Naughty Dog wants to "change the f***ing industry" with The Last of Us

By Johnny Minkley Published 13 December, 2011

"Storytelling is so poor right now," claims creative director.

Naughty Dog has delivered a scathing verdict on the "poor" standard of storytelling in video games, revealing its aim to "change the f***ing industry" with upcoming PlayStation 3-exclusive The Last of Us.

Speaking at the studio's offices in Santa Monica on Monday, creative director and writer Neil Druckmann told Eurogamer his team wanted to "raise the bar" in order to make other game developers realise: "Okay, I really need to learn the craft of storytelling, I really need to involve my actors in this in order to get realistic performances and realistic actors. That's what we want to do."

He also argued that reviewers were too quick to praise average storytelling, which could hold back the medium's development.

"We try so hard at Naughty Dog to push things," he said. "And then games come out that are fun and exciting and get visceral things right, but to read in reviews that they have an amazing story is disheartening to us because we work so hard at it.

"As critics we need to raise the bar, otherwise no-one's going to change. We're going to keep pushing ourselves, and kill ourselves to make this story happen - but hope that by doing it, the rest of the industry is going to take notice and try to do the same thing."

Elaborating on where other games went wrong, Druckmann, previously lead designer and co-writer on Uncharted 2, told Eurogamer: "We mistake quantity for quality. We don't focus on characters, we focus on monsters or [the] gruesome."

So what is The Last of Us about? "This is going to sound corny, and it might not appeal to gamers, but I would say it's a love story," said Druckmann. "It's not a romantic love story, it's a love story about a father-daughter-like relationship.

"We approached this genre because we felt no-one is getting to the heart of it. It tells you something about the human condition - that's what you want to do as a storyteller.

"We're not saying every game needs a strong, compelling and dramatic story, but if you are going to make a narrative-based game then you better learn the craft."

Game director Bruce Straley, who held the same role on Uncharted 2, added: "It's not just a zombie game. It's going to be a completely amazing experience that no player has experienced for this genre, the characters, the development, everything."

Neither Sony nor Naughty Dog has yet committed to a release date for the game.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (223) Latest comment 2 months ago

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  • unacomn #1 2 months ago

    Considering how Bioware and Bethesda keep getting awards for storytelling, I kind of agree, but it's not like the Uncharted series has been the pinnacle of storytelling either.
    I look forward to seeing them putting their money where their mouth is, or their foot in their mouth when Half Life 3 shows up, because face it, the defective turrets from Portal 2 had more personality that just about every video game character from a 2011 game.

  • danclarke #2 2 months ago

    *Naughty dog Boardroom*

    "So, people love Drake but bemoan the fact he's massively homicidal as soon as the cut scenes finish - how can we justify this?"

    "...zombies?"

    *High tens over the table*

  • Inmediasress #3 2 months ago

    That's something I can agree with.
    Now if they jsut live up to their own hype and I may end up buying a PS3 just to see something good for a change, since it's at least 6 years since I palyed a game that I would call really great and deserving a 10/10 score.(as I said games I played, there may be great games out there that I didn't, just to avoid fanboy rage)

  • zegerman1942 #4 2 months ago

    2 thumbs up. Games, like books and movies, are not just entertainment. They tell a story. Sure some games don't need much of a story, but most games do. And he is spot on: if you are trying to tell a story, do it fucking right.

  • Chufty #5 2 months ago

    I have to agree with the man. We accept these videogame "stories" without really taking in just how poorly told, unsubtle and cliche-ridden they are.

    We've heard this rhetoric before but if anyone can change the game it's Naughty Dog.

  • rotmm #6 2 months ago

    I know that any form of critisism of Uncharted titles is guaranteed to result in plenty of thumbs down, my problem with Uncharted 2 (haven't played 3 yet) and to a lesster extent the original Uncharted is that 'story' is placed far ahead of the game itself.

    By that I mean in the 'story' Drake is depicted as a likeable and reasonable character, yet 30 seconds later he will be moving down dozens upon dozens of 'bad guys' all in name of getting his hands on a trinket.

    There is a real disconnect for me between these 2 parts of the whole, meaning that I had real trouble believing in the story at all. As a counterpoint, something like Gears, while the 'story' is obviously not as well realised, makes for a more coherent (and therefore for me satisfying) whole.

    Hopefully with The Last of Us ND will manage to bring both of these elements closer together.

  • Alf-Life #7 2 months ago

    Why does he assume others don't work so hard at it, too?

  • berelain #8 2 months ago

    Given that Uncharted 3's storyline was easily the weakest of the trilogy, and the dialogue was fairly bog-standard compared to the excellence of its predecessor, I'm not sure Naughty Dog are the ones who should be taking a high horse here. Especially since Uncharted's idea of storytelling is basically 'make it look and feel like a movie so the player has no choice.' Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Uncharted games, but the storyline is hardly spectacular - it's just carried by well-written characters (even if their personalities are a little contradictory, as others have pointed out about Drake mowing down hundreds of people each game)

    He's right, storytelling can and does need to improve in games, but it's hardly bad. Some games have some of the best storylines of anything I've ever read / seen / played, though they tend to be less well-known offerings. I will always hold up the likes of Planescape: Torment, The Witcher 2, Xenogears and even Nier as having some of the most emotionally involving storylines of anything ever; they weren't perfect games, but by gods their stories were fantastic. Not always perfectly told, but fantastic.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 09:04

  • King_Edward #9 2 months ago

    Naughty Dog are holding back story telling in games as much as anyone. Look at Portal, Bioshock or Dark Souls for examples of great story telling.

  • DwarfyP #10 2 months ago

    Sure gonna change the industry with ANOTHER zombie game...

  • jyrque #11 2 months ago

    Please, we want games, not interactive movies. Video games are a storytelling medium but with its own characteristic: you experience the story firsthand.

  • blarty #12 2 months ago

    @rotmm ' By that I mean in the 'story' Drake is depicted as a likeable and reasonable character, yet 30 seconds later he will be moving down dozens upon dozens of 'bad guys' all in name of getting his hands on a trinket.'

    But this isn't restricted to Drake, look at other stalwart 'heroes' of films and games - Bond, Indiana Jones, Skywalker blowing up the Death Star, lets even go so far as Mario jumping on turtles - you have to have a counterpoint to any 'hero' to act as a goal.

    For every hero you must have enemies, the bigger and more numerous the enemy and more bountiful the trinket and the sacrifices made for the trinket, is directly correlatable to the concept of how big a hero the lead is.

    To simply imply that this is only a fault that can be attributed to Naughty Dog's Drake is disingenuous.

  • mastablasta #13 2 months ago

    Ha, he has to swear to express himself. Must be a good storyteller.

  • berelain #14 2 months ago

    @blarty I don't think rotmm was trying to imply it was a problem exclusive to Drake - just pointing out a fault with Naughty Dog's storytelling which, given the news piece is about an ND exec criticising storytelling, is a bit hypocritical.

    There's also a difference between Drake, who generally comes across as an ordinary guy and a nice guy, and Indiana Jones, who has always been a bit of a fighter and never really had any qualms about killing when he has to. The comment wasn't about heroes facing adversaries, but rather the disconnection between Drake the person and Drake the game character.

  • MisterSlimm #15 2 months ago

    Zombies? *sigh*

  • Okamiwolf #16 2 months ago

    Says the studio that has really only produced two generations of talking marsupial games and an Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider generic Hollywood action movie ripoff. And now, of all things, another zombie ripoff. The 10 millionth one this generation.

    Seriously, I've been a fan of Naughty Dog since PS1 days, their games are very good and I agree 100% what they said about game storytelling, but they themselves still have a long way to go as well.

    I think some of the best, most mature storytelling this gen exploring issues like the meaning of life and death was seen in the JRPG Lost Odyssey, in the dreams moreso than the main plot.
    Edited by 3 at 13/12/11 @ 09:28

  • Lord_Gremlin #17 2 months ago

    Well, all I can say it that Uncharted 2 was a masterpiece and that alone is reason enough to be interested in TLoU.
    What ND seems to be worried about, and rightfully so, is immaturity of industry critics. When you see MW3 getting awards for being year's best FPS how can you expect any kind of review or award being taken seriously?
    Anyway, I'm excited to see their take on the story. Let's be honest most games have shit story. Gears of War 3 springs to mind. Really, Epic? It's like it was written for 12 years old idiots. It's humiliating to be fed such stupid stories in otherwise enjoyable to various degrees games. Last game I remember that tried to make a story worth a damn was Six Days in Fallujah, but as far as I know it's been canceled.
    Now, Bioware are trying to make good stories. Recently they were failing miserably, but I have to give them credit for actually trying.

  • miksar #18 2 months ago

    How about making actual progress in game design instead of making this industry a shittier version of Hollywood?

  • verynaughtyboy #19 2 months ago

    I see story telling in games in 3 main parts. Your overall plot, your script with all dialogue etc. and finally the acting itself. I feel that Naughty Dog excell in the 3rd aspect but that are only ok in the first two. Overall though they are still among the best out there.

    Funny thing though... my favourite stories in games were Ico and SotC. Considering how spartan they were and how much was left to your imagination then maybe those who are responsible for storytelling in games need to reconsider their priorities - yes I'm looking at you Hideo Kojima.

  • TechnicPuppet #20 2 months ago

    They've got a cheek. I liked the way the story came together in New Vegas, I don't care if it was technically poor, it felt good to me and I felt at the end that I had an impact on the world I was playing in.

  • Freek #21 2 months ago

    It's all relative really, the games that win writing awards win them because they are the best told stories in games, not the best across every medium availebel.

    And only verry, verry recently have games got technologicly sophisticated enough that story telling and acting has started to matter, so to just slate an entire emerging technology as "sub par and not trying hard enough" is really unfair.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 09:28

  • jaguarwong #22 2 months ago

    Sometimes I feel like the only man on the planet who actually want's to play videogames anymore.

    Naughty Dog seem determined to turn the games medium into a sub-division of the movie industry.

  • jefranklin18 #23 2 months ago

    He has some very valid points, but as long as the mouth-breathers still keep buying COD with it's Michael Bay level of story telling the industry will never change. Review sites also really don't help the situation with the constant hyping of the mediocre time after time.

  • Weezer #24 2 months ago

    He wants to leave the fucking industry alone and change the video game industry instead...

  • -cerberus- #25 2 months ago

    After all these years the master of storytelling known as Silent Hill 2 has yet to be surpassed. I doubt The Last of Us will change this but they're welcome to try, of course.

  • uknortherner2000 #26 2 months ago

    He's hyping up a generic zombie shooter FFS. I can watch proper zombie films on DVD for £8 with competent storytelling. Why would I pay £40 to play a dull QTE-based game? Because it has a story to tell?

  • anomagnus #27 2 months ago

    @jefranklin18

    No offence, i don't consider myself a mouth breather. Being unable to enjoy something for what it is, isn't a sign of intelligence.

    COD is a genre onto itself now. Its a wild and fun ride. Were i to compare two games, lets say Enslaved, which has gotten nothing but praise for its story (which i thought wasn't all that) and COD, i enjoyed COD far more. That doesn't make me a 'mouth breather' as you put it. It just means i enjoyed a particular style of game.

    Not every game has to be a masterpiece of story telling, and i'm glad of that.

    Its interesting this elitism that has developed over the past few years, and by interesting, i mean disgusting.

    On the topic of the orginal article, i'm beginning to get a bit annoyed with some developers desire to 'improve' their story telling. Much of that seems to be coming from a desire to make the story telling closer to a movie level expereince. I don't go to movies to get story. When i go to the movies, i go for a visual spectacle.

    When i want actual story, and character devleopment, i go to my other primary form of entertainment, i read.

    From my expereince, the story in games more closely resembles the structure and arcs of great books, but i really don't think some people get that, for example naughty dog.

    If he really wanted to improve the industry, working with the actors isnt the right way to do it. He needs to work with the writers.

  • cloudskipa #28 2 months ago

    Wow Naughty Dog you truly are the saviour of gaming itself. This is yet another recent example of NG having their head too far up their own arse.

  • anthonypappa #29 2 months ago

    haven't heard anyone from ND say it was zombies...

    and i think 'humans' have been done a lot more than zombies, so give it a break.

  • Zerobob #30 2 months ago

    It's easy to claim other games don't have a good storyline when your game offers nothing but linear gameplay.

    Films are about storyline, games are about gameplay + storyline.

  • Monkey_Puncher #31 2 months ago

    Bit bored of hearing developers and industry folk bang on about storyline in games. It's all well and good having great story, just don't forget that it's a game first and a story second. It should be fun to play first and foremost!

  • Pacmaninov #32 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 10:05:14 13-12-2011

  • tommi2000 #33 2 months ago

    Regardless of whether Naughty Dog manage to raise the bar with their new venture, The Last of Us, surely the ambition of Neil Druckmann and the others at Naughty Dog to at least try to do so has to be congratulated. It would be fantastic were they to actually bring to realisation a video game has both great story telling and great gameplay without unduly restricting player choice.

    For too long, the video game industry has been riddled by a regrettable and surely unnecessary trade-off between the two and one that us gamers have needlessly tolerated. Hence why we have utterly addictive high octane thrillers such as Battlefield and Call Of Duty that are brilliant fun when it comes to actually playing them but are quite frankly droll, if not unintelligible when it comes to the story that feebly holds the addictive gameplay together.

    I for one will be hoping that Naughty Dog do indeed manage to aspire to their ambitions in the hope that it will help the industry reach a new level of creative maturity that is long overdue.

    Does anybody know where I can do a course in video game development with an emphasis on writing? I fancy having a crack, though I'm sure it's a lot harder than I imagine...

  • rotmm #34 2 months ago

    @anthonypappa: "haven't heard anyone from ND say it was zombies..."

    Maybe you should have read to the end of the article?

    "Game director Bruce Straley, who held the same role on Uncharted 2, added: "It's not just a zombie game. It's going to be a completely amazing experience that no player has experienced for this genre, the characters, the development, everything."

  • edrerai #35 2 months ago

    guys we cant make critic on unrealised game . as for the words of this guy i think he got good intensions and we have to see the real deal before making any critic. on ps3 the only nd game i have playd was unchardet 2 and for my opinion it was bad. very avarenge graphics ok story . and so unrealistic gameplay.as far as i can think konamis mgs series was( dont know if they are anymore) the best story telling games. just lets give them a try. you never knows

  • MattEdWithCheese #36 2 months ago

    Oxymoron much?

  • uknortherner2000 #37 2 months ago

    @edrerai That's a real piss-poor attempt at spamming your website.

  • edrerai #38 2 months ago

    dont make critic on unrealised game . folks you never know what will they do . be patientent and give they time. ( i hope they update they graphychs enging cause unchardet series got bad one) cs 1,06 still rulez all fps

  • Ptarmigandalf #39 2 months ago

    Didn't know Naughty Dog had hired Peter Molyneux...

  • edrerai #40 2 months ago

    SORRY FOR MY ENGILSH MY TEACHER WAS FINAL FANTASY SERIES AND SOME DOTA PLAYER FROM GERMANY AND RUSIA

  • Malek86 #41 2 months ago

    A zombie story focused on characters? Now I'm not sure about games, but I'm fairly sure this has been done several times in movies. Heck, the first famous zombie movie, as well as its sequel, were exactly like that. Even if it were the first time this was applied in a game, it probably wouldn't feel groundbreaking or anything.

    On another note, I always thought that the games with the best character development are the ones with less freedom, so there's that too. Still, as long as they don't turn it into a QTE-fest, it should be fine.

  • BigJonno #42 2 months ago

    If better storytelling means linear games with the bare minimum of player agency, then I'll stick with crap storytelling. I'm perfectly capable of telling my own videogame stories through the ancient and arcane method of playing the damn game. My own misadventures through the likes of the Elder Scrolls series will always be more memorable than the fixed spectacle of Uncharted.

  • KenKercheval #43 2 months ago

    I agree with Verynaughtyboy Sotc and ICO had great stories. It was a breath of fresh air to not have to listen to voice actors who would be more at home on the cartoon network. Uncharted titles are fine action games but the voice acting and dialogue is really poor in places, particularly that Guy Ritchie cockerney cast off.

  • Gearskin #44 2 months ago

    There's a reason story often takes a backseat - games are not entirely linear. Gamers want something they can PLAY not something they can watch. That's what movies are for.

    Rigid story can limit gameplay variety or, as evidenced with MGS, leave you with cutscenes that are far too long and look cooler than the parts you play.

  • andywilkie35 #45 2 months ago

    THEY DONE A SWEAR! They're so edgy and cool!

    "oooh look we're revolutionising the industry by making a game that's been made a hundred times in the last few years! MOAR ZOMBIES!!1!!"

    Fuck off and make another Jak game you twerps.

  • pinchofsalt #46 2 months ago

    I love a good sweeping generalisation.

  • rotmm #47 2 months ago

    @blarty, "But this isn't restricted to Drake, look at other stalwart 'heroes' of films and games - Bond, Indiana Jones, Skywalker blowing up the Death Star, lets even go so far as Mario jumping on turtles - you have to have a counterpoint to any 'hero' to act as a goal."

    You do make a valid point, but I'd still go as far as to say that the characters and situations you write about are great examples of 'coherent characters'.

    Bond is a goverment agent who has been chosen for the role because he is cold, calculating and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, be that killing an opponent or befriending and charming a woman. He kills when needed in the name of Queen and Country.

    Indy is a damaged character, a brawler, thief and overall unpleasant human being. Yes, he is charming when needed, and of course he has the alter-ego (kind of like his Clark Kent) of being a professor. Of course, in the indy films you also have the happy excuse of killing nazi's in the name of the allies against the evil Hitler.

    Not sure what the Death Star argument you used is all about, as that is clearly solely about the destruction of a super-weapon.

    Drake, on the other hand, is portrayed in the cutscenes are a nice guy, one who's not quite sure why he's actually there (with the exception of the bauble), one who is thouroughly decent and reasonable. Cutscene ends and we're mowing down (primarily) fellow humans. That for me was two characters, not a coherent single and this is where Naughty Dog have to really improve in character development. At the end of U2 I think I had something like 850-900 kills and at no point in the cutscene part of the experience was any remorse shown by Drake.

    It just didn't sit well with me.

  • Killerguppi #48 2 months ago

    I don't trust Naughty Dog in making a good storyline, their pedigree just doesn't gel with it.

  • megurushi Verified Consultant, 2e2 #49 2 months ago

    Didn't we go through this already with Heavy Rain and then...
    It's good to see people wanting to push this art form further and deeper with better story telling, but they do need to keep the ego in check. They are just part of the continuing evolution of gaming and this is just one direction for gaming. That fact is so much more exciting for me. That this game may turn out to be amazing and revolutionary, but there will be others and others doing it in different and exciting ways. I am really enjoying Skyrim for instance and the story telling in that is pretty basic, but I can explore and find my own path, create my own memories of the game. I love chatting to people about it and realising the differences in what we've done in the game and what we've discovered. The main story is rubbish in comparison!
    Will 'The Last of Us' allow me the same freedom or move me continuously down a rigid story arc? Is that better? The answer is No, but Yes, Yes/No. Neither, we can embrace gaming as a whole for all the variation and mechanisms of delivering that gaming experience; from 10 minute puzzle games on your phone to games like this that rival Hollywood productions. It's all gaming and it's all good...


    ps. Crikey do I sound like a pompous know-it-all or what ;)

  • TonyHarrison #50 2 months ago

    They're part of the problem when it comes to storytelling though. The first two Uncharted games (haven't played the third) were standard B movie affairs with the treasure hunting and random supernatural creature thing, much like the 4th indiana jones movie, which everyone hated. Yet because video game stories are mostly terrible, that kind of story gets praised.

  • chris_ace #51 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 12:15:22 13-12-2011

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #52 2 months ago

    Just going to echo what others are saying here and which are suprisingly neg free for a change.

    The Uncharted series are amazing graphically with great cut scenes and voice acting but every jump feels like it's controlled by the game. Prefixed animations litter the game making you feel even less like you have precise control of Drakes actions. They're asset tours. Obviously there's a market for them and there's no denying they're great fun - they are some of the best games this gen. But people are entitled to criticise them and say they aren't the best "games" this generation in their opinion.

    He obviously does have a point but unfortunately the Portal series exist.

    Those games do story AND gaming seamlessly without the need for cut scenes and canned animations. It's what we should be striving for in gaming and leave Hollywood to do it's thing.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 10:40

  • rotmm #53 2 months ago

    As an aside, I personally believe that Deus Ex, way back in 2000, "raised the bar" in storytelling in our interactive medium and few games have matched that since.

    Unfortunately it's all too apparent that Deus Ex did nothing to change the fucking industry because nearly 12 years later we are talking about how to make games more like hollywood movies with quality motion capture... which has little to nothing to do with actual story.

  • MasterNameless #54 2 months ago

    "I don't go to movies to get story."

    You go on to say you read to get story... that's insane, and never expect to be very satisfied as you are in an absolute minority. Most of the people who only go to watch "spectacle" such as Transformers and other such empty effect based film at the cinema would never ever read a book.

    It's insane that some people don't even see films as storytelling devices, and it's no wonder we get horrific attention grabbing TV like big brother and X-factor too nowadays. It's all about the glitz, and fast cuts and fancy effects, and completely devoid of any substance.

    This was no particular dig, by the way, everyone's more than welcome to their opinion, and I'm not saying by liking "spectacle" and no story in films means you like vacuous tv programmes too. That was just such an immensely depressing statement, I had to comment...

    In my opinion, films are solely storytelling devices, I have nothing against effects as long as they add to the story. Without that... well, you just end up with Transformers 2.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 11:06

  • TruSmiles #55 2 months ago

    I can't really comment on Uncharted as I have hardly played the games (I own them, but they're sitting in my backlog) however, one of my favourite games this year was Deus Ex: Human Revolution because of the choice offered through the gameplay. I had the option of sneaking through the whole game and acting as a complete pacifist, not harming a single life. Plus, I was rewarded for doing so, making it a legitimate method of completing the game.

    This was quite a big deal to me. As some of the comments above mention, it would be great to see more protagonists offered the choice between their actions. I don't want to be forced to kill everything I come across, and I want more authentic interaction between NPC's.

    Really, story and choice can be woven through gameplay in this way without depending on massive cutscenes, etc, for narration.

  • chiptoon #56 2 months ago

    its people like this wot cause unrest

  • Mister-Wario #57 2 months ago

    "We try so hard at Naughty Dog to push things," he said.

    Really? Let's be honest here: good as Crash Bandicoot was it shares an awful lot of elements with Mario. Uncharted was your standard action-movie-with-some-supernatural-elements fare. The most original thing they've really done is Jak and Daxter and even that began to take heavy cues from the GTA series later on.

    I'd have a lot more faith in this statement if you were trying something new with this game premise.

    So what do we actually know about The Last of Us? It's a third-person action-adventure with survival elements, set in a post-apocalyptic world after most of the population has been wiped out by a deadly virus, while those remaining are threatened by infected, zombie-like humans.

    All of these elements aren't exactly new. It sounds to me like a mishmash of Uncharted, Fallout and Left 4 Dead. And, you know, that's what really put me off about Uncharted: to me it felt like a mix of Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia and it didn't really handle either of those elements in a compelling way to me. It's alright, but it's not really revolutionary in any way. It looks good, and the story is funny and dramatic, but it's not GREAT.
    Why do many games nowdays have to be defined in terms of other games? Uncharted is Tomb Raider meets Prince of Persia, for instance. Why can't we have more games like Portal where there isn't really much of a parallel?

    If you REALLY wanted to change the industry you'd make a game that would really be trying to do something different with the story and context. You'd be making a game like Portal 2 or Bioshock. They handle gameplay and storytelling in innovative and original ways and Bioshock in particular asked some pretty profound questions about the way we play games. Bioshock Infinite looks to be asking some pretty interesting questions about American identity. And more importantly they were different in context. We had Rapture. We had Aperture Science: totally new and distinctive worlds with a lot of personality.

    You could argue graphics don't matter, and that the gameplay matters in this scenario, but in truth they do. They anchor us in a particular scenario and fefine our entire experience. Would Bioshock have been as good without Rapture? I doubt it. It's kinda what puts me off about Skyrim, besides the bugs: it just looks like a generic fantasy setting. Is there NOWHERE else we can set these games? Is there NOTHING else open to us?

    The point is, Naughty Dog are great at what they do, but what they do has inevitably been seen elsewhere. If we really want to "change the industry" we have to demand more than familiar settings and themes. We have to asked for more than more of the same. If you want to play it safe so be it, but don't expect the medium to move anywhere artistically if you do. And this game is almost definitely playing it safe.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 12:39

  • BigJonno #58 2 months ago

    @rotmm The Death Star thing is because while it was a super-weapon, it was also a large space station with over a million (if my Star Wars nerdery doesn't fail me) civilian personnel. Funnily enough, this is never mentioned in the movies.

  • MasterNameless #59 2 months ago

    @BigJonno Haha, well, you inspired the nerd in me.

    This is what I found;

    Life on the Death Star
    It takes more than a million people to operate the Death Star and there is room for over a billion people on board. There are always at least 1,161,293 Imperials stationed on the Death Star at any given time. The standard complement of personnel includes:
    265,675 Station crew
    52,276 gunners
    607,360 troops
    25,984 Stormtroopers
    42,782 ship support staff
    167,216 pilots and support crew

    :D

    Edit: No real indication of how many civilians... but up to a billion personnel!?! There could have easily been 1 million civilians on board.
    Edited by 3 at 13/12/11 @ 11:05

  • Ed6445 #60 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 13:59:29 13-12-2011

  • rotmm #61 2 months ago

    @BigJonno, "...large space station..."

    Not quite. It was a large military base, and as with all conflicts personnel inside a military base are deemed enemy combatants. Indeed, they had already partaken in the destruction of one planet, without any provocation whatsoever.

  • chris_ace #62 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:28:30 13-12-2011

  • the_inchworm #63 2 months ago

    This just in. Most games don't really on story telling to be compelling experiences. Pretentious bollocks.

  • Obli #64 2 months ago

    ND are coming across as arrogant if you ask me. Don't get too comfortable, ND. There are other people just as talented and working just as hard... for example, the following two people...

    Check this two-part interview with Ken Levine and Guillermo Del Toro - very interesting and lots of talk on the subject of storytelling in games: ht tp://irrationalgames.com/tag/guillermo-del-toro/
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 11:12

  • miiiguel #65 2 months ago

    "I don't go to movies to get story. When i go to the movies, i go for a visual spectacle."

    visual spectacle ?! like stunts performing stuff and explosions and stuff ? Michael Bay.

    Anyway, it's funny how some jump in to say "pretentious bs" I want to shoot stuff, narrative is for book nerds and whatnot, but that it's pretentious bs..., no problem that you like that but there's no need that every game has to be like that. Let them try to make a good narrative, what's your problem? There are plenty of shit to shoot already.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 11:19

  • irrelevanthuman #66 2 months ago

    I enjoy the highly controlled experience the Uncharted games deliver, but I don't think story is ultimately what makes games such a compelling medium. There's room for everything of course, but at its most potent, gaming can induce a purely visual, haptic experience, which is far removed from the constraints of literature.

  • rotmm #67 2 months ago

    @Mister-Wario "...All of these elements aren't exactly new..."

    To be fair, a story doesn't have to be new to be good (or even great). There are few original ideas out there, but a great storyteller will take what is out there and make it their own.

  • Eregol #68 2 months ago

    @rotmm
    @anthonypappa: "haven't heard anyone from ND say it was zombies..."

    Maybe you should have read to the end of the article?

    "Game director Bruce Straley, who held the same role on Uncharted 2, added: "It's not just a zombie game. It's going to be a completely amazing experience that no player has experienced for this genre, the characters, the development, everything."
    Still, he didn't actually say that it IS a zombie game did he?

    Considering the plague either kills people outright or turns them into mutants I'm still unsure the term 'zombie-game' should be applied.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 11:17

  • rotmm #69 2 months ago

    @chris_ace, "dont forget they also destroyed a 2nd death star and a super star destroyer full of people just doing their job working for the lawful government"

    Which again doesn't change the fact that they were coherent characters with coherent goals, the methods justified by their beliefs in the contect of the story.

    That is true whether you agree with their motivations or not, believe the rebel alliance to be freedom fighters striving to bring down an unjust regime or terrorists attacking a just and legal government.

  • Bigglesworth #70 2 months ago

    I think some people are confusing 'story' and 'storytelling'. The Uncharted games' stories may not be shining examples of originality and subtlety, but their storytelling is first rate. That said, I wouldn't claim they are the standout studio in this regard; Ninja Theory are every bit as good.

  • MasterNameless #71 2 months ago

    "Still, he didn't actually say that it IS a zombie game did he?"

    Yes, yes he did. By saying it's not just a zombie game, he's saying exactly that it is a zombie, but also something more. Or at the very least, that could mean it's partly a zombie game, with lots of other elements.

    With your infected argument, fair enough, but that also means that Resident Evil and Parasite Eve also weren't zombie games either. Technically, they're not, but for all intents and purposes, they play identically to zombie games - which is what people are really talking about.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 11:26

  • Nodka #72 2 months ago

    Sounds like a cross between The Road and I am Legend/Omega Man.

    Even if this has been done before it hasn't been done that well in video games and storylines are generally not that great in games.

  • rotmm #73 2 months ago

    @Eregol "Still, he didn't actually say that it IS a zombie game did he?"

    Errrm.... yes, he did.

    She's not just a pretty girl" = She is a pretty girl, but there's more to her than that.

    He's not just a politician" = He is a politician, but there are more sides to him.

    It's not just a zombie game" = It is a zombie game, but there's more to it than that (eg: the love story between father and daughter mentioned)

    I can't read it any other way.

  • Notorious_LRO #74 2 months ago

    Uncharted 2 did not make me feel for the protagonist. Investing emotions into the gameplay is where it's at. Heavy Rain is about the only game I know that pulled it off. And that was only because you could not save the game in the traditional sense and have unlimited lives.

  • edrerai #75 2 months ago

    @TruSmiles you own and dont play it its game problem. you own 2 and still dont play them its your and game problem . you own the 3rd and even now dont play it ... hey lol you know what im talking abaut .

  • miiiguel #76 2 months ago

    And I completly agree with MasterNameless, "I don't go to movies to get story." was very depressing to read. It was like imagining that Hitchcock; Scorsese; Coppola and many others were never born.

  • chris_ace #77 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 12:36:51 13-12-2011

  • redcrayon #78 2 months ago

    The difference between Indy and Drake is that a playthrough of an Uncharted game gives you a kill count equivalent to six times what Arnie racks up in Commando.

    Indy averages, what, a couple of dozen henchmen at the most?

    I love the games but find the constant 'here's some more waist-high cover and 20 mercenaries' a bit over-used as filler, especially when the climbing and few puzzles are a bit easy and short-lived. A bit more development of them would be more in character for Drake than endless repetitive faceshooting.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 11:32

  • TelexStar #79 2 months ago

    By all means try and tell a good story but my worry is that when dev focus on the story too much, the important bit, you know, the gameplay? Gets lost.

    I don't want to pre-judge ND here as I've not played any of the Uncharted games but from what I've read, they tell their stories through cut scenes and set pieces. This, in my view, is a pretty lazy way to tell a story.

  • IronGiant #80 2 months ago

    I much prefer a game over an interactive movie so I hope this is more of a game.

  • sega #81 2 months ago

    Storytelling is so poor because every game is either a zombie game or a shooter! Zombies are fun in the movies too, but you're never going to see the film version of Resident Evil up for an Oscar are you?

    You want to improve story telling in games? Try different genres and scenarios. I'm not saying make Pride and Prejudice the game - make some psychological games, mysteries and adventures that don't involve the undead or the supernatural. The few that do try end up being so cliche that they're just a cheese-fest.

  • herflet #82 2 months ago

    Hype much? Geez.

  • fumasu #83 2 months ago

    He (or, everyone) ought to play Nier, it does everything he's bitchin' about AND is about a father/daughter relationship

  • Golgo #84 2 months ago

    Someone please bookmark this page to refer back to when the game comes out...

  • anomagnus #85 2 months ago

    @miiiguel

    I'm not afraid to say i like bay's movies:D

    Is the rest of the post directed at me? I didn't call anyone a book nerd. I'm a book nerd:)

  • LR100 #86 2 months ago

    "Look guys story telling in games is fucking poor at the moment, we need to change this and we need something new! We need to create something that'll blow peoples minds! Any ideas?"

    "Zombies?"

    "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

  • des #87 2 months ago

    Uncharted story is total shit copy-paste hollywood garbage,what is he blabbing about?
    Trying to make games more like shitty hollywood blockbusters is their goal?
    The last thing that games today need is more scripted,qte,pre-rendered videos,emotional,cinematic experience.

    How mighty have fallen...

  • MasterNameless #88 2 months ago

    @anomagnus Haha, you really must be one of the few people on the planet that enjoys Machael Bay films, and is also a book nerd! The two are usually mutually exclusive. No problem with it, it's just... very unusual. :)

  • zm26 #89 2 months ago

    Has anyone ever used the word "innovative" when describing Naughty Dog?

  • Bigglesworth #90 2 months ago

    @rotmm
    It's not just a zombie game" = It is a zombie game, but there's more to it than that (eg: the love story between father and daughter mentioned)

    I can't read it any other way.

    Actually he could be quoting and disputing a phrase put to him by the interviewer, for example:

    EG: Some people are going to moan that this is just a zombie game..?
    Straley: It's not 'just a zombie game'. It's going to be a ... etc

  • miiiguel #91 2 months ago

    @ anom: nah man, my english is poor, that's all, didn't make myself clear. No problem with ppl who likes Bay's movies, but I do have a problem with ppl who have a problem when devs talk about going for new forms of narratives and not just shoot shit. And you could try to watch some movies from the dudes I wrote in my last post, you might even like it.

  • Dizzy #92 2 months ago

    Story will never beat gameplay. Try to best L4D first guys before going on about "story".

  • MasterNameless #93 2 months ago

    @Bigglesworth But his reply that you quoted is still saying it's a zombie game, just with more elements to it, and possibly excellent and compelling ones too. It's still a game with zombies in it.

    Edit: Re-read your post... and yeah, I can see where your coming from, but it feels like your grasping at straws slightly. We have already seen the trailer, and we know it has zombies/infected in it.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 12:16

  • anomagnus #94 2 months ago

    @MasterNameless

    Well, no offence man, i am entitled to have my opinion. I explictly said 'I' when i said i don't expect anything story wise from a movie.

    As for absolute minority, i would say that i am far from absoloute minority. Look at the highest grossing movies for the last 20 years. How many of them are movies you would classify as 'story rich'? Very few.

    As for TV, i don't watch it. Don't get me wrong, i buy the tv series i like on BR/DVD, but i don't don't watch TV.

    I get my fix for story, character development etc from reading. I'm happy enough with that.

    But the end of my post specfically mentioned that if game developers wanted to improve the story telling in their games, they needed to focus on the writing, not the acting.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 12:01

  • arcam #95 2 months ago

    IT'S A ZOMBIE GAME. But if you want to pretend it's a medical mystery story, like some kind of survival Holby City, then go ahead.

  • Vaarna #96 2 months ago

    It tells you something about the human condition
    Move aside Faulkner, Kafka and Dostoyevsky, Naughty Dog's here and they want to tell us a story.

    I want some goddamn interactivity for a change. That's the sine qua non of this medium: the player's actions within the game should largely determine the plot.

    See: Dark Souls, Fallout (1), DOOM/DOOM II, SotC, The Temple of Elemental Evil, STALKER.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 12:38

  • rotmm #97 2 months ago

    @Bigglesworth

    That's a bit of a stretch, but I'll give it to you anyway ;)

  • marmaduke #98 2 months ago

    The trailer starts off with a corpse and someone beating someone to death with a baseball bat. They're not pushing *that* hard, are they?

  • MasterNameless #99 2 months ago

    @anomagnus I'm sorry if you took offence, I did say it wasn't meant as a dig. I love to read too, and really haven't met any big readers who like Michael Bay. There's really no problem if you do, as I said. True, these huge films are seen by the masses, but I doubt a large portion of these viewers read on a regular basis.

    What irked me about that statement in itself, is that it disregards (and I repeat, the statement does, not you) absolutely stunning classics like The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, Seven Samurai, Goodfellas, every Hitchcock film... that's what depressed me. These are great storytelling devices, and I don't think they should be disregarded for fancy and expensive special effects - they don't make up for a good story to me, to others I'm sure they do.

  • Machiavellian #100 2 months ago

    The problem with story telling within games is that it can get in the way of gameplay. Case in point is the Uncharted series. As the developers try to create an experience more like a TV or movie, they also have to take away the freedom of the player to do so. For some this will be alright but for others this will be to restrictive.

    Creating great gameplay does not need a great story but having both can make the game better than it's parts. The ability to balance the two is what makes a decent developer a great developer.

    I am not sure if ND is there as far as that balance but if they are going to shake up the industry they problem will need to shake up their own formula first.

    Color me interested to see their results. If it turns out to be Drake in a horror game well, I will say that they did not succeed in their vision.

  • Bigglesworth #101 2 months ago

    @rotmm : Your assesments of Indy's and Drake's characters seem a bit off to me =)

    Indy is a damaged character, a brawler, thief and overall unpleasant human being. Yes, he is charming when needed, and of course he has the alter-ego (kind of like his Clark Kent) of being a professor.

    An unpleasant human being with a split personality? Hmm. Indy is the quintessential 'charming rogue'. Yes, a brawler and a thief, with the mild misogyny of the era, but also intelligent, honourable and emotional.

    Drake, on the other hand, is portrayed in the cutscenes are a nice guy, one who's not quite sure why he's actually there [...], one who is thouroughly decent and reasonable.

    Drake is almost a carbon copy of Indy, every bit a brawler and thief, if perhaps more a womaniser than a mysogynist. I'm not sure where you get the idea that he is basically a 'nice guy' though. Yes he's just as charming and honourable as Indy, yet he consistantly proves himself a traitorous and backstabbing employee, and an untrusting (if not untrustworthy) friend. Drake is out for what Drake can get, and it doesn't seem to matter who gets hurt along the way.

  • Bigglesworth #102 2 months ago

    @MasterNameless
    That's okay. I meant to add in my earlier post that I was mainly commenting out of pedantry for the language. I also agree the game is, to some degree, zombieish =)

    That's not necessarily a bad thing. Just because something's been done before, it shouldn't stop someone else coming along and doing it better.

  • MasterNameless #103 2 months ago

    @Bigglesworth Heh, well it's too true that the slightest inflection in our language can often mean the complete opposite thing to what's being said. I do feel sorry for foreigners learning our language sometimes, with other words having multiple meanings, depending on context. It is often even misconstrued by native speakers - especially in text, and then again, a text transcription from an interview like it was here - so it must be tough! :)

  • Code_R #104 2 months ago

    It's going to be great fun like their other games... but something so derivitive as another apocalypse scenario doesn't excite me, and it's hard to imagine it being a groundbreaking plot.

  • Badassbab #105 2 months ago

    Yep video game story telling can be quite poor in most cases but in some cases it's ok or pretty good. Same goes for Hollywood, some of the shit that comes out of that particular industry on a regular basis leaves a lot to be desired.

  • Nithron #106 2 months ago

    Most video game stories are piss poor, it's true. But most stories are piss poor, period. The majority of films that get a wide release have ridiculous clichés instead of stories, and the majority of books are actually terrible, story-wise, as well - especially the most popular ones.

    Maybe the reason the big games all have ridiculous stories is the same reason the top grossing mainstream products in every other sector have ridiculous stories as well.

    Because most people just don't give a shit.

    It's a shame, I know.

  • PuppyFiddler #107 2 months ago

    I'll take interesting gameplay over story any day of the week. Finished every Uncharted game and the gameplay always leave me cold. Bar some puzzles it's the same shit in every level.

  • Jay-ITFC #108 2 months ago

    There will always be a percentage of the audience that just want to shoot things in the face. Gears/COD is proof of that, hence devs and pubs will continue to cater for that demographic.

  • zm26 #109 2 months ago

    Didn't Naughty Dog admit to devising their set-pieces first and then their story? Hardly something to boast about. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

    Of course Uncharted and Naughty Dog are at the pinnacle of storytelling; far exceeding amateurs and charlatans such as Shakespeare, Homer, Virgil or Horace.

  • RodHull #110 2 months ago

    Be careful, Naughty Dog. You're starting to sound a bit arrogant of late. The Uncharted games have been excellent but haven't excactly excelled in the writing area.

  • frazzl #111 2 months ago

    A clear cut case of the pot calling the kettle black. Naughty Dog are in no position to criticize other devs for poor storytelling when the last 3 games they've released have been the videogame equivalent of a Michael Bay flick; lots of action and explosions with very little story telling of note!
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 13:13

  • Vaarna #112 2 months ago

    @RodHull

    It reminds me, they're starting to sound like the Trespasser guys did thirteen years ago.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 13:21

  • Hindle #113 2 months ago

    Thier focus on cut scenes and having the gameplay masically like a corridor is holding things back as well.

  • Whitewalker #114 2 months ago

    Very much looking forward to this... and emphasis on storytelling is the way to go!

  • oi #115 2 months ago

    Fuck storytelling. Fuck it in the ear. Fuck it in the other ear. imo Naughty dog don't quite get it, gammes are supossed to be played, not watched. I judge a game on its gameplay, not its story. I suppose it is possible to tell a decent story 'on the go' ala early James Cameron but please don't make me watch your story via unskippable cutscenes.

    I couldn't give a damn about any of the characters in Uncharted 2, and again this is purely my opinion but it was a backwards step from Drake's Fortune as far as characterisation and story are concerned, so I'm not confident Naughty Dog can deliver a truly riveting story.

    Take Shadow of the Colossus, now I cared what was happening in that whilst I was actually playing it, despite how abstract the whole thing is. I felt emotionally invested in what was going on and all the time not being forced to watch a ton on cutscenes.

  • Eraysor #116 2 months ago

    Trying to change the industry by making the most generic game ever is not a good idea.

  • TruSmiles #117 2 months ago

    @edrerai Blame Skyrim :p

    (And I'll add blaming employment to that list also!)
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 13:33

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #118 2 months ago

    So 2012's big gimmick is mewling women who must depend on a big strong man to guide them through life.

    Grats to western developers in finally finding how to make the Idolmaster and Dream Club sell to western audiences

  • JayKwon #119 2 months ago

    I disagree, Naugthy dog is looking at the wrong way to involve storytelling into a game. Why do we so desperately want to turn it into a movie with cutscenes?

    I want games to be more like games in order to raise the bar. We have our own medium right here, why do we need to try and copy others?

    I like it when I walk though the environment and the environment shows me a corpse, a few bottles of alcohol and a gun. Now I can finish the story of what happened here myself without the game needing to shift focus and get me out my 'gaming experience'.

    I want more creative ideas like that, not a cheap solution like cutscenes.

    Also, animations, facial expressions and dramatic plot aren't necessities for good storytelling. It can definitely improve a story, but are not necessary. Hench a lot of people cared for their Tamagotchi and I like a story told from my dad near a campfire anytime. That's not the point though.

    Games shouldn't worry about story so much the way we know it as in the past tense. A story is already stated, it's finished, it already happened. You can't influence a story. What makes a game a game though is that we ARE in control, we can choose what to do, whom to shoot, when to move, what actions to take. Now, having a story add to a game which you can't influence, which you can't alter, that's taking away from the gameplay. I rather see them put full (creative) effort in how to solve these problems, instead of keep forming these 'hybrid' games.

    They're good entertainment value, and that's what is is ultimately about for the consumer, but in order to raise the bar truly for developers.., well you know what I said.

    EDIT: Wth, why am I being negged? There should be more games like Dark Souls, Ico, Limbo, Shadow of the Colossus, Bioshock, Portal, Fallout, where the story can also be told in subtle ways through what is actually happening real-time in the game then all those hollywood-alike blusters that throw it right in your face like BAM, this is the story, this is what happening, we leave nothing for your own imagination and we just force it upon you. We just create the illusion you are in control, but actually you don't have any influence at all.

    Don't you like a film as Inception with good special effects and a plot where you have to think about better then Transformers? Aren't the best stories and plots, the ones you had to think about, the ones you used your imagination to finish the little gaps. Isn't the mystery in a story that keeps players interested?

    Apparently not because the sales tell otherwise, we like games that do everything for us, tells us just which button to press, what is happening and we can just shut off our brains. Because that is exactly what a game is, an illusion that you achieved something, whereas you're just watching af film. /sarcasm.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 18:34

  • Gecks #120 2 months ago

    whilst i agree with their point - games do almost exclusively have absolute shite for plots, that at best are about a par with lowest-common-denominator action films - i think their perhaps not the best placed to make that statement; stones and glass houses, etc.

    i think the best game plots have almost nothing to do with some sort of filmic narrative, but rather an immersive experience that can only be provided by the medium of videogames. eg, ico, deadly premonition, limbo, portal, etc. the industry needs to stop this pointless obsession with trying to be michael bay, or james cameron, or tolkein.

  • intpleeus #121 2 months ago

    Good luck to them. Another post-apocalyptic tale with zombies. It's a well-worn formula for a reason: it works. In any case, the least important part of any story is its premise; good storytellers can tell a good story using anything. There are great movies with terrible premises, and there are many awful movies with great premises. Premise doesn't matter. Pixar prove this time and again. Some of their stories seem rubbish in synopsis, but good storytellers tell good stories.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 14:09

  • ginovelez #122 2 months ago

    At first reading "storytelling is shit right now" I was angry. With games like Portal 2 and bioshock and even mass effect, this guy is nuts. Shit uncharted 3 wasn't even all that great. But then outside of the games I named, there has not been any real games of LATE that I can point to for great storytelling. So here's hoping Naughty Dog steps up to the plate with this one.

  • Judas_Priest #123 2 months ago

    After reading this article and some of the comments here I realised that I've never actually considered a game just on the story it tells. Sure it's an important part but it hasn't stopped me from finding some title with what most people consider poor stories as my favourite titles; Elder Scrolls, MechWarrior and finally Command and Conquer titles are among my favourites for example.

    They did not need fantastic stories for me to consider them as such, just have excellent game play, which I believe should more be the focus rather than the stories told by the games.

  • The-Bodybuilder #124 2 months ago

    Clearly never played shenmue before.
    Do you know how many times I brought that kitten milk? And romantic? I fought 70 dudes just to get my girlfriend back home safely.

  • tursachan #125 2 months ago

    "a father-daughter-like relationship" = grooming.

    As for Uncharted story telling, how many times in one story can you pretend someone has been shot, but they haven't really?

  • Machiavellian #126 2 months ago

    In order to truly make a game that also excel at telling a story or more important make the player feel like they are in the story is probably more along the lines of games like GTA or RPG without the RPG type elements. It would take a massive team and a lot of time to do such a game because you will need to make things interactive enough to suspend disbelief. If ND feel like make a game more focused like Uncharted series than they will not innovate or flip the industry because gamers want more freedom not constraints.

  • lasersrule #127 2 months ago

    Games shouldn't be concerned with telling stories. They should be concerned with letting players tell their own within them.

  • marty_k #128 2 months ago

    IMO shooting is the weakest part of Uncharted and Naughty Dog after 3 games still hasn't figured out how to create great shooting mechanics. Looks like we'll have much more shooting here so meh - no Drake + more shooting = not happy ;/

  • charming_fox #129 2 months ago

    Perhaps they shouldn't have such a stupid name for a development team, then maybe people would take them seriously and what's with creative leads and developers and stuff swearing all the time... "I'm going to fucking make a fucking game yeah! Fuck you!" it doesn't really instill you with confidence that they can write a good story does it? fuckyfuck

    edited due to ironically poor English skills
    Edited by 3 at 13/12/11 @ 15:34

  • Smoped #130 2 months ago

    You think the storytelling is bad in games? Well compared to the gameplay in movies it's pretty awesome. I mean the best we get is pause, rewind and fast forward. Where's the challenge? And in the movie theatre even that choice is taken from us. All that's left is throwing popcorn at the people sitting in front of you.

  • madjim #131 2 months ago

    Regardless of the success or failure of ND to change the fucking industry, I am not ashamed to say that I enjoy Uncharted games, and I am sure the new game won't disappoint. Game changer? Well, who can say until the game is out? Big words from developers don't help, that's for sure, but ND are one of the few developers who actually have earned the respect of gamers. And for that reason, I take their words more seriously.

    And another thing. Why everybody says that Drake is a murderer? Excuse me, but even in a real-life situation, I'd certainly try to shoot down some angry people who want to kill me. Why doesn't anyone mention Tombraider III where Lara enters a museum (was it Paris, London or something, too many years ago) and kills the guards? It made me wonder back then. Was I the only one?

    Also, I'd like to be negged. That's why I'll say that the strange karma points I see as I read, make me think that there are here many non-PS3 users who don't like the idea of a new great PS3 exclusive. Jealous?

  • charming_fox #132 2 months ago

    @Smoped Don't know if you're being daft or not but that's weirdly brilliant.

  • madjim #133 2 months ago

    @gotyourmoney
    Has better humour than Alan Wake though (who also is one of my faves) :)
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 15:41

  • Smoped #134 2 months ago

    @ charming_fox: Daft, obviously, but intentionally so. But of course it wouldn't be funny if there wasn't a kernel of truth there.

  • alexbulluk #135 2 months ago

    I love ND, but I hope they aren't getting too ahead of themselves.

    No doubt it will be a fun game, but how can they go on about story when they're making one of the most overdone kinds of game ever.

  • lolercopter #136 2 months ago

    As long as the industry isn't fucking changing towards extremely scripted gameplay, fine by me. Some studios insistence in creating cinematic experiences is making them forget that video games are about interactivity. Also, zombies are not the way to go.

  • stryker1121 #137 2 months ago

    BioShock Infinite will have something to say about all this, I'd wager. Still, I don't mind a dev coming out and emphasizing the importance of story. We'll see if ND can deliver in what is an extremely played-out genre.

  • digitalash #138 2 months ago

    "He also argued that reviewers were too quick to praise average storytelling"

    ...like the Uncharted games? If you just filmed and released the cutscenes as a movie, people would call it a fairly well-written Indiana Jones rip-off with shallow, predictable plot beats. Don't get me wrong, I like Uncharted, but it's not exactly challenging, resonant stuff, is it?

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #139 2 months ago

    @unacomn guessing you missed the subtext that he was saying that UC stories arent great which is why he probably working on this game.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #140 2 months ago

    Bold goal, and certainly a good goal storys use to matter and games use to get torn apart in reviews if they had dreadful story. Same as how 5 hour single player would be ripped to shreds in reviews no games that short came out on mass for a while until people stopped being more critical.

    It is really bad storylines and dialog sometimes in games, GTA and MGS are pretty awesome and DEUS EX HR was meant to be great story but even those hiccup every now and agian. Valve and blizzard are good storytellers tbh.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 16:21

  • Totza #141 2 months ago

    I personally can't stand the Uncharted games, too linear for my liking.

  • Daryoon #142 2 months ago

    Is it me, or does every time a developer have a game they believe "pushes the storytelling envelope", they make a public statement about how storytelling in games is awful, and their new game will change all that? And then it comes out, and in narrative terms it's about as ground-breaking as Dan Brown! I swear they hire writers straight from Sixth Form.

  • A_Nonny #143 2 months ago

    God damn it. Great performances from actors does not equate to good story telling, and especially not good video game story telling. A great video game story should be told in a way that no other medium could tell it, it should not just ape film and TV story telling as much as it can.

  • panathatube #144 2 months ago

    I didn't know that Hawke from Dragon Age 2 had a daughter! Amazing news!

  • TazerFan #145 2 months ago

    Let the game speak for itself. Please.

  • subjectxen #146 2 months ago

    Because "change the industry" wasn't enough.

  • Yossarian #147 2 months ago

    Dear Naughty Dog, when you're talking about 'realistic performances' and 'realistic actors', you are about ten light years away from even beginning to miss the point of what videogames are good at.

  • cloudskipa #148 2 months ago

    @gotyourmoney I agree Drake is a very unlikable character anyway imo. He's just a big headed sarcastic twat with none of the charm of Indy or even Lara Croft for that matter. His constant and predictable wise cracks grow so old.

    ND should go back to Crash or Jak games imo, especially Jak as they were proper video games through and through and superb ones at that.

    I'd like to see a return to form for Tomb Raider next year, when they are at their very best they were always superior games to Uncharted tbh.

  • ashmon #149 2 months ago

    i know its gonna be a PS3 exclusive, but i wish this was on the PC as well, it looks ace. Reminds me of I Am Legend.

  • riseer #150 2 months ago

    Well from what i seen with uncharted,i got this game on the top of my list now.I think alot of people are too harsh on Uc3.I loved everything about it,i don't play online very much so i can't say anything about that.I hope this game is pure awesome on a disk.

  • benfresh76 #151 2 months ago

    There's a fundamental difference between good story and good storytelling. Naughty Dog tells very simple stories extremely well in the context of what the game industry has achieved thus far, the problem for me is whether games can tell more complex stories in a coherent manner, something it has failed to achieve in my experience. The other issue is that games that focus on story demand a linear experience; there is no other way to tell a story well. This is not necessarily a problem if that is the kind of experience you want, but it does limit the possibilities to some extent.

    I admire the ambitions of the studio, but it does bother me that their quest for better storytelling has lead them into Zombieland; surely one way in that we could see improvement in game narrative would be if someone of their calibre tried to make something that was genuinely adult and thematically mature without pandering to the lowest common denominator. There's no escaping the fact that this game will, justifiably or otherwise, draw comparison to works like Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road', clearly an inspiration, but I would be utterly amazed if they can pull off anything like the beauty, sadness and depth of human feeling achieved in that story. Here's hoping.

  • riseer #152 2 months ago

    @cloudskipa What the jak games or tomb raider? Uncharted is for a more mature crowd.Jak is more for kids around 12-16.As much as i like the Jak series i would go with Uncharted,For me it's a mature enough game.I can enjoy it w/o feeling like a kid.Tomb Raider is nothing compared to Uncharted everything ND did in UC was lightyears beyond anything in the Tomb Raider games.

  • WadiumArcadium #153 2 months ago

    Good stories are great, but gameplay's much more important.

  • cardboardMonster #154 2 months ago

    I'm a supporter of the fine work Naughty Dog has done to overhaul people's expectations of cutscenes in videogames, but they need to put their money where their mouth is.

    Uncharted's story exists primarily as a series of superbly acted and rendered story sequences, that we endure while controllers sit idle in our laps. How this has truly advanced the craft of storytelling in games is open to debate. Surely it's quite glib to assume videogames should be looking to cinematics to drive the development of storytelling?

    Equally, the thought process behind this latest game seems quite mechanical, being as it is a recreation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which worked as an effective piece of literature because of the sense of attachment you felt with the man and boy through the course of the narrative. How well this premise will work in the context of a video game where you are actually controlling these characters will be interesting to see.

  • Snake_2011 #155 2 months ago

    what Zombies there are none in the GAME. plus you all love the war games that have carried on for gens but a few zombie games & you freak weird.

  • easychord #156 2 months ago

    I don't see why people get so angry about stories in games not being seen as being so important. Do they get some sort of subsidy money earmarked for movies if they are or something like that?
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/11 @ 19:24

  • traviscotty #157 2 months ago

    Hmm, there have been several games across the generations with above average story-telling: Silent Hill 2, Half-Life, Call of Duty 4, GTAIV, L.A. Noire, Deus Ex, Condemned, Fahrenheit...Consistency is important in my eyes; for example, CoD4 is no Hemingway-esque masterpiece in its literary aspirations, but the fact it had a coherent thread to follow, start to finish, with character motivation and development helped.

    Many people moan about cut-scenes and non-interactive elements of gaming, but if they're done well they really can add to the game in question.

  • jokerevo #158 2 months ago

    Lol this is a bit rich from ND. Who are they to talk about story telling when the Drake series is as predictable as the clock on your wall? I have played all 3 games and the story serves only one purpose...to get you to the next setpiece.

    What they have brought to the games industry is a slick execution of story DELIVERY but their stories are as bland as the worst Indy movie.

    Rockstar, Bioware and Bethesda KNOW story and it shows.

    The only game this gen to achieve what this guy wants to achieve above...is Heavy Rain.

    If anything I wish Lucasarts licensed ND to make the Indiana Jones games and we can be done with this B movie hero of the week dude lol

  • silversun #159 2 months ago

    I hope it does what they are setting out and aim to do with it but what i do disagree with in this is this "average storytelling, which could hold back the medium's development."

    I dont think it holds it back, there still a place for this.

    For example one game on my mind at the moment and im sure people will say it not a hollywood blockbuster or even a critic film like say the kings speach.
    The game im thinking of is eternal sonata.

    It has the typical genre type stuff that these type games have yet the whole game, at least what i have played about it is about chopin on his death bed while in a dream.
    I find it a really intresting concept, or another game that was on wii called fragile , which told its story mainly through its setting.

    This is why i think there is still a place for less than realistic storytelling.

  • ballshock #160 2 months ago

    I hope they succeed

  • floppylobster #161 2 months ago

    I would think you'd wait until you'd actually released a game and proved you can tell an amazing story before you started talking like this. Otherwise you've just put a huge amount of pressure on yourself.

  • KanePaws #162 2 months ago

    Is there any chance you could justify your skillful storytelling capabilities with a bit more profanity, though? I'm not sure you have fully convinced me yet.

  • zide #163 2 months ago

    "Story telling in video games is poor"
    And so they went and made a game about zombies and one of the most overused post-apocalyptic "Bearded dude and fearless kid" -setting.

  • Huemac #164 2 months ago

    Does this mean we're never getting an "Uncharted Racing" game?
    I mean with all the push the company is making toward the storytelling ascpect of their games.

  • ShiroBen #165 2 months ago

    Hiring actual writers might be a good start. Just, y'know, as an idea. Bioware understands this, Valve understands this. Other companies just don't seem to get it.

    So, Naughty Dog, do you have a good story to tell? Or do you just have the DESIRE to tell a good story? Are you focusing on the story itself, or too much on the storytelling? What about the actual writing--there's a difference between a good story and a well-written one. The dialogue in the trailer isn't amazing. The concept isn't original. This has potential, but so far I don't see evidence that it's being fulfilled. I know, I know, early days, just a glimpse, but even so.

    I'm not trying to get down on this thing, to be honest I'm filled with tentative hope. But enthusiasm and good intentions don't directly translate into a great story. Passion does not equal talent. You have to work at it. You have to get people involved who know what they're doing--who understand story, who understand storytelling, who can write good dialogue, who can make all of this work within the framework of a game.

    This could be great. Please try to do it right.

  • moartofu #166 2 months ago

    The state of affair isn't dire to be fair but I'm in favour of having more connection with the fiction involved. U3 wasn't exactly the pinnacle of story telling as Nate didn't really explore the connections he had with his most trusted friends.

    The story was just the adventure itself...Quite easy to write a story where they're looking for an object and the enemy foils them from time to time.
    Sure there were some moments like when you play as young Nate.

    Personally I feel their wasn't enough diving into each characters inner thoughts and raw need for each other. Sully for instance, he's made oblivious at all times with when Elena raises the issue to Nate about his welfare. Their are a few occaisions you see Nate think about it but he just kinda shrugs it off in essence and looks concerned at the camera. That's it and nothing else enhances that aspect.

    Also Chloe and Cutter's chemistry, the two to had no real consequence other than to propel Nate's ambitions with no real goal of their own to achieve. They do question the price they have to all pay for Nates' adventure but theirs not much questioning happening up to that point, they just simply flip the quit switch. Maybe these guys didn't need to be put in and probably explored more with Sully.

    I can pick out a few more but that'll do, they did a better script than most other games but a general "I am holier than thou" at other devs is setting yourself an insanely high bar. It's good to get this argument on the go but to convince people, you need to come up with some good source material yourself, which unfortunately Uncharted 3 lacks just a bit.

  • Grayvern #167 2 months ago

    Amy Hennig in an interview on the Uncharted 3 disk talks about how a story should be told and moved through set-pieces so ? is my first thought on the article.

    That and you know ignoring interactivity in the story, games are an interactive medium, or at least a recognition that in many games the protagonist isn't a character but an othered self or a tabula rasa would be smart on Naughty Dogs part.
    Edited by 2 at 13/12/11 @ 23:41

  • nextingz #168 2 months ago

    i don't get one thing, so many people are crying for zombies to be back in resident evil, then at the same time complaining about another zombie game whats going on :/

  • man.the.king #169 2 months ago

    Naughty Dog aren't bad are telling stories, but for me, the best story I experienced while playing a video game was the first inFamous.

  • LR100 #170 2 months ago

    I've book marked this news piece to refer back to, should the game not live up to these lofty statements.

  • jasonbean7 #171 2 months ago

    uhm does anyone else think Naughty Dog has some seriously misguided views on Video games? GAMEPLAY is what matters, not necessarily "story". You need to connect with your character through interactivity, not just the writing, "realistic actors" and graphics.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/11 @ 05:22

  • Gulag #172 2 months ago

    @unacomn I couldn't agree more. Half Life 1 was out around '97 (afaicr)? When current devs learn and impliment all the lessons that game taught about telling a story, then they can talk about 'raising the bar', because right now, very few have even gotten a grasp of it, let alone pulled themselves up to the same level.

  • Fatnick #173 2 months ago

    @Freek Sadly serious PC game stories tended to be better 20 years ago then they are today. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was more of an Indy film than the last Indy film, for example.

  • darm #174 2 months ago

    I think all those people arguing about storytelling in games should turn their attention at Japanese sandbox-type games. Nier, Deadly Premonition and Yakuza series are some great examples. I think that production values of all 6 games I mentioned may be only a fraction of a budget of single Uncharted games, but there are so much things they do great about storytelling. If they could combine all that camera angles, motion capture and other cinematic stuff with that love for their characters that Japanese have, and also add some Western polish and great visuals to it, it would have been something truly amazing.

  • OnlyMe #175 2 months ago

    Wow, that's a lot of people mistaking story for storytelling.

  • KrazyFace #176 2 months ago

    Andywilkie35 says "fuck off and make another Jak you twerps" to ND wanting to bring substance to our industry, and gets +14 for it. Seriously? This is the maturity level of the eurogamer commenter? Looks like this industy is more doomed than ANY of these devs realise, while the execs rub their grubby hands and think of which new sports car to buy next....

  • teabagger #177 2 months ago

    Well so long as the combat and encounter design isn't as terrible as Uncharted 3 I'm sure it'll be amazing. Uncharted's story telling and character development has always been ace, so I kinda feel they've got that side under control already.

  • Marshall2008 #178 2 months ago

    The main issue with a heavy story is lack of freedom and the more on-rails the game becomes. In essence they become more like interactive movies as opposed to games.

  • Snakey #179 2 months ago

    @uknortherner2000

    1) I can't believe 8 people just agreed with you.
    2) "He's hyping up a generic zombie shooter FFS" - Yeah, we've not seen nearly enough of the game to come to that conclusion.

  • Baleoce #180 2 months ago

    There are plenty of games in the market that are capable of telling a compelling story without making you feel isolated when reaching an outcome to an event. If by a "better narrative" you sacrifice that freedom from a gamer, then you are doing it wrong. The way this guy comes across makes it sound like they are in two minds as to whether they want to work in games or film.

    On an entirely related note, Naughty Dog need different spokespersons.

  • hiddenranbir #181 2 months ago

    The best stories are the ones I make, hence love for real sandbox games.

  • Architect_z #182 2 months ago

    Super Stardust HD has the best stroyline. You can throw Skyrim, Halo, this new game, everything out the window.
    Super Stardust HD will make you laugh, cry, it'll change your life.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #183 2 months ago

    He should have said "Change the cunting industry", that would make a better headline.

  • UsedActionMan #184 2 months ago

    Is he Peter Molyneaux?

  • hybridial #185 2 months ago

    I'd take a speech like this from the writers of Silent Hill 2, maybe Roberta Williams or Jane Jenson, hell even Tim Schafer or Bill Tiller.

    But from Naughty Dog? Don't make me laugh. Not to say Last of Us might not be interesting, but what I want from it is a good survival game with a decent and coherent narrative, not a cut scene or QTE fest where the story and gameplay have little to do with one another.

    And maybe make it a better game in general? Because Uncharted was never anything special.

  • Snake_2011 #186 2 months ago

    I think a lot of people hate on ND now because they are doing what others can not & after all the MS fans do not like it because they will never have there games.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/11 @ 16:43

  • KickAssGamer #187 2 months ago

    The environment reminds me of Enslaved.
    The greenery all around is great.

    I really think the "zombie" part was quite amusing.
    It would be great if they could put a good source for the presence of the zombies in the story of the game.

    Naughty Dog is infact right about this game and the story. Watching the trailer made me feel like a story of real life of two survivors and a great fiction unlike other games with full of ridiculous things piled up.

    Believe me I am a true fan of I am Legend movie and also this game.
    Thumbs up for Naughty Dog to come up with this game!

  • Jayaitch #188 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 18:50:52 11-01-2012

  • OriginalxNuttah #189 2 months ago

    although im a huge xbox fan, i love the looks of this game! graphics look breathtaking! only if it was also on xbox would it be soo much better!

  • Ramboness #190 2 months ago

    Yeah yeah.. PS3 exclusive next...


    Dear naughty dog how about you make games for pc? You ignorant cunts.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/11 @ 21:14

  • frazzl #191 2 months ago

    @Snake_2011 Actually no. I don't hate ND. I do dislike statements like these however because they're simply used to stir up fanboys like yourself into doing the company's PR work for free. Do yourself a favour and ask ND to add you to their payroll for all the Internet bitching you do for them :D.

  • madsox1 #192 2 months ago

    I'll comment late with what I'm sure will be a highly negged comment.

    I'm no goody goody but does anyone else hate when someone swears with no real reason/value. I.e. change the f*cking industry? LOL just sounds really tryhard. We don't need another Dana White. Sorry I mean we don't need another f*cking Dana White!!!!

  • ichobi #193 2 months ago

    Some of the most memorable games story-wise have average to standard gameplay. I mean look at Bioshock. It's mechanic is your standard FPS in every sense of the word. Hell it has almost zero motion capture and the graphic is Unreal 2.5 engine, yet it told one of the most memorable story in video game in that very generic environment. The studio never brag about it. Here's the lesson ND, your work will always precede your words. If you consider Holllywood-esque, action packed games with good acting to be a de-facto good story telling, then you still have a lot of work to do. I say respect the game as a medium itself. We want to play game, not watching a 10 hours long B-grade movie. Why Portal turrets, Wheatley, Little Sisters, MGS's funny sound effect, 'Stil Alive' song always come up in every nerd party?
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/11 @ 09:54

  • General-Apathy #194 2 months ago

    A bit late to wade in but...

    I can't think of a single game that can stand up, story or characterisation-wise, to the most average of films or books.

    Some of the 'pinnacles' of storytelling in games, Half Life 2, Bioshock, Uncharted, Mass Effect, etc etc, are similar in impact and maturity to a bloody Hollyoaks episode!

    These sorts of juvenile, cliche ridden stories would have been laughed out of any publisher/movie studio.

    Naughty dog is just a dwarf among midgets.
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/11 @ 11:00

  • Morte-360 #195 2 months ago

    Planetscape,Deus Ex,Portal 1 & 2,Bioshock 1 & 2,Half Life 2 have all done a better job than the Uncharted series when it comes to story and/or characters and more importantly their not utterly scripted affairs they don't exactly have any right to be jumping on their high horse.

    On the other hand Planetscape,Deus Ex and Bioshock(maybe) are the only games I would say storywise are as good as books or movies and I could be looking through rose tinted glasses.
    Edited by 2 at 15/12/11 @ 12:07

  • General-Apathy #196 2 months ago

    @Morte-360

    I disagree with your second point, in book form both Bioshock and Deus Ex would look like woeful, cliche infested sci-fi, complete with plot holes and utterly predictable twists. Can't really comment on Planetscape.

    They might, just might, work as disposable action films.

    The problem is that we gamers settle for sub-par story/characters, so there's no pressure on developers to try harder. I had a lot of hope for Heavy Rain in this respect and, well, we all know how that turned out...
    Edited by 2 at 15/12/11 @ 13:28

  • AnotherIdiot #197 2 months ago

    I don't play games to be told a story, i've got movies and books for that. Games have always fulfilled another purpose for me.

  • General-Apathy #198 2 months ago

    @AnotherIdiot
    Agreed. But you could play games to be told a good, mature story. I don't know about you but the propect is exciting to me.

  • Potioninmypants #199 2 months ago

    Compared to the Mass Effect games Uncharted is a joke story-wise.

  • djreplay #200 2 months ago

    @tursachan Once?

  • silversun #201 2 months ago

    Does anyone remeber FMV games?, there where a few good ones like tex and alot of terrible ones as well,but why did they not expand on that for the human storytelling aspect of games.

  • Snake_2011 #202 2 months ago

    frazzl grow up.

  • eightyowls #203 2 months ago

    She looks a lot like Ellen Page. Juno : Zombie Outbreak.

  • General-Apathy #204 2 months ago

    I'm willing to bet the central relationship between the man and the girl is lifted wholesale from Leon.

  • ThinkingGamR #205 2 months ago

    @unacomn Portal 2's defective turrets also have more personality than Gordan Freeman. The Half Life series has like 1 or 2 characters that are worthwhile.

  • TaniumZX #206 2 months ago

    I gave up on Uncharted 2 due to the tiresome characters. All the cliched little quips and wise ass remarks just started to annoy me. I want to game, not listen small talk and point scoring. The absence of any of that crap is what made HL2 so enjoyable.

  • Creasy #207 2 months ago

    well, ND already did that with Uncharted 2 and 3. But more of that high quality, even better. So can't wait.
    Didn't care for the game when the first teaser came out at all. Then we found out Naughty Dog is developing it.. and bam. Instant most wanted game.
    Every aspect of videogame making in a ND game has higher quality than every other game (combined).
    As for the "quantity over quality" issue.. well, we (game industry) will still need quite some time to overcome that. Look at the current Skyrim hype :( (aweful game, but quantity content)

  • Creasy #208 2 months ago

    @AnotherIdiot good for you. there are people though who need more than just "fun for 4 minutes" (any Nintendo game etc). not you, as we now know. but there are. really.

  • Uncompetative #209 2 months ago

    Linear narrative inhibits non-linear gameplay. If I want acting I will watch a movie.

  • wiser #210 2 months ago

    i have faith in ND and yes the game industry needs to change..... for good. all the butt hurts should stop moaning about their Favorite games being better than Uncharted series. i agree the Uncharted 3 story wasn't the strongest but it was still more interesting than any other game this year.

  • wiser #211 2 months ago

    @Creasy I agree 100% with your comment. i m just wondering why arent you thumbed down for calling skyram awful.

  • alcides #212 2 months ago

    @edrerai, I wouldn't blame you on your english, I think it's brilliant to try and develop multiple other languages. It's just that you're chosing the wrong arguments. If you mean to diss Naughty Dog, don't blame the graphics of their games as they are quite possibly the best ever.

  • minxamo #213 2 months ago

    Sounds like they're getting a bit pretentious.
    I'll have to hear a bit more about the game before I can accept a lecture on storytelling from the guys who build their stories around set pieces.

  • HAL9000 #214 2 months ago

    Instead of criticising the games industry with unnecessary vulgarity, how about instigating and empowering the change via the games he's making?
    Stop criticising and do something about it!
    F*cking A*sewipe!

  • DrMGinius #215 2 months ago

    Swear words: they make you cool.

  • zedzee #216 2 months ago

    So Naughty Dogs' storytelling philosophy is to steal "I Am Legend"'s?

  • Dangerous_Dan #217 2 months ago

    @riseer Tomb Raider 1 has much better level design in my opinion. The whole level is one gigantic puzzle where in Uncharted it's usually one room after another filled with explosion and mostly (not all) boring exploration and climbing interludes. The i don't want to repeat a section even after i had my 5th bear crowd loves that.

  • AnotherIdiot #218 2 months ago

    Very pretentious, and like most games industry elite have head up their own ass. Overpaid I think and need a dose of reality.

  • Abdu@EG #219 2 months ago

    Geez, too much haters.

    LOL @ Xbots, PC fangirls, Nintendo fanN00bs.

  • GloatingSwine #220 2 months ago

    These are the people who admit that they think up the setpieces first and then cobble the story together afterwards to excuse their presence. They have no business saying that they "work hard" at storytelling.

  • webcider #221 2 months ago

    Pretty sad that people will mostly think that Last of Us Beautiful cutscenes tells a better story than say "The Last Guardian" i can just see Reviewers going to lick the shit out of Last of Us as they did with Uncharted yet these games are really crappy compared to the best the industry has to offer.

  • buckfalfa #222 2 months ago

    I'm not sure I agree with Naughty Dog's estimation of themselves as the greatest storytellers in game development. I found Uncharted 3 to be lazy and confusing in terms of plot progression and downright stagnant when it came to character development. Not to mention that, at their best, the Uncharted games tend to just be cherry-picking choice parts of great films and repackaging them into a linear gaming experience.

    I also find it odd that they don't acknowledge BioWare, Valve or Irrational, companies that really have produced some of the best narrative experiences in games while managing not to make them play like 6-hour interactive cutscenes.

  • Morte-360 #223 2 months ago

    @General-Apathy I ment the stories as presented as a game rival movies and books. For example I enjoyed Planetscapes story as much as I have enjoyed the song of fire and ice series. Transfering the game to book form would no work IMO.

    I agree story and characters in general are overall poor and cliched in games their is exceptions just not many.

    The Uncharted series characters are very likeable but I don't think the storylines themselves are particularly good or bad (It does not need to be in fairness). It's the characters that are good. I just don't think they can jump on the high horse about storyline when their not especially skilled in this area when compared to the best developers. (Still I applaud the motive of improving story).
    Edited by 1 at 04/01/12 @ 19:32