Interactive storytelling

So yeah, Unskippable did their conclusion to Metal Gear August, and that made me start wondering: Why the factor was MGS 4 ever so popular? I've never played it, but I've heard enough to know that it can hardly be called a game. Unskippable jokingly said that it was a movie where the player occasionally got control.

Paradoxically, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was also quite popular. Another game I've never played but have heard enough about to know that I do want to. Supposedly, one of the joys of COD 4 is that you're in control even when you're playing as a character who's on the brink of death. After seeing that scene in MGS 4 via Unskippable where everyone's being inflicted mass pain because of some uber weapon, I thought to myself, "You know, that would be zetta cool if you were in control." Imagine just playing normally, when, all of the sudden, snake starts keeling over in pain and you move much slower. You're still in control and led to believe that the mission's not over.You limp around, trying to fight, yet unsuccessfully. A feeling of dread comes over you as you are led to believe that you're a second a way from the game over screen...

The definition of a game includes the word interactive. Cutscenes are not interactive, and thus should be avoided. Even if the events are scripted, the player should still be able to control the character when possible. Take Bioshock. Would watching Atlus get attacked be as suspenseful if your hands were away from the keyboard, convinced that you can't do anything? But even though you can't, restricting the players actions with a wall rather than disconnecting the controls makes you feel like the reason you can't help Atlus is because you're not trying hard enough. A fabrication? Yes. A zetta convincing fabrication? Double yes.

So come now, Hideo Kojima. It would have been easier to make a movie rather than fully-rendered cutscenes. Perhaps MGS 4 had a good storyline, but I buy video games to play. Whether I'm playing a part in a story or having fun shooting aliens, I don't give a digit, but really. Let me play.