Poll: Which health system in FPS games do you like more?

[Frostedone]

Which version of health systems in FPS games do you like more?

Health packs or regenerative.

Health packs are used in games like Quake, Unreal, Half Life, and Team Fortress.

Regenerative health is in games like Halo and CoD.

I prefer health packs myself. It is more frantic and strategic.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I can go for either. They just require different strategies, is all.

 

[Iron Mal]

I opt for health kits since I connect it with more fun FPS titles like Unreal, DOOM and Quake (the good old days of being one man genocide) while regenerating health usually results in the player hiding behind a rock the second an enemy does so much as glance at you (if you have to fear for your life in a game then you are either playing a good survival horror or a bad FPS).

 

[Aqualung]

Regenerative health; I hate having to search every nook and cranny for a First Aid kit. I also don't get how Pepto Bismol heals bullet wounds (Splinter Cell.) I like to think that my character just 'gets over it'.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I opt for health kits since I connect it with more fun FPS titles like Unreal, DOOM and Quake (the good old days of being one man genocide) while regenerating health usually results in the player hiding behind a rock the second an enemy does so much as glance at you (if you have to fear for your life in a game then you are either playing a good survival horror or a bad FPS).

I thought fearing for one's life is natural in even a good FPS. I find either way means I'll spend some time hiding behind rocks...whether I'm waiting to join the fray (regen) or resorting to ambush due to my immediate peril (health packs).

 

[Shycte]

Health packs.

Old School DOOM 4 life

 

[Cliff_m85]

I liked Metal Gear Solid's Snake-eater health system.

 

[YuheJi]

Regenerating health makes you stop and wait whenever your health gets low, which I think makes the game worse.

 

[TitaniumBlue]

Um.. why should players regenerate health during rounds? It works just fine like in Counter-Strike. Player can't take many hits. Aiming counts more than mindless spray & pray. Flashbangs and grenades to flush out campers. When hit by stray bullets, seek cover.

 

[Iron Mal]

I opt for health kits since I connect it with more fun FPS titles like Unreal, DOOM and Quake (the good old days of being one man genocide) while regenerating health usually results in the player hiding behind a rock the second an enemy does so much as glance at you (if you have to fear for your life in a game then you are either playing a good survival horror or a bad FPS).

I thought fearing for one's life is natural in even a good FPS. I find either way means I'll spend some time hiding behind rocks...whether I'm waiting to join the fray (regen) or resorting to ambush due to my immediate peril (health packs).

Low health situations in these kind of FPS games are often (in my experience) when players are supposed to resort to suicideal 'kamakazie' tactics (granted, you will often die but it's often funny and amusing in the process, and having fun and amusing yourself is the purpose of games) rather than the international signal for 'run to the hills'.

I personally have never feared for my character's life in an FPS (I've been under pressure and stressed, not frightened).

One of the larger critisisms of Health packs is that it detracts from the realism but then you have to ask yourself, do you think it is even remotely possible for someone to survive having an entire armoury emptied into them (with no medical treatment) because they were allowed a breather after every 4 bullets?

 

[NeutralDrow]

I opt for health kits since I connect it with more fun FPS titles like Unreal, DOOM and Quake (the good old days of being one man genocide) while regenerating health usually results in the player hiding behind a rock the second an enemy does so much as glance at you (if you have to fear for your life in a game then you are either playing a good survival horror or a bad FPS).

I thought fearing for one's life is natural in even a good FPS. I find either way means I'll spend some time hiding behind rocks...whether I'm waiting to join the fray (regen) or resorting to ambush due to my immediate peril (health packs).

Low health situations in these kind of FPS games are often (in my experience) when players are supposed to resort to suicideal 'kamakazie' tactics (granted, you will often die but it's often funny and amusing in the process, and having fun and amusing yourself is the purpose of games) rather than the international signal for 'run to the hills'.

I personally have never feared for my character's life in an FPS (I've been under pressure and stressed, not frightened).

I fight like a coward, what can I say? And "pressured and stressed" is how I define "fear" in a non-horror game. Specifically, worrying about the consequences of my online avatar's imminent demise from absorbing enough bullets to last Rambo a whole minute.

One of the larger critisisms of Health packs is that it detracts from the realism but then you have to ask yourself, do you think it is even remotely possible for someone to survive having an entire armoury emptied into them (with no medical treatment) because they were allowed a breather after every 4 bullets?

All depends on how you explain the regeneration, I suspect (recharging after the power drain caused by reflecting projectiles?). Personally, I'll take any rationalization for either form, however flimsy.

And personally, I think modern FPSs should still have food as health restorers. And not "specially designed hypermetabolic" food. I want to see Master Chief recover from SMG fire by scarfing down a baked chicken.

 

[timmytom1]

Perhaps a mixture of both as seen in the original halo where you have the shield to soak up some damage and then the health bar for the rest

 

[beemoh]

Healthpacks, 100%.

Mostly because my enduring memories of CoD4 are a billion and one dull stalemates where I get stuck in a jump out-take one bullet-hide-wait for health to regenerate-jump out-take one bullet-hide-wait for health to regenerate loop.

I understand that the current trend in game design is making games that people can finish and not punishing the player for failure- but surely having to replay a two-minute segment isn't worse than sitting doing nothing for ages?

 

[Fronken]

Healthpacks make the game alot more realistic, and it adds so much more strategy to the game, and as im one of the many retro gamers who are opposed to the notion that games should be made easier in order to fit a bigger market, its the only one i actually like.

 

[PirateKing]

I tend to like regenerating health more. The games that feature it are usually the more...extravagant ones. Since you can have bullets flying everywhere and you're constantly getting hit, it's a lot easier to not have to find health. COD4 is a good example.

Half Life 2 is an example of the other kind. A bit more reserved in the flying lead department. Still a good game though. Just a different kind of shooter.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

Health packs. I like there to be a reason behind why my health went back up even if its a flimsy one. "These bullet wounds in my groin actually arent so bad now I've had a good sit down" just don't cut it with me. Hell if I get shot in the head I feel cheated if Im not dead. A health bar and med packs. Non of this vomit inducing NO HUD realism in FPS', where those multiple stab wounds and .308 lodged in your cranium make you a little bleary eyed, then after some consideration you feel you overall, over reacted and feel a bit silly.

To connection is sometimes slim however. How does an adrenalin injection into your head cure anything? MGS3 has some of the best wound management ever. All hail MGS3!

 

[zacaron]

I prefer a combo of the two like in halo combat evolved were you had your shield and a health bar.

 

[McClaud]

Depends on how you define the damage really.

If you're getting direct hits from bullets and weapons, then yeah, health packs make more sense. You're trying to stem the bleeding and dress your wounds so you can get a second wind to enter the fray once more. I like the Battlefield approach to it - if you have a medic there, you should regain health over time. A man treating your wounds is more realistic.

If you are getting bit, punched, swatted or grazed, then regenerating health makes more sense. These types of damage are mostly subdural and don't require external means to heal them. Sitting around catching your breath and clearing your head so you don't pass out in battle (which could mean instant death) makes a lot of sense.

Maybe the ultimate FPS will address that. Have a critical and subdural wounding system where one kind takes a medical kit or doctor to heal, and the other can be shaken off with time.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

I want to see Master Chief recover from SMG fire by scarfing down a baked chicken.

You can bake chicken?

 

[Gormers1]

Both. I <3 Halo:CE`s health system.