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28
Jul
48
Sony, Xbox

Story Is More Important than Gameplay, Says Ninja Theory

RSS by Nicholas Taylor on 28 July 2010, 13579 views
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Tameem Antoniades, co-founder of Ninja Theory, has gone on record saying that, in his opinion, story is more important than gameplay, and "if you get it right, both story and gameplay can be elevated".

He begins by talking about a game he did for Microsoft back on the original Xbox called Kung Fu Chaos. At this time, he didn't think that storytelling had any place in a videogame. But since then, he's changed his mind. Specifically, during the development of PS3 title Heavenly Sword.

"In Heavenly Sword I thought, 'Actually, let's try and do a story.' Working with Andy and everyone else, working with Weta and having people talk about story as something serious - not something throwaway like we do in games - was quite eye-opening to me," he stated.

"I still see a prejudice, actually. I still come across a lot of people who say, 'it's a game and it doesn't need a story.' You're trying to make a particular point of storytelling, trying to refine it, and somebody says 'it's just a game, it doesn't matter.' What's more important - the gameplay or the story? If you're doing a [story-based] game, it's got to be the story, actually."

He further explains his point by citing Capcom's hit Resident Evil 4 as an example.

"I'll give you an example of where that's true - Resident Evil 4. I played it from start to finish, I didn't want to let go of the controller and I was driven through it. I just wanted to know what happened next. As soon as I completed it, you get those mini-missions, 'kill x zombies in an amount of time.' So there's no story, it's stripped out of all that and it's just shoot however many zombies in however much time. And you realise - have I been doing this for the last 10 hours? Because it didn't feel like it, as I'm bored within about a minute of doing that."

"So there is something, there is an importance. There is a symbiosis where, if you get it right, both story and gameplay can be elevated. But it's really hard to know when you get it right or not."

The studio's latest game, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, is scheduled to be released for PS3 and 360 on the 8th of October this year, so by then we'll be able to tell for ourselves if their latest project managed to obtain said symbiosis between story and gameplay or not.

Do you agree or disagree with the views of Mr. Antoniades? Let us know with your comments.

Source: VideoGamer.com

Tags Resident Evil, Ninja Theory, Heavenly Sword

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