HL2 EP2: Grey Mod.

[the dark side]

Indeed, they seem to have "done an Activision". basically they have created the spectacle first, and then written, at speed, the most bare bones Possible Story to tie all the spectacular bits together. the problem is, many so called "professional tutorials" (HAH! i think not!) say "this is what you need to do".

its not a Good way to create your game, but its also not a good idea to focuss on your story over your game, or you end up contracting "Hideo Kojima Disease". and have loads of beautifully crafted story told by Feature Length cutscenes joined together by short, albiet still beautifully crafted gameplay segments.

what you need to do is do what Monolith Did with the First NOLF, and balance the 2, first your create your Plotline , who is whom, were they go and why, and what happens to them. then you create the gameplay to fit inside that plotline, then you create the story, you flush out who those people are, what happened in there childhoods that makes them who they are today, how what happens in the game, to them and the world in general, Affects them Emotionally, what personality "quirks" they may have, etc, and then, and ONLY then do you work on creating all the spectacular effects and graphical eye candy. that is the correct way, IMO, to make a game.