Warren Spector is a name that carries with it much respect in the gaming industry. The Deus Ex creator is often regarded as one of the best writers in the field, and with games becoming more and more cinematic, you’d expect the man to be interested in making a heavily scripted game with that talent.
Except doing just that, is the last thing that Spector would ever want to do.
Need an example of a game that prioritises script over gameplay? Take Heavy Rain as an example, the kind of game that Spector confesses that he’ll never make. “Heavy Rain – I would just never make a game like that,” Spector told MCV Pacific.
In Heavy Rain, nothing surprising will ever happen. No player will ever see anything, do anything, discover anything that David (with his undeniable genius) didn’t create.
I loved that game as an experience – it was unbelievable. It made every day mundane things high drama. I mean, holy cow! I’m in awe of the talent of the guy who wrote it and his ability to tell a cinematic story. But would I ever make a game like that? Absolutely not.
Don’t think for a second that Spector hates Cage and his work however, as he feels that the man is one of the best writers alive today when it comes to games, next to a certain other, Brutal Legend.
“If Tim [Schafer] isn’t the best writer in gaming, David is” Spector said. And while Spector adores both writers and developers, it’s his own method of telling a more dynamic game story that will keep him from creating such a game in the process;
Nothing’s going to happen in one of those games that wasn’t pre-planned. And that means that Tim can tell a way better traditional story than I will ever be able to tell in a game.
I wish I was as good a writer as him. But, that kind of game is not what I want to do.
That more open-ended style of gameplay and story that Spector mentioned? You can expect it in Epic Mickey 2, later this year, on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Last Updated: July 4, 2012
