Quote Originally Posted by Meneldil View Post
I beg to disagree here.
The Stalker series is awesome even though the plot is subpar. Total Annihilation was a superb RTS without any story. The same applies to a whole lot of other games: from Starcraft to Diablo, the Heroes of Might and Magic series, Icewind Dale, Left 4 Dead, etc etc.

While a good story can turn a decent game into a very good one (Bioshock comes to mind), many good games have terrible plots.

Actually, I'd go as far as saying that the recent turn of the gaming industry, which consists in selling 8-hours long interactive stories instead of real games, isn't really my cup of tea. Plot is overrated most of the time.
Starcraft has Story. So does the Elder Scrolls series. Dragon Age. Mass Effect 1 & 2. Warcraft 3. Fable series. etc

Even then, immersion into an atmosphere is part of the 'story'. So even games like Left 4 Dead have limited story.