You keep mentioning Halo whenever you talk about “cinematic values.”
From my experience, the appeal of the game has little to do with its
cutscenes, which are relatively few and far between (especially in the
first game). What made it so fun was that rather than spending all
your time in a corridor-like “level”, you fought in wide, open
expanses against armies of aliens with good enough AI to be a
challenge, with NPCs on your side and vehicles to really mix it up.
Because of this, each playthrough in the single-player feels
different. It was fun to just drive the Warthog around and see where
you could go, or try to play the game with a different pair of
weapons. The co-op mode was really cleverly designed so that it
neither eliminated the challenge, nor turned your (usually
inexperienced) friend into a liability. The multiplayer also made LAN
games really easy, and was very popular in college dorms for that
reason.
They’ve emphasized the story and cutscenes more in the second and
third games to the detriment of the single-player campaign (although
it’s still less cinematic than many other games). It seems like most
big fans of the first game feel that the single-player/co-op modes of
Halo 2 & 3 are inferior to the first, as they feature fewer of those
open expanses I talked about.
Anyway, I think the best example of a “cinematic” FPS is Call of Duty,
which simply funnels you from one scripted event to the next. The
makers were very open about trying to make it feel like a playable
movie, so I think that’s what you’re going for.
I don’t disagree with what you said. But I do think you’ve been conditioned to games, almost everywhere, all having cinematic experiences that what may seem non-cinematic to you actually is very cinematic.
Any game that has a ‘script’ or cutscenes is a cinematic game. Ninja Gaiden for the NES would be a ‘cinematic’ game in its presentation and form. If you are ever stopping and watching the game ‘play’ some script in front of you, it has cinema trace in it.
Now, a wise guy might say, “So is Pac-Man a cinematic experience? It has cut-scenes!” So does Donkey Kong but the games don’t make any sense and don’t strive to tell a script. There might be a “story” as in Donkey Kong takes the girl and Mario makes Donkey Kong fall and die, but that isn’t a script. In the case of Pac-Man, the cut-scenes are more musical jingles than anything.
Anyway, Halo has its own book series and was even slated to have a movie made of it. Of course it is a cinematic game.
Wii Sports is not a cinematic game. Neither is Tetris.
Modern Zelda is definately a cinematic experience.
There is nothing wrong with cinematic experiences, I just hate how that is declared the ‘direction’ of all gaming. I really like games like Wii Sports precisely because they feel ‘minimalistic’ and have none of that baggage.
A cinematic experience of Wii Sports Resort would be interesting. Have the Miis argue and backstab one another like a soap opera as they debate who is going to go cycling or bowling. Perhaps add in some space aliens (because apparently space aliens are added to everything nowadays). Put in some opera music for drama, and you’ve got your ‘epic game’!
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