Can a game do without a story?

[unconsidered]

I came across a 'beginings of duke nukem' vid, and the creators say that if you focus on the character there is no end in storys.

Do you think that's true? I myself have never seen a game that was solely based around one person.

[zooos]

Well all games are based around the character you portray, whether or not the plot or story are reliant on that. Also, yes games can do without stories.

[darkrchaos]

Yes but they are hard to make. I remember a Godzilla fighting game I had that didn't have a story, it was just fun fighting.

[ThePhantomGamer]

I think mainly sports games.

[SweetenBoy]

TF2 has answered your question.

YES

[Dragproductions]

For Battlefield Bad Company 2 no one really cared much for the Story Line but damn did they ever like the multi-player. That's pretty much the main reason why they even bothered to get the game in the first place.

[Sierra]

I think a game can survive without a story if it provides an entertaining experience. If it cannot deliver that, however, then I do not believe a game can really deliver in a manner I enjoy. I love a game with a good story, but if the game doesn't play well then I find myself growing tired of the story. If the game plays well and has a poor story I can often continue to play it.

[Viri]

At 4/15/11 01:31 AM, SweetenBoy wrote: TF2 has answered your question.

YES

TF2 has a story.

[Goldfire64]

At 4/15/11 07:53 AM, ironraven24 wrote:

At 4/15/11 01:31 AM, SweetenBoy wrote: TF2 has answered your question.

YES

TF2 has a story.

well in the website and other media, yes. However in game there is little actual story.

[ChaRee]

I think it can, for mindless and dull video gaming. CoD is fun online but is just a multiplayer shoot'em'up in all seriousness, for that reason I don't think it'd hold a candle to the gameplay of something like Bioshock, which is rich in story.

[zooos]

Minecraft is a perfect example, it has absolutely no story. No real goal even if you want to get technical besides "don't die".

Another example, while it has a story, is the GTA series. You could literally play it without story/story related missions and still have fun with it. It's all about keeping the consumer entertained through other vices other then story telling.

[Jin]

Audiosurf.

[RazorHawk]

Tetris.

A game doesn't need it, but it does it give a lot more depth.

[Pandamir]

I have seen many games go on to be great and have no need for stories they are just filled with time consuming mini games and what not. Also some games do that to give a breath of fresh air to a series to get away from the story and give an outlook to something elsewhere.

[RDSchley]

games that are more focused around gameplay and character rather than an interesting story:

Minecraft
Legend of Zelda (lets face it.. same story over and over)
Mario Bros.
Nearly every FPS
Nearly every RTS (except starcraft?)
Pokemanz

etc

[Snuff]

Most modern games show that they don't need a good campaign.

Pretty sure everyone knows what I mean.

[Cootie]

Plenty of games can do without a story. Just look at all of the iPhone games, there is no real story to Angry Birds or Doodle Jump but that doesn't stop them from being loads of fun.

[Kwing]

The Flash game Mindscape is centered around one character. It seems to have a story though. But certain puzzle games (Tetris, Lumines, Mercury Meltdown) kind of can't have stories, and they do fine on the market.

[simon]

Guitar Hero might've tried with stories, but there never really was any story to these games. Just playing songs.

[KiDX05]

Warhawk
&
Team Fortress 2
games can do well without sp.

[Ragnarokia]

If the game is good and fits no story then yes.

Plenty of old games that were just utterly fun kill everything without a care, they didn't need stories they had the fun.

You can look at quite a few games and see how they would work without a story.
Castlevania - guy in castle killing stuff with a whip. Endless fun even without its story.
Time Crisis - Shooting dudes with gun with a time limit. Who cares about rescuing the girl.
Chaos Engine - Blowing up shit while stealing the other guys loot. Sure theres this machine but whatever.
Chu Chu Rocket - Getting mice to spaceship avoiding a cat....actually I don't know if there is a story.
Vib Ribbon - Some guy dancing to music.
Transformice - Get cheese and troll people.

So many fun games out there that even if they do have a story it really isn't important or a factor to the gameplay. Infact a lot of the time they ruin a stupidly fun mindless game by overloading the story and dialogue when you just want to play the game. Also I'm a story lover myself and I'm ok with saying that sure I love stories but sometimes they really aren't needed.

[alvinearthwormfan]

its just my opinion, but a game without a story is not worthy to be played. its just becaus i enjoy watching the story being developed and even an increadible gameplay doesnt seen fun to me without one. make a descent story that even if the gameplay sucks i will play it.

[FaeryTaleAdventurer]

Postal is perhaps one of the few games of its type that appears not to have an actual story, aside from the closest being monologue entries by the titular character before the start of each level. Just shooting people really.

<I'm actually starting to feel some uber-delayed trauma of the screams and death animations I experienced, playing the demo over and over again at ten.>

[GhoulRa]

Depends on the genre of the game. Some games don't even need a story/plot to be playable.