Veteran designer says games have the ability to tell stories in ways that no other medium can.

As part of his keynote address at PAX Australia this past weekend, Deus Ex and Epic Mickey designer Warren Spector--known for being outspoken--said games like Uncharted, Heavy Rain, and Telltale's The Walking Dead do not make the most of games as a medium. As reported by PowerUpGaming, Spector said video games have a unique capability for "shared authorship" between the game and the player. But these games, which Spector praised for what they are are, don't take that idea far enough, he asserted.

Games shouldn't aspire to be movies, Spector said. "If all you want to do is show off how clever you are, get out of my medium!" he said. "Go make a movie or something, because that's what you should be doing."

Speaking about Uncharted, Heavy Rain, and The Walking Dead, Spector said these games drive players down specific paths more than he'd like to see. He labeled Naughty Dog's Uncharted as a "low-expression" game on his scale of low, medium, and high (more on that later).

"It's not that games like this are bad, but they limit your ability to interact with the game world, so the story can unfold the way the storyteller wants it to unfold," he said. "You have very limited ability to express yourself; it's about how do you accomplish a predetermined path to get to the next plot point.

"It's a great story--a better story than I'll ever tell in a game--but it's not a player story; it's not your story."

Naughty Dog community strategist Arne Meyer responded to Spector's comments, saying during a separate PAX Australia panel, also reported by PowerUpGaming, that he accepts and welcomes Spector's criticism.

"It's great that you’re hearing this type of criticism towards all sorts of games, because people are starting to make games that let you explore all sorts of different genres," he said.

Spector went on to say that Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead are examples of medium-expression games. Talking about the difficult choices you have to make in The Walking Dead, Spector said the impact of these decisions is held back somewhat because they are "designer-driven, not player-driven."

"Every choice in a game like this has been pre-scripted and handwritten by a designer somewhere, and the effects of that choice have been predetermined by the developers," he said. "There's very limited stuff that players actually get to do."

Talking about Heavy Rain specifically, Spector said the story it told is far better than any he could write. But at the same time, "They're basically like five movie scripts all mashed together, and you're just picking which script you're telling at any given point in time," he said.

Spector said he considers fighting games, as well as titles like Dishonored, The Sims, Fallout, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, to be "high-expression" games. But overall, he said gaming today is "largely in a rut" when it comes to storytelling.

For more, be sure to read the full story at PowerUpGaming.

Spector left Disney when developer Junction Point closed in 2013. He now serves as the director for the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at the University of Texas.

I see his point, but obviously we have different genres for a reason.

It's interesting how he failed to mention how fun the uncharted games are. Which isn't what gaming is usually about?

I'm sure this guy loves 'Dreams'.

I don't see what those games have in common with each other
Even worse trying to push a game toward one side/type as opposed to another is just as equally "not making the most of the medium", so the irony is real.
He also went from doing Deus Ex to Epic Mickey so maybe he shouldn't talk.

Games shouldn't aspire to be movies, Spector said. "If all you want to do is show off how clever you are, get out of my medium!" he said. "Go make a movie or something, because that's what you should be doing."

"make games like how i want them made or GTFO!!!!"

thats what he is basically saying.

for somebody who wants to give the gamers freedom of choice, its so ironic that he goes and says this.

hypocrisy at its finest. 

So how is heavy rain a game with a few possibilitys how the game ends and what conclusion you get, because of the decisions YOU made, not YOUR STORY?

"but it's not a player story; it's not your story"
so what games fits that? I can't think of a game were I make my own story.

Making the most of the medium since 1972.

I agree.What these games do can be achieved with a movie or series as well. That's not bad but they're not making the most of the medium, which is not story telling but gameplay and freedom.

Still they are way better than a boring movie. So gaming as a medium wins nonetheless.

Well I am glad gaming becoming more and more diverse, maybe in near future we will see other genre. It's good for Naughty Dog to have more criticism, Like people said criticism will help some product to be better and better. I cannot wait to see more surprise in this generation, if last gen we have Uncharted and The last of Us as standard of gaming, maybe some company will bring something new.

The more player expression comes into a game the less coherent and intricate the story. IN many ways the medium expression approach is the "ideal" for gaming as it allows for players to have a meaningful influence on the direction of the story, but retains a level of narrative control in order to tell a satisfying and intricate story that ties together well.

I do think there is a long way to go with interactive story-telling. I wonder where Spector puts Until Dawn. Probably in the medium expression category, because although there are many ways to get through the game with several potential outcomes the game itself is still driven by a narrative that only moves in one direction. But still, in terms of story satisfaction people seem to rave about it. Lots of ways to navigate a story, but pacing and cohesion is pretty tight.

I'm against the idea there is a way games should be (even in order to make the most of the medium). I mean I like playing real-time strategy online, no story, competitive, with a lot of freedom in what you do, etc. And I also like Uncharted which is the exact opposite, offline, story-driven, and not competitive. A good game is a good game, that's all.
As for Heavy Rain, I liked it, really, but I had a story that didn't make any sense (someone is in jail for good and then he's out without any explanations, to meet an other guy that died just 2 scenes before), and everything was pretty random. Even it was better done, I've never felt the game was better than if the same development effort was put on a single story, which should have given a longer game, a better story, and a better gameplay. Still I'm not saying there is a way to do games, but I agree it felt like a game smashed into sub-scripts.