Poll: Favorite health system

[JourneyThroughHell]

Full health regeneration. I never really liked searching for healthpacks in vain. A game with full regen doesn't break its flow, which is always nice.

Oh, and if you don't have life regeneration during vehicle sections in FPSes, you're either incompetent or incredibly good at game design. The first one is far more likely.

 

[Volafortis]

Hitbox allocated, like Deus Ex is best.

I also like Segmented Health, and Shield and health, because they still provide some level of challenge.

I feel that straight up health bars, however, are a bit archaic in most game systems, with a few exceptions (for example, in RPGs with healers, like Dragon Age and WoW, you need a health bar system to justify the healer class-- on the other hand, in games like God Of War, it simply is out-dated and adds meaningless scrounging [should you ever lose life-- not likely, though, considering the 2 combos required to win are piss easy])

On the same coin, though, full regenerating health is also bad, because either the game is too easy, or you die to cheap deaths.

 

[beniki]

It's not just the hunt for healing after a fight that matters. It's how it affects tactics in a fight. Full regen is the most simplistic, brainless way to play. You just have to shoot stuff and duck when you start seeing red, repeat ad infinitum, and then let the game carry you to the next stage. snore. Having limited health throughout an entire fight on the other hand, requires tactics and skill a few steps beyond what you ever need in GoW or the like. There's a reason HL2 is the thinking mans FPS.

So yea, I prefer plain old health bars.

It's better to have an out of combat regen though. It's just infuriating when you have to go into a fire fight on 2hp because the cat distracted you in the last room. You get around this with quicksave and quickload, but it's a bit inelegant as a solution.

I'm playing Bioshock now which just has straight health bars, and I'm mostly just annoyed that I spend most of my time checking every box for potions. And 90% of those boxes are empty.

Actually, I guess it's just the empty boxes that annoy me. Why have so many damn empty boxes??

 

[Death God]

Shield and health because if my shield is gone, I know that I am doing badly in the game and lets me know that my tactics aren't working and need to be changed.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

I like the fully regenerating one.
Am I a noob because of that?
Maybe, but I don't really like getting super stressed when I play games.

 

[TheComedown]

Somewhat torn between Segments and shield and health, worked really well in the CoR games, cept maybe a few more healing stations would have been nice, but the way it was in the first Halo worked really well as well, full regen just feels like a cheep cop out most of the time and doesn't even make sense.

 

[Nouw]

Depends on game, games like 'realisic' war shooters Health Meter please.

But for almost everything else, Shield and Health or segments.

 

[Wolfe90]

I prefer a health bar.

 

[sumanoskae]

Depends on the game, really. In games like Red Dead: Redemption, regenerating health makes sense because you can only take a few shots

But if that same system was used in say... Fallout 3, it would make the game far to easy

 

[Casual Shinji]

I liked the segmented health regeneration in R:FoM. The threat of losing your health was very much present, but there was always a decent amount of health left, even if you had only one segment full.

Unfortunately this type of health meter is hardly ever used.

With a hack 'n slasher, I prefer the good old health bar though.

 

[Vibhor]

Injury by hit location.

This
And DORF FORTRESS!!!!111!!1ONE!11ELEVENTYONE!11!!

 

[Ninjat_126]

Metro 2033 style, it's like Call Of Duty in the sense that the only indication of your health is visual effects, but it takes several minutes(Or so it feels like) to regenerate, and you can use a healthkit if you need it.

The slow regen means that you need to use medkits in combat, but when they're all dead you can just wait for your regeneration to kick in. That works.

I picked shields/health, but I can't remember why. Slow regen worked fine for me.

 

[Merkavar]

for me it depends on the game but generally i prefer the health bar with limited regen. so you can take some damage, normally unavoidable and regen it back if you dont take damage fore a while. this way it stops you from having to use health backs all the time and also makes it so that if you stuff up and lose 90% of your health you might regen 20% but your not getting it all back for free

 

[d3structor]

Full regen. I don't understand the masochistic desires for health packs that many gamers seem to have. How exactly is hunting for a health pack fun or interesting in any way? Full regen isn't at all realistic obviously, but realism takes a backseat to fun for me.

This may just be me but I enjoy the fact that the need for health packs make me play better.

It can create situations that using full regen systems cant such as...

I keep dying at this part, maybe my positioning is all wrong

otherwise all the games turn out like...


Huh, this part has alot of people, time to hide behind this wall and exchange shots every 15 seconds because I can regenerate and they cant

OT: I rather like the segmented regeneration, keeps the tension up and means that taking a stray bullet every firefight wont kill you 3 checkpoints later

 

[rekabdarb]

I very much enjoy segmented. It punishes you for sucking, but allows for little mistakes, Although Resistance is the only game i've played it in. and those health jars were everywhere

 

[John the Gamer]

Operation Flashpoint(Origional) get shot once or twice and you die. That game was relatively realistic conserning its damage system. I still play it every once in a while.

 

[GlorySeeker]

I hate how the 'ultra realistic' games out there like COD have regen health. "haha, I'll just sit behind this wall and push the bullets out of my organs with pure power of will!"

Yeah. Thats probably the most unrealistic approach to a health system in a realistic shooter.
The Dues ex might make a game like that too hard though. Seeing as most games are not squad based, and your just a solo riding killing machine. So, it seems to be the only thing that works, without having to use medkits, or making games require a retarded AI medic running about like your over worried mom.

 

[theriddlen]

I like the Mass Effect 2 approach - regen health + regen shield. I would even more like it, if shields were regenerated faster, and health slowly.