Storyline Explained.

[D_Litch]

I was browsing Wikipedia and found this. Thought I would share it with you guys.

Backstory

Gears of War takes place on an Earth-like planet known as Sera, inhabited by the human survivors of a once-glorious civilization. For a millennium, however, they fought among themselves, culminating in a battle to control Imulsion, a phosphorescing, low-viscosity fluid. Discovered by an oil-exploration drill, it was unusable until a woman named Dr. Helen Cooper created the Lightmass Process, which enabled production of cheap energy. The world economy soon collapsed due to its extremely low price and the elimination for the need of hydrocarbon and nuclear fuel sources. The few countries that had an overabundance of Imulsion under their feet soon found themselves at war with nations who were not as lucky, and so began the Pendulum Wars. During the seventy-nine year war, the Coalition of Ordered Governments, or COG, became a legitimate minor political party. Founded long before the Pendulum Wars by fanatical socialist Alexiy Desipich, the party was based on an obscure world-government philosophy based on eight guiding principle values: Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humility.

The Pendulum Wars finally ended with the COG establishing control over Sera, with magnificent cities and culture returning to the war-torn planet. Many believed a new golden age was upon them. This belief was crushed on what is now called Emergence Day. In less than twenty-four hours, a ravenous species known as the Locust Horde attacked every major city, leaving a quarter of Sera's inhabitants lying dead. By the time human forces pulled together to form a effective defense, it was too late. The Locust Horde took control of nearly every urban, military, and manufacturing center and quickly crushed Sera's valiant defenders. Billions lay dead. The COG took matters into their own hands and reenacted the Fortification Act, allowing martial law to be placed on all remaining survivors from the initial invasion. All survivors were ordered to evacuate to Jacinto Plateau, the only haven the Locust Horde could not penetrate from underground due to its thick granite substrata. Survivors who could not make it to the plateau were given the following apology: "For those citizens who can't make it to Jacinto, the Coalition appreciates your sacrifice. Please forgive us, this is the only way." Chemical and orbital particle laser weapons were launched to eradicate the Locust Horde in infested areas, denying them from using any cities or military installations, scorching the planet. 90% of Sera's surface became a wasteland, but the Locust Horde continued to survive by staying in their underground warrens.

Meanwhile, Jacinto was being fortified into an unassailable fortress. Its once magnificent cities, envied for their beauty, were soon turned into military use as defenses. The plateau's natural fissures and utility systems were destroyed or flooded with nerve gas to delay the Locust Horde's eventual attack. The survivors, or Stranded, living in horrible conditions and poor nutrition, had to find ways to defend themselves. When the Locust Horde began their attack, Marcus Fenix abandoned his post in a response from a distress call from his father, a renowned scientist, at the East Barricade Academy, but he was too late to save him. At his trial in the House of Sovereigns, Marcus was charged with dereliction of duty, cowardice, and failure to obey orders. Exempted from execution due to his exemplary tours during the Pendulum Wars, he was instead sentenced to forty years imprisonment at Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary. Four years later, the COG found themselves running low on able-bodied defenders, turning to untraditional sources of men; the infirmed, the young, and prisoners considered "irredeemable". As soon as the pardon was given, the Locust Horde overran the prison. The player begins the game here.

[Wondermonkey]

Most of that seems to be directly lifted from the Collectors Edition Book right?

I have a feeling the tie in novel(s) will delve into back-story more than anything else, there seems to be a lot to explore.

[D_Litch]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey2k

Most of that seems to be directly lifted from the Collectors Edition Book right?

I have a feeling the tie in novel(s) will delve into back-story more than anything else, there seems to be a lot to explore.

It's possible, I didn't read the book. I copied it from Wikipedia. I can't wait for the novels though.

[Fragmintz]

Novels would be awsome - it kind of pissed me off reading (what I believe to be) the very PS3-biased reviews in Game Informer that said GOW had no real story to it. What I think GOW did was leave a lot of the story open for explaination and expansion. What do you guys think? This post by D-Litch puts a lot in context.

[Peench]

Good point Fragz. The game itself may not have much depth to permit further franchise stuff? Not certain that doing so is such a great idea b/c of the bad press it may have resulted in, but I do like the fact that there is more to the story that can be expanded on.

[BiffCo]

I think Epic needs to take some training classes on how to weave a story into a game to create an interesting plotline. As it stands, Gears is just a graphical powerhouse with nothing in terms of plot development. I think that's why I got bored with it (other than the repetitive gameplay). I didn't care what was going on because I knew nothing. I didn't really care about saving the planet because all I knew is that I was fighting bugs.

As much as I dislike Halo, that franchise is leaps and bounds ahead of Gears in terms of sheer scope and size when it comes to it's story. I feel no sorrow for Marcus Fenix because the game didn't tell me why he was locked up (I know now. Typical...).

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but I feel that I wasted hours of my life. Playing through the single player really was a disappointing experience for me. Sorry, but Epic is going to have to offer more than stop and pop gameplay for this gamer.

-Brad

[Wondermonkey]

Story's there, you just have to do two things.

1) Pay attention. Most of it is told during the game play by characters, not during cutscenes.

2) Piece it together for yourself. They give you many many different pieces of story, but it's up to the player to bridge the gaps.

They aren't shy about saying that these are 5 Acts of someone's life.

Personally, I think that the Gears franchise has the potential to be as expansive and interesting as the Halo storyline is.

[SpOoNmAn]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey2k

Story's there, you just have to do two things.

1) Pay attention. Most of it is told during the game play by characters, not during cutscenes.

2) Piece it together for yourself. They give you many many different pieces of story, but it's up to the player to bridge the gaps.

They aren't shy about saying that these are 5 Acts of someone's life.

Personally, I think that the Gears franchise has the potential to be as expansive and interesting as the Halo storyline is.

Do I even have to bothering saying I agree?

[BiffCo]

Originally Posted by Jon Liu

it's odd that you've drastically changed your tune now that you've stopped playing it. I thought I remembered you playing the single player or rather the Co-op and really enjoying it. Now the multiplayer I can understand but, I don't think you were complaining about the other things while playing it before!

As for the storyline, yes it is lacking.. but, I don't understand why you're changing your opinion on the entirety of the game just because it's lacking in the storyline.

Regardless, I've said it before though but it's worth repeating, this game is not for everyone!

I wouldn't say drastically changed. I played the co-op because it was fun to have a buddy to talk to while playing. The cutscenes and chatter between characters showed what little the game had to offer in terms of storyline, though. I don't have any problem piecing the storyline together, but Epic didn't give me a lot to work with. BMC was pretty much my co-op buddy through the whole thing, so feel free to ask him how much I complained about the repetitiveness and the lack of story.

I'm pretty much beating a dead horse by stating that I think this game doesn't deserve more than a 6/10 from me. Storyline is a big factor for me, or even something that revolves around an event in history (Call of Duty). While I may seem like I'm bitching, I'm comparing the game to other shooters like Halo and Half-Life 2, both of which had excellent storylines that can be extended pretty far. Not having a storyline evident throughout the campaign almost seems like the devs took the easy way out.

I will totally agree, though, Jon, this game is not for everyone. I was pretty hyped on the game which is probably why I was disappointed with it. It's definitely a nice looking game, but I'm a fan of fun gameplay instead of flashy graphics. Factor in that I have a personal vendetta against MTV VJ-wannabe Cliff Blezenski, who I refuse to call by his nickname, and the game just isn't up my alley. Cliff can make an awesome looking engine, but he has yet to hone his game making skills.

For some reason, I seem to be in a pissy mood lately in regards to this game. I don't know why, but I can't help but voice my opinion. Please don't think that I mean any offense to anyone who likes this game. Matter of opinion is what makes each of us different. While some will absolutely love this game like Master Chief loves Cortana (they're having a baby ), I know there are others like me who were disappointed and hope they can make a better game in the sequel. To each their own.

I'm glad we have PGL, as I know of some other places where I would voice my opinion and get flamed for it. Having a place where your opinion is respected even though it's different from most is a great feeling. Thanks guys and gals.

-Brad

[Epyon MX]

I finished the single player last night. I'm pretty disappointed in the game. It has sick graphics and solid gameplay (innovative in many ways, cumbersome for me in others).

But what bothers me the most is how frequently I had no idea what was going on in the story.

************SPOILERS**************

Like when you're going to the Fenix estate. I had no idea why we were going. I just knew we were. It was only after I had cleared the house and got to the basement and found the secret lab (because I was explictly told to do so), that I realized why I was there. But why did Marcus' father have a secret lab? I know he was a scientist (but only because I read the first post in this thread). And why did he have tunnel data for the entire planet? And then after that, with no explanation, I'm boarding a train. I move forward because I'm told to do so. Then there's General RAAM? Why is he on the train? Is it his train? Or did he board it? What's the train going to do? There are missiles?

I swear I was paying attention, maybe not 100% (chatting with Keezy), but it's not like I was in the kitchen making lunch. I was sitting in front of the TV listening and reading the subtitles.

I also have this gripe with R6V, but not to the same degree. In R6V, the mission briefings simply aren't long enough for me. I need more background. I leave Mexico and suddenly I'm in the middle of a Vegas war? How did it start, etc... They explain some of it, and some of it is unknown to the good guys. But I want more.

****************END SPOILERS*************

I'm going to sit back now while you guys reply to those statements.

[Wondermonkey]

Originally Posted by Epyon MX

Like when you're going to the Fenix estate. I had no idea why we were going. I just knew we were. It was only after I had cleared the house and got to the basement and found the secret lab (because I was explictly told to do so), that I realized why I was there. But why did Marcus' father have a secret lab? I know he was a scientist (but only because I read the first post in this thread).

I don't think anyone knows why we were there, except that his father was working on something big before his death, which is likely why he died.

Originally Posted by Epyon MX

And why did he have tunnel data for the entire planet?

Clearly because he was working on eradicating the Locusts, which may be why Marcus disobeyed orders and attempted to save his life.

Originally Posted by Epyon MX

And then after that, with no explanation, I'm boarding a train. I move forward because I'm told to do so.

You're on the train to upload Papa Fenix's underground data into the lightmass bomb, which is on that train, because the COG army was transporting it.

Originally Posted by Epyon MX

Then there's General RAAM? Why is he on the train? Is it his train? Or did he board it?

Boarded it. He's on the train, I assume, because there are crates of cereal on the train. You don't learn this until the Berserker crashes through them. General RAAM hates everything except cereal, and it turns out to be his downfall.

Yes, it's a human train, and even has human turrets. I don't know what station it left, or even how fast it is going, but the Locusts commandeer it while you're on it.

Originally Posted by Epyon MX

I swear I was paying attention, maybe not 100% (chatting with Keezy)

See? There's your problem. You can't pay attention when orangeass is in the room. It's impossible.

Seriously though, you aren't meant to have the whole picture. In my opinion, this Gears picked up in the middle of the story. Sometimes you just need to go along for the ride. We had no idea why Vader was chasing the Princess either, and we had no idea why we should care who Ben Kenobi was, but we did. Some of us waited years to find out too, long tortuous years.

[Epyon MX]

I'll agree with you on all those points. I should have paid more attention. However, it's not all Keezy's fault. He only played Acts 1, 2 and 5 with me. But let me say that the storyline delivery method simply wasn't effective *enough.* I should have been able to pick up much more than what I did with the amount of attention I paid to the game. I should be able to play the game through once and understand the story and then multiple play throughs reveal nuances and details I missed the first time. That didn't happen with my playthrough. *shrug*

As it stands, I am pleased that I played the game. The controls never felt natural to me (a symptom, I believe of playing R6V first). The story (after it was explained to me) was interesting (but not riveting). There was some good innovation (active reloads, cover). Some clicheness, the way the baddies behaved, etc... Dom was an untrained hamster with a gun. He never had my back, hardly ever downed a grub (even on Casual), died often. Dom *must* be improved signficantly for GOW2. Of course, I enjoyed it for the graphics, which were really gorgeous. But I really enjoyed it for the co-op. Co-op is why I bought the 360 and it's what I love about next gen. In the end, it's a solid enjoyable game with some serious potential.

Overall: 8/10 for SP (without co-op it would have been a 7/10, but then it wouldn't have been GOW, would it?).
never did play any MP

[Wondermonkey]

I don't agree at all.

The gun-toting hamsters I have seen are light years ahead of Dom.

[Serren]

The story IS weak, the graphics and game play are awesome. My major gripe is that you cant fall over edges/cliffs. How hard would it have been to program a falling to your death cut scene or something? I just hate bumping into invisible barriers that break the realism of the game.