Well I mostly agree with you Bod. Generally most story lines in games do little for me or slow me down. Even though are stories in games I've enjoyed, it's very possible I would of liked those same stories in another medium. So I certainly agree a game being heavy story doesn't automatically make it better, in fact so many current games are up thier own ass with thier storylines, I tend to think it'll probably make it worse.
I think a lot of the problem is in presentation. Even if you have a "good" storyline it's typically disconnected from the actual gameplay and restricted to cut-scenes or listening/reading things littered across the enviroment. The story could be dramatic and tragic, while the actual gameplay could be mindless fun. It's often two seperate experiences. If you can work
I find the whole "cinematic" gaming trend rather annoying as well. I don't think games will ever be accepted as an artform by the masses by (poorly) imitating movies. Like HappySqurriel said, I also think most game writing is sub-Hollywood shlock, yet cinematic games often present there stories in movie form.
I do think if you can mostly weave your story telling elements into the actual gameplay, then even weaker stories can enchance the experience. Take F.E.A.R. for example. It's story isn't anything special, and if you were to try and make that into a movie or whatever, it'd probably suck hard. But the game is very light on traditional cutscenes, and a lot of it's cinematic elements happen as you play. The first time you fight the Armored soldier. You're constantly hearing it coming and it finally starts smashing through a metal door making inhuman noises all while you're in control. I think a lot of other games would just cut-scene something like that, but in F.E.A.R. it's all while you're still playing and if you're like me, you'll probably start shooting. Actually setting up moments in the actual game to get reactions as opposed to showing clips helped enchanced the actual experience even if F.E.A.R. plays out like a cliched horror movie. It was a cliched horror movie you were in.
Not saying F.E.A.R. is the end all model of how games just work the cinematic angles, but I do think it was a good small step.
