The effects of presentation on perception.

I find myself time and time again drawing inspiration from the same places over and over again; it seems as if every one of my posts begins with a passionate gaming discussion amongst friends. I won't try to fight influence and accept the fact that I predictability incarnate.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon gaming session with two close friends; we continued to pass on the controller to one another as the other would lose. Mindlessly gaming and chatting about anything and everything relating to games, current and past. We delved into our usually stomping grounds which always seem to lead into some form of a Metal Gear Solid based discussion. As we jumped from rant to raves we stumbled upon a sore subject in my mind.



I will warn you ahead of time that my hatred for this game is rather unjust as I have yet to play a final product, but I am like a parent protecting their cub when it comes to certain levels of nostalgia. The Metal Gear franchise alone has held countless memories for me, as I am sure it does for many of you out there. For me this series has proven that proper storytelling can immerse a player on a level where you have to ask yourself, is this really all just a story -- or a potential portrayal of what happens behind closed doors. Perhaps I am a bit too passionate, but I digress.

When asked what it is about this game that I unjustly held so much distaste for, I had absolutely no solid answer. I continued to stumble over my words making no logical sense, I knew how I felt, was sure I knew why I felt that way, but just could not put it into words. Finally giving up with a long drawn out sigh -- "Fuck it". After another hour or so of gaming and discussion we decided to call it a day.

Even after they left I was still troubled and frustrated with myself being unable to give reason as to why I was so unhappy with this game. Then it hit me plain as day, I watched the trailer again and was filled with that hot burning nerd rage! It was so simple, how could I have been so stupid, it was the trailer alone that made me dislike this game with such a passion.

Thought provoking, subtle, and inspirational are words I would never even dream of associating with this trailer. Instead I was given fast riffing metal guitars, with mindless hack and slash violence, and giant bold words with words akin to "VENGEANCE", "RISING", and "MOTHER FUCKING BRUTAL VENGENCE!". Well maybe not that last one, but I think you understand what I am getting at here. Instead of a series that was known for deep thought provoking concepts and ideals of political climate, I was given something that felt cheapened and relative to a straight to DVD action movie.

Sort of like this.. But worse..

Before you demand my head on a pike or release the hounds; I completely understand this is not your run of the mill Metal Gear game. I understand the game was built on the principle of "Lightning Paced Action" where stealth game play is not the focus. I am okay with all of this, I really am, which is why I know no matter how much bitching I do I will still end up buying this game in the end, I am a chump.






I guess my biggest pet peeve was in the manner that something of this manner was presented. Instead of garnering the quality I expect from anything relevant to the series, it felt cheap and out of place. While the game still might be great I have found this overall flaw in my opinion to be quite the turn-off for something that would normally have had me screeching like a child on Christmas morning. Instead now I am screeching like a bitchy little child who didn't get what he wants..




I suppose I have veered quite far off my original point of making this post. I found it quite interesting the presentation of something like a trailer can have such a huge impact on your overall opinion of a product. The music choice, the wording, even the font choices were enough to have me ready to condemn this game as pure garbage that should never see the light of day. While this does seem completely absurd and unjust is it really in the end when we have so little to go off of?

I would love to hear your opinions on this, have there ever been any games that previews whether it been screenshots, trailers, or descriptions have turned you off to a game? Extra credit if it is a game that you were turned off to and eventually found out was great!

By the way thanks to my friend Angelica for giving me a solid jumping off point for this article! If you guys have the time you should check out her cosplay group. They make all their own costumes and are quite phenomenal at what they do, perhaps you will catch them at a con! Any support you can throw their way is much appreciated. Check them out on Facebook and Youtube!