to fill you with lead
But there's a stage when you're down but not dead
So you needn't be scared
Because Carmine or Baird
Could revive you by patting your head
Unluckily death in cutscenes
Makes the process a lot less routine
Carmine met his end
While reloading again
By the round of a sniper onscreen
(And approaching the Gears final fight
Will bro number three be alright?
If we left it to cliffy
He'd be dead in a jiffy
So here's hoping he'll last through the night)
The battles progressed as expected
With the art of reloading perfected
The walls were chest-high
When there's Locust nearby
And friendly COG tags were collected
Their sonar emitting invention
Failed to work, causing much apprehension
But Baird had a map
Which he'd found in the scrap
And presumably not thought to mention
As the story began it's last chapter
They faced RAAM the old villainous raptor
A final fight on the train
(Though he's tough on insane)
And they're ready to arm the reactor
With the light mass bomb in the caves
It emitted a mighty shock wave
But they saw that it failed
When the locust prevailed
Still, they're sure to win one of these days...
OXM ETboy on 8 Sep '11 said:
Best. Comment. Ever.
/literally prostrate with awe
Hobbes2594 on 8 Sep '11 said:
Why thank you! I wanted to show my appreciation for Gears in some way and thought this would be fun. It took me an evening or two, which made a nice break from grinding for seriously 2.0
Hobbes2594 on 9 Sep '11 said:
And so here's one for Gears 2...
It's been months since the underground bomb
And the war with the Locust goes on
So with this reintroduction
To the second production
The tone is the same as foregone
A result of the light mass expulsion
Was an increase in airborne imulsion
It was spread by the breeze
Gave the locals disease
Causing nausea and convulsions
Marcus starts in the city Jacinto
Under which the Locust can't burrow
But they attacked on the surface
To try and get purchase
And help their offensive to grow
The Chairman of COG then decided
That their methods thus far were misguided
And an all out cavort
At the enemy's fort
Would make the war much less one-sided
Delta squad, in a bid to succeed
Joined the large armoured Derrick stampede
And they met up with Tai
Whose refusal to die
Was a tactical asset indeed
They eventually got there unhurt
And dug their way down through the dirt
Protected from shrapnel
In a snug metal capsule
Which the enemy couldn't subvert
Once deep underground it was clear
The situation was worse than they'd feared
With a worm digging holes
And huge Locust patrols
But regardless they still persevered
Tai was found held in captivity
In a tortured and brutal depravity
It had driven him mad
So the first chance he had
Self inflicted a cranial cavity
As they tried to escape from the Hollow
They ran into the worm and were swallowed
They found Carmine inside
Who had gruesomely died
By the acid in which he had wallowed
Subterranean based demolition
Was beginning to show it's attrition
So they found the worm's heart
And then sawed it apart
To have the huge beast decommissioned
They were soon given orders through Jack
That before they were cleared to come back
There was info to steal
That would teach a great deal
From a gothic old military shack
The mansion was strongly defended
And release of the Sires unintended
Whose devoid explanation
Caused minor frustration
As their purpose was uncomprehended
With the news of the stronghold position
Delta got their most dangerous mission
So they banded together
Through baffling weather
And set off on a grand expedition
(And it's roundabout this point I found
That a lot of this game's underground
Which isn't ideal
If you're after some teal
But great if you love shades of brown)
Dom's ongoing search for his wife
Had caused no end of drama and strife
But he found her at last
A mere ghost of her past
So he ended the poor woman's life
From there they stormed Nexus offscreen
(Unless you bought the deleted scene)
Then attacked by the leader
On the back of a Reaver
To protect their anomalous Queen
With attacks on Jacinto increasing
And the city now taking a beating
Dom and Marcus returned
To share what they'd learned
And help with the Locust policing
It's decided the best course of action
Was to cause Jacinto's liquefaction
Ending thousands of lives
Just to flood Locust hives
Hence the generally lukewarm reactions
So with Marcus and Dom on their way
They lured a poor Brumak astray
And then jumped on it's back
So to launch their attack
And make for more varied gameplay
When they reached the imulsified base
They discovered their bomb was misplaced
So to finish the deed
Hit their, now Lambent, steed
With an orbital laser from space
The explosion was super effective
And achieved the desired objective
The city was filled
As countless were killed
Putting things in a different perspective