Can Vehicle sections EVER be playable?

[phar]

People liked Mass Effects and Halos driving sections?

Mass effect was essentially drive 10m shoot/dodge bullets move to next group of badies. Hardly got my blood pumping or interesting at all..

Halo ok the driving sections at the end of 1 and 3 were pretty fun, but really not that fantastic. I really hate how you just point your cross hair and the car automatically adjusts for you. And not being able to shoot in the warthog is a pain as the AI is useless.

Im with OP the driving sections usually feel like an afterthought in most FPS type games. But games where driving is integral to the game like Saints Row and GTA they work really well, although not realistic at all.

I guess its because if the driving section is only a small portion of the game they have to make it really easy to get used to the mechanics and so its not difficult

 

[BlumiereBleck]

try Saints Row 2 or Tony Hawk's Underground best vehicle sections i've ever played

 

[maninahat]

Stubbs the Zombie has a hilarious driving section on the second level. You hop into a hover truck which can fire huge clods of manure. The best thing about it is that the ragdoll physics are pumped up to 11, so shooting anyone with the turd gun will send them sailing into the air.

 

[Chamale]

In my opinion, Highway 17 was the only good first-person driving level I've ever played. I normally hate driving in first person because the game doesn't give a good impression of the size of your vehicle. In Half-Life 2 though, I had no problems driving.

Dead Rising's driving controls were the opposite of most games - X to speed up, A to slow down. I would usually hit A, reverse into a wall, then remember the proper controls and hit X to run over some zombies.

 

[Evilproduct]

Other than the GTA series, driving mechanics always suck. The Warthog in Halo, The Mako in Mass Effect, the list goes on.

 

[Kryzantine]

Thing about GTA IV for some people, they're quite reckless. It's amazing, but once someone makes a vehicle where the brakes are actually needed, everyone starts complaining about how it has bad driving mechanics. It's not the mechanics, it's your refusal to get your finger off the trigger.

And yes, they can and usually are playable. As mentioned, skill has a bit to do with it.

First, welcome to the Escapist.

Second, you hit the nail on the head. GTA IV's driving mechanic requires some skill to it, but I find that the bit of complexity to it adds a lot of options. I can do driving moves in that game that I simply can't do in others, such as being able to spin my car 180 degrees from front to back, while maintaining speed. Doing stuff like this not only makes me feel extremely proud and bad ass for what I've accomplished, but makes it even more enjoyable due to how the police hound you in that and truely make it feel like a high tension chase through the streets.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

GTA IV is really the only game where I can have a real chase through Manhattan, screeching tires when you drift through a bend at high speeds, shaking the fuzz off you. The game wants me to turn as many corners as possible, and rewards me for it. I find turning corners to be more involving than driving in a straight line. When I first popped it in, I had the same complaint, but once I got used to the physics of it all, it was more fun than just about any vehicle section I encountered thus far.

Now, if only they kept satchel charges from GTA:SA...

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Only if they are completely optional because then i could just ignore them if i felt it necessary. I hate being forced to operate a motorized vehicle in games because then i can get killed easily and get sent into a rage.

 

[Pain_Inflictor]

Jak 3 had good vehicle parts and I liked how the first mercenaries did their vehicles as well.

 

[DustyDrB]

I didn't have a problem with Grand Theft Auto IV's or The Godfather's vehicles or the Mako in Mass Effect.

 

[EnzoHonda]

I've liked pretty much every driving section a game has had to offer. The exceptions: Gears of War. It was completely tacked-on and unnecessary. The one time I would have preferred a cut-scene. This one goes back a bit: Mafia. Driving the race car. If anyone remembers this, you probably know what I mean. (Although if I recall it was ok on PC, but terrible on consoles or vice-versa)

I enjoyed the Mako, but that's probably because I didn't have trouble with it. It was also fun to be able to smoke some of the tougher guys.

HL2 had great vehicle sections. It really felt like you went somewhere. The vehicles sections don't seem to have much replay value, though. I find I've been enjoying them less and less with each play-through.

GTAs all have great driving dynamics. Camera's could use some improvement, but other than that, they're great. The Sentinel in GTA3 is one of the great virtual driving experiences of all time.

 

[Nomanslander]

I really liked Half-Life 2's driving section.

1st person mode all the way, and nothing beats driving right into a combine at full speed.

 

[Generator]

I agree with you that they're rarely realistic, but I think vehicle sections can still be great fun when pulled off right. The main problem, I think, is that most games give you realistic objectives with unrealistic controls.

What developers need to do in order to make vehicle sections fun is give you something more to do than just driving. Jak 3 is a perfect example of a game that makes driving fun: in one mission you must shoot down gigantic dinosaurs in a wasteland. They don't pose much of a threat but if you ever run straight into them while they're running towards you, you fly through the air in slow motion as the camera zooms out. It's so ridiculous and over-the-top that it's just undeniably enjoyable.

If more games focused on making vehicle sections truly fun instead of just seeing them as mandatory, I think less people would despise them being in practically every game ever made.

 

[feather240]

I don't mind vehicle sections. They add onto a game and introduce more things to do. At points the are annoying as hell but I generaly don't mind them.

As for good vehicle sections I will say that only HL2 is the only game that stands out for me. The cars and the hovercraft were the most fun I have had in any games vehicle sections. A down side? Where the hell was I ment to place the gnome and keep it in the car in Episode 2?(Frustration + 1) Other than that I couldn't see much wrong with them.

Not to *stutter* mention the *stutter* awkward speed the *stutter* car went at. I *stutter* had to take my hand of the *stutter* gas and press it again every *stutter* other *stutter* second.

I'll be honest, the highway in HL2 was just a way to move between areas to me, but I loved the hovercraft.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

GTA IV's driving is actually some of the best i've ever seen, it just feels so natural, its hard to get used to if you've played alot of other GTA games but once you get used to it, it gives a lot of freedom, not to mention, races became bearable because other cars were subject to the same physics laws as us
e.g in san andreas if i race a guy who is driving a bobcat and im driving a bobcat he will have an extreme amount of control and goes much faster whereas with GTAIV the cars have to brake and turn and all have the same speed as if you were driving

 

[korandder]

The air boat was a lot of fun in HL2. I think it is one of my favorite section of the game. Although I enjoyed Highway 17 I agree the controls were clunky. This reminds me I need to replay Episode 2 which also featured vehicle segments.

 

[mikecoulter]

But I love the cars in GTA...

I never seem to have a problem with how different games control the cars.