War is Boring

[Siris]

Now, from that alone I'm sure you can figure out where this is going, but indulge me on this, ok?

I've played through all of Black Ops on Hardened, and after the usual cup of tea and credit rolling, I realized that I just never enjoyed myself. I've never really enjoyed any 'war' game too much, but this struck me as extra odd since Black Ops tries its damnedest to make me care. There's a lot of gameplay elements I enjoyed, like sniping Fidel Castro in the head, but in the end, it just felt like another shooter and a game not worth so much hype.

Now, don't get me wrong, this game has two things I love, which is shooting and spectacle. I love games like Team Fortress 2 and Vanquish, and I even enjoyed Call of Duty 2 a lot. It's just that I've never been able to get into the overly heroic shoes of Call of Duty 4/6/7 or Medal of Honor. Maybe it's just not for me.


Back onto the topic train, does anyone else find your usual bunch of military shooters as boring? Or am I just 'teh ghay' as everyone else I tell this story to tells me

 

[The Giggling Pin]

War is boring and that will never change because War, war never changes.

On a more serious note, I do find this current trend of war shooters to be quite boring. I am not and never have been a big COD fan and Medal of Honor (all of them) left me feeling cold. I guess I can handle Bad Company but even then, not really the muts nuts.

 

[Stu1701]

War is boring because it never changes.

Edit: AHHH! You beat me to it.

 

[oplinger]

...It's all been done before, is why I generally don't enjoy myself. I liked COD4 and MW2, but playing them you kinda finish the game with a "meh" like a really low budget action movie. Lots of explosions? Hell yeah! that's awesome! ...but past that, you hardly remember it.

 

[New Troll]

You're doing it wrong!

Personaly it's very hard to get me into a shooter cause I find them all fairly boring and repetitive since the days of Doom. Only two I can think of right now I've truly enjoyed lately were Bioshock and Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Well looks like the first two chaps beat me to the same joke. Suck it Perlman.

 

[The Cheezy One]

I'm pretty sure war DOES change, I don't remember napolean having night vision goggles. Then again, I only got a B in history, so what do I know?

I generally only buy a game if I know I'll like it. First time 'round, I thought Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising was boring, but recently I've started playing it again, and closed on targets firing full auto, and it's a bit more interesting.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

War is boring because it never changes.

Edit: AHHH! You beat me to it.

Well looks like the first two chaps beat me to the same joke. Suck it Perlman.

I would like to say that this is the first time i have ever beat anybody to anything ever. I am sorry it has to be you two guys especially as one of you has a Spock avatar.

 

[Legion]

I do indeed. Which is why I have not played a single Call of Duty game, or the new Medal of Honor, or the latest Operation Flashpoint.

I used to love war shooters but since this generation of gaming (Xbox 360/PS3) I haven't so much as been tempted by any at all, and I do believe it's because "realistic" war games just aren't that exciting.

If I wanted to experience the "excitement" of a war like these games then I'd join the military, personally I prefer the non-realistic variety like Halo and Gears of War where you are playing in a non-existent setting where humanity is fighting for survival, it's much more interesting than fighting over oil or because some guy in shiny medals is telling you to.

Even then, those games are a nuisance in that despite their stories you never actually feel like you are fighting for survival seeing as you kick so much ass your feet must be sore.

 

[Estocavio]

I noticed this a while ago - I just never got into the whole Patriotic Wartime Superhero thing.

I do indeed. Which is why I have not played a single Call of Duty game, or the new Medal of Honor, or the latest Operation Flashpoint.

I used to love war shooters but since this generation of gaming (Xbox 360/PS3) I haven't so much as been tempted by any at all, and I do believe it's because "realistic" war games just aren't that exciting.

With the Exception of Arma Combat Operations, im in the same boat -- And i only have it for RTS MP that isnt done from an overhead view.

 

[teh_Canape]

War is boring and that will never change because War, war never changes

.War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of
control... All in the name of averting catastrophe from
weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the
battlefield... Controls history.

also, war is kinda boring, but, in space!?

yeah halo took care of making that one boring too

 

[WaderiAAA]

I wouldn't use the word "boring" to describe war, more like "terrible" in reality, "interesting" in movies and "overused" in videogames.

 

[Icehearted]

Nope. My secret? Moderation. I decided to be a hotshot and when I finally got around to C.O.D. MW I turned on Veteran and made my way to the mile High Club. It was hell, but it was gratifying hell because eventually I learned that bull-rushing wasn't the answer, I needed tactics. Around that time I was also into Brothers in Arms: HH. By the time I'd completed both about as much as I'd wanted too I decided to take a break from the genre and try other games.

And that's the key. Publishers want you to buy everything they release, but there's nothing in the book that says you have to. Leaving on a high note, such as before the genre wears it's welcome means that you could be a fair more psyched about returning to it. I haven't even touched MW2 yet, but it'll be there, probably really cheap too, ready when I am.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

War is boring and that will never change because War, war never changes

.War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of
control... All in the name of averting catastrophe from
weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the
battlefield... Controls history.

also, war is kinda boring, but, in space!?

yeah halo took care of making that one boring too

Great, my only ever quick joke/semi quote is quoted against!
If someone was going to suck the fun out of anything it was going to be Solid Snake, if his games weren't boring enough.....

 

[Netrigan]

this struck me as extra odd since Black Ops tries its damnedest to make me care.

This is pretty much my problem with the Treyarch side of things. They *try* to make you care, but the Call Of Duty series is more about set pieces and the experience than story. As long as you fill the game with instantly recognizable personalities from war movies, then the player (if he's so inclined) will make that jump. You just need to give the player clear-cut mission objectives and plenty of nasty surprises on the way.

Treyarch seems to be approaching the games with a more traditional approach. CoD 3 is forcing me to sit through these unskippable cutscenes involving a French woman and her boyfriend and after about three seconds of this, I'm no longer listening. I don't think I ever bothered to fully listen to Kiefer Sutherland's bored intro to the World At War demo, in which he seems to be trying to get me to care about some guy who died in an earlier missions... which is kind of hard to do when your only connection to said character is a monotone voice-over.

Obviously, you need some sort of plot to these things, but I think it's more important for the player to feel connected to the event, than the people involved.

 

[teh_Canape]

Great, my only ever quick joke/semi quote is quoted against!
If someone was going to suck the fun out of anything it was going to be Solid Snake, if his games weren't boring enough.....

I.... didnt understand shit of what you said

...

dreamcast party!!!

 

[The Giggling Pin]

Great, my only ever quick joke/semi quote is quoted against!
If someone was going to suck the fun out of anything it was going to be Solid Snake, if his games weren't boring enough.....

I.... didnt understand shit of what you said

...

dreamcast party!!!

Yeah, i get why. The entire thing looked like it was written by a 5 year old with no fingers...or maybe one finger.

I could explain myself but you know what, im not gonna bother, it would only make me look more stupid.


Dreamcast party indeed.

 

[Iwata]

War is by no means boring, it just depends how it's presented to you.

 

[JaysonM]

War in video games suck (It sucks even more so outside of video game ironically).

I want more blizzard type games... I think there has yet to be a game they have released which I haven't enjoyed.

 

[malestrithe]

War is boring. Game designers know this, so they focus on battles in that war.