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

[tortured3679]

In some games the "Regenerating Health" is ok since it makes sense in the story, but in other games... COD4 for example regenerating health doesnt make sense at all i get shot with a p90 full clip, then i prone boom nothing ever hit me... my point is that since half of the games have the regenerating health or shields now-a-days it takes almost all challenge out of the game unless well you probably need if u suck... but for most elite gamers playing on the hardest difficulty yet are still going through no problem...

long story short. ReGen Health is cheap and takes all challenge out of the game
EDIT: i forgot to mention it is okay to exagurate the health a bit though you cant let it go WAY over board

 

[L4Y Duke]

If the game wants you to go from intense gun-fight to intense gun-fight with few pauses, then regenerating health is a good idea, as it allows the player to get all their health back every battle. Even the most suicidally lucky of us.

If, however, the game is for the tactical player who likes to plot their each and every move, then hit points and health packs will help as this amplifies the realism factor.

I prefer the Tag Team brawler way, though. If you're not fighting, you can gain back some of your health. Not all, but some. So, pretty much the F.E.A.R. method.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Regen health if it makes sense. Regen health would not have worked for a game like Far Cry: Instincts. It would give players the option of just running into the thick of combat and spraying bullets, but since your health could be reduced to zero in about in about 5 rounds, it forced the player to use stealth.

That sounds like a perfect game to apply regen health to.

I wouldn't have liked it as much if it had regen health.

 

[jebussaves88]

The only way a game will ever be accurate is if you have one shot kills, or one shot fatally wounded. Would you have fun watching your character laying on the floor screaming in pain? Nope. Left 4 Dead is good in that sort of way, but the only way you can handle it in a single player situation is health bars and regenerating shields/health. There is no other way.

 

[DirkGently]

The system works well in most games it's used in, and I enjoy it in some, but not in others. I don't mind an in-universe explanation like a special super-soldier suit or something, so long as the healing isn't too quick as to make the game easy. Crysis is a nice example, where since you're out in the jungle it doesn't really make sense to stumble upon health kits every few seconds, and your shield power is also used to fuel other special abilities you have. On the other hand, it's completely unwarranted in a game like Call of Duty 4. I don't mind a mild health regeneration, but in that game you literally go from near-dead to just fine in the span of about five seconds. It's ridiculous. I think you should be able to sustain a hit or two before healing up, but a "critical" hit should permanently lower your movement speed, accuracy, etc., similar to Rainbow Six. It would encourage a more realistic sort of play-style with better use of cover and leaning, something I think needs to be emphasised a bit more in the gameplay - there just isn't enough risk to standing in the open. Additionally, Modern Warfare is mostly focused on squad combat. Give the team a medic who can heal you up if you're critically wounded, but make it take several seconds.

I think Far Cry 2 deals with player health really nicely compared to most games, and does a good job of providing health regeneration without it being overpowered. Your health bar is split into segments, which each will refill up to a certain point. You can heal at any point if you have a syrette in your inventory, but they can be limited and will run out in more intense firefights if you're not careful. Critical damage requires a long healing animation to play out, which leaves you very exposed to enemy fire. Having a buddy rescue you on death is pretty cool, too. Overall, probably one of the best health systems I've seen in a game recently. It works well, keeps things flowing quickly, adds a good sense of risk/reward to combat, and leaves you just mortal enough so that you can't go running around like a headless chicken, but can still soak up a reasonable amount of damage. It's also fairly realistic, especially when on higher difficulties you can't take too many direct hits.

The thing about COD4 is that you have three levels of health Fine, Near Death, and Dead. Not having regenerating health would mean giving you more health or more than enough med kits to make you say "Why the hell are there so many damned med kits?". Which would rather break the gameplay experience and require a serious redesigning of the game.

 

[Daymo]

Halo CE had the best health. The regenerating shield bit and also the extra part that could only be healed by health packs.

 

[^Asbestos^]

Operation Flashpoint had a damn fine health system.

You're either:
*At full health - 100% fine and dandy
*Wounded - Reduced accuracy or speed or your character is forced to crawl
*Dead - You messed up

Relief could be found from medics, vehicles or medi-tents and often it was a total mission in itself to find one of these. Health was almost like and additional objective once you were wounded.

It worked because you only ever got shot at due to your own foolishness and I have very fond memories of driving into battles in a dodgy russian car cause my legs had packed in and looked like they were covered in ketchup. =)

 

[samsprinkle]

It should make sense. You shouldn't get hosed by a machine gun, go put your nose in a corner and then get up and take a few more burst before slaying the enemy...

 

[samsprinkle]

Halo CE had the best health. The regenerating shield bit and also the extra part that could only be healed by health packs.

true that my friend...

 

[Stringytank]

The Farcry 2 health system works pretty well.

EDIT: You have 5 smaller health bars, and it heals to a certain point depending on which one you're down to. You heal with syringes. If you get to your last health bar, you have to dig a bullet out with your penknife or pliers.

 

[Marioninja1]

I think Regeneration is good if it doesn't heal you too fast(if it heals you too fast, next Difficulty!)And yes this is in my opinion.

 

[Gormers1]

Well halo (1), was both regen and health bar. I liked that the most, after only health bar. Pure regen is ok, but I think that belongs to online games.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

I like Far Cry 2's Health system. And FEAR's.

 

[Brockyman]

I like a combination of the two, kind of like Halo 3, where you can actually see how much life you have left. COD and GOW have that stupid "red" effect were you have to guess, and makes strategy fly right out the window.

However, I prefer the FPS/RPG where you have a healh meter and have health packs you can STORE for later use (ie Fallout 3)

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Health bar, for preference, since regenerating health simply results in tactics and strategy being thrown out of the window. That's not to say that games with regenerating health can't be challenging, but I just prefer health bars and the solidarity of having lost a portion of life that'll never come back...until the next health pack is absorbed into your body.

However, it is nice to see different methods of health monitoring. MGS's stamina system was nice, even if it was, in essence, a regenerating health bar, albeit presented in a different way. I'd lke to see a game, say a shooter, with a little avatar in the bottom corner of the HUD which shows what damage you have taken to whatever armour you may be wearing and the subsequent damage to your character, rather than a bar, though. For example, if you're shot in the arm, the avatar's arm in the corner flashes red and your character can either no longer use the arm as it dangles helplessly by their side or their aim becomes significantly worse, or something.

 

[Axolotl]

I think it depends on the speed of the game, as previous posters have said.
In the really fast-paced FPS'S regenerating health works.
In more medium paced FPS's or most third person shooters the a health bar works.
In the slower-paced games like RPG's, stealth games and the slow FPS's then something more detailed like Call of Cthulhu's system, is generally best.

 

[RobinHood3000]

For a mostly-multiplayer FPS in the vein of the Halo franchise, I really think that the regenerating health/regenerating shields mechanic works best. It makes it so that, in the vast majority of encounters between enemy players, they meet on relatively even footing, and the outcome is determined more by skill and armament than, say, whether or not one of them had been in a gunfight 2 minutes ago and hadn't gotten around to picking up a health pack. It also eliminates the issue of camping health-pack spawns and reduces kill-stealing significantly in that you can't steal someone's kill outside of a span of about four seconds. In my opinion, it makes for a much smoother multiplayer combat experience.

That said, I really like how Left 4 Dead did their system, when the healing process disables your weapons and is limited to how many health packs you have on hand. It jives perfectly with the cooperative intent of the game when your teammates have to watch your back while you heal, and it doesn't interfere with the Versus mode, where attrition and wearing out the survivors' health supplies is crucial. I would be all manner of pissed if the survivors in Left 4 Dead could camp in a corner for 30 seconds and emerge at full health.

In a nutshell, I would say that for multiplayer first-person shooters like Halo 3, the regenerating mechanic brings many more pros than cons to gameplay, but beyond that, I have no complaints with the health bar (Left 4 Dead, Bioshock).

 

[jboking]

I prefere the Resistance: Fall of Man health bar, where your health bar will regenerate only to the nearest 25% and to go beyond that you have to get a health pack.