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Excuse Me, Your Cut Scene is In My Game
Via GameSetWatch, an interesting critique of game cut scenes at the blog ItBurns. He compares and contrasts several games and their use of story, gameplay, and in-game movies (with video) to get across his point. "Splinter Cell takes a more simulative approach to many of the character interactions that occur in the game. In the next clip, Sam Fisher grabs his target, Sadono, from behind and places a gun at his temple. Using Sadono as a shield, Fisher backs towards the door and forces Sadono's head into the retinal scanner to open the lock. Fisher continues through the doorway towards the roof, interrogating Sadono as they walk to the waiting helicopter for extraction. At no time during this sequence does the player relinquish control."
I don't think this guy cares if they are movies or if they are rendered in the game engine (though movies are more jarring especially if they look better than the game play). I think this guys complaint is that you don't have control over the character.
In the Splinter Cell example he likes the fact that the player always has control. I haven't played the game but I wonder. He describes the actions the character goes though and says that they player has control, but is this still basically on rails or could the player choose to do something completely different?
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
Not a very meaty article, and I don't really like how the writer says "my game". Yes, it is "your" game, but it was written, directed, and developed by someone else. The Metal Gear Solid series is directed by Hideo Kojima, who has a very large, convoluted, and highly entertaining story to tell. Kojima chooses to tell that story through non-pre-rendered cutscenes and radio conversations. Whether you like it or not, that's how he chose to tell "his" story and you undoubtedly know what you're getting into when you start a Metal Gear Solid game. There are many, many games out there that don't have cutscenes or choose to tell their story in alternative methods (see Okami which begins with 30 minutes of text reading).
I honestly don't see a problem with cutscenes as long as they're still telling a story and not just wasting time or trying to show off their FMVs. Some genres and games work great with cutscenes, others don't.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
I respectfully disagree. Several games that do not relinquish control, but restrict actions, during a "cut scene" are annoying. For instance Gears of War while you are on the radio. All it does is make you walk really slow. I found that slow walk terribly annoying for some reason. In Half Life, they stand in front of the doorway until they are done talking, also pretty annoying if you had already heard it or didn't care to hear it the first time. For me, I'd rather not have control instead of still being in control of a useless character.
I don't know why, but I'm still in control, I'm still in an action mindset and I'm more likely to miss the parts of the story the game wanted to get to me.
The article derides the common mechanism of losing player control during a cutscene. I suppose for some people, losing any time of actual gameplay is annoying. I happen to be the complete opposite. I tend to find most gameplay repetitive, and welcome a break in the form of a story, especially if told in a way that's interesting and engaging. To me, a game is so much more entertaining when I actually care about the characters / what's going on.
Naturally, not every game is right for long, drawn out cutscenes. In general, people play shooters for an adrenaline rush, so taking someone out of that 'zone' for too long is probably not the best idea. In an RPG, the story often is considered to be a crucial element of the game, and so probably requires more elaborate exposition. Personally, in many games, I consider each cutscene a small reward for my progress, and look forward to each new story or character development. Some people complain about too much story - I tend to revel in it. 120 minutes of cutscenes in a game? Brilliant, looking forward to it. But don't tell me there's anything wrong with how *I* want to enjoy a game.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.