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Cutscenes which are not representative of gameplay

An excellent recent example of this:

Fancy trailer combat
Standard MMO combat

MMOs are particularly awful when it comes to this.

I get why it is done, that it's often there to set the story or hype up the game, that CGI isn't meant to represent what you actually get in the game - but when these trailers often consist of nothing but combat that is not even remotely close to the combat in the game all I think of is "when are we getting combat this cool?".

These trailers and whatnot wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that they often cost millions of dollars, money that I personally think would be better spent on further developing the game - maybe even be used towards an engine that can handle more dynamic combat?

Or just extra content.

Anyone else share this opinion?
 
Cringe-worthy CGI.
 
I get annoyed by this slightly, especially when they're attempting to advertise the game to people who wouldn't like playing it if they knew what it actually was.

Also, random thought, but there was that one TF2 video where a Spy threw a sapper at a Sentry. You can't do that in the game. That blows.
 
Since you included trailers in your OP
iqeikz7lkoj.jpg
 
Every one? That's why they do it in cutscenes or QTEs.

Pretty much. You see the main character do all kinds of circus acts in cutscenes and when the player gets control back, he just walks around corridors and presses buttons.
 
Almost any CGI scene where a character dies. Usually it's like one shot kill, even though when you were playing as/with that character, they could withstand a lot more.

Like when (Borderlands 2 spoilers, first thing that came to mind)
Roland is shot and killed by Handsome Jack.

Also... pretty much most games cutscenes. In MGS, Snake/Raiden can do amazing stuff (especially in TTS) but then when you control them, it's pretty much shoot or choke people. I'd love to be able to dismantle somebody's gun like Naked Snake does to Ocelot.

Since you included trailers in your OP
iqeikz7lkoj.jpg

Great example too, wouldn't have thought of that. I was so excited when I saw that. I still enjoy Madden but it definitely never lived up to that video.
 
Everything about that scene in Final Fantasy XIII where Lightning uses the gravity bomb. YOU NEVER GET TO DO THAT IN GAME.
 
It could be said that when you get Blur to make an amazing CGI like that for your game, as the reveal trailer, and then your game is just standard MMO combat, you're actually hurting your game, because you're setting impossibly high expectations.
 
In Uncharted 3, you fight some enemies, equipped with RPGs, making use of some pillars for cover. After you kill them, a cutscene immediately shows a rocket destroying one of the pillars in one hit. Me and my friends laughed quite a bit!
 
Planetside 2's trailer by Blur is indicative of the gameplay.

The gameplay definitely does not have the rambo action of the main character in the trailer, but the trailer shows off the massive battles, showing off all the vehicles types, drop pods, etc.

A trailer can be total bs, but something like Planetside 2 or League of Legends opening cinematic can really show off gameplay features within the CG trailer.
 
This does happen, but more often than not, the cut scenes look worse than the games running in real time. They're either too compressed, stutter like crazy, or both.

edit: Not really what you meant, though huh? I was thinking about them not being graphically representative rather than conceptually.
 
Planetside 2's trailer by Blur is indicative of the gameplay.

The gameplay definitely does not have the rambo action of the main character in the trailer, but the trailer shows off the massive battles, showing off all the vehicles types, drop pods, etc.

A trailer can be total bs, but something like Planetside 2 or League of Legends opening cinematic can really show off gameplay features within the CG trailer.

I agree with you on Planetside 2, where you can pretty much do everything shown in the trailer (aside from the ridiculous plane-climbing combat :P) so it's not necessarily always deceptive.

It could be said that when you get Blur to make an amazing CGI like that for your game, as the reveal trailer, and then your game is just standard MMO combat, you're actually hurting your game, because you're setting impossibly high expectations.

Definitely!
 
I'd be more curious to hear of a trailer that DOESN'T advertise what you can't do/won't see in a game.

Same here.
I would actually applaud a developer/publisher who pushed for the trailer to either consist of in-game footage, or showed nothing that couldn't be done in-game.
 
MGS Twin Snakes - can't make Snake actually do flips and shit lol
Aww man you took mine.

There's one cutscene where Liquid shoots a missile at Snake from the Hind and Snake jumps off of the missile and fires a Stinger back at Liquid. Then you get to the gameplay and Snake can't jump. He also can't move while aiming the Stinger Launcher.

...
 
Pretty sure this is every cutscene in every game ever.

Shout out to DMC3 for doing something cool in a cutscene that I in fact could do in gameplay.
 
Halo's cutscenes, especially the CGI SpOps.

For some reason, characters in cutscenes are all firing sniper rounds out of their assault rifles while in game you're stuck with a nerf gun.
 
I know that Blur did a trailer for them and all, but weren't the Arkham City trailers mostly gameplay? I mean, the whole game(and its predecessor) sort of subvert this concept. The game is a Batman simulator, and you feel like a badass during gameplay, and cutscenes are mostly used when characters are just talking. The cutscenes that DON'T follow this template(especially the courthouse scene in AC) are typically pretty terrible, actually.
 
Yes indeed.

Only asked because I felt the exact same thing: "Oh, what do you know, you CAN do this in-game". DMC3 is just that good.

I know that Blur did a trailer for them and all, but weren't the Arkham City trailers mostly gameplay? I mean, the whole game(and its predecessor) sort of subvert this concept. The game is a Batman simulator, and you feel like a badass during gameplay, and cutscenes are mostly used when characters are just talking. The cutscenes that DON'T follow this template(especially the courthouse scene in AC) are typically pretty terrible, actually.

To be frank, the game looks so amazing in motion, I can't think of a lot of ways they could top it.

Also, your avatar is Samus while performing the recharge trick in Super Metroid. Do I get a price for recognizing it? :D
 
Also, your avatar is Samus while performing the recharge trick in Super Metroid. Do I get a price for recognizing it? :D

Do people not recognize that when they see my avatar? I always thought it was a pretty iconic picture from one of the greatest games of its era. Not trying to be rude or anything, but I wasn't really trying to be cryptic or obscure with my av.
 
Thanks to QTEs, you can "do" cinematic moments too.
See: the ending of Halo 4.

Certainly not the sole pusher of such gameplay "innovations", but one I care about.
 
Onimusha 3 CG intro.

Can't even jump in the game but the intro has the main character flipping and jumping on demon caravans like an agile ninja.
 
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