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Cliff Bleszinski and the team at Epic are focusing hard on making sure next year's Gears of War: Judgment actively challenges players. And if that results in a narrower audience? Bleszinski's okay with that.
Speaking with the site Xbox 360 Achievements, Bleszinski expressed his concerns that in trying to reach more players, the current generation of console games has, in a sense, lost its way:
It feels like in this current console generation that we've taken a lot of steps to grow the audience and what I think's happened is that the games have become more linear and easier, so it feels like a lot of quick-time-events.
The more I play games like that the more I turned off to them and just want to get back to systems interacting with systems, and get back to a game that, you know, when was the last time a game really challenged you and asked something of you, right? There's a reason why Demon Souls and Dark Souls have taken off lately. It's because they really require you actually try.
While increasing the audience for gaming in general is probably a good thing for both the games and the players, it's hard to argue that the past few years have seen quick time events begin to dominate console gameplay, often to the exclusion of other tactics. And likewise, while "linear" isn't necessarily a dirty word, some games do chafe the player with their constant, visible limitations and constraints.
So. Tired of games where you know you can handle it? Spend too much time feeling totally in control? Gears of War: Judgment may be right up your alley. Bleszinski's final summary? "If this game doesn't make you sweat, we haven't done our jobs."
