Marianne Krawczyk
Freelance game writer
Notable projects
God
of War, God of War II, God of War III
Project focus
With experience writing and designing on a
number of AAA game titles, Marianne Krawczyk is most often recognized for her
work on the the critically and commercially acclaimed franchise God of War.
In addition to working on
many games in that series, Krawczyk has written for Area 51, The Sopranos: Road
to Respect, and more, including a number of soon-to-be-announced titles for
the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Specifically, she focuses
on story and dialogue. She has worked with all of the major games publishers,
including Sony, Activision, Vivendi Universal, THQ and Midway. In addition to
writing for games, she has also written about game writing.
She is the author of Game Development Essentials: Game Story and Character Development.
Krawczyk is the recent recipient of the BAFTA for Best Story and Character for God of War II. She has also won other awards for her excellence
in character development.
 What stands out
As her awards indicate, Krawczyk's strength
is truly in her characters, like God of
War's Kratos, who has developed a life and a following of his own that
keeps God of War fans coming back for
more.
She has gone on as saying her strongest characters find her -- and just
start talking. Thank goodness they do, because that leaves us with characters
to remember.
Our take
"In the U.K., where the equivalent of the Oscars -- the BAFTAs -- encompasses games
as well as film, God of War II won the award for Best Story and Character.
That's an impressive achievement, but those who play games are already aware of
how instantly iconic the twisted hero of that series, Kratos, has become.
Would
the games still have been immensely popular relying on their brutal gameplay
alone? Sure. Could he have become an icon without the dark and disturbing story
that underpins that action? It does not seem likely at all."
- Christian Nutt, features director, Gamasutra
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In addition, I'd like to nominate Rhianna Pratchett...she's doing fantastic work and IMO deserves the recognition.
However I also feel I should point out that BioWare games are written by teams of 4-6 talented men and women.
As the lead writer, I tend to be the one who gets the credit, but honestly we have a dozen great writers on staff at BioWare and we couldn't create our great narrative driven games without the contributions of the entire team.
So, on behalf of all the writers at BioWare thank you for this honor.
Uh, No offense, but to compare the writing in Gears to, well, any other game here is like throwing a typical porn script in the WDGA Noms.
Seriously, games like Gears, as addictive as their gameplay may be, set our industry back 10 years when looking at the quality of the writing.
I think you'll find many critics and most non-gamers would agree.
Well I'm probably not being nominated for the Gears work, but for my body of work as a whole. Each project makes distinct demands on the writer. In the case of Gears, the story was not striving for gritty realism, but escapist fantasy, and on that level it delivered. I don't know if you're calling out the cinematics (which I wrote, based on Epic's story) or the in-game barks (which were written by other people on the team), but in either case, you're definitely entitled to your opinion. I feel very lucky that I had the opportunity to work with the guys at Epic, they're an incredible group of guys. Like I said, different projects have different priorities.
And I second the congratulations to Chris Avellone, and all the writers on the list.
Although Gears may not win any awards for its writing, to say that it sets back the industry 10 years is a bit harsh. Personally I thought the scene with Dom and his wife Maria was one of the most emotional cinematics that I have seen in a game and would like to congratulate Susan on her writing for that scene.
It was especially refreshing to see in a game where the focus is not on narrative. By putting quality scenes in games that are not normally story driven is in my opinion helping the industry, not setting it back.
Regarding Brian Bartram's comments: You seem to be under some mistaken impressions. Allow me to clarify.
I was the lead writer on "Saboteur" for three years, and in that capacity worked with some brilliant people to create what we all believe is a fantastic original IP, its characters, a fleshed-out world, a tone, an extensive game structure, dozens of missions, etc. (Those comprise a big part of a writer's job, especially when the writer is involved early in the process.) I also did a couple of drafts of a cinematic script, many drafts of mission dialogue, and some in-game chatter, as well as helping to mold many of the presentations and materials that got the project repeatedly (and successfully) greenlighted at various stages. (A significant amount of dialogue, it should be noted, was also written by Armand Constantine, a terrific writer who could also easily have appeared on this list.)
At the end of those three years, I chose to leave Los Angeles for personal reasons that had nothing to do with Pandemic or "Saboteur." Subsequent to that, decisions were made to alter the story in ways which made my cinematic script obsolete, due to the iteration that happens repeatedly in the process of developing a game story over four-plus years. (If I hadn't left, I'd have been the one making the changes.) The missions, meanwhile, got revised/cut/transformed over and over as missions do.
So it's quite true that the cinematic script is no longer the one I wrote; it couldn't possibly be. As far as the in-game chatter, I'm not sure that's totally true, but regardless I know Armand continued to do fine work for them, ably picking up the torch I had passed to him.
Regardless, I am not the writer of record on "Saboteur" -- at this point that would be Brad Santos -- and have not taken, nor would take, credit for being so. I am proud and pleased, however, to have played a role in its creation and development, and I hope it rocks. The team deserves every success.
I hope that makes sense, and I hope they find whoever it was who shot your dog.
Also, some of the people you mention haven't worked on particularly recent titles - for example, we love Ragnar, but his last game was released in 2006 and we've heard very little about the new one.
Choices are never scientific, but we tried not to make this an 'all-time' list - otherwise we'd be picking Steve Meretzky and all kinds of other great writers.
Not disparaging the work of any writers here, but it would be great for future iterations of a list like this to maybe broaden the scope of recognition.
I don't pay enough attention to writing credits, so I was surprised to find that the same person had written Gears, Farcry 2, and Bioshock. And while I somewhat agree with Rob's sentiment (even for escapism, I can't really find much to like about the writing in Gears - scenes such as the one with Dom's wife are about as formulaic as the shot-reverse shot these days), I definitely think that Susan deserved the nod for her body of work.
For me, her biggest strength is not believability but subtle intertextuality. In contrast, look at a game like CoD: World at War - the story is great fun, because so many set pieces have been hijacked wholesale from movies (who knew so many people liked Enemy at the Gates?).
But Susan's work on Farcry 2 and Bioshock goes well beyond this, weaving bits and pieces from numerous literary sources into something all her own. The subverting of Rand at every turn in Bioshock was miles ahead of its Shyamalan-like plot twists, and no matter how many times you had to read Heart of Darkness in high school you couldn't have predicted the Jackal's motivations toward the end of FC2. Both of these are the only games in recent memory where I actually wanted to listen to the audio logs (though maybe we should be moving past this... people write notes and make YouTube videos all the time, but only doctors and lawyers make audio logs).
For me, Drew's work on Mass Effect represents a happy medium as far as subtlety in intertextuality goes. The story of the Reapers diverges enough from its Alien vs. Predator roots to still be engaging and unique. And I think it goes without saying that KoTOR's writing is the undisputed nerd gamer favorite. His gracious thanks and commentary against the "auteur theory" approach of this piece are also quite awesome.
Andrew Walsh is another name I’d expect to see on a list like this. Prince of Persia is excellent, and is a great example of interactive storytelling that allows the player a high degree of freedom. Personally, facing these challenges of interactivity in a linear story if far more impressive than just writing some cut scenes to avoid it. POP is a great example of where storytelling in games can break from tradition.
There are some really great writers outside of the US and Japan, and yes there’s one or two on the list, but it does seem like the majority have been ignored a little.
And also, I don’t really understand the relevance of the age of a game is to this list. 2006 is still ‘recent’ in my eyes, and shouldn’t be reason enough to keep Ragnar Tornquist off the list.
To an outside observer the selection of individuals can seem a little strange. Specific mention is made of Susan O'Connor's role in Far Cry 2 and BioShock but then both Patrick Redding and Ken Levine are also included.
I guess specifically when it comes to Susan O’Connor she is spoken of highly by those whom she works with yet it can often be difficult to judge exactly what role she played in the titles she works on. Therefore it can seem odd to have two people specifically picked out for the same game for what appear to be very similar reasons.
Christy Marx (who btw is one of those writers who could have been on this list, but I guess her work is in stealth mode right now) made an insightful comment on the IGDA Writers SIG mailing list in response to this article -- that there's a difference between writing and storytelling. This list seems to combine the two. Did all of these people write dialog or did they own the vision? Some people do both well and others, like freelancers, do not have the opportunity to decide the story but do have free rein as to the exact dialog in cut scenes. So what are you judging -- the story or the witty dialog?
If this is the case, in regards to writing teams, as Drew Karpyshyn alluded, who do you honor? Is it a team effort or just the vision of a Lead Writer who came up with the story and then delegated?
@Justin Keverne
This is precisely why Hollywood has credits that specifically spell out a person's role. Story By credit is not the same as Written By credit.
That being said, I echo the sentiment that it's great to see an article about game writing on Gamasutra. Congratulations to everyone who was profiled!
I believe Ken Levine was credited with BioShock because, as the lead designer, he drove the overall vision which included gameplay and story.
Regarding Ms. O'Connor's contribution, the game design was likely solidified by the time she was contracted to polish it, so her role was probably to collaborate with the dev team to make the story work within the given context, as well as clean up the NPC dialogue to conform to character voice and motivation.
These are just my educated guesses, as I'm sure either Ms. O'Connor or Mr. Levine could confirm or deny. It's also worth noting that some games which rely heavily on story sometimes sacrifice gameplay. The real achievements are the games that manage to strike a balance that satisfies both elements.
His weird and wonderful concepts, knowledge of myths, religions and philosophies, and his incredibly writing skill gave the Elder Scrolls universe a charm and a depth that I have never seen in another video game world.
Agreed, Morrowind is definitely the only game where I actively sought out obscure manuscripts to read. I remember spending hours scouring dungeons for notes, trying to figure out if I could somehow replicate the ritual used to become a god. Whoever (Kirkbride?) designed the documents in that game was a genius. Oblivion's manuscripts on the Daedric realms just flat-out frustrated me, on the other hand.
My vote for the best written game I have ever played is Deus Ex. It had more brain food, irony, depth, humor, and subtle aspects than anything I have seen before or since. Some were so small as to be easily missed, like discovering through a monk's journal that Gunther, the half-metal man who hunts you, cried over the loss of Agent Navarre. One of the only pieces of human flesh left in him was his heart, and you broke it.
I also think the Sander Cohen level from Bioshock is one of the best-written segments in any game. Funny, scary, disturbing, and wickedly entertaining, it borrowed from the Phantom of the Opera and put it under the sea in a utopia gone bad.
Any help would be hugely appreciated. There seems to be a shortage of advice for aspiring game writers, and when it is so clearly a vital role to game development I am surprised there is not more demand for new minds and their much-needed talents.
While I don't really have much AAA advice to share with you, I have done several pieces of contracted work in the industry and your best bet is to keep writing. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well it's true, write everything from poetry to scripts, short stories, essay's, anything that shows your unique talent and than attempt to get published. Even if you're only getting published in small online Ezines, it shows a willingness & a passion for the art. That will get your noticed when you begin sending in resumes.
As a newly hatched game writer I find this list both inspiring and appreciative - and about frickin’ time! Only criticism I could possible hurl at his just list would be that it culminated at Chris Avellone – the first name.
I agree. Getting a bit off topic here... but Oblivion's writing being a frustration was possibly because Kirkbride was no longer officially working for BethSoft during Oblivion's development. He wrote a couple of things (Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, some of Mankar Camoran's dialogue), but he wasn't really in on the design aspect - tying it all together, in other words. You'll also notice a marked difference in the design of Oblivion and The Shivering Isles, which was written by Kurt Kuhlmann.
I'd personally like to see a fantasy game with a greater emphasis on story, narrative, and deeper meaning. Reading between the lines in the Elder Scrolls mythos you can find references to concepts in Buddhism, Gnosticism, Jungian philosophy and modern Campbellian anthropology. This is why I loved Morrowind so much - I could derive far more worth and meaning from it than, say, Neverwinter Nights.
Let me say that I'm glad Mark Laidlaw got a mention, too - Half Life 2's writing team in particular did so much to inject meaning and narrative into a game with a silent protagonist... usually an obstacle to character development. HL2 had one of the best stories in a game in recent years, despite the protagonist not having an objective character.
Phoenix Wright pretty much blows every game listed here out of the water in terms of writing. The writing is the game there. Not the writing in whatever programming language; not the mathematical writing that makes the physics engine.
That deserves special mention.
Basically it's sweet, sweet, bubbly pop writing suited for a highly creative TV drama with mainstream audience, blended with supernatural elements typical of comics/manga/teenage novels, and topped off with serious thrills and suspense. It works like gangbusters.
. . .
Literally, actually; from the urban dictionary: "Gang Busters was a famous radio program that was first heard in 1936 and aired until 1957. The sound effects of police sirens, tommyguns, and screeching tires that opened the show were dramatic and exciting -- this inspired the expression 'coming on like gangbusters'."
So yeah, Phoenix Wright. Illustrated Interactive Reading Book with Audio. Man, the things you gotta do these days to make reading NOT boring...
Great question. It's one I asked myself, when I was starting out. I'm working on a blog post on just that topic, it'll be up in a few days. I hope it helps; the more writers we have in the industry, the better.
Thanks for everyone (esp Simon) for the kind comments.
@Justin: you are right! The same writer will find herself playing different roles on different teams. The one constant is this: game writing is a team effort. It always involves more than one person, even if only one individual is named as the writer. We are still developing terminology to describe what it is we do (exhibit A: narrative designer). Takes a freaking village.
@ Isaiah Williams: Ha! Thank you. Guess what: Baird was my favorite. :)
Besides that, great article! Tim Schafer, king of the hill!!
In addition to the excellent advice above, I'd recommend getting a job for a least a short time as a tester. It gives you a tremendous insight into the way the development process works and educates you quickly about some of the more technically-oriented stuff that many writers have no experience with. There are a lot of writers who either know games or know how to write; knowing both is a big advantage not just in getting a job but in doing it well once you've got it. (And if you do work as a tester, hang in there. My six months in the Activision dungeon were indescribably painful but also invaluable. :P)
You bring up a really great point. Although there's probably some really great stuff going on in Korean and Chinese MMOs, there are so few of us English speakers who've taken the leap to become proficient in Korean or Chinese (if you're an American student who like games, you're much more likely to learn Japanese in college).
I agree with you that it is probably by far the most difficult game writing goal to be able to create an engaging narrative for an MMO, which is all the more reason why perhaps this genre should get its own list (I'm sure there would be a few Korean MMOs on it). Hell, even Blizzard's writing team has its ups and its downs.
Don't let our ignorance get in your way... get together with the other writers you know in Korea and come up with a Top 20 for yourself!
So I guess I’m on the right track, I’ll continue to concentrate on my personal work, and stick with the testing for a few more months, even though it does sometimes feel dangerously mind numbing. Tom you must be a little bit psychic I think.
Susan, it’s great that you are trying to address the issue of support for new writers and I am very excited about reading the blog you mentioned, perhaps you could put a link up for us.
Many thanks
Among other things, I host/produce the DigiPen Institute's official podcast, and our March podcast is actually about game writing. So this article was actually quite timely. If any writers would like to participate in the podcast, I'd love to hear from them. The basic idea is to explore game writing/narrative from the career perspective...what is a game writer, and what do you need to know/do to become one.
I also maintain a blog on Women's issues in the game industry... AFAIK, percentage-wise, there's actually more women in game writing than in the other game development disciplines.
Though "writing by" and "story by" credits do not mean the same, both of them deserve respect and involve a great deal of crafting words and ideas. As an aspiring writer and game designer I know the effort that goes into scribbling every letter and through it I plan on also becoming a professional.
A lot of motivation in one's career comes through the advice and knowledge shared by the experts. In that sense, I am thankful and encourage more comments through writing peers and professionals like Susan O'Connor, Drew Karpyshyn, Tom Abernathy, and Rhianna Pratchett among others. It is not because I am a fan of titles such as Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Mirror's Edge, but because examples like Sternberg's participation also deepen the notion that we are all one big community.
Lastly, I can say I'm eager to read Susan's blog post with more advice, specifically relating to Albert's question. Though all career doubts will never be truly cleared, it is through this collaborative motion that our strengths and confidence are maximized.
Best regards to all who commented,
Games writing is an evolving profession with an everchanging skill set. It was great of Gamasutra to recognise the field in this way. Praise to all who take on its challenge. Narrative wranglers and wordsmiths everywhere. I salute you!
@Stefan Novak: I agree about the PW series, I've played all 5 games and twice at least for the first 4 :)