So I was recently reading an article on the Escapist about quicktime events in gaming and felt compelled to rant about what I think about them. (The article is on the home page for the escapist, called Everyone's favorite crutch). I was playing Force unleashed last night for the first time...and I have to say the quicktime event parts were more than a little annoying. After seeing my friend freak out constantly during game-play moments when these quicktime events were activated I should have been prepared (but I wasn't) These events are horribly anger inducing and also break all sense of immersion for me (the disappearing dead enemies didn't help either). But this isn't necessarily a critique of Force Unleashed, but instead a critique of what I deem to be a critical backwards step in gaming. I know full well F.U. (force Unleashed...not the expletive)is not the only game in recent history to employ this tactic, however I could not think of any others off the top of my head...except for maybe Mercs 2 for hijacking vehicles. Why developers continue to do this is beyond me (although the article brought up some good points).
In my mind this all could point to another divide in gaming, this being the "hardcore" and "casual" crowd (cliched I know...but what can you do). The article brings up the point that someone familiar with the PS3 controller will instinctively know where the buttons are...while a casual gamer who is used to only a few games will have to look down and locate the button. QTE do not allow for this short delay in reflexes...hell the QTE's in F.U. don't even allow me, a gamer with dozens of games and experience, the time to press the button. It takes me at least 3 tries before I can subdue the "boss character". And while failure does not mean death (at least in Force Unleashed) it does mean you have to start from the beginning of the finishing move...thingy...breaking all sense of immersion. Do these events alienate casual gamers? I don't know, but I do know that they alienate me. If I could plead with developers to leave these things out of games, I would.
As gaming becomes more and more a part of society, I foresee the QTE's being disposed of in favor of more subtle and perfected challenges...instead of the scripted and contrived quagmire that is video game Quick time events.
In my mind this all could point to another divide in gaming, this being the "hardcore" and "casual" crowd (cliched I know...but what can you do). The article brings up the point that someone familiar with the PS3 controller will instinctively know where the buttons are...while a casual gamer who is used to only a few games will have to look down and locate the button. QTE do not allow for this short delay in reflexes...hell the QTE's in F.U. don't even allow me, a gamer with dozens of games and experience, the time to press the button. It takes me at least 3 tries before I can subdue the "boss character". And while failure does not mean death (at least in Force Unleashed) it does mean you have to start from the beginning of the finishing move...thingy...breaking all sense of immersion. Do these events alienate casual gamers? I don't know, but I do know that they alienate me. If I could plead with developers to leave these things out of games, I would.
As gaming becomes more and more a part of society, I foresee the QTE's being disposed of in favor of more subtle and perfected challenges...instead of the scripted and contrived quagmire that is video game Quick time events.
