World of Warcraft is, first and foremost, a roleplaying game. It’s not just a game; not just a story, but a blessed nexus of both that totally immerses you in another world. The quests you undergo set up and advance the story, and — at least in Wrath — major storylines are wrapped up with in-game cinematics. Arthas’ death, the Wrathgate — both are epic events in Wrath of the Lich King lore, and both are comprised entirely of in-game assets.
But are we being cheated? After all, the trailer to Cataclysm, in which Deathwing emerges to tear Azeroth asunder, is an epic piece of pre-rendered majesty. Shouldn’t Blizzard offer us more pre-rendered video moments instead of what amounts to a well-produced piece of machinima?
On the official Blizzard forums today, in response to a complaint about the extended use of in-game cinematics (like the worgen in-game cinematic above), blue poster Zarhym talked about — and defended — Blizzard’s approach to cinematics:
Blizzard – Better cinematics, please.
With the advent of in-game cinematics, in the case of Starcraft II, we were able to over triple the amount of cinematic storytelling compared to any previous Blizzard release. As mentioned by another poster, these moments, without in-game assets, would have been character portraits plus voice-over. Instead, they were able to be brought to life with a much more vivid realization by using in-game cinematics to help tell the story.
The full text of
Zarhym‘s post is available just after the cut.
Continue reading Blizzard: Expect more in-game cinematics in the future
Filed under: Machinima, Cataclysm
Blizzard: Expect more in-game cinematics in the future originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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