Everybody knows that trailers don't always paint an entirely accurate picture of the game they theoretically represent, but there's surely a difference between polishing up real-time captures and contracting some Hollywood second-rater to craft a movie based on your game. Or is there? Here to debate this troublesome - one might say, "hot" - topic are OXM emperor Jonty and his faithful right hand, Mike.
I've already nailed my colours to the "No" mast via this round-up of horribly unfaithful CGI and live-action specimens. As ever, make your thoughts known in the comments, and don't forget to pick up our latest issue.
Mike says: No!
If you ask me - and in reading this sentence you have inadvertently asked me - pre-rendered trailers are bad enough. That's already one place removed from a trailer that shows you what the game actually looks like, and live-action trailers are another place removed beyond that. It's like having the fl avour of a delicious steak presented to you via an interpretive dance based solely on the aroma. Just let us taste the steak, guys.
The argument is that a live-action trailer provokes the same emotions as the game. Well dropping my toast in the morning provokes the same feeling of frustration at my own idiocy that getting shot in Modern Warfare 3 does, but that doesn't mean it's in any way representative of the experience. Playing Modern Warfare 3 is nothing like dropping toast, and live-action trailers tell you nothing useful about the game you're going to be playing.
What's more, games are announced so close to release these days, that there's inevitably a playable version sitting there on a server somewhere at the same time as these homeopathic whiffs of tone and style arrive on the internet. Still, it's an easy problem to solve - don't bother clicking on them and instead revel in meatier gameplay trailers, like the glorious 12 minutes of BioShock Infinite that's floating around. The more a developer's confidently prepared to show, the more likely it is that it's got a giant bag of surprises left over for release day.
Flip the page for Jonty's take, in which additional meatstuffs are discussed.
3 comments so far...
CunningSmile on 12 Jul '12 said:
I'm in two minds over this and a lot of it comes down to the franchise.
For instance the live action trailer for Prototype 2 really bugged me. I wasn't a big fan of the first game and so instinctively I felt (rightly or wrongly, I've not played it) the live action trailer was designed to hide the fact the second game would be more of the same and make me feel it was something better.
Meanwhile I had no problem with any of the live action trailers for AC3. The whole franchise has always been multimedia and with this in mind a live action trailer for that just feels like a continuation of a policy that has already seen live action prequels to AC2 and animated semi-sequels to Brotherhood and Revelations, not to mention tie-ins via books, comics and shortly a full length film.
So what if I'm not consistant.
bamozzy on 12 Jul '12 said:
Regardless of how good they are, I would rather see trailers using in-game game play ONLY!! I don't care our good, artstic or impressive live-action or even CGi (or combination of the two) actually are I would still rather see trailers using the ACTUAL game itself! I have NEVER and will NEVER buy a game based on a trailer that does NOT use in game material.
Bezza89 on 12 Jul '12 said:
Those live action trailers are very much representative of the gameplay though, I think even AC2 had the guy from the trailer as the guy from the game and they acted as a prologue if you watched the series of it too.
CGI can be equally as bad as Live though - look at DA2 with magic that never was. As long as a trailer shows what you can do in the game and keeps to the theme of the game as well - I'm still waiting for a hitman trailer where everyone keeps getting garrotted which escalates to people being shot and finishes with loads of slo-mo 'accidents'...
In fact, I'd put SC Chaos Theory's trailer (the one that is before the main menu) as the best trailer use ever, starts off brilliantly slow and stealthy and smoothly escalates and then BAM shotguns.