I do find as well.. playing some of the mmo's out there like Mass Effect, Mass Effect II, Dragon Age, Medal of Honor (basically a more chaotic version of COD), and Bad Company, and yes, the cinematics do push the stories, but there have been a few, such as Force Unleashed where gameplay was unsatifiying, but the cinematics where wonderful. Still, I walked away from that game with just a lack luster feeling, not really enjoying it that much.
Now Borderlands was another hybrid role playing style shooter that I had a blast playing. The game play was decent, but it was really just meant to be a leveling shooter, and for that, and just the sheer amount of weapons you could aquire, made it fun.
I find, though, that the most enjoyable games out there are not always the best graphically. Game play is an important part. One of the reasons that I always enjoyed the mechwarrior games was that it was a much more stragetic type shooter. When your driving around a 50 ton mech, the thing doesn't always top on a dime. It's not as twitchy as some of the more hard core shooters like Bad Company and COD, but that was always the attraction for me. Lumber along with massive armor and massive weaponry and blow things up.
I've done the gambit of games, and all said and done, An engaging story is important, but really what you need to understand about yourself is what it is that makes you like the game. Mass Effect was a hugely enjoyable game for me, but I love the sci fi story aspect to it. It really is more like an interactive story, but played as such, it's a wonderfully engaging game with rich story, very cool aliens, and a world that is not totally linear.
I think, for me, I don't mind being led a bit in games, but when I'm forced down a linear storyline I don't find it enjoyable, and if that's the case, there better be something else that attracts me.
I played Crysis 2 and didn't even bother to finish the single player storyline becuase I just didn't find it engaging, but I had a blast playing multiplayer. It was like Halo should have evolved; instead of having the same game pumped out over and over. Now they've put out a classic edition that lets you cycle through the old graphics and new? How many times can you put out the same game and still make money on it? The problem I had with Halo Reach. They promised a whole new system, yet to me it felt like every other Halo game I ever played.
Mechwarrior is still, bar none, the game that I have stayed with longer than most of the games I played combined, and now I get to continue that experience. It's never been over the top by any means or on the cutting edge of things, but there is just nothing else out there like it.
