90°

Developers, Stop: Using Cutscenes To Introduce Enemies

"You’re walking down a cold, dark hallway where the metallic walls are caked with rust and long strands of water drip from the ceiling. You are encapsulated in an oppressive ocean of shadow, armed with only a flashlight whose battery is waning and a revolver with only two bullets. As you turn each corner, a feeling of dread clings on to you as you frantically scan the environment with your eyes. Then you hear a shrill noise; a scream, possibly. Gulping, you turn the next corner.

Suddenly, before even completing said turn, you find yourself locked into place, unable to move. Then your eyesight seemingly exits your head and proceeds to hover over to the end of the hallway, where an alien egg lays. The egg slowly peels away to reveal an alien beast, who slowly grows an extremely obvious red weak point on his chest on proceeds to swipe at the air and scream at nobody in particular. It is at this point that he looks in your direction and starts walking over to you.

Then and only then does your eyesight come back to your head. Having memorized the layout of the hallway, where the beast is standing, and where his weakpoint is, you quickly aim at his chest and shoot it with your revolver. He is now dead, and your face is a fusion of blankness, bewilderment and unsatisfaction.

Chances are you’ve witnessed a scenario like the one I just described. It’s when the first enemy of certain type is introduced via a prolonged cutscene that interrupts gameplay and takes away control from you, the player. And I can’t be the only one who’s annoyed by it." (Michael Urban, OnlySP.com)

MysticStrummer4731d ago

"Chances are you’ve witnessed a scenario like the one I just described. It’s when the first enemy of certain type is introduced via a prolonged cutscene that interrupts gameplay and takes away control from you, the player. And I can’t be the only one who’s annoyed by it."

I'm not annoyed by it.

*shrug*

jon12344731d ago

true... but i bet if you are at a point where a new difficult enenmy is introduced, and that cut scene cant be skipped... it gets annoying, like on metal gear rising, if you play on revengence difficulty, your going to have that happen to you more often than not

MysticStrummer4731d ago

If the cutscene immediately follows a checkpoint and for whatever reason you keep dying and having to watch it again, I agree that's annoying. You should be able to skip it after you've seen it once.

TheStorm4731d ago

I agree, it really takes you out of the game, and decreases the tension when it spends 2 minutes to show off what the boss looks like. It does pull me out of a game most the time.

kreate4731d ago

Usually its only like 3-8 seconds or so.

BitbyDeath4731d ago

I like enemy intros.
Games like Borderlands are quite funny with them.

http://perpetualoverdrive.f...

TekoIie4731d ago (Edited 4731d ago )

I disagree. Cutscenes can make a scene emotional through camera angles which cant be accomplished during gameplay. They can make something look cooler than it actually is and I'm in favour of that...

But if the cutscene has one of those "gamey" lines like "maybe we should shoot it in the head" to make you think "yeh they're telling me to shoot it in the head to kill it" then I'm completely against it. For once could they let us figure out how to kill the boss on our own?

deno4731d ago

Cutscenes are a perfect way to introduce enemies. Resident evil 1 through 3 did such an excellent job and so does metal gear solid. Whoever wrote this article probably started gaming this generation.

TheStorm4731d ago

Or like myself they started gaming before even you did. Because back in the day, of NES/SNES/Early PC days you did not have cinematic like that.

Now sometimes they worked just fine, but a lot of times they did not.

People seem to confuse and think the cheap cinematic crap most games pull is some how good. Most of them feel like a C-Class movie trying to be something more. Be a game, they need to evolve the way game stories go and not try to copy Hollywood.

deno4731d ago (Edited 4731d ago )

Check out ninja gaiden for nes and tell me they didn't have cut scenes. I started back in the nes days myself.

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130°

10 Legendary Games That Still Absolutely Crush It in 2025

Discover 10 timeless video games from the past that remain absolutely playable today. From Chrono Trigger to DOOM, these classics have aged like fine wine!

Read Full Story >>
gamegeeked.com
anast293d ago

Simon's Quest is better than Symphony.

djl3485292d ago

If you're gonna troll, at least make a legitimate attempt.

Levii_92293d ago

Hot damn that's a good list. The only one i never played is AOE2 and i never finshed Chrono Trigger but it was damn good.

Speaking of what's old but holds up amazingly well and plays like a dream.. i played Symphony of the Night for the first time in 2019.. yep that's right. It became one of my favourite games of all time that i replay almost every year. I couldn't believe how good it was. That is almost impossible for me with newer games let alone older ones. Truly a special gem.

LG_Fox_Brazil292d ago

That's a pretty fucking great list

__y2jb292d ago (Edited 292d ago )

The only one I’d disagree with is doom. It shows its age badly I think. After 5 minutes of play these days you put it down.

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210°

Half-Life 2 and Dishonored art lead Viktor Antonov dies aged just 52

Half-Life 2 art director and Dishonored designer Viktor Antonov has died aged just 52.

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eurogamer.net
BABI-PANGPANG375d ago

One of my biggest art heroes. His work and vision were truly one of a kind, and he’s been a huge inspiration to my own work. Such a heartbreaking loss.

Deeeeznuuuts374d ago

Remember seeing Dishonored for the first time when it released, fell in love with the art style straight away, so striking! And because of it, still holds up and will for years to come, RIP Viktor

JEECE374d ago

Yep I remember seeing some of the earliest concept art for Dishonored and hearing that the art director of Half-Life 2 was working on it and being excited.

And you are absolutely right, each of those games (HL2 and Dishonored) has a distinct art style that stands the test of time.

Relientk77374d ago

So sad to hear this. I absolutely love the Dishonored series and love the world and art style. It looks great and unique. I'm still hoping for a Dishonored 3

rokos374d ago

RIP Viktor love your work

Ethereal374d ago

Damn... Dishonored has such amazing art. RIP.

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50°

Half-Life 2 Skyrockets on the Steam Deck Top Played Games List and Offers a 90% Discount

After celebrating the 20th anniversary, Half-Life 2 reached top 5 on the Steam Deck Top Played list. It's also on a 90% sale.