Heavenly Sword acting better than Beowulf

Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades believes we are so used to seeing poor cut-scenes that we've developed a bit of a sour taste for them.

He feels the dramatics his team conjured up for Heavenly Sword using a real-time engine were not only better at conveying emotion than CGI extravaganzas such as Beowulf, but also around 15 to 20 percent cheaper.

"I think gamers are used to poor cut-scenes. That's one of the reasons they are disliked so much," Antoniades told GamesIndustry.biz. "I do honestly believe that the best cut-scenes in Heavenly Sword surpass the best scenes in Beowulf in conveying emotion.

"I see CG as digital make-up. So as long as the performance is there to start with and the CG data reflects the original performance, then it should be easy enough for a skilled animator to reach the emotional resonance of the actor.

"If you aren't able to convey emotion, then somewhere along the line something isn't working as it should be. We did a lot of research in this area and know where the 'gotchas' are. So our next project will hopefully improve on what we learnt," he added.

Unfortunately what that project will be is still unknown, although it will certainly not be a sequel to Heavenly Sword.

It will focus on the core story-telling, cinematic and combat strengths of Ninja Theory, and will also potentially coincide with a self-created animated feature film - Heavenly Sword tested this route with a series of artistic CGI shorts.

Ubisoft recently revealed it also wanted to saunter down a similar path, as co-developing a film and game side-by-side while sharing assets will apparently be hugely beneficial to both.

Head over to GamesIndustry.biz for the full interview with Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades, where he explains why he sees the Wii in the same toy-space as Simon Says or Buckaroo.