Res 4 Cut Scenes: Integrating Game with Cinema

A Look at the Effect of Playable Cut Scenes on the Gaming Experience

Jul 21, 2009

Resident Evil 4 marks the shift from storyline to spectacle in the Resident Evil series. Aware of the pitfalls of such a switch, Capcom made use of the semi-playable film

As the graphical powers of video games increased, it was to be expected that it would borrow motifs from cinema. Now, the cinematic 'cut-scene' is commonplace in most mainstream games, and most gamers come to expect or accept them. It is a moment in which the player is able to lose control, to act simply as a member of an audience and not an agent, and watch the plot, which tends to act as a signpost for the more prominent sections of game play, unfold.

The cut-scene has a strange relationship with the game playing elements of the medium. Precisely because it takes away that sense of agency, it makes the game something more – or less – than simply a computer game, endows it with a sense of unattainably, or wonderment; as much for the purposes of plot development, cut-scenes are a chance for developers to flex their production muscles.

As such, the relationship between the cut-scene and actual game play in modern computer games is ambivalent; it is unitary in terms of plot, and fragmentary in terms of style.

The Metal Gear Solid Series as the Archetype of this Ambivalence

Take the work of Hideo Kojima in Metal Gear Solid and its sequels, as a perfect example. The ratio of videos to game play is incredibly close, and it has in fact been argued that, if moving through the games at a relatively quick pace, the amount of time spent watching cut-scenes outstrips total playing time.

Most would not dispute that the series, in its combination of innovative game play, and movie-like plots, soundtracks and spectacles, have produced some of the most memorable moments in modern computer games. But such a high proportion of non-playing time must be combined with an excellent quality of story and gameplay, and as these high standards seem to have dwindled over time, fervent fans have at times become staunch critics.

How the Resident Evil Series has Dealt with the Shift

In discussing the progress of the Resident Evil series, it might be best to look at the games in conjunction with the release of the Metal Gear Solid series, which set the bar for cinematic games when Konami released the first instalment in September 1998.

January of the same year saw Capcom release Resident Evil 2, and though both have now become classic mainstream games, and symbols of the early golden years of Playstation dominance, the difference in graphics and animation is astounding.

Resident Evil 2 made only minor graphical improvements on Resident Evil, released in 1996, and Metal Gear Solid, with slick voice-acting and animation, pushed boundaries far beyond computer games of the time. Where Resident Evil 2 continued with slow loading times and wooden animation – moving along the B-Movie tack that Capcom set up in Resident Evil – Metal Gear Solid represented a gaming seriousness that was not to be matched in the Capcom series until Resident Evil 4.

In that instalment, the series moved further away from storyline and closer to the spectacle. Taking cue from the Metal Gear Solid series, amongst others, Resident Evil 4 was something of a video game blockbuster; smooth graphics, stylish set pieces and epic, film-like music made it more like a James Bond film than a more traditional Resident Evil film inspiration, the B-Movie.

Some would argue that what Resident Evil 4 gained in looks, it lost in storyline. It has been suggested that its visual improvement was not a a compliment, but a substitute, for the existing qualities in the series.

The same problem can also be applied to the Metal Gear Solid series: the second instalment, following the massive critical and commercial success of the 1998 game, respectively garnered critical and commercial criticism for its unnecessarily complex and indulgent plot line.

, though, was certainly a success. This seems to lie largely in its integration of simple game play into its cut scenes. Where, in terms of plot, it lacked depth, it recognised the mistakes of games like Metal Gear Solid 2, and made sure not to bore or alienate its audience by expecting them to rest the controller for fifteen minutes at a time.

Whilst it was a simple technique, it maintained the important element of suspense, and placed the idea of the spectacle more firmly within the framework of the video game.

In one of the most memorable cut scenes, for example, the player helps Leon through a high octane knife fight with the mysterious Krauser, prompted to press randomly selected button combinations in order to prevent the protagonist's demise. With eight user commands in just under three minutes, this

simple but effective technique makes sure that the loss of the gamer's interest is a virtual impossibility.

Unifying Gaming by Giving Agency to the Cut-Scene

This article began with the idea that the cut scene is an ambivalent thing in computer gaming; spectacular yet alienating. In recognising the limitations and frustrations felt by gamers who feel that a storyline has not met expectations, Resident Evil 4 used a simple but effective technique that has made sure of a link between agency and the spectacle.

In such a game, the completely pre-defined unfolding of the cut scene is given a feeling of contingency, just as game play – even though it is also largely pre-defined – is what makes video gaming unique as a medium in the arts.

Resident Evil 4 lost in plot what it gained in game play. Its strength, and by extension its success, comes from Capcom's awareness of that fact.

The copyright of the article Res 4 Cut Scenes: Integrating Game with Cinema in Video & Online Games is owned by Chris Woolfrey. Permission to republish Res 4 Cut Scenes: Integrating Game with Cinema in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.