Cliff Bleszinski Wants To Be Known For More Than ‘Gears of War.’ Good Luck!
Cliff Bleszinski, aka Dude Huge, aka Cliffy B, is the man behind Gears of War. The third installment is coming out this Fall, and by my economic measurements, it’s going to crush the ass of sales charts everywhere. Despite this, Cliffy wants to be known for more than Gears.
Sure, the games have sold well, but Bleszinski feels that the legacy of those games is rooted in its hyper-realized violence rather than its compelling narrative. Cliffy B also revealed why the team at Epic Games chose to let Gears of War finish out as a trilogy, and tease what would bring the developers back to the franchise.
Bleszinski’s comments about Gears of War came as a result of something Producer Rod Fergusson said about Gears of War 3 being the “culmination” of his life’s work. For Bleszinski Gears 3 is only the beginning, and, as a relatively young up-and-coming developer, it very well should be.
But don’t be surprised if Epic Games’ Gears future is a bit harder to peg after Gears of War 3 releases, because it is going to take some major innovation to bring Bleszinski back. He told Digital Spy that:
“There is plenty of life left in Gears, but you also don’t want to beat a dead horse, right? If there was another Gears game down the line, it would have to play around in another couple of spaces…It could never just be, ‘Hey, Marcus and Cole are back [and] there’s more Locust!’ Gears is amazing and I love it, absolutely adore it, but it will not be the final legacy of this studio.”
First and foremost, I adore Cliffy B. I rail on him for creating the ultimate Bro-Dude-Dick-Rock franchise, but there is a talent behind channeling all of that. It isn’t easy, or everyone else would do it. Plus he’s an every man who is beyond nice to his fans on Twitter and at conventions.
Solid. Super solid.
That said, good luck not being known for Gears of War. At first at the forefront. If you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with that. All the classic game designers have their franchise. Yo, Kojima! He’s been trying to escape the Metal Gear franchise forever. He’s created other dopeness, don’t get me wrong. Yo, Zone of the Enders!
I think Gears will define him, and I think that’s okay. If I’m wrong? Then he’s going to be even more creatively fulfilled. And that’s cool too.
