Skimming through the Interweb this morning, we stumbled upon statements made by BioWare's Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, spelling out their interest in creating games more reliant on story than combat. Well no duh, guys. However, digging deeper, we found that the BioWare docs aren't just talking about the usual marriage of story and gameplay that their studio focuses on, but removing combat nearly entirely from games in the future.
"We talk a certain amount internally about whether you need to have combat as part of the experience ... are there possibilities to actually start separating pieces of the game and actually tailor it to the audience," Zeschuk said to GamesIndustry.biz. "There are different audiences that would maybe just enjoy the story," he continued, hinting at the possibility of future BioWare games without any violent actions whatsoever. Though we're inclined to point to the plethora of adventure games out there, we're more hopeful for a Jade Empire sequel with extra spoonfuls of violence rather than too much reliance on story. We can hope, can't we?
Reader Comments (96)
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:27PM StormEagle said
Dash, your comments fall on deaf ears as far as the mainstream gamer is concerned in today's world. If Fallout 3 had never come out, you ask any teen if he had heard of the Fallout series or Planetscape or any of those classic RPG's and they would've looked at you like you had 3 heads.
I think the point being made is that the GENERAL gaming community doesn't know that games don't have to be all about plastic peripherals and shooting everything that movies. They can have engaging stories with characters that you control and care about it. And that it wouldn't be out of the question to create a game like that again that everyone can understand, respect and enjoy.
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I think the point being made is that the GENERAL gaming community doesn't know that games don't have to be all about plastic peripherals and shooting everything that movies. They can have engaging stories with characters that you control and care about it. And that it wouldn't be out of the question to create a game like that again that everyone can understand, respect and enjoy.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:35PM Courtney said
I was a bit disappointed in the overall combat focus of Fallout 3 (after having played the original multiple times). The freedom and sheer number of options to handle problems gave a sense of a deeper world that the prettier and bigger Fallout 3 simply doesn't have.
Your words don't entirely fall on deaf ears, there are a few of us old timers still out there.
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Your words don't entirely fall on deaf ears, there are a few of us old timers still out there.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:23PM shimrra74 said
BioWare's next game could be a porn then :D
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:23PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
Wii Fit has violence??? How about EyePet??
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:02PM R Planteer said
I think they meant like REAL games.
Like an RPG with a full storyline with no violence in it.
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Like an RPG with a full storyline with no violence in it.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:16PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
hell those have happened as well. Now if they ment an M Rated game with NO Violence then that would be new......maybe a soft porn game??
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Posted: Jul 7th 2009 12:27AM (Unverified) said
Jade Empire, or, as it was referred to internally, "Have sex with one girl or two girls if you're a man or one man or one girl if you're a girl awesome game".
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:30PM WiredKnight said
It's already happened, they're called racing games. :D
Burnout, Mario Kart, etc need not apply.
Burnout, Mario Kart, etc need not apply.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:39PM MystileArmor said
So ramming your car into your opponents is not violent? Or tossing turtleshells at each others heads isn't either?
What's your definition of violence?
The funniest thing is you point out racing games aren't violent, which a good few of them aren't. Yet you pick the two games that ARE violent...
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What's your definition of violence?
The funniest thing is you point out racing games aren't violent, which a good few of them aren't. Yet you pick the two games that ARE violent...
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:04PM MystileArmor said
Oh ok.. wasn't too familiar with that term, but hey, lesson learned.
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Posted: Jul 8th 2009 10:29PM WiredKnight said
Thanks Duke.
And in any case, no I don't think Burnout is particularly violent. Sure the crashes could be described as "violent," but since they are technically no drivers involved, and thus no injury, I don't think "violent" is the best word to use.
In games like Burnout and others where humans or other types of characters (as in Mario Kart) are not involved, I don't really consider them violent.
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And in any case, no I don't think Burnout is particularly violent. Sure the crashes could be described as "violent," but since they are technically no drivers involved, and thus no injury, I don't think "violent" is the best word to use.
In games like Burnout and others where humans or other types of characters (as in Mario Kart) are not involved, I don't really consider them violent.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:35PM JoshMilewski said
Of course there are games without violence in them.
But they're completely different from the stuff BioWare has always made.
But they're completely different from the stuff BioWare has always made.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:42PM butaneko said
Yeah exactly. If only you had posted this comment 25 minutes earlier we could have avoided the "lolwut? Tiger Woods haz violence?" comments.
I actually just started Mass Effect and am pretty damn impressed how engaging the dialog is. Who needs violence!
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I actually just started Mass Effect and am pretty damn impressed how engaging the dialog is. Who needs violence!
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:36PM Ashitaka said
A game with a compelling story but without violence as part of gameplay?
Might as well make a movie :/
Might as well make a movie :/
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:37PM Petebot330 said
Silent Hill: Shattered memories is not supposed to have any combat in it.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:39PM samfish said
I've always maintained that a Days Of Our Lives RPG would sell like crazy cakes with the chick audience.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:49PM (Unverified) said
Yes Finally! Humans are never going to stop enjoying conflict but the problem with many video games is that they equate violence with conflict often at the expense of storytelling. You can have some great suspense and conflict without resulting to violence.
Don't get me wrong I love some good mindless violence but there has to be variety.
I always think of Shenmue. Shenmue had violent bits (brief sections of martial arts fighting) but the storytelling was so deep that the fighting felt secondary.
Don't get me wrong I love some good mindless violence but there has to be variety.
I always think of Shenmue. Shenmue had violent bits (brief sections of martial arts fighting) but the storytelling was so deep that the fighting felt secondary.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 4:53PM (Unverified) said
I'm not interested in buying an expensive movie, nor am I interested in buying games that are just gameplay anymore (i.e Nintendo games). I need a healthy balance of both, so don't screw up Mass Effect with this ridiculous idea Bioware!
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:00PM jhowlett said
i can just imagine a game where all you do is talk and solve puzzles till sam jackson comes looking for his boss's dirty laundry. 'you ain't talking your way out of this'
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:13PM daisame said
Why not. There are already tons of games with no combat. Unless you count the dustball surrounding two Sims who get into it, as combat.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:48PM The Blank Mage Returns said
As long as the rate of hot alien chicks steadily increases in proportion the the decrease in violence, I'm happy.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:09PM ducttapeBigSexy said
One of my personal favorite games of all time, Myst, featured no violence. Granted, most people's response was "That game sucks because there's no killing in it!" but maybe developers should take notice - if you look at the best selling games of all time, many of them feature little to no violence (like Myst).
As long as the gameplay is enjoyable and the story is good, I couldn't care less if I'm not shooting someone - that's not what's important.
As long as the gameplay is enjoyable and the story is good, I couldn't care less if I'm not shooting someone - that's not what's important.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:18PM Riley said
I will vote yes as many times as I can in a poll asking if there should be another Jade Empire, that still remains one of my favorite games of all time
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:27PM clerkenwell said
There seems to be a false assumption running through a lot of these comments here, which is that gameplay=combat. There is no reason why this must be the case, as many have made evident by pointing out the existence of racing, puzzle, and sports games. And these are just the most obvious and popular types of non-combat gameplay out there. What Bioware is recognizing, and questioning, is the apparently intractable bond between narrative games and violence. Because this bond is so thoroughly ingrained in the gamer-psyche, it's difficult to image what a combat-less narrative game might look like. It seems a lot of people are thinking this means "Conversations: The Game," in other words a game without gameplay, an interactive movie. While I won't discount the possibility that such a project could be engaging and even successful, I think it's far more likely that if we do see a Bioware game that divorces combat from a narrative-driven game, there will be some other sort of gameplay that steps in to fill combat's shoes.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:36PM garnsr said
I've played tons of RPGs, and the parts I always liked best were wandering around, finding new towns, and getting the story moving along. I never cared much for boss fights, especially. Art Dink made some good, non-violent games that you wander around and find stuff, without having to fight. I'm for it.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 7:13PM Xocolatl said
As long as they delivery good story, I don't care if there are no combats. Harvest Moon and Sim City doesn't have any kind of violence (with exception of some natural disasters), and they are great games. Shenmue only have a handful of fights, yet it's one of the most celebrated game ever. However they choose to deliver their stories, it's all good if it's well told.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 7:49PM Bluebreaker said
So...Bioware wants to make a visual novel then? (Clannad, Air, etc...)
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 10:36PM TheDarkWayne said
novels have violence, have you ever read, erm, any novel ever? Their games might as well be novels already, only they're more like choose your own adventure books
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Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:10PM The Blank Mage Returns said
Fate Stay/Night = Violence AND Hentai.
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Posted: Jul 7th 2009 12:02AM Bluebreaker said
Have YOU read any novel ever? Not all of them have violence in them either, cause I'm sure stories like The Fountainhead or A Little Princess were known for their epic amounts of bloodshed.
@Blank-Mage: I don't know why I forgot Fate/Stay Night. I was just thinking of the romantic PS2 games and the new Fushigi Yuugi compilation out on DS now.
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@Blank-Mage: I don't know why I forgot Fate/Stay Night. I was just thinking of the romantic PS2 games and the new Fushigi Yuugi compilation out on DS now.
Posted: Jul 7th 2009 12:48AM The Blank Mage Returns said
Bluebreaker, my point there was novels can be violent. For example. Most fantasy novels? Swords go through people. Although I salute your nerdcore knowledge of VNs.
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Posted: Jul 6th 2009 8:22PM (Unverified) said
Professor Layton games do not have combat and also have a storyline. So do the Puzzle Quest games. So does Harvest Moon. Simon the Sorceror and Kings Quest never had much combat to speak of..
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 8:24PM Batzarro The worlds WOrst Detect said
A hard sell. But to a guy like me that enjoyed SHenmue, it might just be crazy enought to work!
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 8:57PM ImSteevin said
I agree with them
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 9:48PM Deck said
Personally I think this is a great idea and I would love it. But I am sure that I am in the slim minority.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 10:17PM Roxinos said
So...is Katamari Damacy *violent* now?
Wow...
Wow...
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:12PM The Blank Mage Returns said
Roll over a town, and then launch that town into the frozen vacuum of space.
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Posted: Jul 6th 2009 10:35PM TheDarkWayne said
I liked in jade empire you could make people explode with kung fu, somehow.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:12PM The Blank Mage Returns said
Wait, you can't do that with Kung Fu?
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Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:14PM Roxinos said
Crazy, yes. But violence?
Hmm...I think this calls for extensive Internet research into just what constitutes violence.
Or we can just be lazy.
Hmm...I think this calls for extensive Internet research into just what constitutes violence.
Or we can just be lazy.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:26PM Figgellum said
Jade Empire...mee no rikey...so.....racist.
Posted: Jul 7th 2009 12:46AM pika2000 said
The Japanese already got this covered for ages. Bring on the dating simulation games. ...click...click...click...click...
Posted: Jul 7th 2009 1:07AM Ricky Bango said
Saying a game would be successful "with the right audience" is such backwards logic. It's like saying "I would start a band if I had an audience that would listen to us." An audience isn't just "assigned" to a certain type of game, an audience has to be earned by what a game has to offer. And the production values and writing that go into non-violent aspects of games have to improve before one is earned.
Posted: Jul 7th 2009 12:46PM (Unverified) said
Would Mirror's Edge count? You can avoid fighting in the entire game.
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