The movie game to pure game spectrum

People call all kinds of games ”movie games”. But I think it’s more of a spectrum. Here’s a list to make that point. For each entry there’s a bit more emphasis on gameplay over cinematics.

• Dragon’s Lair
• the Walking Dead.
• Heavy Rain
• A Plague Tale
• Uncharted
• GTA V
• Assassin’s Creed
• Far Cry
• Dishonored
• Doom
• Dark Souls

Feel free to add games or rip my list apart 😁. I just listed character action games. A game like tetris is obviously a pure game, but not so interesting to compare.

Edit: Added dragons lair and walking dead as recommended by GirlUsocrazy

apart from last 3. Dishonored, Doom and dark souls. every of those game is movie game.

I think MGS4 is a bigger movie game than Heavy Rain.

check out my list guyz

Get out the popcorn tier - Heavy Rain, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid
What was that game about again? Tier -GTA, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty
"Balanced" Tier- Mario, Zelda, Metroid
Git Gud Tier - Halo, Gears, Forza
bRo 800 GPM gg no re n00b tier - Starcraft, Age of Empires, MOBA games

Did you ignore the large thread about the same thing just to show your weird list?

It's just a feeling I have, when a game does not allow the player to be in control and will constantly try to take control away in order to show cutscenes. They are also designed to be very linear and will make you lose if you veer off path.

Is GTA V a movie game? yes.

Are the GTA games before GTA V movie games? No.

I don’t think most of those games are “movie games.” The tiers should be like

Interactive Story - TellTale, David Cage

Interactive Story with a few more button presses - Naughty Dog, GoW, TR, Gears (campaign)

Video Game with a narrative focus - Spider-Man, Assassins Creed, HZD/HFW

Video Game - Halo, Mario, Sonic, Forza, Souls Games, Fighting games etc

Good I added those to the spectrum 😁!

Very true, I added the V as it was V I was thinking about. One could argue it’s even more of a movie game than Uncharted. The missions are super restricted. But I decided that the Open World makes it a bit freer

Sony movie studios,where you can interact with a controller from time to time

I think the problem the term "movie game" seems to have if that it's used as something wishy-washy.

Metal Gear Solid is A) Highly influenced by movies trying to emulate them B) Heavily loaded on cutscenes and narrative dumps

But at the same time, it has lots of bountiful gameplay around it.

Do label this as a game with movie elements acting as a detriment? But who are we to be the arbiters of what is a detriment? A lot of folk love Kojimas nonsense. THEMES. PREDICATED! etc...

Or is movie game, movie game?

To me it's where it's to the detriment of the game where the focus of emulating cinematic elements come first over the gameplay.

Which I guess could also throw at Metal Gear Solid.

MGS definitely not a movie game. cutscene heavy sure but when theres gameplay, theres gameplay. you are not doing forced slow walking, or interrupt by QTE.

you are playing a game.

uncharted/GOW/Tomb raider are movie games with forced walking and shit.

@ghosts4ever: It does actually have slow walking.

I feel like the MGS series, especially from 4 on, are movie games. The gameplay almost doesn’t matter. You’re just trying to do the thing to trigger the next cutscene. And when the cutscenes approach full length motion picture runtimes… Come on…

So where on the current spectrum should I put MGS 4 🤔?

You guys are way too determined to call games movie games. Such a weird fascination.

😂

There's literally no chance you played Phantom Pain or Peace Walker (the post MGS4 games) to come away with that opinion. Those games are nothing like previous MGS titles in that respect.

MGS2 and MGS4 are the most lopsided with cutscenes, with 4 being by far the worst. MGSV is a gigantic game with minimal story. Peace Walker is a series of non stop missions.

Even still, as much as I do dislike MGS4, would never say the gameplay almost doesn't matter. Those games play better than most. It's the reason why MGS games aren't usually name dropped in these movie game discussions. Their gameplay is legit rather than some shallow afterthought.

@ConanTheStoner: In MGSV, you have to work past this super linear, cutscene heavy intro that turned me right the F off from that game. it was well over an hour of nonsense. And I was totally hyped after many playthroughs of Ground Zeroes.

And MGS plays better than most?!?! The shit was like 20fps anytime there was an enemy on screen… Wut?!?!

MGS games are mentioned because folks aren’t ready to have the discussion yet. Those games aren’t good. Kojima is a hack that served the purpose of laundering money for the Yakuza… And his stories are worthy of having the man committed

Yup, intro to that game is shite for sure. Followed by a massive game that's nothing like it. Just pointing out the facts my guy.

Calling MGSV a movie game is peak clueless. Especially with you comparing it to previous titles.

Your weird hyperbole aside, yes MGS4 performs poorly at times. That's not the whole of the gameplay my guy. And that's one of many games in the series.

Guy, why do you get so weird when you're wrong lol. Folks aren't ready? 😂

@ConanTheStoner: Guy, I said games from 4, onward. The MGS games before 4 were good.

MGSV opens up after the intro, into these sandbox semi open areas, where the way you approach each encounter is varied, but it’s all ultimately pointless. Without the Fulton stuff, it would have been a total bore. And it’s quite obvious the game was patched together at parts because Kojimas crazy ass ran out of time.

Guy

That's a pretty bad list. Dishonored? Really?

MGS5, barring the awful opening. Is very similar to ground zero. Granted, Ground Zero had better level design. But the game lets you be really creative in how to tackle problems.

It was super fun using gadgets to mess with the AI.

Yes, 4 onward. The games following 4 being the most gameplay heavy games, the games with the most stacked gameplay to cutscene ratio by far. With 5 having the cleanest mechanics in the series. Maybe you can understand how calling them the movie games of the series is weird.

It may be beside the point, but this is still wrong lol. Semi open, wtf Golden. And Fulton is one of the worst aspects of the game, antithetical the freedom the game affords.

If you didn't play the game it's fine man guy, I don't care. Not looking to go down some rabbit hole of side debates either. Just pointing out that your initial take was wack. Measurably so.

@goldenelementxl: Brah need to stop, just gonna get crucified here.

Feeling simulated pain just reading through these.

This is silly lol. Just buy the games you want!

If Dark Souls was apart of the movie game spectrum, there wouldn't be the need for so many hypotheses for what the story is even about. XD

Edit: Perhaps I misunderstood your post. The first, Dragon's lair, is a "movie game." As the list goes further on, it's less story, more gameplay. Am I understanding this correctly?

@ConanTheStoner: Cutscenes separated by figuring out how to cheese the AI isn’t fun to me. The absurdity of the gameplay is what was charming with those games. But the narrative was the driving force. And those games have heavy, dense, convoluted narrative bits.

I’ll concede that MGS isn’t on the level of Uncharted, Tomb Raider, God of War etc. But the gameplay is hardly enough to get me through the narrative. So I guess I’ll put it in its own tier. “Not quite a video game.”

Crucified? Simulated pain? For hot-takes and opinions on an overrated series?

The chick breathes through her skin…

Guy

lol

@ghosts4ever: MGS4 is 75% cutscene it is a movie game, I dare say Heavy Rain is far less egregious about being a worse game for it because MGS4 cutscenes are oh so very boring and laughable whenever trying to be dramatic, and they just drag out way too long and have a problem of being stacked back to back with only momentary semblance of gameplay to separate them, or do tricks to say you didn't just sit through hours of cutscenes breaking them up with codecs or a moment when your watching a cutscene from a robot you can control bit it's essentially still an ongoing cutscene.

Sure Heavy Rain gameplay is simplified but it's a story driven game that sticks to its story and keeps players engaged in that story. MGS4 is a borefests constantly at odds with itself.

I just literally finished Mafia: Definitive Edition today. Well it had enough gameplay to warrant it to be called a video game. But at the same time it felt like I was watching a movie too.

play the original it was much better.

this remake suck. cover shooter and also feature stealth.

Not wanting to experiment with the gameplay is not an absence of gameplay, that's on the player. Frankly doesn't make sense as a criticism of any god of war game either, those games have plenty of gameplay, certainly more depth to their combat systems than asscreed, spiderman, horizon, far cry what have you.

Tomb Raider is certainly no less playing second fiddle to an Ass Creed like in the gameplay department, and Id argue its pretty unremarkable.

Uncharted it isnt' even the issue that there is a lack of gameplay or something, it's how shallow it is. Which is what's Conan's issue with the MGS knock, as far as gamey games, MGS is a lot closer to the wheel houses of DMC, Mario, and the like than it is double stuffed shit barrels like Red Dead

@jg4xchamp: I don’t disagree. MGSV is FAR more gamey than those others you just listed. AssCreed,TR, Spider-Man, Horizon etc. I‘ve never defended or praised any of those games. Those games are “hold up and press X/A to parkour. And “press square/X to look like a badass fighting brain dead bad guys.” Navigating the Home Screen on the PS and Xbox requires more thought than playing those games. The skill trees padding the lack of actual skill progression necessary in those games are frustrating too. MGSV let’s you do you at least. But it still makes you put the controller down for extended periods to make you marvel at Kojimas blah blah blah. Zzzzzzzzzzz

I noped out of RDR2 almost immediately. I don’t have time for that…

You press start, and skip. You don't actually have to sit through anything. At least with the sony game, I get the complaint more since you can't skip the cutscene shit.

"extended periods of time" That game has 5 hour cutscenes spread out over 45 hour game run time according to how long to beat. Either way you slice it it has mad gameplay lol.

Like fam, yall "its a movie game" people just don't want to admit yah came up with a shitty label/form of criticism when a more simpler one exists and that is attack the core gameplay for being shallow. I mean I get why yah do it, I see some of the games yah gas up. Hooligans.

@ghosts4ever: " play the original it was much better.this remake suck. cover shooter and also feature stealth."

I don't have a PC so how is the PS2 version?

Guardians of the galaxy opening hours may as well have been an extended cutscene.

Pretty good embodiment of a 'movie game' you ask me .... probably in the Uncharted tier.

Halo is true gaming. None of this movie shit.

I dunno, I got pretty freaking annoyed by having a cutscene and some bullshit dialogue from not-Cortana every time I pressed a button. And can the main villain just shut the **** up, jesus.

yeeeeeeeeeees. keep suffering. experience the joy of Bonnie Ross Halos.