Are Video Games Becoming Too Cinematic?

[patronmacabre]

Having been all the Uncharteds recently, my answer would be "it depends on how well done it is."
Even comparing Uncharted 2 to Uncharted 3, it is very clear that the cinematography of Uncharted 2 was much more meticulously crafted than in Uncharted 3. Having given the two games time to stew in my for a little bit (and just completely discounting Uncharted 1, because it's terrible), I that while Uncharted 3 is ultimately better in its gameplay -- the puzzles were much more challenging and thought provoking and there were far fewer irritating boss battles-- Uncharted 2 is much, much more memorable. This is because Uncharted 2 was far more willing to take risks by having long sections without traditional gameplay, had a clever non-linear narrative, and frankly had stunning cinematography (though I will admit that the overly dramatic camera angles that accompanied walking up a set of stares got really goofy after a while).
So I think blanketly saying a game is too cinematic gives too little credit to the quality differential that can exist in cinematic games -- even in the same series.