10 Great Video Games With Terrible Storylines
I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain.
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00:00 John Carmack, one of the founders of id Software, famously stated around the time of Doom's
00:05 release that according to him, "Story in a game is like story in a porn movie.
00:10 It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
00:13 Though that quote has aged very poorly, he may have had a point.
00:17 There are tons of excellent video game experiences which feature either half-baked or totally
00:21 neglected narratives, but incompetent storytelling really becomes a problem when the plot was
00:26 bad to begin with.
00:28 Although they certainly redeem themselves in other ways, many great games have straight
00:32 up awful plots.
00:33 I'm Jess from Mock Culture and here are 10 great video games with terrible storylines.
00:39 10.
00:40 Wolfenstein II The New Colossus (2017)
00:43 Despite a few shortcomings, Bethesda's revival of id's famous Wolfenstein franchise has
00:48 been relatively well-received.
00:50 Though the first game was, ironically, pretty narrative-heavy for a game bearing the Wolfenstein
00:55 name, it was nonetheless one of the most well-remembered games of 2014.
00:59 Its sequel, however, didn't quite get that same treatment.
01:02 The series' alt-history storyline drastically jumped the shark.
01:06 But as for what it's worth, the overall Steam reviews for Wolfenstein II The New Colossus
01:11 are mixed.
01:12 While the original series reboot was a satisfying tale of perseverance and revenge, the new
01:17 game's plot is all over the place.
01:20 After surviving a decapitation at the hands of the nefarious Frau Engel, a ludicrous plot
01:25 in and of itself, franchise protagonist William Blazkowicz embarks on a long-winded tour of
01:30 American cities, which eventually culminates in a trip to the planet Venus.
01:34 Yes, seriously, Venus.
01:37 That Venus.
01:38 2014's Wolfenstein game did see players touring a secret Nazi moon base, but that felt entirely
01:43 practical when compared to some of the shenanigans which occur in the sequel.
01:48 This is by no means an indictment of Bethesda or MachineGames, but if this is to become
01:53 a trilogy, it'd be nice to tone things down just a notch.
01:57 9.
01:58 Crysis (2007)
02:00 Crysis, a sci-fi military FPS released in 2007 and set in the far-off year of 2020,
02:07 was famous for its insanely demanding specs on PC back in the day.
02:11 While Crytek's breakout title could run on just about anything today, the phrase "But
02:16 can it run Crysis?" is still a huge meme in certain circles.
02:21 While everyone remembers this game for its stunning visuals and inventive gameplay mechanics,
02:25 few claim to ever have understood or cared all that much about the story.
02:29 Crysis' narrative elements were by far its weakest feature, and the game felt more like
02:33 a glitzy tech demo than anything else.
02:36 The story revolves around the North Korean invasion of an island not far from the Philippines
02:40 on which a U.S. research team seems to have made some impactful discoveries.
02:46 A part of a covert team sent in to extract these scientists, things quickly spiral out
02:50 of control as, well, alien stuff happens.
02:54 The introduction of the Seph and alien race bent on the destruction of humanity is pretty
02:59 jarring in the original Crysis.
03:01 The game goes from a fairly standard stealth action experience to War of the World's
03:05 wannabe at the drop of a hat, and it's weird.
03:09 8.
03:10 Call of Duty Ghosts (2013)
03:12 The original Call of Duty titles focused on exploring just about every conceivable narrative
03:17 angle of the Second World War.
03:19 Yet when the series made the transition to modern warfare in the 2007 release of the
03:24 same name, it was still more or less grounded in the geopolitical realities of the time.
03:29 The same can absolutely not be said about 2013's Call of Duty Ghosts.
03:34 Releasing during a time in which popular opinion was turning against the repetitive, over-the-top
03:39 nature of the COD campaigns, Ghosts explored an absolutely ill-conceived and ridiculous
03:44 plot thread.
03:45 In the bleak distant future of 2017, all South American countries band together to form the
03:51 Federation of the United Americas.
03:54 They then capture a U.S. orbital bombardment satellite and use it to destroy San Diego.
03:59 Most of the campaign takes place ten years later and chronicles the end of a decade-long
04:03 conflict which culminates in the destruction of the Federation, along with, presumably,
04:08 most of South America.
04:10 The COD campaigns are known for being big, loud and dumb, and it doesn't get much bigger,
04:14 louder or dumber than this.
04:17 7.
04:18 Far Cry 5 (2018)
04:20 In the fifth entry in the long-running Far Cry series, the end is nigh as cult leader
04:24 and apparent doomsday prepper Joseph Seed lays claim to the fictional Hope County, Montana.
04:30 Pragmatic villains and unbelievable plots are staples of the Far Cry series, but this
04:35 takes things a step further.
04:37 Joseph Seed seems convinced that the end of the world will soon be upon his congregation,
04:41 yet it's difficult for the player to get a beat on anything occurring outside of Hope
04:45 County.
04:46 As the game comes to a close, the player is given a choice to either walk away from or
04:50 resist the Eden's Gate cult.
04:53 Should he or she walk away, they seem to escape, with the intent of returning with reinforcements,
04:58 until Seed appears to hypnotize them, lapsing the character into servitude to the cult.
05:04 On the other hand, should the player choose to resist, they're essentially forced to
05:08 fight their squadmates until an out-of-left-field nuclear detonation brings the game to an end.
05:14 It's definitely not the most subtle way to round out the plot, and many Far Cry fans
05:18 have since voiced their frustrations over this lackluster ending.
05:21 New Dawn was a whole thing, though.
05:23 6.
05:24 The Evil Within (2014)
05:26 Helmed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, The Evil Within was a 2014 survival horror
05:32 title that felt a bit too much like a retread of Resi 4 in the minds of some players.
05:37 Yet while Resi 4 was campy and hilarious in places, The Evil Within was stone-cold serious,
05:43 and it suffered as a result.
05:44 The plot made little to no sense, and even when all the cards were laid on the table
05:49 near the end of the game, the overarching narrative still came across as little more
05:53 than a reason to chain a bunch of spooky environments together.
05:57 Cerebral and involved, The Evil Within and its sequel may have benefited from a more
06:01 straightforward plot.
06:03 Instead, players were treated to the story of an umbrella-like organization intent on
06:07 developing a biochemical hyper-reality, which they could use to rule the world before the
06:12 man they placed in charge of it betrays them and corrupts everything.
06:16 The concept is already hard to grasp, and it's made even more difficult by the fact
06:19 that almost nothing is ever told directly to the player.
06:24 Most who saw this game through to the end were probably still left scratching their
06:27 heads as the credits rolled.
06:29 5.
06:30 Uncharted Drake's Fortune - 2007
06:33 Developed by notorious Sony cohort Snordy Dog and released in 2007, Uncharted was a
06:38 system-selling visual masterpiece meant to contend with Microsoft's rival Halo franchise.
06:44 Though the PlayStation 3 would go on to lose that generation's console war by most accounts,
06:49 the Uncharted franchise stood as something Sony fans could rub in the faces of their
06:53 Xbox-owning counterparts.
06:56 While the first Uncharted title is by and large a great game, the plot leaves something
07:00 to be desired.
07:02 It feels like what might've happened if Steven Spielberg had to film the original
07:06 Indiana Jones trilogy on a shoestring budget, complete with hokey plot points and ridiculous
07:11 cursed idol MacGuffins.
07:13 Things really take a turn for the worse in the third act, when Nathan Drake is handed
07:17 an MP40 and tasked with gunning down mutated Nazi zombies.
07:23 Nobody seems to remember how off the rails the first Uncharted game's plot was, and
07:27 that's probably for the best.
07:29 Subsequent entries in Snordy Dog's famous action-platforming series would fare much
07:33 better from a narrative perspective, and we're all better off turning a blind eye to that
07:37 weird pseudo-survival horror segment.
07:40 4.
07:41 Fallout 4 - 2015
07:43 In 2011, Obsidian Entertainment, now a subsidiary of Microsoft, proved that Bethesda wasn't
07:49 the only studio out there capable of making a satisfying FPS Fallout title.
07:53 With the ball in their court, what did Bethesda do to prove that they still had a handle on
07:58 the franchise?
07:59 By gutting most of the series' RPG mechanics and simplifying the story, of course.
08:04 Fallout 4 is far from a bad game, but it doesn't quite live up to the legacy of the franchise
08:08 as a whole, particularly from a narrative standpoint.
08:12 While Fallout New Vegas had tons of possible endgame scenarios and was so story-rich that
08:17 it could've given George R.R. Martin a run for his money, Fallout 4 was very by-the-numbers
08:22 and featured a mere four endings, each focusing on one of the title's four main factions.
08:27 What's more, there weren't quite as many interesting side-quests or unique story beats
08:32 to be found.
08:33 Sure, players could help the super mutant Strong find the milk of human kindness, or
08:37 help Preston Garvey defend yet another settlement, but it all felt slightly soulless when compared
08:43 to older entries.
08:44 3.
08:45 Doom (1993)
08:48 As previously mentioned, 1993's seminal first-person shooter Doom was severely anemic in terms
08:54 of narrative.
08:55 At that time, video games weren't really considered to be an appropriate medium for storytelling,
08:59 thanks to their relatively rudimentary natures.
09:02 And that stigma would prevail until titles like Final Fantasy VII and the original Fallout
09:07 would begin to sway opinions half a decade later.
09:10 Yet fully-fledged or not, Doom's plot is pretty stupid.
09:14 Talking about demons from hell invading a Martian base?
09:17 Maybe throw in an evil megacorporation for good effect?
09:20 The game's mission briefings may as well just say "shoot stuff!"
09:23 It would convey just about as much meaning.
09:25 As a matter of fact, Doom doesn't even care about its plot.
09:28 In 2016's Bethesda-backed series reboot, the player character is literally only there
09:33 to kill things, and actively ignores even the most basic plot points.
09:37 Much like the player, he's only there for the mayhem.
09:40 This may be some sort of satirical Freudian parallel on id's part, but we're too busy
09:45 getting neck deep in demon guts to care.
09:47 This self-aware lack of narrative may hinder the series in future, but as of right now,
09:52 giving demons seems to be the only impetus anybody needs.
09:55 2.
09:56 Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (2002)
09:59 The narrative in Game Freak's handheld Pokemon titles has more or less remained the same
10:04 for the past two decades.
10:06 Capture and train Pokemon, thwart rivals, and challenge the Elite Four to become the
10:09 very best there ever was.
10:12 Such is the case with Generation 3's Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, taking place in the region
10:17 of Hoenn.
10:18 The player begins their adventure in the town of Little Root, and contests their rival May
10:21 in a quest to become the greatest trainer around.
10:25 Throughout their escapades, the player will come across some wannabe ne'er-do-wells associated
10:29 with either Team Magma or Team Aqua, depending on the specific version of the game.
10:34 Much like Team Rocket from the previous games, these guys are brewing some evil scheme which
10:38 may put the world in peril.
10:40 In this case, Team Magma wants to harness the powers of the legendary Pokemon Groudon
10:45 so they can… expand the land.
10:47 Likewise, Team Aqua wants to capture Kyogre so they can increase the amount of water in
10:52 the region.
10:53 A terrifying ambition if there ever was one.
10:55 These guys are also wanted for the crimes of jaywalking and removing mattress tags.
11:00 1.
11:01 Destiny (2014)
11:03 Love it or hate it, Bungie's 2014 release Destiny has left its mark on the modern-day
11:08 video game market.
11:10 Among the first to kick off the current MMO-lite craze, Destiny promised to pit players alongside
11:15 and against each other as they travelled the solar system in an epic quest to destroy the
11:20 Vex.
11:21 It was one of the most hyped-up releases of the past ten decades, and, according to many
11:26 PlayStation fans, it failed to deliver - from a story perspective, at least.
11:30 It was too light on content, and the story really didn't make a whole lot of sense.
11:34 Packed with difficult-to-surmise plot elements and crammed with so many characters and factions
11:39 with similar names that it was a challenge to tell them apart, Bungie sincerely failed
11:44 to present a cohesive narrative.
11:46 The cherry atop the failure sundae was actor Peter Dinklage's infamously flat vocal delivery.
11:52 The voice behind the player's ever-present ghost companion, he was so bad - or had conflicts
11:57 - that the studio later had industry legend Nolan North redo all of the lines.
12:02 Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and Dinklebot's asinine voice clips will forever
12:07 remain a meme in the Destiny community.
12:10 That wizard came from the moon.
12:12 That's the end of our list, but let me know down in the comment section if you can think
12:16 of any other great video games with terrible storylines.
12:20 As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
12:24 If you like, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account, where I'm @JessMcDonald,
12:29 but make sure you stay tuned with here for plenty more great gaming content.