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The Sandbox: The Trouble with Cutscenes
By Nick Schager
on 08/14/2009
A scene from "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots," Konami, 2009
Video games aren't movies, but they sure can be intent on acting like them, most prominently through the scripted sequences known as cutscenes, those insufferable CG-animated interludes that propel stories forward while you wait... and wait... and wait to resume playing. Cutscenes have been around, in at least some rudimentary form, since the dawn of games, and they're not all bad -- the quick between-level vignettes of the NES' "Ninja Gaiden," for example, were so thrilling to me as a kid that just thinking about them elicits a pang of sweet nostalgia. But as graphics have improved and games have tried to elevate themselves to a cultural plane equal to that of film, these intermission sequences have become hair-tearingly inescapable. They've become a pox on mainstream gaming, providing style without substance, and forcing the mechanisms of one medium onto another.
This desire to be "cinematic" is, as even gaming fan Steven Spielberg recognizes, a fundamentally misguided one, since what distinguishes video games from films is their interactivity. When a game takes a breather from its primary action to present narrative and character-building intermissions over which a player has no control, it betrays the very nature of games. In other words -- I play games to play them, not to watch them.
Nothing sabotages your immersion in a game faster than being denied the ability to have a say, however superficial, over what's going on. Cutscenes throw in your face the fact that games are authored and constructed -- and of course they are, but that's a truth that's deliberately masked by their interactive elements. Cutscenes often come at pivotal moments in the story, usually featuring graphics and action jarringly superior to those found in the in-game action, and frequently can't be skipped. They're a reminder that all of that gameplay just strings along between these unavoidable milestones in the narrative, undercutting the very I'm-in-charge fantasies all of the role-playing sagas, first-person shooters and survival horror thrillers that use cutscenes aim to create.
When it comes to cutscenes, there are countless culprits in overindulgence, though if there's a king of the hill, it's 2008's "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots," the latest iteration of a series whose creator, Hideo Kojima, helped usher in the modern age of prolonged cinematics. "MGS4" has hours of cutscenes, all of them beautifully rendered to resemble a high-tech summer blockbuster, complete with dramatic confrontations, large-scale firefights and enough death-defying, superhuman martial arts action to fill out multiple feature-length films.
On a purely technical level, they're phenomenal. In every other respect, though, they're abysmal, and help ruin what's an otherwise superb entry in the long-standing stealth series. "MGS4"'s cutscenes laughably halt the momentum of its own gaming experience by asking players to put down the controller and passively sit and stare for 20 minutes at a time. Isn't that exactly the opposite of what games are supposed to do? Because of that, slogging through "MGS4" requires the patience of a saint -- or, at least, interest in a title where the action comes in fits and starts, and takes a backseat to its author's CG-filmmaking aspirations.
"MGS4" is the most egregious example of games' misbegotten belief that they should imitate films by way of extended pauses in the action. And its narrative-only portions are made worse by some pretentious, overwrought scripting. The game's story involves super-spy Solid Snake's efforts to thwart a madman intent on taking over the world by using private military contractors injected with nanomachines, a premise that leads to more speechifying about the nature of war, the burdens of heroism and the dangers of the military industrial complex than can be found in ten award-season message movies.
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Liam
Okay, if you actually did like the mgs series, you wouldn't have minded those cutscenes in MGS4. Quite a ridiculous article.
Masshole
"if you actually did like the mgs series, you wouldn't have minded those cutscenes." What a brilliant argument! That' like the MSG fandom equivalent of "if you don't support the war why don't you leave the country!" Because how dare anyone try to write about gaming as anoything but a sweaty totally devoted fanboy.
MK
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion but I completely disagree with your article. The Metal Gear Solid franchise is not known for its gameplay. The games are very difficult and at many times tedious but what makes them so special are their rich storylines and cutscenes that are far and away superior to any others in the industry. Personally, I loved Bioshock but felt let down that it didn't do a better job with cutscenes, especially with the endings that were short and disappointing.
Ryan R.
First off, my feeling is that if you're going to compare a product you compare it to the same type of product. In other words you don't compare a video game to movies, you compare it to other video games. It's simply unfair to compare a game to a movie, or a book or a play.
SPOILER ALERT
Secondly, every scene in an MGS game may not be the greatest but they do all serve a function and regardless of merit, they do not stop MGS for being a fun and involved ride. From the boss encounters with Laughing Octopus and Screaming Mantis, to returning to Shadow Moses, to protecting Rex from a swarm of Gekko biomechs, to the Rex Vs. Ray showdown with Revolver/Liquid Ocelot, to Snake being microwaved and a final hand to hand fight with Ocelot while the theme music and health change to those featured in earlier games. The game was a complete joy to play for fans and for new comers, even if you ignore all the nods to past games the boss fights were great and taking out common enemies was satisfying you still got that instant gratification.
Anyway, I spoke about the scenes having a function(serving a purpose) Kojima has 3 basic elements that make up his cutscenes. Tragedy, Humor, and Action. Tragedy drives the plot. Humorous scenes serve to remind the player that its just a game and lighten the mood, and action sequences are designed to pump you up for the coming fight.
I'm not trying to come off as a snob, but I feel like this article was penned by a film snob. He's entitled to his opinion, but in this case I simply do not agree with the author of this article and I feel like he's being critical of an industry that he doesn't belong to.
By comparison I can cite Fallout 3 as having the worst ending in a game ever and very little plot to speak of that screams generic. You have a post apocalyptic world where the story takes place, heroes mother is dead and his father takes off so he goes off to find him and in the process gets swayed to save the skeleton of society from an insane tyrant. Fallout 3 works because of a few key moments that accommodate the present situation and because it's just fun to play and combat is satisfying. but it still has one of the worst motives and conclusions ever, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good or fun game.
I'm trying not to be offended or to offend, I'm just expressing my views on a point of contention between myself and the author. Ultimately you can forgive something for moments you perceive as bad if the encompassing experience was a good one especially if it left an impression on you.
EttenCO
I also respectively disagree with the point this article tries to make. Saying that games which attempt to be movies are things that should be left in the closet and games should just stick to being games. I can understand how to some people it might feel like the cutscenes in games like MGS4 are robbing the player of what they paid money for, gameplay, and to some extent that's true, players most likely will get less overall gameplay on games that are filled with cutscenes vs. more levels or guns or physics tweaks or whatever because of how much space is on the disk. Also, some of the earliest and best arcade games had little to no story at all and people were completely content with that. For some games, cutscenes might not be that important in the continuation of the story. "Great Job Butch, you killed Dr. So-and-So, now destroy his lab." That alone is enough for some people. But for a game and story like MGS4, there is absolutely no way it could have been told effectively through the cross hairs of your weapon while the player listens to a radio chat that is going over endless story elements as you pass the time by trying to jump on a nearby rock or something just waiting for the portion of the story to finish so you can continue to kill me bad guys. MGS4 is not that kind of game in my mind. And why can't games be movies? Why can't our technology start merging with other ares of entertainment. I think if anything its creating a hybrid of both which take the enjoyable interactive element of a videogame and combine it with the deep enthralling nature of a film and give you something that is truly then worth what you paid for it
If people buy games expecting gameply and all they get are cutscenes then that is a gamer/game mismatch and each person enjoys their own medium by which they are entertained and there will always be that which is why there should always be new ideas being tried to expand the demographic of people who can enjoy videogames for different reasons. To limit that potential or say that what game makers trying isn't worth the effort because it will never work is very close-minded and does not allow for innovation or growth.
Snake
I could speak about the wonderful role that plot told through cutscenes has in so many of my favorite games, but Ill pass on that to point out one singular item.
In a great game, I find myself playing the game simply to get to the next cutscene and find out what happens next. Good gameplay is certainly a positive element to any game, but the gameplay, in some games, is simply the fun and light part that allows the player to get to the real meat – the masterfully and artistically crafted cutscene. The cutscene, when done correctly, is like the desert at the end of the meal. It’s the reward for completing the gameplay, and certain games make it a very enticing one.
Andrew
Excellent article and it also saved my bacon. An article that I cited in a publication just went dark, so I cited this piece instead. Cheers.
