For Skyrim, it has turned into something similar to the V.A.T.S. feature from Fallout 3.
Source 1 - they are in slow motion: http://wegotthiscovered.com/featuredposts/skyrim-e3-impressions/
"For the most part, the combat looked good in both the third and first person perspectives but it is difficult to say for sure how the controls handle as we didn’t get to go hands on. While the fighting didn’t take on the Fallout 3 V.A.T.S. system, one thing that did cross over was the kill cam. Like in Fallout 3, players can expect to get a slow motion kill that looks a bit more graphic and up close than the regular ones."
Source 2 - they are automatic and force you into third-person: http://www.desktopreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1497&news=skyrim+elder+scrolls+V+5+bethesda+softworks+e3+2011+gaming
"I personally preferred the first-person view, mostly because it was more manageable for combat, but every now and then, our guide would take out an enemy via an automatically-triggered finishing move, which would force the camera into the third-person perspective for a cinematic kill. In those situations, third-person was admittedly preferable."
Source 3 - how finishing moves look: video 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic6dKnv3WdU and video 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5LQboBDiA
Important times from the above videos are:
- 3:27 video 1, which shows the automatic finishing move forcing the player into third-person and slow motion.
- 7:35 video 1, which shows the automatic finishing move, but for this weapon and enemy the player isn't forced into third-person and it isn't in slow motion.
- 5:47 video 2, which shows the automatic finishing move forcing the player into third-person.
I think the conclusion that can be taken from this is that:
- At some times, there are finishing moves in the game. These are unique to each weapon and creature and they don't happen all the time, but "every now and then".
- Finishing moves are automatic at all times (there's no control for it... they happen automatically), and they're only visual (they don't do extra damage or anything like that, this was confirmed in much earlier sources as well, for instance Game Informer).
- Finishing moves sometimes force the player into third-person.
- Finishing moves are sometimes in slow motion.
My questions to you are:
- Do you like it or dislike it?
- Would you want the entire finishing move feature optional, or just the part of it forcing you into third-person or slow motion as something optional? (By optional I mean by a setting/toggle or even a perk of some sort.)