Is the Lancer the one gun to rule them all?
It's not going to be pretty when Bleszinski finds whoever switched his regular coffee with Folgers Crystals.

Cliff Bleszinski would've been the first one to tell you that there was a lot riding on Gears of War 2. Since the first game in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi shooter series has sold about 5 million copies to date, expectations for the sequel were high. Much of the pressure for the next Gears of War installment to be a blockbuster hit -- in a year without an entry from the Halo series -- fell squarely on the 33-year-old design director from Boston.

Few people in the world of videogame design have any kind of name recognition. Bleszinski has emerged as not only the public face of his employer Epic Games, but also as a stand-in for the average hardcore gamer. Still, even the man formerly known as CliffyB understood that the franchise he sweats over needs to find ways to expand its audience. The early word on Gears 2 tantalized gamers with teases of new weapons, new gameplay modes and an altogether new level of bad-assery. But the Gears 2 team also promised a more engaging story and deeper character portrayals this time around. While gamers around the world were firing up their Lancers again, we talked to Bleszinski about pop-culture guilty pleasures, getting girlfriends in on Gears' gory action and how videogames will affect media consumption.

Crispy Gamer: What do you think has changed in the gaming landscape since the first Gears game was released?


Cliff Bleszinski: I think the landscape has continued to grow in the casual space. There are people who stopped gaming after Ms. Pac-Man, or had never played a game at all, who are coming back [to gaming] with the Wii and Rock Band. We wanted to reach out to them with interchangeable difficulty settings in the Co-op mode so that everyone can play. A guy can play as hardcore and his girlfriend can play casual, and both can feel productive at their own pace.


Crispy Gamer: You talk about the increase in casual play. What do you attribute it to?


Bleszinski: I think there are multiple reasons. I think the audience in general is growing. The average age of gamers is 33 to 34, and some of them have kids who are being raised with games. If you look at the 19-year-old college student, they just play. There's no stigma attached to [gaming] anymore; it's not just the pimply fat kid in the basement who's playing. Games are part of [mainstream] culture, and it's getting bigger and better each year. If someone starts off with Guitar Hero and one day comes in and sees someone else playing Gears, maybe they're more likely to get into it. It might be the storyline about [Gears character] Dom and his missing wife that brings in a more casual gamer who doesn't really get into the shooters in general. But, that story draws them in.


Crispy Gamer: Do you feel that there's room for experimentation in the narrative?


Bleszinski: Sure. I think there are two types of narratives in games. The first is one that's told by what you're doing -- going around a corner and jacking a car. Then there's the background narrative -- family issues and backstories for the characters. We're at the point where we can start considering these things and how to merge them to create different kinds of impact.

Crispy Gamer: Going back to the time frame between the first release and now, what influences can you see from Gears in other games?


Bleszinski: Well, it's kind of flattering to see that every game has a cover mechanic now, and that Gears' crumpled-architecture aesthetic has taken over. It seems like the Fallujah follow-cam [Editor's note: the camera angle used for the Roadie Run] is in all the games. It's been fun to see the shockwaves in what people have to put into their games in a post-Gears world.


Crispy Gamer: Mercenaries 2 doesn't have a cover system and it just felt wrong -- like a core of the game was missing and it took away from the strategy. Who did you see as your main competition this time around?


Bleszinski: Everyone held us up against Resistance 2, which was Sony's shooter this season, but I think that's where the comparisons end. Yeah, [Gears 2 and Resistance 2 are] both shooters, but theirs is a first-person, large-scale experience, whereas we're a much more intimate group, so you can get to know each bastard you're fighting against.


Crispy Gamer: Speaking of getting to know your enemies, the game's iconic weapon is the Lancer [a machine gun-style weapon with a chainsaw mounted on the front that lets players saw people in half]. What was the inspiration for that?

Bleszinski originally conceived the Gears franchise's signature weapon as a modern-day successor to the bayonet.

Bleszinski: We wanted a natural evolution of the bayonet, and the first idea started out as a circular saw mounted on the gun. Then the art department got a hold of it and created the weapon we see now. I've heard there are people getting images of the Lancer tattooed on their legs.


We didn't want to have someone shooting a target far away; we wanted it to be more intimate. And, if we were going to have melee combat in the game, we wanted to take it to the next level from just bonking people on the head. So: chainsaw bayonet. We didn't think we'd get it to work at first, but I had to have it. Now it's our equivalent to the lightsaber in the Star Wars franchise.


Crispy Gamer: With so much swagger already built into the series' DNA, what was the plan to mature a franchise like this going into Gears 2?


Bleszinski: The main characters are still big bad dudes, but I think the key is to tap into more of the sad sensibility that came through really well in the "Mad World" commercial. We got more explicit about what the world is really sensing in terms of loss. We tried to allow more mature themes to bleed through. Sure, [the game] has giant monsters and cool weapons, but you have to weave in the human element, or else people detach and lose interest. Hopefully, that came through in the Pvt. Carmine character and the relationship with his brothers, and in Dom looking for Maria.


Crispy Gamer: The character of Augustus Cole was criticized a lot for coming across as a stereotype of a black man. Is there redemption for Cole Train? Do you think the criticisms were valid?


Bleszinski: Not really. I think when we create characters we do it with the broad stroke. Marcus is the anti-hero, Dom is the best friend, and Cole is just Cole. We were watching those Terry Tate office commercials and we made a few calls and were able to cast him. He's just a big, charismatic guy with a heart of gold. [Editor's note: Actor Lester Speight, who played the office linebacker in the 2003 Reebok commercials, does the voice for the Cole character.] If he were a pimp or hustler or crackhead, that would be something else.


Crispy Gamer: Do you think that the war on terror influenced how well the first Gears did?


Bleszinski: I was asked, when Gears of War first came out, if this was the right time to do a game about war. I said, "If you're not going to do it now, when are you going to do it?" There was never a more relevant time to do it.


Crispy Gamer: In the first game, the battles were more or less skirmishes. This title throws gamers into a war. How did you balance having to portray that with character development?

This moody promo art showcases the central cast of Gears of War 2.

Bleszinski: It's like "Saving Private Ryan," where it's all about the pacing. Sure, you have the bombs and explosions, but at other times, you've got the guys just walking along and you get to know the characters. Games are the same way. You have the explosions and the battles, but you've also got time to get to know the characters. Good pacing dictates that you'll have character development.


Crispy Gamer: Was there any plan to humanize the Locust?


Bleszinski: No. We tried to make them more detailed, but, in the end, you'll still want to kill every last one of the bastards. A player will learn more about their hierarchy as he plays though.


Crispy Gamer: One of my favorite moments in the first game was when you're in the refugee camp, dodging those shadow creatures that swarm on you when you're out of the light. And I was more scared during those moments than when 10 guys were just shooting at you.


Bleszinski: With shooting in a videogame, it's something you have to nail. Shooting is what you're doing when nothing more interesting is going on. We tried to make sure that around every corner there was an "OMG" moment with new challenges that surprised the player throughout the campaign.


Crispy Gamer: As far as new challenges go, would you ever see trying to take Gears to a portable platform?


Bleszinski: We often joke that we'll do that in our "spare time." Every available body is working; we just don't have the time to get around to doing something like that.


Crispy Gamer: Well, that's a refreshingly honest answer.


Bleszinski: And no offense, but if you have to work on mobile games, that's like movie jail. I'm a big believer in "go big or go home." I want big budgets.


Crispy Gamer: Speaking of movies, New Line recently optioned Gears for a big-budget feature film. Did the movie option change the development cycle in any way? Did you think about tweaking things so th at the game and film fit better?


Bleszinski: I don't think we focus on the movie when we work on the game. There are certain continuity things we tweak, though. I'm thankfully an executive producer of the movie so I can steer it to be true to the game. There have been so many bad movies based on videogames over the years. Disney was able to make a great movie based on a ride; why can't we make great movies based on videogames? People forget that Hollywood made a lot of bad comic book movies until they got the formula right. A lot of the top-10 grossing movies of all time have really geeky subjects, like Indiana Jones and Star Wars, but those subjects are massaged for the masses with compelling characters.


Crispy Gamer: Who is your dream cast?


Bleszinski: I'm not really allowed to get into that. But I can tell you: no wrestlers, and no football players. People see these huge characters and think we need to cast tanks to fill those roles. But when you look at Mission Impossible or Vin Diesel movies, these guys are like 5'4". They just need to be charismatic and shot the right way. Put them on a workout regimen and they'll fit the bill.


Crispy Gamer: You spoke about massaging things for the masses. Focus testing gets such a bad rap in films; do you think it's the same with games?


Bleszinski: In film, it's tough because the way people experience narrative is so subjective. With a game, in usability at least, a person can either grasp how to play through the game or not. There's nothing subjective about that.


Crispy Gamer: Are we still to assume that Gears is being structured as a trilogy?


Bleszinski: In Hollywood, the last sequel is the one that fails to make money. We were never set that it would be a trilogy; we're going to take it on a game-by-game basis. If Gears 2 does well enough, then yeah, we'll work on a third.


Crispy Gamer: Game development tends to consume the people who do it. Do you get to watch much TV?

Bleszinski shows a lot of love for the award-winning AMC drama "Mad Men." Does that mean Jon Hamm -- who plays the smoldering, charismatic advertising exec Don Draper -- could be trading skinny ties for bulky COG battle armor?

Bleszinski: I love "Mad Men." Everything in the details, from the clothing to the sexual politics, it's fascinating. ? I haven't really had a chance [to watch the new season], because I haven't burned through the first season. It's really strange how we used to have the "water cooler" moment where you could talk about each week's show, but now it's so fractured.


Crispy Gamer: Yeah, because of DVRs and on-demand, you can't really talk about TV with other people because you don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet. Do you think games are having a similar impact on TV-viewing habits?


Bleszinski: I think games are going to take over as the predominant form of entertainment over the next 20 years, with TV becoming more background noise. My girlfriend and I more often than not use the TV in the background while we're on our laptops. I just don't have time for TV because I'm playing games, or looking up funny videos on YouTube.


Crispy Gamer: You feel there's something more compelling about interactive entertainment than sitting back and watching TV?


Bleszinski: Yeah, I think this is the click generation, and they all want to be the hero. I was at Comic-Con this year talking to a guy who's got a hit show that shall not be named. All his life, he wanted to be a TV writer and he got there -- with a hit show, no less. This dude was talking to another television guy who said, "Hey, welcome to the tail end of it all." It's anecdotes like that that make me so glad to be in an industry that's still evolving.


Crispy Gamer: There are a lot of TV writers who are coming over to comic books. The one thing they always cite is the creative freedom. No studios to placate with notes and compromises. Just you, a word processor and an artist, putting your vision out there.


Bleszinski: I've found some of my most compelling entertainment lately in graphic novels. I finally started "The Walking Dead" [by Robert Kirkman], which is amazing, and I burned through "Girls" just a few weeks ago. "Girls" is the shit; it's amazing. What's so great about "The Walking Dead" is that zombies are just catalysts for the different facets of human behavior.


Crispy Gamer: Are you a big reader of non-illustrated prose?


Bleszinski: I could lie to you and say I've always got my nose in a book, but that's not true. I like Chuck Klosterman, Chuck Palahniuk, and I just finished "The Road" [by Cormac McCarthy]. I saw shots of the movie and thought that was a world I would like to experience. What a father would go through for his son. [The book] was very moving.


Crispy Gamer: What music are you into now?


Bleszinski: Jack Johnson; he's just great frat-boy beach music. I'm huge into Citizen Cope lately. Also, Butch Walker.


Crispy Gamer: I'm surprised how mellow that list is for the creative mind behind Gears.


Bleszinski: Don't get me wrong! I love my '80s metal! I hate all things grunge. I also like pop like Pink and the Pussycat Dolls.


Crispy Gamer: It's funny you mention pop, since the Gears games have been very much pop games.


Bleszinski: Yeah, it's a Michael Bay experience.


Crispy Gamer: What are you playing right now? This is always a loaded question to ask developers, since they're always working nose-to-the-grindstone on their projects.

It probably surprises folks that this browser game -- in which players resolve puzzles to bring color back to distant planets -- has given Bleszinski some of his best gaming experiences in recent times.

Bleszinski: I played Braid. Where Portal made me feel smart, Braid made me feel stupid. Everything is solvable; the question is how much time your consumer is willing to spend on it. When people tell me that I have to stick with a game for two hours, I say, fuck you. You have to catch attention right out of the gate or else people will move on.


[Otherwise] there haven't been a lot of commercial games -- mostly Xbox Live Arcade releases like Bionic Commando Rearmed. But that game's impossible. We're not 12-year-olds any more. We don't have hours to dedicate to these games. I've played Wii Fit, but that's really hard to do when you've been drinking. Everyone always assumes that it's really hardcore stuff [that I play], but that's not always the case. There's this really cute browser game, Aether, where you're this little character floating through the stars, and it's just really cute. You don't have to pigeonhole people who make hardcore games by assuming they can only like hardcore games.


Crispy Gamer: People do pay attention to what you play, though. You're one of the few game creators to have name recognition. Do you think that's a good thing for the games business? Is that helpful to the industry, a distraction from the work, or a slight against the behind-the-scenes people?


Bleszinski: I would say that with great power comes great responsibility. Whenever you do interviews, you have to make sure to mention the people who actually build the damn game. But I think that it's good for the industry to put a face on the business, so people don't think of us as a bunch of guys sitting in our basements playing games all day and drinking Mountain Dew.


Crispy Gamer: Who are other producers and designers whose work you admire?


Bleszinski: I like Will Wright because he has an attitude of "the player is the designer," which is the direct opposite of what we do here. He's the creator and I'm the destroyer. [Shigeru] Miyamoto, of course. And Randy Pitchford at Gearbox is an intelligent designer and businessman with lots of great things in the queue.


Crispy Gamer: What are your hopes for videogames as a storytelling medium? You obviously think they're going to dominate, but how do you think that's going to happen?


Bleszinski: Well, I think games are going to continue to grow as a medium while other forms -- TV and music -- struggle and fade a little more into the background. The face of your average gamer is going to shift away from the geeks and to the everyday public.