Extra Punctuation: Action Is Not Finisher Porn

[Mouse One]

I get what Yahtzee's trying to say here, but i wouldn't have used Arkham Asylum as an example. Arkham has several instances where the camera slows down while Batman deals the finishing blow to a bunch of bad guys. It's usually not too annoying, but there are lots of instances where I beat the last guy in the room by grabbing him with a silent takedown attack, and the camera slows down to show Batman.....slowly smother a guy and then set him quietly down on the ground for sleepytime.

I think the difference is that Batman's "finishers" in AA are a direct consequence of the player input, not just a canned finishing animation. AA just slows the action and changes the camera angle, creating an "interactive finisher", as it were.

 

[Electrogecko]

I could never get into MK for these reasons, though I didn't articulate them quite so well....I would just literally be embarrassed to play it. Despite how much I preach about how gamers shouldn't feel the need to justify their hobby or not play certain (possibly colorful, cartoony, idk...Nintendo-esque games) due to insecurity, I am no less guilty than most of the same crime. But when it comes to games I wouldn't want to be seen playing, I think MK would be near the top of the list. I don't want to come off as pretentious, but the mechanic that the game is famous for just seems really immature to me and not a reason to buy a game.

 

[steriletiger]

Agreed!! The combat in Arkham Asylum was the best part about that game. The infinite combat challenge, basically survival mode, was my favorite thing to do after i finished the story. An endless stream of baddies to beat on. The counter system was so smooth and it looked amazing to go from counter to hit to takedown back to counter when all that was needed was just timing and not button mashing. One of the reasons I am looking forward to Arkham City so much.

 

[maninahat]

Fight Night 3 has excellent finishers, specifically because they aren't finishing cinematics. In this boxing game, you deliver every punch yourself, with an appropriate drawing back and foward on the analogue stick to simulate the winding up and delivery of a punch. So you get a great viceral joy when, towards the end of a tough fight, you can plant the final, bone crunching punch into the face of an enemy. You're in control the whole time they fall in face rippling, rag doll flailing, super slow motion. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdB-arCbBsE&feature=player_detailpage#t=57s]