Shortish story driven games?

[deathcarrot]

Greetings friends, It appears I have a craving I'm unable to satisfy. You lot seem to be quite the knowledgeable bunch, so I'd like to call upon your collective cortex for consultation.

Not too fussed about the genre, as long as I can play it for a bit every evening or two and feel like I'm making progress, while being absorbed in a good story or engrossing environment.

I'm thinking of action RPGs like Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Bloodlines or post-NWN Bioware, adventure games like the Longest Journey games or Fahrenheit, maybe even some of the more story heavy action games like Max Payne and the Half-Lives.

I love lengthy, involved RPGs as much as the next guy, but I don't have the time or motivation to get into them now. I'm sure there are others in the same boat.

Thanks, chaps and chappettes.

[amandachen]

Well, how do you feel about playing text adventures?

[Creeping Death]

You could look at something by Telltale. Perhaps Tales of Monkey Island or Back to the Future? Telltales episodes normally clock in at about 2-4 hours each, and the writing is normally fairly entertaining.

[field_studies]

I was going to suggest an adventure game too: Scratches.

The story was very compelling. It's not too long, and only occasionally very difficult... in fact, in those spots where I was at a loss, I didn't really hesitate to refer to a walk-through, primarily because I was so curious to see where the story went. And when it was over? The story stuck with me for days; I tried to relate it others, like I would a great short story or film, perhaps.

And last year they released a director's cut edition, which I believe changes the ending or offers an alternative ending... enough impetus for me to play through it again, I think.

ps. esoteric fact about the game: apparently the only commercial game ever developed in Argentina, according to Wikipedia. Though you'd never know it—it captures the British ghost story feel perfectly.

[Sproutmask]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth isn't hugely long and is based on a fusion of several HP Lovecraft stories. It's on Steam for not a lot (£5.99 IIRC). It's a survival horror with some unusual, and well-done mechanics.

The Splinter Cell games are plot driven and pretty tight if you like your Tom Clancy.

I quite enjoyed the storyline of FEAR (haven't played the sequels but I guess they'll be similar).

Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please from Size Five (ex Zombie Cow) are genuinely very funny comedy adventure games and you can grab both for about 3 squid.

[Giaddon]

Here's three of the top of my head. Maybe I'll add more later.

Singularity -- A shooter. You're an American soldier investigating an old Soviet base where they researched time travel. Very heavy on story and atmosphere with good shooting mechanics.

Pyschonauts -- A 3D-platformer in which you control a kid at a summer camp for psychics. Wonderful level design and writing. A classic!

Thief 3: Deadly Shadows -- A stealth game. Set in a kind of mecho-magical Victorian city, you sneak into a variety of locales and steal stuff. Very cool world and an interesting story.

[mlaskus]

Well, Mass Effect 2 is a lengthy RPG but it's missions nicely separate the game into short chunks that can be played through an evening at a time.

EDIT:
I believe there was a topic like this on the old forum, I will try to dig it up.

EDIT:
Found it - http://rockpapershotgun.com/rpsforum/topic.php?id=3895

[Grizzly]

Metro 2033 - Its quite Half-Lifey, with a lot of immersion. A LOT of immersion. It's 10 hours long, has a good story, and there's a lot of sections that can be done in stealth or in action. The levels, although very linear (it's a metro!) still offer quite a bit of room for exploration.

[deathcarrot]

Thanks guys, I'll have a look at Metro 2033 and Scratches, the rest I've already played. I remember reading about Metro when it came out and thinking it wasn't my kind of thing, but I'll give it a chance.

I definitely enjoyed Psychonauts, Thief 3, CoC:DCotE and ME2 (big fan of anything by Bioware, excluding the unfortunate DA2).

Tried Ben There, Dan That but my interest veered elsewhere along the way, might give it another try.

The Splinter Cells and FEAR are definitely good games, but not the kind I'm looking for right now.

As for text adventures, never been a big fan but I like to keep an open mind. If there's one that's definitely worth trying, I'll give it a go.

Mirror's Edge is another that would fit the bill nicely, but I played that again a couple of months back. Ditto the Portals.

[EnterTheStory]

Shortish and story driven? Far be it from me to promote my own games, but that's all I do: make games based on classic novels. I can't guarantee the biggest budget or most fiendish puzzles, but I can guarantee the best stories in the world (or at least they were before I got my hands on them!)

[amandachen]

Shortish and story driven? Far be it from me to promote my own games, but that's all I do: make games based on classic novels. I can't guarantee the biggest budget or most fiendish puzzles, but I can guarantee the best stories in the world (or at least they were before I got my hands on them!)

That's great. Enter the Story. Hmmm... Have you done Lolita?

[EnterTheStory]

That's great. Enter the Story. Hmmm... Have you done Lolita?

Not yet. :) But I'm working toward being able to release a complete story every two months (eventually) so anything is possible. Dorian Gray is next.

[winterwolves]

If you don't mind manga art, I make mostly story-based games :D check my signature.

[EnterTheStory]

If you don't mind manga art, I make mostly story-based games :D check my signature.

Slightly off topic, but I really like your home page. It's hard to get the balance right: so many game sites look cluttered, or require several clicks before you can be sure what you're getting. Your WinterWolves design is a model of how it should be done: It shows what you have, what it looks like, why it matters, the platforms, and how to get it, with extra detail if needed yet without being too busy or intense. That's a hard trick to pull off. Kudos!

[Pew pew LAZORS!]

If you want a good and unique story try Pathologic, though its anything but short.
Also have look at Outcry/Sublustrum, its a beautiful point and click game from russia with a very interesting story and atmosphere inspired by Tarkovsky.

[Vexing Vision]

I, as many others, am slightly guilty of really enjoying Christine Love's interactive stories. Especially "Don't Take It Personally". It's shortish with two hours, but kept me occupied and thinking for a much, much longer time.

Probably not exactly what you're looking for, but heartily recommended as distraction.

[DeekyFun]

MASQ is worth a try, possibly? Fairly short and entirely story driven.

D