Hurr’s top 3 videogame crimes

 

Quick Time Events (QTEs)

I don’t think there is anything more annoying and cheap than “press X to not die”. I think QTEs are a lazy way of being able to say that you have 'interactive' cutscenes. And QTEs don’t just happen in cutscenes, some games even design their gameplay around them. I’m not going to be cheap and include Heavy Rain in this, because let’s face it, that's more of an interactive movie.
 

Dante’s Inferno and God of War for example, rely heavily on QTEs (especially boss fights) - they are spread throughout the game like a nasty STD.  And not all of them are the kind you can memorize, sometimes they are completely random, making the entire experience completely unbearable.

 

 

 

 

 

Resident Evil 4 is another QTE culprit, some bosses require fast QTE input otherwise you will just have to do it again and again. I’ve never before met anyone who said, “You know what games need more of? Quick time events!” – and yet they are constantly being rammed down our throats.

Unskippable Cutscenes

This is something which really really annoys me, especially when the unskippable cutscene is between a save point and a boss – meaning that if you die a lot you have to watch it over and over again. I don’t see the purpose of unskippable cutscenes, how is forcing someone to watch a cutscene a benefit at all?

Surely it should be up to the player (you know the person who paid for the game) to decide if they want to watch the cutscene or not. And isn’t it simply lazy to make someone watch a bad cutscene, than to make a good cutscene that they will want to watch anyway.

 

 

 

This also totally doesn’t take into account people who complete games more than once – for example to play through as another character. Mass Effect 2 is one of those games, if you make a new character you will be made to watch the opening sequence yet again (and Miranda's ass does not make up for this).

Bad Voice Acting

If you have ever played Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, then you will know what the epitome of bad voice acting is. Ok that was quite a bold statement, but you would understand why I say that if you have ever heard the character Lymle say “’kay” (it makes your ears want to bleed).
 

 

I think some developers think that having voice actors automatically means that the game is somehow enhanced. But there are some games which have been almost unplayable due to bad voice actors. Games that spring to mind include Deus Ex: Human Revolution, every resident evil game ever made and that god-awful laughing scene in Final Fantasy X. My favourite voice actor is definitely David Hayter; how could you not love that husky voice?

Although I do feel that voice actors are not entirely to blame, but bad writing has a part to play in this too. Had Square Enix not felt the need to create the typical happy-go-lucky bimbo in every game, then I probably wouldn’t find them so annoying.