When reviewing games I have been guilty of using words like cinematic and filmic as adjectives and, perhaps wrongly, compliments. Games like Resistance 3, Uncharted 3 and Asura's Wrath have all had this weak and uninspired comment thrown their way. By me. Guilty as charged. "So what's wrong with that?" I do not hear you say, but I imagine it. Well, it dawned on me just recently that perhaps games trying to be like movies is a bad thing, and that perhaps it will be the downfall of the entire industry. Maybe even the world. It wont. Here are five reasons that I think games shouldn't be like films:
5. They Are Always Too Short!
To give a game a cinematic feel takes an awful lot of work. Take Uncharted for example, the cut scenes are meticulously animated, voice acted and lip synced to be absolutely perfect and just as engrossing as a real movie. This is all well and good but the other side of the coin is that the Uncharted games, though very good, only take about 8 - 10 hours to finish (not including multi-player). The highly polished and cinematic Modern Warfare takes more like 4 hours to complete. The difference between huge games like Skyrim and Uncharted is games like Skyrim are like an adventure park. There are tons of things to climb on, slide down and get wet jumping in. You will gaily laugh and skip as you tire your self out by playing there all day. Uncharted is like a roller-coaster. You can't chose where you go, but by gosh the ride is spectacular. Minute for minute the roller-coaster is more exciting but in terms of extended happy faces, it's the adventure park every time. These super cinematic games spend too much time and money on looking swish, that they forget to make sure to include enough play time to warrant the £40 price tag. Click "next" below to read the next entry...