Trailers trailers everywhere

Perhaps the most ridiculous occurrence in the video game industry today is the cinematic trailer. I cannot believe that anyone pays any attention to these trailers anymore when it is clear that the CGI video will have nothing to do with the gameplay. While some of us would argue that these visual feasts presented to us, the ravenous hordes, provide enthusiasm for the product by very beautifully portraying the atmosphere or feeling of the game, it has progressed to the point of flat out misleading consumers as to the reality of the end product. Many of these gorgeous cutscenes are outsourced to professional cinematic studios are not even the product of the developer, so that leaves gamers with the unenviable position of trying to separate fact from fiction, and game potential from reality.

Two perfect examples that illustrate my point are the new trailers for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Star Wars: The Old Republic. We’ll take the Deus Ex trailer first as it is the less misleading of the two. While very little is known about how this game will play, this trailer goes on to show possible in game fighting elements as well as outline the expected story in this prequel to the Deus Ex universe. While it is apparent that the game will not look as stunning as the trailer, we can assume some super human strength, in depth storyline and possibly some fast hand-to-hand fighting mechanics.

Next is the E3 trailer of BioWare’s highly anticipated MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Contrasting directly with Deus Ex, everyone knows exactly how TOR will play and what it will look like. Although a game’s appearance can change drastically even in the last few months of development, we have all seen working demos of TOR for some time now and we can expect gameplay and graphical elements similar to those seen in Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare’s first foray into the Lucas Arts’ fame franchise. For years now gamers have been fed the familiar tale from BioWare, that great games are based on story, and that TOR will feature a depth and immersion that no other MMO has achieved to date. Well, despite my obvious HA-YA-RITE preconceptions, I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least until I saw this latest trailer for TOR. Basically this movie plays as a lost episode of ‘The Clone Wars’ and would seem to have very little to do with the spirit of upcoming game, the appearance, the gameplay, or even the story, which is supposedly the most impressive and important feature of this game.

The main criticism of Star Wars MMO style games is that you have mortals playing alongside gods who clearly wouldn’t need them to complete even the most complicated of tasks. So we’re either going to be dealing with hamstrung gods (lame) or useless peripheral classes (go Bard!), and these two routes lead to two respective ends, Star Wars Galaxies or Jedi traffic jams. So this video clearly addresses these two concerns by going in the opposite direction of both problems! Mandalorians that can resist force lightning and Jedis that can stop lightsabers with their hands. Have we decided to completely throw out any consistency that can be associated with this overplayed franchise? Maybe making every class overpowered is the only way to make the game play smoothly, but in the end the very appeal of this universe is under assault as we move further and further from the source material, you know, the stuff we actually like.

If the story is so strong in TOR and it’s so important for good games, why does the biggest trailer to date feature unrealistic fight scenes and overpowered characters? This trailer is all hype, all fluff, no substance. The game will not play like this, not even close. Spoiler alert - it will play like WoW. In the end, Star Wars doesn’t need any more hype. It’s Star Wars. Show us how you’ll make it fun and stop showing us why we already love it. Also, make another Tie Fighter game and then let this franchise cool off in the shade for while, because right now, it stinks.