Poll: Health Bar or Regenerating Health, what is your stance on this new trend?

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

So, I'm not a big fan of "getting hurt, then running into a corner for a few seconds, then going back out" kinda thing, but, it's excusable for some games as long as it makes sense like having some kind of, uber amazing suit that heals you...but then again, games like Half-Life still have a "suit" that also heals you, but not..."completely"...even though it will administer antidotes, and detect fractures, etc. you still have to find healing stations for it to power up the suit and heal you.

I also like how games like F.E.A.R. and MGS3 do it, you get hurt, and your health won't heal up completely, unless you do something about it, but, it will steal heal up by itself..(to a certain point).

Then theres games like Deus Ex, where it is all about where you got hit, and then that affects you in some way. (get hit in the legs, you start limping, get hit in the chest, you take massive damage because, that's a vital area...get hit in the head...joo dai!!!)

There was also this one turn based game, I can't remember what it's called, but, what happens is, lets say you get hurt, BADLY, well, your health bar will slowly go down, and you have to do something about it before you run out of HP.

Now me, I'm a health bar guy, they aren't exactly realistic but, it's good enough, I prefer it more like the "Left 4 Dead" or "Full Spectrum Warrior" kind of health packs though (where you gotta stop and use them, and it takes a while, but then you get the health back.)

Although, this is the flaw with hit points....

 

[Fire Daemon]

I have to say that regenerating your health works for some games like Halo 3, GoW and CoD4. But it should not become the norm.

 

[thisnameok]

I personally really liked the health bar from Condemned 2, where it is in my opinion a pretty fair balance between the two.

 

[stompy]

I grew up on FPSs with regenerating health, so I'm all for it. But, after playing some games, such as Half Life and BiA, I believe "If the situation calls for it, health bars. If not, then have regenerating health." Of course, you are free to agree/disagree.

Edit: I suppose that the best middle-ground is what would be found in Resistance: Fall of Man and Far Cry 2, where you have a segmented health bar, and your health will only recover up to the segment, and not completely.

 

[Abbadiel]

Depends.

If the game's is challenging enough (in normal difficulty) then there's must be a Regenerative health bar. I mean, Gears of War wouldn't be as half as enjoyable if it depended on medikits (the same goes for crysis).

If the game's is the opposite of the one above, then there shouldn't be regenerative shields/health because it would be too easy. Halo is a example of this (I know it's regenerative shields but it was actually hard to get yourself killed by enemies and, actually, I died just once because I fell from a cliff while in a buggy [before leaving the game because of its boring gameplay]).

 

[Rabid Toilet]

I'm more of a health bar guy myself. In my opinion, it's far more realistic than healing from any and all wounds by standing still for a few seconds.

I thought Halo's health system was well done: you still had a health bar, which could be recovered through the use of health packs, and you also had recharging "health" by way of shields. It made sense for the shields to recharge since Master Chief's armor has a generator built in which constantly recharges them.

As long as it makes sense in the context of the game, recharging health is fine, though I still prefer health bars.

 

[EnzoHonda]

Regenerating health works well in fantasy/sci-fi settings (like GoW), but in CoD it just feels... off. It feels like it's trivializing real combat. I loved Rainbow Six because it introduced me to something akin to what bullets actually do. You, or a comrade, can get shot and injured, incapacitated, or killed. Then injuries and deaths carry over into following missions. However, the ridiculous number or respawning enemies makes this an impossibility for CoD and many other games.

 

[Credge]

A mix of the two is the best. Health regeneration shouldn't ever be a staple in anything as it dumbs it down. It's one reason I can't stand CoD4 online. "Oh... I just shot this guy in the chest a few times but he ducked around a corner to regen that health... now I can shoot him again in the chest for an hour again!"

I don't care how unrealistic a health bar or hit points are, it's even more unrealistic to just sit still for a few seconds and be fine :|. The reason it's fine in Halo is because the game is a steaming pile of mediocrity that tried to use every 'safe' convention imaginable to make it as user friendly as possible. Bleh.

Having to manage health makes the game have a sense of urgency through out, not just in the spots where you need to go hide behind a big rock.

 

[Goss]

The standard in MMOs these days is to have a slow, constant heal that won't actually help if you get into battle but will eventually completely heal you. This is usually suplimented with fast or instant heal items to turn the tide of battle. I really like this model. I hate having the save game where I'm at 4hp just before a boss fight, but I hate how Halo-style healing mechanics make taking damage meaningless.

 

[hadidjah]

Personally I'm a big fan of the Health bar. No, it's not realistic. Neither is magically regenerating health, unless you have some completely valid reason, and most of those are overused because there's very few of them. I've never played Deus Ex (so thanks for the explanation), but it sounds like mixing the Deus Ex formula with a health bar would be a pretty sublime method of health management.

At least if that isn't what it already does and I'm not just standing here gabbing like a dolt.

 

[EittilDratsab]

I think health bars add much to the atmosphere. Games like Half Life or System Shock depend on your health bar in order deepen the atmosphere while games like Halo 3 and CoD4 are non-stop adrenaline rushes thanks to the regenerating health. I have no real preferences, but I found the system in Resistance:FoM to be the most appealing. Its not as forgiving as regenerating health, but it isn't so difficult that you have to scrounge for health packs, something I rather not be doing.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Depends.

If the game's is challenging enough (in normal difficulty) then there's must be a Regenerative health bar. I mean, Gears of War wouldn't be as half as enjoyable if it depended on medikits.

With GoW, I think they should have done something more like Left 4 Dead, or Full Spectrum Warrior, where it's more then just a "tap on the ass" and boom, they aren't suffering from a bullet lodged in the lungs anymore! Now, if it was like Full Spectrum Warriors, it would have been tedious, but Left 4 Dead type healing would have added more to the experience for me.

I personally really liked the health bar from Condemned 2, where it is in my opinion a pretty fair balance between the two.

Haven't played the second, is it anything like the first one? Where you still have to grab painkillers conveniently placed throughout, but now it has a regeneration (up to a certain point)?

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Personally I'm a big fan of the Health bar. No, it's not realistic. Neither is magically regenerating health, unless you have some completely valid reason, and most of those are overused because there's very few of them. I've never played Deus Ex (so thanks for the explanation), but it sounds like mixing the Deus Ex formula with a health bar would be a pretty sublime method of health management.

At least if that isn't what it already does and I'm not just standing here gabbing like a dolt.

Yeah actually that is pretty much what it is, but it's less detailed like MGS3 (although, MGS3's system had it's flaws, even if you broke your leg, you could still run, and even if you got shot in the head or the nuts, you felt fine, but your HP bar was just shortened.)

Also, Rainbow Six (the old ones, not the crap vegas ones.) did something like this, but, there just wasn't a way to heal yourself...

I think Far Cry 2 is going to do what you mentioned, it's gonna combine like, MGS3, Deus Ex, and then add it's own way of healing yourself without medkits, like, ripping bullets out yourself with pliers, or popping your shoulder back in after a car crash.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

If anyone knows of an FPS that uses a realistic system like this, please tell me.

Sadly I only know of shooters that do that to the ENEMIES, but not to the actual player, like Metal Gear (even if you shoot both their legs though, they won't crawl, they'll just walk VERY slow, and if you shoot both their arms, they pull their pistol out, because it's less painful, and if you shoot them in the balls, they have a very dramatic death.) StrangleHold, etc.

Far Cry 2 is going to that extreme, but, they won't go as far as to where if you have leg wounds you have to CRAWL, that would make things tedious, and hell, a neck shot, if you can keep ticking with a neck shot...more power to ya >_> I know what you mean though, and I'd love a shooter THAT realistic.

Also, are you sure Rainbow Six VEGAS did that? I thought that was just more like the just go and take cover for a while type of healing, but there was no "patching up" - I also haven't played the second one, did that do anything like that?

 

[Iori Branford]

In order to not break the game, regen should be slower than a pregnant yak and only up to a certain amount. I believe it was 25% in both Max Paynes, and Ninja Gaiden DS gave back only a portion of the health lost in the fight.

If anyone knows of an FPS that uses a realistic system like this, please tell me.

Deus Ex 1 and Red Orchestra, minus the bleeding to death.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

personally i like the regenerating health because in alotta games these days the number of guys they throw at you is disproportionate to the amount of health you have. and while you survive longer with the regen you actually have less health overall, which means you can shake off the little bs damage you inevitably pick up in any shooter but if you act like a total dumbass for more than a few seconds you eat lead. now i will also say it's nice for things to make sence and i love inovation in games and variety, but i played resistance fall of man the other day and i was surprised when i saw the health bar, shocked even, and found that i didn't so much enjoy it after a little while. i'm also reminded of the numerous times a turret has totally ruined my shit in a game as i come around a corner, and it's nice to duck behind something and recover instead of it just being a total suck surprise and a big chunk of life sheared off.

 

[aussiesniper]

To be honest, the health-bar system is the best idea, IMO. regenerating health makes sense in games like crysis and halo, but in most other FPSs, the bleeding system from STALKER and a health bar would work like a charm.

think about it in realistic terms:

in crysis, you have a super-suit. it's the future! it's unrealistic! regenerating health fits right in.

in most normal FPSs, health bars work because they are a nice middle ground: you are not some kind of regenerating uber-soldier, but it's still a game. you need some kind of indicator of when you are close to death or when you are in better condition than Yahtzee's hat.

in survival and horror FPSs, a health bar and bleeding works well, as does a no-healthbar no-regeneration system.

basically, there is no universal "best" health system, but for each sub-genre of FPS games there is one specific system that logically makes sense.