Capcom going insane?

In my last blog I said this would be coming soon but I really haven't been paying attention to life. If that makes sense. It won't.

So here I will have a little rant about Capcom. Well first off they are releasing decent looking games. They have good ideas and concepts but the way they have executed there recent flush of games was poor and repetitive.

The games guilty of this are Lost Planet, Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4 and Bionic Commando. They are all very different games I am sure you know but these are the games Capcom have been trying to lead the market with. Every one of these titles have been hyped at release and were supposed to be something for all hardcore gamers to look forward to. Don't get me wrong I like these games but they have been screwed over by a very silly and primitive layout.
These games follow this one layout and in my opinion this is what is wrong with the games. Firstly they are all third person action games. This part is fine, lots of games fit into this category and lots of them are great games like Metal Gear or InFamous. However the second similarity is also the first mistake.

This similarity is the almost obsessive documenting of the game in chapters and sub chapters. This element of the games breaks up the flow of the game. It stops action, relieves tension and BORES gamers. These are almost always stapled together with some sort of scene were the cast explain everything had just happened and is gonna happen in a drawn out conversation. It is like those animes like Bleach and DBZ that drag out for no reason but to bump up the episode count. Why not have a narration throughout the game? You don't need designated points for plot progression and information to be relayed. Especially these hugely dumbed down explanations.
The game will tell you any conclusion you may have thought of yourself outright and disperse any mystery behind it apart from the obvious big questions which are predictable as hell! It has to make sure you know EXACTLY what is going on at that time.
It makes the progression of the game quite jumpy rather than natural.
For example Half Life games never leave the perspective of the player but still send all the information needed to the player in game. Bioshock is another such game.
For the game Resident Evil 5, a game which practically depended on tension and fear in earlier installments has shattered this illusion with frequent scenes stopping the progression to explain everything to you with other people. Resident Evil, which should be a solitary game has these extra characters shoe horned in just to explain all this. This breaks any illusion of loneliness and destroys the tension. The Co-op pretty much kills it too!
I mean what was wrong with save points? They never broke the flow of the game and were obvious makrers. Also you used to get tensed up in case you ever missed one out and had to search thoroughly.

Another stupid OCD type documentation in this games is the ranking system. This is thrown into these games for practically no reason but to tempt people to play the game again. This also shoves people into the path of mindless action, taking no heed of anything else going on in the game.
These ranking systems are a pointless ploy to justify the broken, fragmented gameplay of the game. I.e. It is forcing you to accept the action heavy nature of the game.
Spraying bullets everywhere is not so great in old Resident Evils where you had to save ammo and pick and choose your fights carefully because the combat system was rubbish and you couldn't be guaranteed safe passage. This added to the tension and atmosphere that it did so well until now.

The next similarity is the second mistake of these games. Linearity. Some amount of linearity is needed in games to force the player down a certain path. But to Capcom they use it far too much. There is no room to explore. The path is always clearly set before you. There are some rare instances where you may be able to choose your own path but you will be shunted back on path sooner or later. In past Resident Evil games exploration was the biggest driving force of the game. Before if I stumbled upon a big laboratory or curious corridor there was always the fact I could search elsewhere or come back later. Or I would come across dead ends and locked doors and have to turn back. I had push myself to search the shadows. However in RE5 I know this is the path, lets go on ahead, no biggy and I could never turn back to far.
Another example is in Bionic Commando where patches of radiation or whatever force you on a path. And they do it rather unforgivingly at points. The freedom to swing through a ruined city and see off into the distance in all directions is kicked in the balls with this rubbish. They never make me feel as if I am the one searching for the solution to the plots problems. I am merely finding them as the narrative tells me to.
This wouldn't be so bad if maybe the plot drove you forwards a bit better yet as I said in my last point Capcom have already done that in. A good example of a linear game with plenty of drive is the Uncharted games. Whilst short they are a hell of a ride. The characters constantly interact with each other in and out cut scenes and they trust you somewhat to understand what is going on. They also make each new situation require you to look at it differently to move on. Rather than another room of baddies that are slightly tougher.

Well to wrap up I would like to point out how wonderfully these points complement each other. Big action and a ranking system to make you try harder. Short bursts of action to perfect each burst in turn. Plot in between playing the game so you don't have to strain your brain during action moments with things such as purpose and drive. And, of course, linearity to force you down the same path as everyone else in the world so we all know exactly what happened. It's as if they don't trust us to play their game well enough to do the story justice. And then they shove it down our throats to make sure we know how epic it is. Sure it is epic but I don't FEEL it.

Only obsessive people would strive to perfect their ranks. Amidst the mass destruction and action scenes such delicate methods of weaving a plot or nudging the player to make big decisions themselves have been trampled. As I said before they are good games but unfortunately contain a shallow experience.