Can't wait to get my Xbox 360, but . . .

[+Random Terrain]

I finally got a chance to go to my sister's house and play Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3 on her big HD screen. I played for a while until I had to leave and although it did look better than old PS2/Xbox games, it didn't make my jaw drop. If Xbox 360 games have a similar look, the 360 better come way down in price this year if they want people like me to buy one.

 

I liked how you could skip the cut scenes, but you walk 20 feet and there's a cut scene. Sometimes you'd think you're going to get to play, but nooooo. You have to wait for two more cut scenes to load so you can skip them and get on with the game. I let a couple of them play for the heck of it and both times they went on so long that I just had to skip them. If they want to make movies, they should just make movies and forget about the game part of it.

 

Are most of the new games for the PS3 and Xbox 360 like that? Do they give you 3 minutes of game and 20 minutes of cut scene, 5 minutes of game, then 700 hours of cut scene? I shouldn't have to wait for cut scenes to load if I'm not going to watch them. I just want to play a game, not watch poorly done little CG movies. Do Xbox 360 games give us the option to skip all cut scenes from the preferences so they never even try to load?

[rockman_x_2002]

It varies between the games, as it does on all other consoles. Some titles on the 360 do have that "wow" factor, though your tastes may vary from mine. Games that wowed me include the original Gears of War, Oblivion, Forza 2, Lost Odyssey, to name a few.

 

Of course if those games aren't your cup of tea, they won't wow you like they did for me. As for skipping cutscenes, that also varies from game to game.

[liveinabin]

You did pick a bad game if you don't like cut scenes. MGS4 is pretty much a movie.

 

In graphics terms, it does vary. Games like MGS and GTA don't look amazingly more detailed, but they offer a bigger, richer world. It's racing games where you really see the difference. Something like Race Driver: Grid, for instance, just looks real.

[+Random Terrain]

Thanks for the replies.

[DaytonaUSA]

The games I play are usually short on the cinematics. So I don't think you have much to worry about. Metal Gear is kinda in it's own class cinematics wise. Even Heavenly Sword got to the action quickly.

 

But yea, if you want to see games that look real, racing games are always the best way to go..especially if you want quick action. Games like Gran Tourismo for instance are beautiful and finally nail the cockpit mode.

 

I'd seriously stay away from games like Mass Effect though if you didn't like the cinematics in Metal Gear. If you want to feel like you're PLAYING a game, that's one you want to steer away from.

[Seob]

I don't mind cut scenes, as long as they provide me useful info about the game characters, or the game. They where put in for a reason and i like to play a game as the developers mend it to be. But i agree that sometimes they just take to long.

GTA IV did have some really long cut-scenes, that where just on the edge of being to long. But if i had to redo a mission, i just skipped them.

Uncharted did have cut-scenes that took me further in the game. I'm now playing BiA hell's highway and that has manageable cut-scenes as well.

[+Random Terrain]

The games I play are usually short on the cinematics. So I don't think you have much to worry about. Metal Gear is kinda in it's own class cinematics wise. Even Heavenly Sword got to the action quickly.

 

But yea, if you want to see games that look real, racing games are always the best way to go..especially if you want quick action. Games like Gran Tourismo for instance are beautiful and finally nail the cockpit mode.

 

I'd seriously stay away from games like Mass Effect though if you didn't like the cinematics in Metal Gear. If you want to feel like you're PLAYING a game, that's one you want to steer away from.

Thanks. Never been a huge fan of racing games, but if they look almost real now, I should at least check out the demos when the time comes. I'm mostly interested in games like Oblivion, Fable 2, GTA: IV, Dead Rising (I'll probably hate the time limits) and various first-person shooters. I heard that Battlefield: Bad Company was supposed to let you shoot everything, including trees, but I have read bad things about the game, so now I don't know who or what to believe. I'd like to find a list of games that let you interact with the most objects. For example, if you shoot at a building, the part you're shooting at will have damage, you won't get some pre-rendered animation of a generic building falling if you shoot it enough. You should also be able to shoot branches off trees and things like that.

 

 

 

I don't mind cut scenes, as long as they provide me useful info about the game characters, or the game. They where put in for a reason and I like to play a game as the developers meant it to be. But I agree that sometimes they just take too long.

You know how voice-overs and flashbacks are usually considered lazy filmmaking techniques? I think about cut scenes in a similar way. Anything I need to know can be made clear to me while I play the game. Not even one cut scene should be necessary. The problem is that a lot of game designers seem to be frustrated wannabe filmmakers, but they're no good at it and anything they do will be amateurish and mediocre, so they make interactive CG films and force them on us by calling them games. I have little respect for these clowns, so I don't have any desire to play these 'games' the way the developers meant them to be played.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Random Terrain

[NE146]

It depends on the game of course. Pacman Championship Edition has zero cutscenes.

[Seob]

I have tried the demo from battlefield bad company, and it sure is a game i'm going to buy. Didn't experience the problems he wrote in his article. Maybe he review a pre release version. Maybe they fixed things with an update, but in the demo i didn't have any problems.

 

Battlefield Hell Highway may be a nice game to, if you skip the animations in your case. You can blow things up and cover is destructible , and more things can be blown up when you got a bazooka team.

[+Random Terrain]

I have tried the demo from battlefield bad company, and it sure is a game i'm going to buy. Didn't experience the problems he wrote in his article. Maybe he review a pre release version. Maybe they fixed things with an update, but in the demo i didn't have any problems.

 

Battlefield Hell Highway may be a nice game to, if you skip the animations in your case. You can blow things up and cover is destructible , and more things can be blown up when you got a bazooka team.

Sounds great. I'll ignore the bad reviews then. Thanks.

[PressureCooker2600]

First things first....

 

Get Fallout 3.

 

Then proceed to get all your other games.