Poll: FPS Best Campaign Length

[Soviet Heavy]

Obviously it varies from game to game, but what do you think is the best time length that an FPS Campaign should be? Should they be condensed, 5 hour explosion fests, or stretched out, 20 hour epics?

I think that the middle ground is the best. A solid ten hour campaign still allows for some of the exploration found in the longer games like Half Life or Stalker, but it can still retain the frantic gunplay of the nonstop action-y titles like Call of Duty.

It isn't as large a time investment as bigger games, but it still gives players a sense of longevity without sacrificing gameplay with padding.

What do you guys think?

My Poll is not contrived you fool!

 

[BlumiereBleck]

I like the Call of Duty style...it's the only one on the list of games i liked.

 

[Platypus540]

I like campaigns to be truly epic. Multiple 'Acts' of about 6 hours each and a total campaign of roughly 20 hours would be perfect. Note that this game would also have to be heavily story driven.

 

[Zyst]

6-8 Hours (Portal 2)

25% (1)
9-11 Hours (Bioshock)

25% (1)
15 Hours (Half Life 2)

25% (1)
20+ Hours (S.T.A.L.K.E.R)

25% (1)


Current stand, that's really cool haha, I voted 6-8 hours. Keeps the story short and nice, so you can just constantly jump back into it, and also leaves space for Multiplayer (Remember, the campaign does take space) Hell, in most of my competitive games (Starcraft II, Warcraft 3, Super Smash Bros Brawl) I'd be happy even if the campaign was non-existent, but I'm a very competitive person, and very often ignore the campaigns anyway.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I am personally between the Bioshock and Half life time. 20 hours for a FPS is fine but is bordering on too much and anything less than 6 hours unless it is supposed to be episodic with several releases is too little for me. For example on Normal I finished Halo 3 in less than 3 hours. Fairly good game but way too short for a normal play through as dying 6 times in 10 levels does not equal 60 levels.

If a game is to include a campaign it must be a decent one or go the TF2 route.

 

[Watchmacallit]

Okay, here's your problem.

CoD is a fast paced game that needs to be short or the repetitiveness of the enemies will become too much.
Portal 2 is a Puzzle Game, length is truly determined by the player. Extending it would make it horrible and shortening it would leave it empty.
Bioshock is an adventure game, searching areas is half the fun (in my opinion) and if it was condensed into 3-5 hours half the game would be gone.
Halflife 2 is also an adventure game with a big story, shortening it cuts the story, lengthening it just adds repetitiveness.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R is the same as Fallout or Morrowind. Its a long game with little emphasis on story but lots of emphasis on exploration and in S.T.A.L.K.E.R's case, survival. You can't cut that down.

Essentially, you say FPS but up there you have FPS, FPS/Puzzle, FPS/Action/Adventure, FPS/Action/Adventure and FPS/Adventure/Survival.

These games are different and those differences mean the length is different. I sure as hell don't want to finish Bioshock or search every area of S.T.A.L.K.E.R in 5 hours and I don't want to play CoD for 20 hours.

The times they have fit the games.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Since when is Half Life 2 15 hours? I can beat it in 7, easy!

 

[khaimera]

As with most things, longer is better. Who wouldn't want more levels to play in a game they love.

Also, who beats COD in three hours? It took me like 12.

 

[GiantRaven]

I picked 20+ since the types of FPS I like playing (Fallout, Deus Ex, Stalker) work better with a longer play time.

 

[Zantos]

Other: As long as it can keep up it's pace. Call of Duty's style is fast paced where it moves through a lot in a short amount of time. Bioshock's style requires a lot of time wandering through Rapture to really absorb all of the atmosphere and get sucked into the mind of someone living there. I love both, but I really think they'd suffer from having to be a certain length, it's done when it's done.

 

[AmaterasuGrim]

The amount of variety in HL/BS/Stalker makes it perfect to have a long campaign where as CoD well who the f buys CoD for story it's only had one good campaign in it's history & that is CoD4.

 

[prince_xedar]

i think it depends. COD 4 had a 7-8 hour singleplayer and that was fun, but Stalker is great
I bought Resistance 3 and its around 8 hours and it works perfectly
whereas if it had a 13-14 hour campaign it would have felt stretched and forced.
One that needed a better campaign was Killzone 3. It was 5-6 hours yet it felt rushed

 

[josemlopes]

Okay, here's your problem.

CoD is a fast paced game that needs to be short or the repetitiveness of the enemies will become too much.
Portal 2 is a Puzzle Game, length is truly determined by the player. Extending it would make it horrible and shortening it would leave it empty.
Bioshock is an adventure game, searching areas is half the fun (in my opinion) and if it was condensed into 3-5 hours half the game would be gone.
Halflife 2 is also an adventure game with a big story, shortening it cuts the story, lengthening it just adds repetitiveness.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R is the same as Fallout or Morrowind. Its a long game with little emphasis on story but lots of emphasis on exploration and in S.T.A.L.K.E.R's case, survival. You can't cut that down.

Essentially, you say FPS but up there you have FPS, FPS/Puzzle, FPS/Action/Adventure, FPS/Action/Adventure and FPS/Adventure/Survival.

These games are different and those differences mean the length is different. I sure as hell don't want to finish Bioshock or search every area of S.T.A.L.K.E.R in 5 hours and I don't want to play CoD for 20 hours.

The times they have fit the games.

Exactly, I was going to say this but since you got there first I will just leave this post for you to know that I agree with you

 

[Hero in a half shell]

People are saying that a COD style game is best at about 6 hours, but my favourite FPS game of that style was Medal Of Honor Frontline, and it weighed in around 12 hours-ish: Around twice the length.

The key is being able to give the player new experiences and challenges, new tasks and goals, and Frontline did this masterfully.

You stormed the beaches of Normandy, had a level in a submarine, a few levels blowing up stuff at a shipyard, a rescue mission in a French mansion, some stealth missions in various situations, a level on a train, there was even a level where you travelled through a mine-shaft in a mine cart! It was constantly changing things up, and had the length to tell you a good story about your characters progression through the war.

Of course this was back when multiplayer didn't have to be a virtual MMO with tracked stats and all, so the developers put the proper effort into making an excellent campaign, solid and entertaining. Single Player won't really get that type of devotion any more, which is a shame, but I like my action FPS's with plenty of meat on the bones.