View Full Version : Best Written Game
popltree2
10-08-2008, 06:27 AM
So Dan says that Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway was the best written game ever. What do all of you think is the best written game ever?
My opinion? P.O.R.T.A.L.
dannyt
10-08-2008, 06:57 AM
I think I started to say but cut off or whatever, that I was referring to the Cinematics rather than the overall game...
popltree2
10-08-2008, 07:12 AM
I think I started to say but cut off or whatever, that I was referring to the Cinematics rather than the overall game...
Ah, I see. While I haven't played Brothers in Arms yet, I think the reason why I think Portal has such exceptional writing is because it really was exceptional writing that wasn't expected. When I bought it, I was expecting a cool puzzle game with a really fun mechanic. What I wasn't expecting was, to quote Yahtzee over at Zero Punctuation, "some of the funniest pitch black humor I have ever heard in a game."
Was Brothers in Arms a particularly engaging storyline? I just feel that World War II games have been done to death by now. Same with movies really. Speaking purely from a story perspective, what does this add that was not already given to us in the fifteen-thousand* CoD/MoH games?
*depending on the year you are reading this, this number may or may not be greatly exaggerated
esophagus
10-08-2008, 08:21 AM
Was Brothers in Arms a particularly engaging storyline? I just feel that World War II games have been done to death by now. Same with movies really. Speaking purely from a story perspective, what does this add that was not already given to us in the fifteen-thousand* CoD/MoH games?
*depending on the year you are reading this, this number may or may not be greatly exaggerated
Six Gun in the iFanboy forums posted a review (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2008/10/highway-to-eindhoven.html) of Brother in Arms today. He said its the best storyline of any WWII game he has played (and the boy seems to like his war games). Haven't played it myself, but that seems like a strong statement not to have some truth behind it.
poltah
10-08-2008, 10:38 AM
I really liked Giants: Citizin Kabuto.
nobeaner
10-08-2008, 04:24 PM
Advent Rising.
Yes, the game had problems with the mechanics, but the story told from the cut scenes was engaging for me.
dolson
10-08-2008, 04:32 PM
I've stated my opinions on it before, and how it's my first real Metal Gear game, but Metal Gear Solid 4 was epic.
I'm also digging the story in The Darkness. Can't wait to get my PS3 back so I can find out how it ends!
tomanderson
10-08-2008, 05:43 PM
Six Gun in the iFanboy forums posted a review (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2008/10/highway-to-eindhoven.html) of Brother in Arms today. He said its the best storyline of any WWII game he has played (and the boy seems to like his war games). Haven't played it myself, but that seems like a strong statement not to have some truth behind it.That storyline I thought was almost all real, wasn't it? It was based on shit that actually happened in WW2 right? I know the first ones were for sure.
Anyway, in terms of writing and the extent that the writers had to go to to fill in dialogue trees and the universe, I think Mass Effect is the most impressive writing I've seen. All the characters interact like real people throughout the entirity of a very long game, which is damn impressive.
aerodash84
10-08-2008, 07:20 PM
I might have to say BioShock. The way that game was laid I out, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to learn more about what really happened and the ending just blew me away. Such a great spin on games in general really if you think about.
nobeaner
10-08-2008, 08:22 PM
I might have to say BioShock. The way that game was laid I out, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to learn more about what really happened and the ending just blew me away. Such a great spin on games in general really if you think about.
I agree. And from all accounts that I've heard, Dead Space will deliver on the story being interactive with no cut scenes so I am really looking forward to it.
loestal
10-09-2008, 05:05 AM
From a pure storyline/plot aspect...I honestly think the Halo series has done the best job in recent memory. It's mythology it has created, the grand epic scale...all of it had me hooked from the first game. I think there is just as much story potential in the Halo-verse as in Star Wars.
DarthEnder
10-09-2008, 06:26 AM
It's Planescape: Torment. Easily.
Baddox
10-09-2008, 04:44 PM
From a pure storyline/plot aspect...I honestly think the Halo series has done the best job in recent memory. It's mythology it has created, the grand epic scale...all of it had me hooked from the first game. I think there is just as much story potential in the Halo-verse as in Star Wars.
That's because Halo IS Star Wars. Personally I don't think either is particularly well-written, although I do applaud both for the grand scale of the universe they have created for themselves. I hear the Halo books (or at least some author's Halo books) are decent, but I never really got into the single player Halo experience anyway.
As for the best-written game, I must admit that until recently (last 3 years or so) I never really paid much attention to the writing of games, since as a general rule they've been pretty much crap compared to other media (cinema/prose/etc.) However, the Half-Life series has always impressed me, especially looking way back to HL1 when HL2 came out and realizing how far we'd come. I don't play survival-horror games, since they're not fun, but I'm sure there is some good writing in those as well.
check out Xenogears, amazingly well translated from a very complex script. there are some very cool scenes. i can list others but Xenogears isn't well known to most people who aren't avid RPG players.
loestal
10-09-2008, 06:16 PM
That's because Halo IS Star Wars. Personally I don't think either is particularly well-written, although I do applaud both for the grand scale of the universe they have created for themselves. I hear the Halo books (or at least some author's Halo books) are decent, but I never really got into the single player Halo experience anyway.
As for the best-written game, I must admit that until recently (last 3 years or so) I never really paid much attention to the writing of games, since as a general rule they've been pretty much crap compared to other media (cinema/prose/etc.) However, the Half-Life series has always impressed me, especially looking way back to HL1 when HL2 came out and realizing how far we'd come. I don't play survival-horror games, since they're not fun, but I'm sure there is some good writing in those as well.
They are very similar yes, but what is 100% unique anymore? The Halo books are well written, all but one. Eric Nylund I believe wrote them, and he does a good job of bringing the epic, some times over the top universe down to earth a little, grounds it in reality more so than the games do because let's face it, your not playing the games for that. I think he may even have some scientific background, I can't remember though.
Jay_Ray
10-10-2008, 01:12 AM
I'm going to through out 3 major Bioware games KotOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect, their writers know how to write engaging stories, and I'd say they're the best in the biz right now.
satori
10-10-2008, 01:48 AM
I might have to say BioShock. The way that game was laid I out, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to learn more about what really happened and the ending just blew me away. Such a great spin on games in general really if you think about.
agreed, it's bio-shock hands down. Before Bio-Shock I'd likely say System Shock. Halflife 2 or perhaps Undying, but I have yet to experience a better scripted game than Bio-shock.
Forbizzle
10-10-2008, 01:55 AM
I would like you to copy your post about halo, print it out and hide it some place safe. In a few years you will find it, and feel a deep dark shame. Much like the shame I feel when I look over and see the complete works of Raymond E. Feist.
Actually screw that, Feist rules. Betrayal At Krondor wins.
stranger_danger
10-10-2008, 02:01 AM
Ms. Pac-Man.
dolson
10-10-2008, 03:07 AM
I would like you to copy your post about halo, print it out and hide it some place safe. In a few years you will find it, and feel a deep dark shame. Much like the shame I feel when I look over and see the complete works of Raymond E. Feist.
Actually screw that, Feist rules. Betrayal At Krondor wins.
I liked Return to Krondor, and so did the wife. I forgot all about that game... Didn't even know it later turned into a book, or that Betrayal was also turned into a book, until just now.
blacksymbiote
10-10-2008, 05:51 AM
Mass Effect did a really good job of fleshing out it's universe with all the details about the many species, companies, the effect that new technology had on all aspects of life from mail to missiles.
I would also like to mention Lost Odyssey for its dream sections. They may have only been text blocks, but they were often touching and profound.