Critical Hit: The Dialogue In Gears of War

[Dorfdad]

Since Im always so supportive of the 360, Im here to show im just as critical. Here is some bad press on Gears Of War..

Bill Gates notoriously promised that when the PlayStation 3 launched, it would run right into the buzzsaw of "Halo 3." But with the boys at Bungie not expected to "finish the fight" until sometime in 2007, it's Epic Games' "Gears of War" that Billg is counting on to fend off the impending arrival of Sony's big black obelisk. And rightly so. The graphics are incredible (of the PS3 action games available at launch, only "Genji: Days of the Blade" matches "Gears of War'"s visual prowess.)


The gameplay is tight, replacing the run-and-gun dynamics that typify most shooters with a more rewarding stop-and-pop system that requires gamers to carefully move from cover to cover to avoid being blasted by the evil Locust hordes. And the controls are extremely well thought out, far more so than we've come to expect from Western game developers, especially those like Epic whose background lies in PC games.


So it's all the more shocking to discover, as Epic and Microsoft steadily lift the kimono on their Next Big Thing, that the writing in the game is simply atrocious. (You can see the video for yourselves here.) My guess is that Cliff Bleszinski and Susan O'Connor--the game's designer and screenwriter, respectively--are deliberately going for an '80s action flick vibe.



But even by the standards of '80s action flicks, the writing in Epic Games' "Gears of War" could use a page one rewrite. Witness exchanges like:
"Welcome to Delta Squad."
"Where are we going?"
"Embry Square. Colonel Hoffman's waiting for us."
"Hoffman? Ah, s--t."
And:
"Hey, are you the Marcus Fenix? The one who fought at Asphyo Fields?"
"Yep."
"Wow! Cool!"
"Not really."


Now, we like good '80s action flicks as much as the next person (think "Predator," "Alien" "Die Hard".) Unfortunately, as evidenced by the aforementioned clip, Bleszinski and O'Connor seem to have been inspired by bad '80s action flicks (like "Raw Deal," "Cobra," or "Marked For Death".) Compounding this problem is the pace and delivery by the voice talent, complete with monotonous line readings, drawn out pauses and strange beats. Good actors and direction can make even bad lines somewhat bearable, but there's no such saving grace here. Obviously, the dialogue in a videogame doesn't need to be good in order for the game itself to be worth playing, and in this regard, Gears of War is far from the worst offender. But it is baffling to see such cutting-edge visuals and cinematic camerawork being undermined by such mediocre lines.



If there's a Gears of War 2--and we strongly hope there will be--we'd recommend that Epic leap forward a decade and look to quality movies like "Three Kings" for guidance.

http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=198305

Fair assesment, Im so SICK of BAD acted cheesy dialogue in EPIC games..

[GartMon]

Yeah, judging the whole dialogue from one cutscene seems fair enough.

[Kingofallpie]

It's an Epic game. Cheesy dialouge is a staple. Sorry, mate.

[skarekrow]

I just cant deal with the "uggghn!" sound every time he goes for cover or the "Nice!!!" and "Sweeeet!" comments after every head shot.

When I play this game, it will probibly be on mute with a stereo cranked up.

[Dorfdad]

Yeah, judging the whole dialogue from one cutscene seems fair enough.

Well from the blog he states to have played more than a cutscene- that was an example for you..

[Aquanox]

I've watched the cutscenes of the helicopter and there's a lot of dialog.

It's perfectly suitable for the nature of the game. How come nobody complained about it in the official thread after watching it?

[Nyarlathotep]

Upon reflection the dialogue isn't that bad, considering the atmosphere of the game, it was the voice actors that didn't do it for me.

[Dorfdad]

Just reporting the press Aquanox its just newsweeks opinion and thought it would be a nice discussion piece here

[maltrophstitan]

I didnt think the dialogue was that bad. It's not something I really judge when i play though.

[MiNiMaL_sAnItY]

Its nice dialogue, imo. Maybe cause I liked the 80s flicks! D

[pendinginsanity]

The dialogue was nothing impressive, but not as bad as they make it out to be.
I've definatly seen far worse.

[GartMon]

I say if im playing the game and I can relate to the character and his dialogue then all is good for me, but if im playing and thinking "man this guy is so stupid and corny" then I have a problem.

Duke nukem has the corniest dialogue in history, yet its somehow satifying.

The dialogue might just be bad for gears, but I dont really care, because I play for the fun of shooting things. Thats just how I am.

[Dorfdad]

The dialogue was nothing impressive, but not as bad as they make it out to be.
I've definatly seen far worse.

I agree have you seen Enchanted Arm, but than again I think to reason he stated that was that this WAS an EPIC game enchanted arms was not, this is Microsoft's HALO3 for 2006 untill Fall of 2007..

[CivicFox]

Yea, the dialouge was like WTF? Sounded too childish and out dated. It would of been better if Epic hired writers for their game.

Three Kings was a great movie btw.

[maltrophstitan]

I think they did have writers

[Blu-Ray]

This sounded like something from a Power Rangers game with a few curse words...

[MiNiMaL_sAnItY]

Id rather have this type of cheezy dialogue than mgs4 type of cheezy dialogue. (dont ask just personal preference)

[exYle]

Id rather have this type of cheezy dialogue than mgs4 type of cheezy dialogue. (dont ask just personal preference)

MGS4 cheesy dialouge? How is it cheesy?

[MiNiMaL_sAnItY]

MGS4 cheesy dialouge? How is it cheesy?

Did I forget to add "personal preference"? No I didnt!

[exYle]

Well, "personal preferences" always have reasoning behind them.

I mean, I can go forth and say "Bill Gates is a nazi" and not provide any reasons why I think as such.

[Fekz]

Did I forget to add "personal preference"? No I didnt!

Also known as, not having a legitimate reason for disliking the dialogue?

[MiNiMaL_sAnItY]

I mean Dialogues like "war has changed" (I dont remember the full dialoges) may sound "dramatic" to some but to me its cheesy.

[Dissident]

The character's a meathead for christs sake. What do ye expect, poetry?

[Fekz]

The character's a meathead for christs sake. What do ye expect, poetry?

I think the dialogue is fine to be honest, as long as it isn't "all your base" it's survivable.

[GartMon]

Since Im always so supportive of the 360, Im here to show im just as critical. Here is some bad press on Gears Of War..

After reading that, this whole topic is a moot to me.