Templar Wizard
Member
from a discussion i had yesterday and the resulting kicking, screaming and chair throwing, i decided i would put the issue to the gaming hardcore to find their opinion.
'FMV sequences, game-engine rendered cut-scenes' -the do's and dont's
you know what really pisses me off? when i watch an opening FMV segment to a game and it gets me all pumped up for the coming gameplay, because as we all know its a great introduction to the feel of the game, and i see all of this great action and amazing locations.
then i start to play the game and it turns out the opening movie was completely fucking bogus, the levels are tiny and there is no WAY my character can do ANY of the great stuff i saw a minute ago.
example: Deus Ex Invisible War. im a huge fan of the original and i watched the pre-release invisible war movie over and over to 'get a feel' for the game.
was i shafted? i was indeed. When i heard that GTA3 was the favourite game of the deus ex team, combined with the large levels of the first game and the open streets of chicago in the movie, i got myself all excited. expecting the game to have wonderful open city levels, instead i got 3 room maps with loading points everywhere.
now i know thats not the worse offender (there are LOADS), but its the one closest to my heart and i guess you know what i mean.
unrepresentative FMV is pretty bad, but do you know whats worse?
in-game cut scenes where your character performs some amazing feats and actions, but in the actual game those actions are impossible for you to perform.
point in question: The Twin Snakes.
remember the 'Boss'-battle between Snake and Ninja? you hit that red button a couple of times and perform a very tame punch, punch kick combo, perform it several times and you are 'rewarded' with an in-game cutscene of the rest of the fight.
now, i dont know about you, but I WANTED to do all of that cool stuff.
its a crime and here is my argument: "if the player cant do it, dont show it!"
im sure several kojima fanbois will shout and roar about 'thats all part of a MGS game' but i dont give a fuck, i want to do ALL the cool stuff, not watch it. if you want to make a scene feel 'cinematic' there are other, better ways than just SHOWING it. slow down time, change the camera angle, 'black bars'-it, change the soundtrack to something more epic, let the characters speak to you IN GAME as opposed to sitting through 10 minutes of badly written exposition.
okay.
what do you think? do you want to point out some of the worst offenders or EVEN better! point out some of the best examples of gameplay/cut scene integration.
i have a pretty good knowledge of games, but i dont know everything, your comments and opinions would be great.
'FMV sequences, game-engine rendered cut-scenes' -the do's and dont's
you know what really pisses me off? when i watch an opening FMV segment to a game and it gets me all pumped up for the coming gameplay, because as we all know its a great introduction to the feel of the game, and i see all of this great action and amazing locations.
then i start to play the game and it turns out the opening movie was completely fucking bogus, the levels are tiny and there is no WAY my character can do ANY of the great stuff i saw a minute ago.
example: Deus Ex Invisible War. im a huge fan of the original and i watched the pre-release invisible war movie over and over to 'get a feel' for the game.
was i shafted? i was indeed. When i heard that GTA3 was the favourite game of the deus ex team, combined with the large levels of the first game and the open streets of chicago in the movie, i got myself all excited. expecting the game to have wonderful open city levels, instead i got 3 room maps with loading points everywhere.
now i know thats not the worse offender (there are LOADS), but its the one closest to my heart and i guess you know what i mean.
unrepresentative FMV is pretty bad, but do you know whats worse?
in-game cut scenes where your character performs some amazing feats and actions, but in the actual game those actions are impossible for you to perform.
point in question: The Twin Snakes.
remember the 'Boss'-battle between Snake and Ninja? you hit that red button a couple of times and perform a very tame punch, punch kick combo, perform it several times and you are 'rewarded' with an in-game cutscene of the rest of the fight.
now, i dont know about you, but I WANTED to do all of that cool stuff.
its a crime and here is my argument: "if the player cant do it, dont show it!"
im sure several kojima fanbois will shout and roar about 'thats all part of a MGS game' but i dont give a fuck, i want to do ALL the cool stuff, not watch it. if you want to make a scene feel 'cinematic' there are other, better ways than just SHOWING it. slow down time, change the camera angle, 'black bars'-it, change the soundtrack to something more epic, let the characters speak to you IN GAME as opposed to sitting through 10 minutes of badly written exposition.
okay.
what do you think? do you want to point out some of the worst offenders or EVEN better! point out some of the best examples of gameplay/cut scene integration.
i have a pretty good knowledge of games, but i dont know everything, your comments and opinions would be great.