The slow walk....

[lechat]

So i just finished playing Dying light and although i more or less loved the game it annoyed me in the same way most games do these days and that's by having to resort to the "slow walk" to attempt to introduce some tension and story telling into the gameplay.

In case you don't know what the slow walk is let me describe it and maybe you'll remember seeing it if you have played basically anything in the past 10 years.
So there you are enjoying yourself running around guns blazing blasting the shit out of anything that gets in your way when suddenly your guns disappear, the run button stops working and you are reduced to a crawl while the game force feeds you whatever bullshit it has decided you need to slooooowly see.
Only game play mechanic left? slowly walk towards whatever point the game wants you to go to or wait while it drones on about whatever story element it feels is more important than you moving at a regular pace. once you reach the next door way or the game is done talking to you all your items and speed are restored.

I fail to see how this is any better than the worlds worst quick time event when the only game mechanic is basically "walk around slowly while we talk to you" or "walk slowly to that door over there"

So escapii have you ever seen the slow walk done right? If not what for you has been the worst offender?

 

[theSovietConnection]

I have yet to see a game do this right, as you put it. I really think, since the game has taken all other control from you at this point, it may as well just be a cutscene.

As for the worst offender in this regard, I can't think of one off the top of my head, but I will post any I can think of. I do agree though, that it got exceptionally frustrating in Dying Light.

 

[ChupathingyX]

The only example of this I've ever enjoyed was the microwave corridor scene from MGS4, even though that was more crawling than walking.

 

[Savagezion]

I actually didn't mind it in Arkham Asylum. I wouldn't say that it is done "right" in there, but I wouldn't say it is done "bad" either. The only way I could imagine it being 'done right' is if running itself was the only thing that didn't work. Many games (Arkham included) also remove the ability to jump, interact with objects, and attack along with running. SO basically you can walk, maybe open a menu, or pause. That annoys me. I actually don't mind if you make me slow walk and I can still do stuff even if it is just "attack the air". But more importantly, I would like to be able to open doors or jump up to a ledge.

 

[Elfgore]

The slow walk works, like Savegezion mentioned. You just have to do it right. By right, make it short and sweet. If it's longer than a minute, you're doing it wrong.

There is something even more aggravating than a badly done slow walk. A slow walk where you have to follow NPCs. 99.9% of the time they walk way to slow. So you're constantly stopping and waiting for them to catch up. No game has ever done that right to the extend of my knowledge.

 

[DoPo]

I have yet to see a game do this right, as you put it. I really think, since the game has taken all other control from you at this point, it may as well just be a cutscene.

I don't know if Modern Warfare counts - you know the scene. If it does, that was done right, I think.

 

[josemlopes]

The slow walk works, like Savegezion mentioned. You just have to do it right. By right, make it short and sweet. If it's longer than a minute, you're doing it wrong.

There is something even more aggravating than a badly done slow walk. A slow walk where you have to follow NPCs. 99.9% of the time they walk way to slow. So you're constantly stopping and waiting for them to catch up. No game has ever done that right to the extend of my knowledge.

There is worse, they walk faster but the game forces you to walk slower.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

It's really annoying because a cutscene would let you skip it but I've never seen a skippable slow walk.

 

[The Bucket]

I have yet to see a game do this right, as you put it. I really think, since the game has taken all other control from you at this point, it may as well just be a cutscene.

I don't know if Modern Warfare counts - you know the scene. If it does, that was done right, I think.

That's actually the first thing I thought of as well. Its fine when they institute the slow walk because of injury (i.e. thats the fastest your character is physically able to move) Otherwise it just seems cheap

 

[raeior]

Off the top of my head: Mass Effect 3.
The final save point before the ending is like 10 minutes of slow walking away from the ending itself. So you wanna see all the endings? Hope you like crawling along the same corridors again and again.

I can't remember any game doing it right actually. So far any game that did it annoyed me (some more some less).

 

[Mutant1988]

And here I was expecting that this topic would be about the reduced pace of first and third person shooters ever since they become pre-dominant on consoles.

That is to say, the reduced pace demanded by their slower control method. Compare say, Doom to... Well, anything on consoles.

But on-topic, the "slow walk while suffering exposition" is insanely overused. If you need to break the pacing of the game just to blare words at me for an extended period of time then you have failed pacing.

If you want to have that in a video game, put it in a cutscene that can be skipped on replay.

I repeat - Do not force us to to suffer through the same exposition on replay. Make it skippable.

There's quite a lot of good games I simply cannot replay because of the insane time they feel it necessary to subject us to passive observance (Elevator/Tram rides is also an overused way to slow the player down this way). That or fundamentally uninteresting gameplay while the exposition is being conveyed (Traversing completely empty locales, stairways, token environmental puzzles etc). But that might just be indicative of my own lack of patience.

Or the fact that I simply can't enjoy a carefully constructed narrative using such elements, while replaying it. I already know what's going to happen, the only difference is that I'm more aware how SLOW it's happening and just want to get it over with to play the game.

This is the reason why I simply can't replay Bioshock. Absolutely fantastic game, but I just can't be bothered to suffer through the slooooow narrative again when I already know how it's all going to play out.

To compare it to a similar game - System Shock 2. It has enough depth and variety outside it's carefully crafted plot structure to be interesting on replay. Mind, it just simply doesn't just slow you down to exposit at you, outside of the single most iconic scene of the entire game. Which can be seen a million times without losing it's impact, due to the quality of acting.

So yes, much like the topic creator, I resent this overused and simply not good way of conveying plot information.

What I find incredibly interesting too is that Half Life 2 is designed with the slow walk in mind, but foregoes the use of exposition almost completely (Outside of character building, rather than info dumping) and in many ways allow the player to dictate themselves how much they care to take in from the carefully constructed environment and the visual narrative it conveys.

The driving sequence is essentially a slow walk, but it's pretty much only as slow as you make it and with enough distractions along the way to not make it seem like a slow walk at all. And no talking.

The exception I would say is the Route Canal segment. That bit is awful. Mostly because it's just too freaking long.

 

[Trivun]

It was done okay in Assassin's Creed 3, during the hanging scene, due to what we see and experience then. It really drives home the idea of being a condemned criminal, while also showing off the hints throughout that rescue may well be on the way. However, it was greatly let down by the subsequent mission constraints, to get full sync, which were pretty tough to achieve in one go. Hence having to repeat countless times the same slow walk, and seeing the same stuff, over and over again. It's good to see the first couple of times. Then it starts getting tedious.

 

[loa]

I don't know how you can do taking away control from the player "right".
It's funny how this is kind of the antithesis to quick time events that exist to convey a sense of agency to the player so that cutscenes are more engaging.
With this, it's basically a return straight to pre-quicktime cutscenes with the added bonus of being unskipable all in the name of immersion because look, you still kindasorta are playing the game.

 

[bliebblob]

I've seen it done very right actually, in bastion.

Spoiler: Major bastion spoilers ahoy!

Short version: there's this guy who you save at some point and he later betrays you. (Long story.) Eventually you confront him and instead of a boss fight you actually find him KO already (Again: long story.) and are given the choice of trying to save him or not. If you don't, you then fight your way through what is more or less the final boss room with the ultimate weapon, and that's that. If you do help him, you're forced to run the same gauntlet except you're carrying the guy on your back. Meaning no weapons, no shield, no dodge rolls, no nothing, and you're really slow. All you can do is tank the enemy arrows and chug potions, and it quickly becomes clear that won't be enough to make it. But then something strange happens: the melee enemies move out of your way, and one by one the archers stop firing. Not long after they even salute you, presumably impressed by your choice to save him. It's one of the most powerful moments in a game chock-full of powerful moments and it's told completely through gameplay to boot.

 

[DoPo]

I've seen it done very right actually, in bastion.

That was also magnificently done.

Overall, it's not that the "slow walk" can't be used correctly. It just tends to not be for the majority of time. It's usually just done because you have to be force fed some exposition. It's incredibly powerful when used correctly, which would be the extension of gameplay.

 

[visiblenoise]

The only example of this I've ever enjoyed was the microwave corridor scene from MGS4, even though that was more crawling than walking.

I loved getting microwaved as well. Though I think it would have lost a lot of its charm if it wasn't a button mashing quicktime event.

 

[Lilani]

I've seen it done very right actually, in bastion.

Spoiler: Major bastion spoilers ahoy!

Short version: there's this guy who you save at some point and he later betrays you. (Long story.) Eventually you confront him and instead of a boss fight you actually find him KO already (Again: long story.) and are given the choice of trying to save him or not. If you don't, you then fight your way through what is more or less the final boss room with the ultimate weapon, and that's that. If you do help him, you're forced to run the same gauntlet except you're carrying the guy on your back. Meaning no weapons, no shield, no dodge rolls, no nothing, and you're really slow. All you can do is tank the enemy arrows and chug potions, and it quickly becomes clear that won't be enough to make it. But then something strange happens: the melee enemies move out of your way, and one by one the archers stop firing. Not long after they even salute you, presumably impressed by your choice to save him. It's one of the most powerful moments in a game chock-full of powerful moments and it's told completely through gameplay to boot.

I have to totally agree with this one. I got chills when that moment happened, just when I thought the game couldn't surprise me anymore. I immediately replayed that last part when I finished just so I could take it in one more time.

On the other hand, while the ending of ME3 was cool, it also felt a bit hamfisted. After all the debilitating injuries I suffered, I had not a single drop of medi-gel to help with that? I feel like if a game wants the player to slow down and take something in, there should be other points where you're encouraged to walk and smell the roses, so to speak. Don't just throw a wrench in the way they're used to playing, unless it has some real significance behind it like Bastion.

 

[votemarvel]

Off the top of my head: Mass Effect 3.
The final save point before the ending is like 10 minutes of slow walking away from the ending itself. So you wanna see all the endings? Hope you like crawling along the same corridors again and again.

I can't remember any game doing it right actually. So far any game that did it annoyed me (some more some less).

The game does auto-save right before the Illusive Man talk. I think it does the same in the Catalyst's chamber.

So if you are on the PC, you can copy the auto-save and rename it to be a regular save. You can do the same on the Xbox 360 version but you'll need to use something like modio or Horizon to gain access to the saves. Don't know if you can do it on the PS3 as I don't own the game for it any more.

I wish there was a way for the game to know it wasn't your first play. I can understand the slow walk on a first play but there shouldn't be a need for it on replays, after all you can walk in most games anyway.

 

[raeior]

So if you are on the PC, you can copy the auto-save and rename it to be a regular save.

Thats what I did after the second time. Doesn't really make the situation any better. God knows why Bioware also decided to disable saving during that whole scene and just used autosaves that overwrote each other. I mean who would want to experience different endings...

I've seen it done very right actually, in bastion.

Thats a really great example. So now I can say that I played at least one game that did it right

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Urgh, I'm currently getting frustrated by the slow walk in the newest Tomb Raider. Downloaded it for free from XBL over the weekend and am admittedly enjoying it more than I thought I would - except for every time the game feels I need to stop my running, jumping and climbing around in order so that Lara can slowly walk down a ravine/tunnel/corridor whilst someone on the other end of a radio delivers a brief plot-dump that is apparently just too important to risk me drowning it out with gunfire while doing anything so crass as enjoying myself.