tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369149842245544676.post6958845128322710073..comments2014-12-17T07:04:56.309-08:00Comments on Hate the Hype: Star Wars: The Force UnleashedAubrey Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08493570161519519731noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369149842245544676.post-61691525263705512662009-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:002009-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00Assuming you're not just fucking with me, Hector.....Assuming you're not just fucking with me, Hector...<BR/><BR/>A "quicktime event" is the most annoying of recently prevalent game mechanics.<BR/><BR/>So, in normal play, your buttons perform various actions. You press X, you jump in the air. You can press X any time you want, and you can jump any time you want.<BR/><BR/>A "quicktime event" stops the normal flow of the game and makes you play Simon Says while it plays a predefined animation. A little indicator at the bottom of the screen pops up informing you that you need to hit X. So, you hit it. If you don't hit it in time, some consequence is meted out to you and you (usually) have to start over with the quicktime event. If you hit the wrong button, same thing.<BR/><BR/>After you've hit X, the indicator will show some other button. Same deal. You do this until the animation finishes.<BR/><BR/>The most famous (but not first) example is <I>God of War</I>, where many enemies can only be killed with special, cinematic quicktime events as you tear their heads off. The most annoying example that I know of is <I>Resident Evil 4</I>, where it'll be playing a cutscene and then all of a sudden says "Press X to Dodge" or whatever. If you can leap over to where you left the controller and press X in time, you're rewarded with the rest of the cutscene. If you're all the way in the kitchen getting another beer, you get to start the cutscene over.<BR/><BR/><I>Force Unleashed</I> actually did it as well as is possible. Chip away at a walker's health until it's only got 5% left, and then do a quicktime "combo". There's no serious penalty for failing it, and (thank god) the sequences don't change randomly (like some games), so there's some chance you'll be able to memorize what's coming.<BR/><BR/>My problem with quicktime events is that they're neither cutscenes nor gameplay. You have to mash buttons, but those buttons are just sentinels for whether or not you get to see some more of the animation. Also fucking infuriatingly frustrating is that many developers will throw them in when you don't expect them. Like <I>Resident Evil 4</I>, which has like half a dozen QT events in the entire game... meaning that you can't <I>ever</I> get a beer during a cutscene, since you have no idea if it's going to need you to repeatedly mash A to escape the killer bumblebee or whatever.Aubrey Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08493570161519519731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369149842245544676.post-76042531271453918622009-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:002009-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00What is a "quicktime" event?What is a "quicktime" event?Hector Castrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689184683447306568noreply@blogger.com