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Romance is "f***ing hard" - Bleszinski News

Xbox 360 News by Robert Purchese

11 November, 2008

Cliff Bleszinski has admitted that tugging on our heart-strings in his new chart-topping game, Gears of War 2, was "f**ing hard to do".

"I wanted to put it in the first one, honestly," Bleszinski told MTV Multiplayer, referring to Dom's search for his missing wife, which plays a significant role in the story.

"It was one of the things [where] we didn't have the confidence in our abilities as storytellers at that time. And we didn't have the time to get it in there.

"It's f***ing hard to do, man. It's really hard to do. I think we did an admirable job of it. Is it a Nicholas Sparks romance? No, it's not. But there's a little bit of heart in there. For some reason, Gears seems to have more of a female following than other shooters.

"It's kind of a good priority to have, I think," he added. "If everything in the game is so badass and nasty, then you just lose perspective. It's like a person who just yells all the time."

We'll be interested to find out what the ladies make of the Riftworm level. Anyway, check out our Gears of War 2 review to find out why we're in love with Bleszinski's latest.

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Comments: 1-48 of 48 in total

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the_dudefather
11/11/08 @ 08:49
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in before predictable 'gears of war = gay romance' jokes
Brodie
11/11/08 @ 08:49
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Actually romance is fucking softly.

Fucking hard is good old lust.

:D
mattigan
11/11/08 @ 08:49
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The 'romance' I've seen so far is a bit cringeworthy to say the least
optimusprym8
11/11/08 @ 08:49
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Have to admit, for a game, it was well done. As for the game appealing to female gamers, my lady says she has a heart-attack just watching me play it
aldo_14
11/11/08 @ 08:54
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"Ladies especially love MY gears of war", Cliff did not continue on to say, grinning maniacally whilst fiddling a giant chrome crotchguard.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 08:54
bad09
11/11/08 @ 08:59
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Sorry Cliffy B, my missus prefers Halo3 :)
Xerx3s
11/11/08 @ 09:01
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Haven't finished it yet but so far I don't get the complaints. It's been an awesome roller-coaster.

I thought that fable 2 would be it but I'm seriously considering putting this i as the goty.
Rirekon
11/11/08 @ 09:02
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"It's like a person who just yells all the time."
Yeah, that pretty much sums up UT/GoW for me
mingster
11/11/08 @ 09:14
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I thought you meant in real life he was finding it hard to get a girlfriend.
ThePissartist
11/11/08 @ 09:17
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'...women like Gears...'.

Big hairy women that regularly inject themselves with male hormones and have a tendency to wear dungarees.

I could imagine some girls enjoying COD, but certainly not a game that involves big characters that look like something that you can buy from a Gamesworkshop store, that like to chainsaw big aliens. I mean, honestly - I'd like to see what these 'women' look like.

Scary geek beasts.
kangarootoo
11/11/08 @ 09:20
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"referring to Dom's search for his missing wife, which plays a significant role in the story"

Yes, thats right. Its pivotal. Pivotal you hear.


"It's f***ing hard to do, man. It's really hard to do."

Which is why people hire professional screen writers, so the job gets done properly.

This is one of the things about game development that irks me. We should never be able to use "making games can be a bit tricky" as an excuse. Of course writing a decent script is hard, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to get it right most of the time.

I don't know what the budget for Gears 2, but they should be able to hire anyone they want to write the plot. Cliffy B and co shouldn't be putting their sticky toffee covered mitts anywhere near a typewriter.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 09:22
Colin8703
11/11/08 @ 09:25
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My wife loves Gears, especially the multiplayer. She likes the violence. I should probably be worried now thinking about it.

Monroe
11/11/08 @ 09:29
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Oh yeah romance. Right. I was so. Uuh touched. By the romance. In Gears 2. Dom and his wife, right? That was the romance part. So uuh touching.

And my girlfriend? Yeah she loves Gears. It's like her uuh favourite game. Hypertrophia is really her business and... and...

Okay I can't do this. Cliff you're an idiot.
Zomoniac
11/11/08 @ 09:40
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You don't always have to fuck her hard, in fact sometimes that's not right to do...
Mentalist(air)
11/11/08 @ 09:41
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"For some reason, Gears seems to have more of a female following than other shooters."

Probably the same reason why Assasin's Creed had more of a male following.
kangarootoo
11/11/08 @ 09:53
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@Zomoniac

That's f*ckin' team work

;)
kangarootoo
11/11/08 @ 09:56
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"For some reason, Gears seems to have more of a female following than other shooters."

Is there anything close to a souce for that? I know a few girls that play Halo and Battlefield to a pretty high level (clans and so on), but I don't know any that play Gears of War. Purely my own anecdotal reference of course, but it seems an odd statement to just let slide without question. I'm sure Cliffy B knows a few girls that play Gears, but its probably mandatory in his house or something.
mkreku
11/11/08 @ 09:57
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Yup. Gears of War has always been for little girls.
OnlyMe
11/11/08 @ 09:57
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My wife like all-out-action games, and right now she's playing God of War. She also asked me if I had Gears of War 2, 'cause she liked the commercial. I had to remind her that we played through the first one a few months back. Right after we played through Resistance.

She's also played through Timesplitters 1,2 and 3. And Metal Gear Solid 1,2 and 3. She played a lot more before we got kids, obviously, but she's still enjoying the occasional game. She doesn't only play action games though, she's played through a few Final Fantasys too, and some platformers. Actually she's played through games in most of the genres.
jack_klugman
11/11/08 @ 09:58
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I thought Dom's wife was called Marcus?
ThePissartist
11/11/08 @ 10:03
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@OnlyMe

That's quite rare. I haven't played some of those games...
warzin
11/11/08 @ 10:05
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Yeah Cliffy, and Viva Pinata that's where you'll find all the real men. Plus they managed to get the romance pivotal in that game too.
seasidebaz
11/11/08 @ 10:07
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Gears 2? Tugging on heart strings?




Pansies, the lot of ya.
Snarky
11/11/08 @ 10:13
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Bless them for trying. It's not going to win any awards for story telling, but it's a nice contrast to the constant blood shed.
Rash'
11/11/08 @ 10:14
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and people say Gears 2 is mindless fun. it actually has a heart...
menage
11/11/08 @ 10:30
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Well, my woman likes Fable 2, VP2, LBP. Hell even DMC and God of War.

Not this.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 10:39
Santino
11/11/08 @ 10:37
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gears 2 is about as romantic as 2 girls 1 cup. its a good game but it is what it is, story is pretty much amateurish crap.
Darren
11/11/08 @ 10:59
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If ever there was proof of the underlying homosexual undertones in Gears of War, it's a cutscene in the new game where Dom after passing out is dreaming of his wife before she fades away and is replaced by the hunkier, macho Marcus Fenix leaning over him, obviously deeply concerned for him. I actually laughed out loud at the "suggestion" of that scene! :D

And it follows that if ladies like Gears of War for the "big guns"... ahem... then it also follows true that the game will have a homosexual following too, further enforcing the fact that this is a big "gay" game at heart. ;)

As a gay man myself, I confess to enjoy all the machoness and male bonding. :D
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 12:00
ArcMonkey
11/11/08 @ 11:00
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Make another Jazz Jackrabbit game!!!

That had more romance, and was probably more appealing to women...
mrmrc84
11/11/08 @ 11:12
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@Darren, it was pretty amusing his wife in the dream scene being replaced by a man calling out his name, an unintentional but amusingly gay touch.

As for doing romance Cliffy B, well you successfully made me laugh at how bad it was. Maybe you should move into comedy?
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 11:12
Gearskin
11/11/08 @ 11:14
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That big cutscene was powerful stuff.
Frandroid
11/11/08 @ 11:36
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You don't always have to fuck her hard, in fact sometimes that's not right to do...

That's f*ckin' team work


What's your favourite posish?
kangarootoo
11/11/08 @ 12:32
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\o/

/would throw in something about a side hatch just for variety and balance, but we are starting to geek out a bit here.
kangarootoo
11/11/08 @ 12:33
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link'sdad
11/11/08 @ 12:38
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There wasnt any romance and that is definately a GOOD thing - just look at how romance spoiled Star Wars.

There was love and there was tenderness and they were both implemented very well for a video game. And if you stopped to think about it for a second it was a very touching moment.

What a roller coaster of a game, thoroughly enjoyed my play through on normal this weekend (one of the best run throughs I've played), will be back for more once I get further into or finish Fallout3.
GamesConnoisseur
11/11/08 @ 12:45
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I thought the conclusion of Dom and Maria story thread in Act 4 was a very adult thing, rarely see that sort of moment in game. Other equilavent would be MSG4 but even so did not on the same scale as that bit in GoW2!

Spoiler Alert!

Shooting your own wife in the head, freaking hell! So who is the real pansy Dom or Solid Snake?!
itsfuzzy
11/11/08 @ 12:54
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If Cliff thinks there is romance in Gears 2 id fucking hate to be his missus
Nithron
11/11/08 @ 13:10
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@ itsfuzzy: Look at him. Do you really think he goes for the ladies?
ThePissartist
11/11/08 @ 13:52
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“…a cutscene in the new game where Dom after passing out is dreaming of his wife before she fades away and is replaced by the hunkier, macho Marcus Fenix leaning over him…”

I would have never thought that Gears of War could be considered gay… thinking about it though, maybe the whole thing could be seen as a repressed homosexual’s fantasy story/dream:

Monsters that come out of holes shooting over big guys with lots of muscles.

*the above is just a joke, please don't read into it too much*
Edited 1 times, most recently on 11/11/08 @ 19:24
rotmm
11/11/08 @ 14:00
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@Gearskin,

I agree. I was surprisingly moved.
ChthonicEcho
11/11/08 @ 14:04
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Swearing makes me look fucking cool. It helps me fucking stand out in the fucking crowd.
paketep
11/11/08 @ 14:20
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Whoa, this would count as Epic's stupid comment of the month if it wasn't for Mike Capps whining about the fact that once we buy a game and finish it, we can gift it or sell it, and that PC piracy is oh so huge and nobody wants to buy their buggy POS port of GoW for Windows.

Next time, Cliffy, next time.
gaselite
11/11/08 @ 16:24
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I haven't played Gears 2 and I don't know who wrote it, but if it's a hard thing to do, or they at any stage lacked faith in their storytelling abilities, then perhaps they should've hired a writing professional to develop the story and work on the dialogue, if not come up with all the written content himself (under instruction from Bleszinski, of course).

I think it would be a mercy if more game developers approached actual writers, screenwriters for instance (unless their existing staff with writing duties are genuinely good - this is seldom the case) rather than try and wing it themselves because so much of it (storytelling in narrative driven games) basically feels like poor fanfic without the ridiculous sex.
qoobah
11/11/08 @ 18:42
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Well I admit that the "There's a time for us" level and it's ending and the end of Tai was surprisingly adult and serious in a game thats basically the very contradiction of both, I still think the overall "story" and "writing" was worse than piss-poor.

I mean, damn. Cliche over a cliche followed by a cliche. If there was ever any substance to the story then it drowned in Riftworms blood. Gears is just this type of game I guess, which is not a bad thing as it's very well done and enjoyable for what it is, but come on, lets not fool ourselves. If the devs say they put attention to story and came up with this, then I guess it speaks volumes about industry's overall approach to storytelling in gaming.
bonker
11/11/08 @ 18:53
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"For some reason, Gears seems to have more of a female following than other shooters."

I assume that he means "female" following ...
itsfuzzy
11/11/08 @ 21:13
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@Nithron: I suppose your right . . . . Lmao
jlaakso
12/11/08 @ 06:52
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Not knowing anything about Epic's development, I'll just say that writing for games is hard. It's not about money or effort, it's the difficulty of finding a writer who gets games in general, gets your concept, writes well, is on the same page with the developer and seemingly the hardest part of all - has the time to get involved.
half
13/11/08 @ 15:43
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I'm actually finding a lot of these comments both humorous and offending. As a woman I love to play Gears. I'm playing it on hardcore single player. I plan to do insane when it's unlocked. Plus I've been playing Unreal Tournament from back in my Uni days. I'm yet to go on live on Gears though since I tend to get serious lag. But I plan to, soon.

To 'ThePissartist' you don't have a clue about girls that play games. I regularly get attention from men, even had ones trying to get my phone number after I've showed them my engagement ring. I'm not a super model, but I'm ok enough to get chatted up and even begged for my number even though I will be getting married. I own all three consoles, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 and play the odd game on the PC. I have a DS and play the odd game on the PSP when I can. Having all consoles, well sometimes finding the time to play everything can be a problem. I still have Ninja Gaiden 2, Mass Effect and Orange box to finish off. But I'm getting there.

The romance element to Gears 2 is a nice touch. I'm really appreciating the more in depth story line this time round, gives it a bit more substance.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 13/11/08 @ 15:44

Comments: 1-48 of 48 in total

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