Hello, My Name Is Cliff

OXM: Do you feel shackled by the franchise at this point?

CB: No. There’s been only two Gears games, man. There’s still plenty of opportunities for things you can do in a coverbased shooter and there’s still a lot of stories to tell in the Gears universe. I’m not burned-out on that at all. But there are tradeoffs. With an established IP, you’re not saying “Are we going to do cover?” and “Who is this Cole Train guy?” It’s all there — the writer writes and it’s a known entity. But with a new IP, it’s raw and wide-open — you don’t know and you’re playing in the sandbox and feeling out. “Is this feature going to work? Is this fun? Who’s this character, how does this fit into our fiction? How does this all come together” It’s like solving a giant puzzle in your head, and it’s great. Whenever I talk to people in the business, I ask them what they’re working on, and when they say they’re working on a new IP, I tell them, “Good for you!” Because I swear to god, if tomorrow someone came to Epic and forced me to do a licensed IP — “you have to make the new videogame for the new Mummy movie” — I would go out back and put a shotgun in my mouth. Original IPs are the best-selling and the strongest titles in the industry because they generally don’t have to adhere to rules or limitations. You can say “Can we do a flamethrower? That will fit into the fiction.” It’s the wild, wild West in the business right now. It’s like the comic-book industry back in the day.

OXM: Is Gears now the game that sells itself?

CB: Well, you can dial back a bit on the goofy shenanigans. It’s good to have spokespeople like Rod and myself to remind people what we make and how we support it, but it’s probably not quite as necessary that I burst onto a stage with a chainsaw or I dress in a silly fashion. I just want to show up places looking like an adult, semi-fashionable and well-spoken and somewhat mature. [laughs]

OXM: You’ve been praised as being really good at “getting it” when it comes to game design — you can see a game and instantly tweak it in your mind, and say “this needs to be shaved here and buffed there.”

CB: Rod likes to call me a holistic designer, and I think that means that he called me a hippie bastard. But it’s a feel thing; it’s a nudge thing. I don’t always know what the 15th step is to get “fun”; I can see two steps in front of me. Same with levels and pacing. It’s not just putting my own ideas in the game; it’s harvesting the ideas of everybody I work with. Having the respect of co-workers and being able to say, “You know, a rocket launcher with a sanding belt on it is really lame and you shouldn’t have suggested that.” And same thing with them — when I’m like, ”I wanna do this gun that does this,” and they go, “Uh…no, dude.”

OXM: Since what you do is so subtle, it’s hard for people on the outside to see what you do. Are you afraid that all people see is your fl ashy image?

CB: That’s the problem — the perception. By taking on the responsibility of being the face of the company, there’s an assumption that I’m not there every day, banging away on design documents and meeting after meeting and playtests and things like that. There’s a weird element when you put yourself out there — just because you’re visible, people hate you. Back in the day when I was a kid and looking forward to getting into the business, I remember feeling that when I saw Tommy Tallarico’s print ad for his first album of videogame music. He had torn jeans on, and I’m looking at that thinking: “What a douchebag! This guy’s gotta be a real tool.” And for some reason, there’s that attitude when you’re a gamer — “Oh, I hate you!” But whatever, it’s fine. There’s that photo of me with the red shirt on, holding the Lancer chainsaw? That was originally going to be for that Rolling Stone issue [Issue 1,075, where Cliff was named one of the “100 Agents of Change” — Ed.]. We took that picture like a year ago. And people said, “Cliffy needs to stop doing photoshoots and be more focused on the games!” It’s like, dude — that was me grabbing Aaron Smith at work and going outside for five minutes and taking two f**king photos. What did you think, it was like four hours of makeup and stylists and hookers and blow all day long? If I’m not there working with the guys, I start going crazy. The criticism is what it is; you can’t put yourself out there and not expect a little bit of flack.

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