A Farewell to Cliff

In case you somehow missed the news, longtime game designer Cliff Bleszinski left Epic Games earlier this week. His career includes some of gaming’s most popular titles, including Jazz Jackrabbit (1994), Unreal (1998), Unreal Tournament (1999), and Gears of War (2006). With a resume like that, of course he’s left a mark on all of us. Here’s Inside Gaming’s recollections of the man and his work.

ADAM KOVIC

Adam put together a master list of Cliff’s interactions with Inside Gaming, which probably took a long ass time.

The first Cliff sighting:

First official interview with Inside Gaming:

The “I <3 CliffyB Manga.” Also old IG is just a trip to watch:

Adam’s amusing undersell of Cliff’s career at the 2010 Inside Gaming Awards:

Which he didn’t forget about months later:

Here’s Cliff and Billy yelling at each other:

Cliff’s debut in a Flame War:

Cliff being very ominous about Bulletstorm:

Here’s Cliff accepting the award for Best Multiplayer at the 2011 Inside Gaming Awards:

And the last (but probably not the last) appearance on IG:

LAWRENCE SONNTAG:

While I have fond memories plinking away in Jazz Jackrabbit, the story that sticks out in my mind involves Unreal II. The game came out my freshman year of college so I was quietly playing it by myself in my room. My dorm was really more of a four-bedroom apartment, and in the grand tradition of college, I got matched up with two cool dudes and one really strange guy.

So anyway I’m playing and from behind me I just hear “Oh that looks cool.” I jump a little and crane my head around to see Strange Guy is standing right behind me with a can of soda in his hand, just watching my monitor. I have no idea how long he’s been there, and while my door was probably open, he didn’t knock or announce himself or anything when he walked in.

So I slowly turn back to the game and try to make small talk. Yeah it’s pretty good, I’m a big fan of the original, so on and so on.

No response, awkward silence. Then, after a minute or so, Strange Guy asks “…can I play?”

This may not sound so weird, but Strange Guy was also a pretty hefty mooch. He bragged that he didn’t bring a TV to college except he spent all day in the common room playing Halo on my Xbox and my roommate’s TV. In fact, the can of soda he had was mine; he’d taken it out of the communal refrigerator in the kitchen.

And now he wanted to use my computer.

Only problem was, I was a little nerdling who’d just gone off to college. I didn’t have rudimentary social skills, much less the ability to say “No please don’t use my computer you weirdo.” Instead, I quicksaved and quit as quickly as possible and trumped up some reason that I had to leave. I got up and walked to the door, and as he followed, I heard him murmur “I guess not…” under his breath.

So yeah, thanks for making fun video games Cliff!