How FPS Storylines Are Written

Might E. Mouse writes "Cynics might say 'Who needs a storyline for an FPS game?' and if we're talking Quake or Doom then fair enough. But to brand the entire genre as lacking in story is to condemn gems like Half-Life 2 or Chronicles of Riddick. So what goes into writing a really compelling storyline for an FPS game? bit-tech has an article exploring this topic with the likes of Martin Lancaster, writer / designer for Crysis, Rob Yescombe, writer of Haze and more: 'There's nothing wrong with that of course, back in the day Quake was amazing in its own, essentially plotless, right. But it's interesting that only recently has a push for coherently told storylines appeared among FPS fans, bought on by another few years of maturity in what is an undeniably young medium. Paintings and music have both been around since time out of mind, but computer games have only been around for a couple of decades and only recently have they begun to be recognized for the artistic merit posed by their interactivity.'"

Comments

Only recently?

[sa1lnr]

Clive Barkers Undying springs to mind. And it was scary to boot.

Much underrated game to my mind. One of the few games that I have actually played all the way through.

Shadowman was another.

Re:Never been done

[giorgiofr]

Holy cow, you have missed out big time. Get Deus Ex immediately. Later move on to Half-Life 1 and 2. And there are probably other ones that I don't remember.

Re:Never been done

[Dysfnctnl85]

Have you played Max Payne or Max Payne 2? Incredibly compelling storylines -- nothing has even come close since.

Re:System Shock 2 and the Thief series

[Applekid]

I wouldn't exactly call Thief an FPS... play it like one and you wind up dead pretty quick.

Mod parent up.

[MrFancyPants]

Seriously. http://marathon.bungie.org/Story/