BioWare Blog: Conveying Story to the Player, Part Two
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The games industry is in an exciting time where engines are becoming more powerful and are enabling developers to do more with their characters and their story. Cutscenes need to become less crucial to conveying story, and it as such it will ultimately be gameplay that defines those moments. What if in Mass Effect when the player was confronted by Wrex; the player was able to walk around and maybe even take a swing at Wrex and have him react dynamically in the gameplay? What if the player actively pulled his gun on Wrex halfway through Wrex's rant and Wrex automatically reacted accordingly? What if there was no need for a dialogue wheel, as the player had a palette of reactions available to their character? Ultimately when it comes down to it the things players remember and talk to others about when they play a video game isn't that cool cutscene they saw, but what cool things they managed to do with the character and the gameplay experience. It is time that the line between cutscenes and gameplay became merged to the point of being indistinguishable. This can be seen in the latest God of War III trailer, which if you haven't seen do yourself a favor and go see it, as the entire trailer is gameplay (albeit with an altered camera) and paints a broad stroke as to what the future of gameplay could be like.
