Overrated features that show up in every game

[MiracleOfSound]

Escort missions... why oh why oh why are these still in games???

Do developers really not realise how much we hate them?

Judging by Metro 2033, Red Dead Redemption and Assassin's Creed 2, apparently not.

 

[Shards97]

No Health Bars.
It has been one of the worst ideas ever, how is having your screen looking increasingly fucked up better then a bar that clearly shows how close you are to dying?

This kind of thing really pisses me off as well. The games I'm thinking of in particular is Infamous and Uncharted, where when you are close to dying, the edges of the screen get a streaky blood pattern, the rest of the screen goes all black and white with excessive bloom, and the sound drowns out so all you can really hear is a heartbeat. In a moment of desperation when you are in the thick of a battle and you're trying to not die, having your sight and sound fucked up doesn't increase your chances of survival.

I'm actually quite fond of that system, it immerses the player into their character without needing to be in 1st person to feel like you ARE Cole McGrath, instead of simply being his handler.

As far as overused features I'm fucking sick of: Trophies requiring online play. Unlocking trophies is a fun and interesting way to keep me playing a game past when I normally would stop. However, I, and several of my friends, have our gaming stations set up in an area where it's very impractical for us to get online, and when we do, the connection is likely to give out half way through a game. I don't mind missing out on DLC and the online multiplayer anymore, I've kinda gotten over that, but most games with DLC set it up so you only get the DLC trophies added to your trophy checklist when you download the DLC. Why can't other games set it up so you get them added to the checklist when you go online to play a match, instead of constantly rubbing my face in my poor connection?

 

[Samsont]

Snip

 

[Super Toast]

Regenerating life to an extent. Even though I hated the core game, Far Cry 2 at least got something right with the health system. You get four segments in a health bar, and it only regenerates the segment your heath is currently at.

 

[Shards97]

Escort missions... why oh why oh why are these still in games???

Do developers really not realise how much we hate them?

Judging by Metro 2033, Red Dead Redemption and Assassin's Creed 2, apparently not.

Once again, I have to say I enjoy these. They add an immersiveness to the game where you feel like you are the character, and that you're helping someone else, instead of constantly just going from place to place slitting up everything around. Don't get me wrong, there are some terrible escort missions, but those typically have to do more with the AI than the mission. As long as the escort either can handle themself as long ass you don't let them get swarmed, or realizes they aren't a combatant and does everything in their power to avoid combat themself, I'm fine with it, the problem lies in non-combatants getting cocky brawler AI.

 

[Tribalism]

, Far Cry 2 al least got something right with the health system. You get four segments in a health bar, and it only regenerates the segment your heath is currently at.

How did that work out? It sounds pretty nifty.
Edit: and to be on topic, unskippable cut-scenes. It really kills the replay value of a game when you've to watch a cut-scene you've already seen several times before. Again, main offender is FFX which has the same cut-scene twice in the game, three times or more if you watched it on the title screen too.

 

[Tribalism]

As long as the escort either can handle themself as long ass you don't let them get swarmed, or realizes they aren't a combatant and does everything in their power to avoid combat themself, I'm fine with it, the problem lies in non-combatants getting cocky brawler AI.

And one huge problem is that no developer can seem to get it right. Off the top of my head, I don't think I can actually give an example of a well made escort mission. Blue Dragon's was the best I can think of, and even that was pretty lame. The worst one that springs to mind would be the BloodTox missions in [PROTOTYPE]. Not only is the target you have to defend weak, but it can't defend itself at all. On higher difficulties, even the tanks accompanying it are helpless

 

[Super Toast]

, Far Cry 2 al least got something right with the health system. You get four segments in a health bar, and it only regenerates the segment your heath is currently at.

How did that work out? It sounds pretty nifty.
Edit: and to be on topic, unskippable cut-scenes. It really kills the replay value of a game when you've to watch a cut-scene you've already seen several times before. Again, main offender is FFX which has the same cut-scene twice in the game, three times or more if you watched it on the title screen too.

Basically, say your health bar is full. Then you get shot until it's nearly empty. Instead of regenerating the whole thing, it only gives you 1/4 of your health back. That way, while you still take risks without being ripped to shreds, going postal and trying to machete the enemies to death will just get you killed. It strikes a fine balance I haven't seen in a game since.

 

[newfoundsky]

All.
Of.
My.
Hate.

This comment is so good I would name my kids after it...

Strong Irish names you chose!

OT:

I really. Really. REALLY hate voice chat. I just can not stand it and I want it to leave me alone and never hurt me again.

 

[SpireOfFire]

quick time events.

yuck.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

i like it because it gives me a reason to keep playing

The fact that a game is fun isn't enough reason to replay it?

That's my point. I played CoD1 for years and never thought, "This would be fun if I had to unlock the ability to use an MP44."

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Once again, I have to say I enjoy these. They add an immersiveness to the game where you feel like you are the character, and that you're helping someone else, instead of constantly just going from place to place slitting up everything around. Don't get me wrong, there are some terrible escort missions, but those typically have to do more with the AI than the mission. As long as the escort either can handle themself as long ass you don't let them get swarmed, or realizes they aren't a combatant and does everything in their power to avoid combat themself, I'm fine with it, the problem lies in non-combatants getting cocky brawler AI.

Absolutely, I agree.

Problem is 90% of escort missions contain that horrible AI.

Ask anyone who played Metro 2033 was there a part they hated and they'll say protecting the AI partner from the acid blobs.... man that level was awful.

Good escort mission: Hmmm... Dad in Fallout 3, because he's invincible!

 

[lolmynamewastaken]

i like unlockables, but i think there should be an element of choice to which guns you unlock...
OT: regen health, i miss having to tred on a med kit rather than hiding behind a wall. it takes some of the panic out of gaming.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I hate how people say it gives me a reason to keep playing, you know all that grinding to unlock weapons, you know when did FPS games become MMO's? what ever happened to the idea of playing a game because it was fun?

Wolfenstein Enemy Territory is one of the simpliest games around, it has no unlocks ranks or achievements ad is MP only yet I played it for 3 and half years because it was the most FUN I had ever had with an MP game, and you know what is was free and still is.

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Everything I was going to say has already been said so I'm going to say...

Games in 3D

Just wait.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Once again, I have to say I enjoy these. They add an immersiveness to the game where you feel like you are the character, and that you're helping someone else, instead of constantly just going from place to place slitting up everything around. Don't get me wrong, there are some terrible escort missions, but those typically have to do more with the AI than the mission. As long as the escort either can handle themself as long ass you don't let them get swarmed, or realizes they aren't a combatant and does everything in their power to avoid combat themself, I'm fine with it, the problem lies in non-combatants getting cocky brawler AI.

Absolutely, I agree.

Problem is 90% of escort missions contain that horrible AI.

Ask anyone who played Metro 2033 was there a part they hated and they'll say protecting the AI partner from the acid blobs.... man that level was awful.

Good escort mission: Hmmm... Dad in Fallout 3, because he's invincible!

agreed on both these.i used to fucking DESPISE getting escort as a map objective online back in the day..the VIP's were horrible =[

 

[UberNoodle]

One thing that I don't really like is (A! A! A! A! ... A) quick time events. They seem pretty (X! X! X! X! ...X) cool at first but in practice they (L! L! L! L! ... R) gte anoynig *damn it!*. By using symbols for the buttons or keys they (X! X! X! X! ... X) pull the player out of emmersion. I mean, when we play, we don't really think "R,R,R!", we think (B! B! B! B! ... A) sohot shtoo shoot *stupid Windows QTE!*. And that's the problem really. The QTEs rarely appear to have any intuitive (R! R! R! R! ... R) connection to the action. When you think about it, regular gameplay is essentially just (A+B! A+B! A+B! ... A+X) qiuck tmie evetns aynway! *screw this!*. Perhaps if instead of flashing up non-sensical keys or buttons, it instead flashed up (R! R! R! R! ... R) gameplay actions instead, like "Run! Run! Run! or something like that. That would be much better.

 

[mrwoo112]

One thing that I don't really like is (A! A! A! A! ... A) quick time events. They seem pretty (X! X! X! X! ...X) cool at first but in practice they (L! L! L! L! ... R) gte anoynig *damn it!*. By using symbols for the buttons or keys they (X! X! X! X! ... X) pull the player out of emmersion. I mean, when we play, we don't really think "R,R,R!", we think (B! B! B! B! ... A) sohot shtoo shoot *stupid Windows QTE!*. And that's the problem really. The QTEs rarely appear to have any intuitive (R! R! R! R! ... R) connection to the action. When you think about it, regular gameplay is essentially just (A+B! A+B! A+B! ... A+X) qiuck tmie evetns aynway! *screw this!*. Perhaps if instead of flashing up non-sensical keys or buttons, it instead flashed up (R! R! R! R! ... R) gameplay actions instead, like "Run! Run! Run! or something like that. That would be much better.

No i belive saying "run! run! run! run!" instead of telling telling you what key to press would a whole lot fucking worce than just "Press R now"

 

[Krantos]

Sadly, pretty much every RPG since has tried to implement this, and very few have even come close to getting it to work.

Alpha Protocol handled it well... and didn't tie it into some bullshit 'morality system', which was a bonus.

Ah yes, I haven't played that one yet. Critics have been unkind to it, but everyone I know who's played it says it's rather good, so I think I'll get it.

Rent it or buy it used. The Choice system is freaking fantastic, but unfortunately many core mechanics are broken or poorly done.

 

[Imat]

No Health Bars.
It has been one of the worst ideas ever, how is having your screen looking increasingly fucked up better then a bar that clearly shows how close you are to dying?

This kind of thing really pisses me off as well. The games I'm thinking of in particular is Infamous and Uncharted, where when you are close to dying, the edges of the screen get a streaky blood pattern, the rest of the screen goes all black and white with excessive bloom, and the sound drowns out so all you can really hear is a heartbeat. In a moment of desperation when you are in the thick of a battle and you're trying to not die, having your sight and sound fucked up doesn't increase your chances of survival.

I agree that we should definitely go back to health bars, or just straight up numbers telling you how much of you is ded. However, I would like to point out that irl, a single bullet is likely to leave you on the ground, writhing in pain, unless you have some huge adrenaline rush or the enemy is a real bad shot. Games prefer not to take realism that far when it comes to dying from bullet wounds, but they are starting to implement things which are more realistic than "You shrugged off the minigun's thousand shells and proceeded to no-scope the target." Having a bullet wound would make it much harder to perform at optimum capacity. Having more than one would make it darn near impossible, as long as neither were grazers. Expecting your character to become Superman because you don't want to deal with the inconvenience of pain in the middle of a battle ain't realistic.

Black and white probably ain't realistic either, but explosions could cause hearing troubles and the like due to shell shock.