So, what's your story?

I think most people would agree with me that today games aren't only great because of the inovations or game play. They are big pieces but no the biggest. The one thing that catches our attention is the story. I think we can thank the big companies like ID and so on about the stories. Quake 2 honestly got me pissed off when I first played through the processing plant for the humans. Human beings are being ripped apart for some evil aliens plan. Screw that! Half-life kept me glued to my seat to see what was next. The gov't is trying to wipe us out! Bullshit! Without an awesome story, and just being a guy shooting up a bunch of weird monsters for no reason wouldn't have cut it. The attention to detail and explaining why things were happening really made games like that. Not to mention the killer Multiplayer aspects that came from most.

With that in mind, I've yet to find a person who didn't have an opinion on which game had the best story and why. Might not be the one you liked the most, but everyone seems to have one that they ust love to replay once in a while because of the way the story goes. What was yours?

Mine is obvious, I've never hidden the fact that I'm a huge halo fan. The reason I do though is because of the way the story is and what it is about. It is about to what extent we are willing to go to to avoid war. How we can justify the loss and suffering of a few to try to save the many. We will make a group of super soldiers by kidnapping the best of the best, then training them to be the better of the best till finally only a handful of the 70 you start with are alive. They are ogmented and trained to stop a civil war. Go in covertly against incredible odds and beat them. Then, just before everything goes into affect, the covenant comes about. Now it is about survival. How quickly the tides change when youf ind a superior enemy. Now it's about true desperation and undying determination to beat them or go down swinging. It's about all the sorrows the world has faced and the pain these soldiers will endure to do their job. Most of all, it is a story that made me feel truly like failure just wasn't an option.

It is also the only story I know of that spawned a seriest of books to explain what happened before during and after the first game. Doom had a seriest but it really didn't follow the game in such detail. They have put so much effort and ideas into this that it is hard to not really love it. To me, this is by far the absolute best storyline I've ever played, ever.

You all got opinions on this, I'm sure. What story and why?

I can't always agree with making up your own story though. It's great to have a significant amount of freedom in a game, GTA being a big demonstration of that. Every company has tried to give you that option in some way or another. Halo gives you many ways to assault you enemy and also alot of different weapons combinations to choose from. Splinter cell vastly improved there "freedom" in the game by allowing you to truly have the fifth freedom. The first two didn't really have it, but this one does now. However, sometimes I compare playing games to reading a book. You get a reall good book you can't stop, you must keep reading. A good story does the same in a game, YOU MUST KEEP PLAYING.