Everyone's Favorite Crutch

[AhhARealMonster]

Are the PS2 versions of God of War really so different from the PSP one that QTE are actually enjoyable?

I recently picked up a PSP and thought GOW: Chains of Olympus looked great. It's $40 though, and I've never played the PS2 ones so I gave the demo a shot. I'm not buying it. Those QTE's ruined the game (well, besides the pointless button mashing against grunts that hardly hurt you). If I didn't do the Simon Says, then the boss regained *all* of his health and I would have to go back to "Tap button 3 times, roll, tap button 3 times, roll" until the little circle popped up again. It felt like playing a slide show (I'd say Simon Says again, but thinking back Simon Says was actually kind of fun and required some skill). After the boss was dead I not only felt like I had accomplished nothing, but I actually felt stupid for even going through with it.

I cannot possibly imagine how, in any way shape or form, QTE's can be a good thing. I also remember them from Tomb Raider Anniversary, and it was the same story with Chains of Olympus. You're playing a cutscene, and if you fail you have to keep watching the cutscene over and over... only you can't ever enjoy it because you have to concentrate on hitting the right button at the right millisecond. Not that cutscenes are enjoyable... *ahem* but that's a different story.

Of course they won't ever go away because it's an easy way to make stupid people feel like they're playing a game without going through all the trouble to make an actual gameplay engine that would allow you to play through amazing sequences with skill and finesse and complete control.

 

[Factoid]

Nice feature. I usually defend QTEs in games where they're done well (God of War, Shenmue, and to a lesser extent Force Unleashed).

But unlike most authors who usually just trash QTEs because it's become the fashionable thing to ***** about these days, you actually put some reasoned thought behind it and offered up some legitimate reasons why QTEs often suck. I had never really considered the idea that a small difference in skill could have such an impact on the outcome of the event.

I was all prepared to say that you were just on the bandwagon about QTEs that every game reviewer seems to be on lately. Last year's dirty word was "linear" and this year seems to be "quick time events", but you actually gave me some food for thought. Well done.

 

[lesterley]

Actually, I HAVE been congratulated for successfully parallel parking in a really tight spot.

A car of young guys watched as I executed a precise 3-point turn and then cheered out their windows as they drove by.

But yes, I completely agree with your points about Quick Time Events. They need to DIE!

Leslee

 

[rekabdarb]

Yep, you've certainly got this right. QTEs are a developer being too lazy to actually implement any non-standard gameplay mechanics.

Imagine the terrible time we would be living in if the developers of Shadow of the Colossus had decided to just go with QTEs.

they did... i think the people who did god of war did shadow of the colossus

 

[rekabdarb]

Yep, you've certainly got this right. QTEs are a developer being too lazy to actually implement any non-standard gameplay mechanics.

Imagine the terrible time we would be living in if the developers of Shadow of the Colossus had decided to just go with QTEs.

they did... i think the people who did god of war did shadow of the colossus

No they didn't, they just work under the same company. That's like saying Thief and Hitman were developed by the same company.

coulda sworn David Jaffe did programming on both...

 

[Anaphyis]

Yep, you've certainly got this right. QTEs are a developer being too lazy to actually implement any non-standard gameplay mechanics.

Imagine the terrible time we would be living in if the developers of Shadow of the Colossus had decided to just go with QTEs.

they did... i think the people who did god of war did shadow of the colossus

No they didn't, they just work under the same company. That's like saying Thief and Hitman were developed by the same company.

Not the best analogy because the latter would be an outright lie while the former pretty much depends on your point of view. The fact Team Ico was especially created by assembling people outside of the industry to make non-Sony games doesn't make it any easier.

 

[Anaphyis]

You know what? Fine, you are right. I said it depends on your point of view and a discussion is wasted time if you do it with someone who is treating theirs as unchallengeable fact.

 

[karmapolizei]

Is this going to be a series? I'd love to see that happening, because this article rocks. It goes beyond simple, but creative bitching (which it does very well, too, of course) and gives some insight as to why it's used and the actual, less obvious impact it has on the gameplay. Great job! Seems it really pays off having a game developer writing articles here.

 

[illiterate]

I'll say that I've enjoyed QTEs, depending on how they're implemented.

Gladius made them a core gameplay mechanic. You tactically move your troops around, and you know that if you move this unit here, you'll have to hit a particular style of sequence, so you're ready for them. Or is that button-fu really a QTE?

I was really shocked to see in my 4-year-old's v-smile game something strongly resembling a quicktime event. A bad guy shows up, and you're challenged by the screen to hit a button, any button, and that makes the bad guy go away (the character on screen congratulates you). Don't think reaction time is a factor, it sits and waits for you to hit the button..

 

[ccesarano]

A little bit of armchair game design I posted in another forum earlier this week, on the very topic of QTE's.

I came up with a sort of alternative to QTE's the other day. The idea is to keep the game cinematic in a way normal play doesn't allow, but also keep the player involved.

Well, I came up with the concept when imagining a new Aliens vs. Predator game, and honestly, I think one of the coolest things they could do is pit you in a knife fight against a Predator in the human campaign. However, it would be a pit pathetic if it played like any other FPS knife fight would. So I wondered about QTE's, but they are a bit meh. So then I pondered how Turok does the knife, and I think something combining that with QTE's might work.

Basically, allow the left stick to manuever the guy. Down is duck, left and right make him side step. Don't know what up would be. When the enemy attacks, give them a brief two second slow down so the player can react, but don't tell them what button to press. This way they choose what to do. If they try and side-step, they may still get hit. Or if they duck, they may get hit. Or maybe if they try and attack at the same time the enemy's weapons/arms will be locked together.

From there, well, you simply judge based on what the player presses. If the player successfully dodges, then pressing the "fire/attack" button will simply have them thrust forward with the knife (possibly blockable by the enemy). If they press the melee button, they may try and knock the foe back, opening them up further, or get them held into a lock, from which another other combination of attacks can be made (simply pressing attack to strike, perhaps multiple times, or if the enemy is in a hold perhaps press down, left or right to move them in a direction that puts them at an even greater disadvantage, etc.).

It would be hard to develop, and each scene would need a lot of custom animations and coding, but I think it would deliver an ultimately cinematic experience that gave the player more control, allowing them to determine the outcome as they might in any other part of the game.

I would love to see a system like this placed in a video game.

 

[rekabdarb]

Yep, you've certainly got this right. QTEs are a developer being too lazy to actually implement any non-standard gameplay mechanics.

Imagine the terrible time we would be living in if the developers of Shadow of the Colossus had decided to just go with QTEs.

they did... i think the people who did god of war did shadow of the colossus

No they didn't, they just work under the same company. That's like saying Thief and Hitman were developed by the same company.

coulda sworn David Jaffe did programming on both...

Why would David Jaffe work with a Japanese company? Not saying anything against either party, but it seems like they wouldn't have appreciated an American who had some rather unsophisticated work under his belt at the time coming in and telling them how to do their job.

well righto, i thought he did don't need to get angsty

 

[SirSchmoopy]

I dunno, when they catch me off guard they are fun.

However, unlike most people when they catch me off guard I hit the right button and live. I can see why people with slow reaction times do not enjoy them though.

Uncharted, for example, caught me off guard with the QTE and it gave a nice quick surge of adrenaline as I was completely not expecting it. Middle of a cut scene in the middle of the game then SURPRISE PRESS Y. Some of you posted "Alternatives" but really it just looks like the same system only more complicated. Press a direction to Dodge? Okay? Same thing as the game telling you to press Y. Would you like the game to not tell you to press Y but you are suppose to do it? I'm fine with that but I would expect tears.

You guys understand the alternative is to NOT have a quicktime event and simply let the cutscene run without you pressing a button? Maybe just lower the difficulty settings if you really, really don't like them. I'm sure the developers will give you a solid 10 seconds of reaction on Super My Little Pony Easy Mode but for the rest of us who the first thing they do in Oblivion is max out the difficulty setting and then spend five minutes at the start of the game fighting and kite/healing the rats that other difficulty settings let you one shot but in this case now require 15 swings of your sword, I kinda like quick time events and when used properly can provide me with an excellent experience.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

You guys understand the alternative is to NOT have a quicktime event and simply let the cutscene run without you pressing a button?

Maybe some people would rather just enjoy the cutscene? I know it's a fairly laughable concept in this day and age when in-game graphics rival that of cinematic, and many stories being so bad you'd rather just skip over it. Maybe I'm just old.

 

[ironfist86]

the first time i remember seeing QTEs was in the Die Hard Arcade Game (which was a great game and a huge quarter suck, if i remember correctly). I don't like them, and I'm only mildly indifferent to their use in the GoW, there weren't so many that it felt annoying, but using them during major fights is extremely lame. they were implemented well during the falling structure sequence in GoW 2.

 

[vede]

Shamus is doing proper articles, now? Seems like I picked the right time to resume reading.

Shamus has been doing 'proper' articles for a long, long time.

It's a great blog and you should read it. I do, and I love it.