Developers, Stop: Using Cutscenes To Introduce Enemies

"You’re walking down a cold, dark hallway where the metallic walls are caked with rust and long strands of water drip from the ceiling. You are encapsulated in an oppressive ocean of shadow, armed with only a flashlight whose battery is waning and a revolver with only two bullets. As you turn each corner, a feeling of dread clings on to you as you frantically scan the environment with your eyes. Then you hear a shrill noise; a scream, possibly. Gulping, you turn the next corner.

Suddenly, before even completing said turn, you find yourself locked into place, unable to move. Then your eyesight seemingly exits your head and proceeds to hover over to the end of the hallway, where an alien egg lays. The egg slowly peels away to reveal an alien beast, who slowly grows an extremely obvious red weak point on his chest on proceeds to swipe at the air and scream at nobody in particular. It is at this point that he looks in your direction and starts walking over to you.

Then and only then does your eyesight come back to your head. Having memorized the layout of the hallway, where the beast is standing, and where his weakpoint is, you quickly aim at his chest and shoot it with your revolver. He is now dead, and your face is a fusion of blankness, bewilderment and unsatisfaction.

Chances are you’ve witnessed a scenario like the one I just described. It’s when the first enemy of certain type is introduced via a prolonged cutscene that interrupts gameplay and takes away control from you, the player. And I can’t be the only one who’s annoyed by it." (Michael Urban, OnlySP.com)