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Warren Spector "would never make" a game like Heavy Rain

Although Deus Ex creator Warren Spector believes David Cage is one of the best writers in gaming, he's wary of the inflexibility of heavily scripted games.

"Heavy Rain - I would just never make a game like that," Spector told MCV Pacific.

"In Heavy Rain, nothing surprising will ever happen. No player will ever see anything, do anything, discover anything that David (with his undeniable genius) didn’t create."

Spector said he greatly admires the kill it takes to pull together five separate scripts, especially with choices, but said the resulting structure isn't any different from a Choose Your Own Adventure story.

"I loved that game as an experience – it was unbelievable. It made every day mundane things high drama. I mean, holy cow! I’m in awe of the talent of the guy who wrote it and his ability to tell a cinematic story. But would I ever make a game like that? Absolutely not," he added.

That's not to say Spector dislikes Cage's work - far from it; the famed creator said that "if Tim [Schafer] isn’t the best writer in gaming, David is". But despite his respect for both creators, Spector's own preference for player-driven experiences means he can't pursue similar methods of storytelling.

"Nothing’s going to happen in one of those games that wasn’t pre-planned. And that means that Tim can tell a way better traditional story than I will ever be able to tell in a game," he admitted.

"I wish I was as good a writer as him. But, that kind of game is not what I want to do."

Spector said recently that the open-ended, sandbox style gameplay he is known for - particularly in games like Deus Ex - is also present in Epic Mickey 2.

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In this article

Deus Ex

PS2, PC

Heavy Rain

PS4, PS3, PC

Related topics
About the Author
Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

Contributor

Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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