Batman: Arkham Asylum (1 of 2)

Ah, quick time events. I think I rather love them. While I realize this isn’t a popular position, it’s quite true nonetheless.

Sure, QTEs have often been used poorly over the past several decades. It used to be that they were little more than a simple way to add some interactivity to what would have otherwise been a passive cinematic sequence. But I’d argue that, during these last few years, particularly, they’ve evolved into something quite different. The onscreen prompting that’s always been a hallmark of the quick time event has made its way out of the cut scene and into the gameplay. In fact, this transition’s been so seamless that most haven’t even noticed it. Though several people called 2008’s Prince of Persia “one big QTE,” that’s been the great exception. More to my personal surprise, I’ve yet to hear Batman: Arkham Asylum and quick time events mentioned in the same sentence.

Playing Cameraman in Assassin’s Creed

Regardless of whether your take on Assassin’s Creed is glowing or somewhat derisory, I think we can probably agree that the game has a few shortcomings. Though critics generally consent that the mechanics are fresh, it’s hard to ignore arguments claiming that Assassin’s suffers from repetitive objectives. Call it a smart business decision: give players a little too much of one thing and hopefully your competition won’t attempt to reiterate before you get the chance. Whatever the case, those never-ending investigations aren’t what irked me about Assassin’s Creed. No, in my opinion, the truly onerous design decisions had to do with cut scene camera positioning.

Naturally, these issues are far from game-breaking. But they’re still worth thinking about for a variety of reasons. First, expository elements almost always have a serious atmospheric impact. Of more particular interest, however, is the fact that cinematics have taken a lot of flack in the wake of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. While I largely concur with the folks who have argued that player interaction is what games are all about, abandoning cut scenes in favor of scripted sequences isn’t necessarily going to deliver a superior immersive experience, and, to my thinking, Assassin’s is living proof.

I found myself almost completely unable to pay even a whit of attention during most of the major plot points despite being genuinely interested in what was happening.

Spoilers to follow.