Where have all the health bars gone?

[crudus]

I am guessing developers wanted to dumb down shooters for whatever reason. I see no challenge if your health regenerates.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I miss the Health bar... Well, Dead Space found away to work the health bar in and make it look "realistic".

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Wait just one minute here! Someone actually recommended Kane & Lynch to you? Weirdness...

OT: They get rid of HUD elements such as this to increase immersion. Sadly this then lowers playability with some games.

The health bar got drunk at a party with all the other HUD functions and made a fool of itself being forever outcast from the group.

Uh-oh... I think I borrowed it's name tag at that party. I wondered why they didn't call me to ask for their bird bath back.

This whole thing might be my fault.

snip

snip

You've listed a lot of the games that I like to play. I'm an RPG and Hack and Slash nut, so to me the shift from HP and a standard health bar to red splotches and regenerating health was like the time I did the zipper up on my own testicles - jarring and frightening.

You were dying because of terrible controls and a bad system, not because of a lack of health bar. You can see the changes with more than just your "last legs," so it's also possible you just don't pay attention to things.

This is probably the case for me too. I'm notoriously dim-witted in a lot of video games, K&L is no exception - especially with so much going on.

Like I said though, Gears employed a similar 'no health bar' system and I mostly enjoyed my time with that game - even though I died a lot. So you're probably right about the controls being a bit of a factor in my newfound hatred of Kane and Lynch.

They also got some dude at Gamespot fired. If the entire internet could join me in some good natrued fist shaking in 5...

But think of it this way! Jeff now runs Giantbomb! So something good came out of it.

 

[WittyName]

I liked the Health Bar System from the first Resistance game. It worked, I don't like how they got rid of it.

 

[Something Amyss]

So this is what it feels like when doves cry...

I tried to find that Simpsons reference on youtube so the above statement would be in context, but you unearth some disturbing things when you search for the simpsons on youtube...

I played multiplayed on Call of Duty 3 once, it just reaffirmed that there are some of us, like me, who aren't strong in the ways of the frag.

Yeah, the Simpsons can lead to some weird hits, I understand. As far as this post and the next:

feel reassured, i feel the same way i play fps's just fine but its almost a near phobia for me not having peripheral vision, i hate knowing i can see my body in real life and can see at basically a 200 degree angle around me and i can't do that in so many games, and im not even joking either, when i get really drunk and get tunnel visioned i have massive freak out attacks =\

I think part of it comes down to what you're used to. People keep mentioning in reference to gaming how scary controllers are for people who don't have the muscle memory of years of gaming to work with. I played Doom on SNES and PC and I played Duke Nukem 3D on PC, but I was never really sucked in. If I had kept going, I might be more able to live with the FP Perspective. Not to mention, a keyboard/mouse combo.

Neither are necessarily bad (Though I think the saturation of shooters really is), but I'm not used to them for sure. FPP never sucked me in, and feels more like it breaks immersion. I can easily imagine it being the exact same sort of feeling one might get when they're first picking up a controller and trying to remember that "A" is jump.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

So this is what it feels like when doves cry...

I tried to find that Simpsons reference on youtube so the above statement would be in context, but you unearth some disturbing things when you search for the simpsons on youtube...

I played multiplayed on Call of Duty 3 once, it just reaffirmed that there are some of us, like me, who aren't strong in the ways of the frag.

Yeah, the Simpsons can lead to some weird hits, I understand. As far as this post and the next:

feel reassured, i feel the same way i play fps's just fine but its almost a near phobia for me not having peripheral vision, i hate knowing i can see my body in real life and can see at basically a 200 degree angle around me and i can't do that in so many games, and im not even joking either, when i get really drunk and get tunnel visioned i have massive freak out attacks =\

I think part of it comes down to what you're used to. People keep mentioning in reference to gaming how scary controllers are for people who don't have the muscle memory of years of gaming to work with. I played Doom on SNES and PC and I played Duke Nukem 3D on PC, but I was never really sucked in. If I had kept going, I might be more able to live with the FP Perspective. Not to mention, a keyboard/mouse combo.

Neither are necessarily bad (Though I think the saturation of shooters really is), but I'm not used to them for sure. FPP never sucked me in, and feels more like it breaks immersion. I can easily imagine it being the exact same sort of feeling one might get when they're first picking up a controller and trying to remember that "A" is jump.

while that is possible, i've been playing every kind of game on every controller on every platform since i was like 3-4 years old so i dont think it is that, literally i can pick up a controller right now for anything and be at least decent with it (i haven't played dreamcast or super nintendo in YEARS but everything else i've played with in at least the past year or so, and that is consistent over the years) as i've played anything from doom to resident evil to mario to die hard to ninja turtles to whatever else was around since i was a kid

 

[alrekr]

Far cry 2 despite being anus, had a good health system: get shot screen goes tiny weeny bit red and health meter displays. If a square of health goes down only half it goes back up over time. When you reach the last square you start to bleed out and you charecter has to patch up his wounds. Though this sometimes got a bit stupid, e.g. I get shot and the animation is me pulling shrapnel out my hand. But still it was a nice system and also Operation flaspoint I think had no bars but you could only take like 2 bullets before you fell on the floor and started to bleed to death and had to patch yourself up.

Hmm I think I waffled on a bit

 

[Bloodstain]

not having health bars scares the fuck out of me.

I hate the insecurity.
especially if opponent monsters don't get to have them.

See, it works! That's exactly the insecurity you would have in real life. "Is the monster dead? Am I really hurting it to begin with?!"

Personally, I had no problem with Kane & Lynch's health system...if everything turns red, stay in cover and let your body release adrenaline. Although I think it would have been better if you had permanent disadvantages after being hit (permanent meaning for the rest of the level); for example, running more slowly or shooting more inaccurately.

 

[gallaetha_matt]

feel reassured, i feel the same way i play fps's just fine but its almost a near phobia for me not having peripheral vision, i hate knowing i can see my body in real life and can see at basically a 200 degree angle around me and i can't do that in so many games, and im not even joking either, when i get really drunk and get tunnel visioned i have massive freak out attacks =\

Definately don't play Condemned. When I played it I felt like it capitalised on my lack of peripheral vision for cheap (and awesome) scares.

This is also why I think a third person perspective is more realistic (if you're going for realism that is) because it can represent your peripheral vision. We all know where we are in space and what's around us most of the time - and this is a bit fuzzier in first person perspective.

When I play RPG's like Oblivion and Fallout I spend most of my time in third person perspective, just because it's easier to see where I'm going. I did switch it up during some of Fallout 3's more protracted gunfights though.

So sometimes First Person is better, like in Condemned, or Bioshock - I couldn't imagine playing those games third person.

This is all just subjective opinion on my part though.

Wait just one minute here! Someone actually recommended Kane & Lynch to you? Weirdness...

Sadly they did. Rest assured that the appropriate action has already been taken. I.E: I stole two rounds of bread for toast one morning - and he never suspected a thing!

I'm boss at revenge.

See, it works! That's exactly the insecurity you would have in real life. "Is the monster dead? Am I really hurting it to begin with?!"

Personally, I had no problem with Kane & Lynch's health system...if everything turns red, stay in cover and let your body release adrenaline. Although I think it would have been better if you had permanent disadvantages after being hit (permanent meaning for the rest of the level); for example, running more slowly or shooting more inaccurately.

You make quite a good point there. It makes things a bit more tense if you don't know how much damage you're doing to the monster you're battling. That kind of thing would work well in a horror game or a tense shooter like Modern Warfare - because it opens up the possibility of your opponents playing possum and launching ambushes as soon as you turn your back.

As for your thoughts on K&L, to each their own. Maybe if I spent a little more time with the game I would've gotten used to the system. My problem was that the game didn't intrigue me enough to want to spend much more time with it. I'm sure I could've adjusted to the game, but the problem was that it didn't intrigue me enough to want to spend much time with it. It wasn't frustrating, just kind of dissapointing - it didn't scratch my itch for action gaming like I thought it would.

So I popped Devil May Cry 4 in the disc drive instead, a game about as realistic as the chance of finding love in this lifetime, and I was a lot happier. It may just boil down to what sort of games you like.

Health Bars are still here man. You just gotta look.

Yeah, there are modern games that do have a health bar system in them. I was just worried about how many that were doing without.

Also your avatar is boss. "Strong Caleb, did you make the best omlette ever during the commercial break?"

Deadpool's been stealing them all so he can use them to beat people to death in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

This wouldn't surprise me in the least, Deadpool does like to break the fourth wall.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

snip.

hah i did the EXACT same thing! (do actually), i am replaying fallout 3 and oblivion a bit right now and im 95% of the time in third person unless in an intense gunfight because the camera is god awful for gunfights on FO3

i will never admit there are some games that are just meant to be first person, which i enjoy em, but man it bugs the hell out of me sometimes when my head is screaming at me for peripherals and i cant give it to em =\

 

[migo]

I really want to see games employ (at least an optional mode) where the health you have when you start a level is all you're going to get. No regeneration, no health packs, no cutting the grass for hearts.

That would be nice. Although even further, it would be handy to have you continue bleeding out so that you still need to patch your wounds to avoid dying, but it doesn't get you up to full health. Then combine with a fatigue meter that only goes up as high as your health, but it does regenerate if you rest. Obviously, it would only work with cover based combat.

 

[Daffy F]

People have already said Halo Reach, but it's a good example. It's probably the best health system in a game in a very long time. It may be the best ever...

There is a flaw in it... I think they should've done it so the bar goes from one end to the other, instead of going from both ends into the middle. I say that, because it gives you the illusion you have more health than you do. Small thing, I know, but it is annoying.

 

[meowchef]

There is only one reason.

Halo did it.

Luckily, Bad Company 2 introduced the best health system ever for a video game.

 

[Regular Guy]

I fucking LOVE the Halo Reach system, just putting it out there. You have a rechargeable shield, so you can take some risk and take some damage in order to do something, but if you go over that, your health goes down. That way you don't get away clean after doing something stupid and barely surviving.

 

[Outright Villainy]

The best system is the one they use in both the Chronicles of Riddick games and Assassin's Creed 2 (although AC2 gives you far too many health squares): lose part of a square and it regenerates, lose a whole square and it's gone.

I just saw my flatmate play condemned 2 last night, and the system was pretty similar to that, only it broke your healths into 1/3 chunks. It meant if you did reasonably well in a fight you'd be okay, but badly and you'd be gimped with 1/3 of your bar until you found a health pack, which are really spread out. It made it a lot more tense. I thought it was a near perfect in between.

 

[Woodsey]

The best system is the one they use in both the Chronicles of Riddick games and Assassin's Creed 2 (although AC2 gives you far too many health squares): lose part of a square and it regenerates, lose a whole square and it's gone.

I just saw my flatmate play condemned 2 last night, and the system was pretty similar to that, only it broke your healths into 1/3 chunks. It meant if you did reasonably well in a fight you'd be okay, but badly and you'd be gimped with 1/3 of your bar until you found a health pack, which are really spread out. It made it a lot more tense. I thought it was a near perfect in between.

Yeah, that sounds pretty similar; like I said, the AC2 one gives you too far too many.

 

[Outright Villainy]

The best system is the one they use in both the Chronicles of Riddick games and Assassin's Creed 2 (although AC2 gives you far too many health squares): lose part of a square and it regenerates, lose a whole square and it's gone.

I just saw my flatmate play condemned 2 last night, and the system was pretty similar to that, only it broke your healths into 1/3 chunks. It meant if you did reasonably well in a fight you'd be okay, but badly and you'd be gimped with 1/3 of your bar until you found a health pack, which are really spread out. It made it a lot more tense. I thought it was a near perfect in between.

Yeah, that sounds pretty similar; like I said, the AC2 one gives you too far too many.

Agreed. Especially if you get Altiair's outfit, it's about 20 squares or so, making it completely pointless. Armour breaking was pretty neat idea, but again, it didn't have that much of an impact or neccesitate being careful. I think the game in general had a habit of being too easy, once you can afford to be decked to gills with potion at all times, which doesn't take very long at all.

 

[Woodsey]

The best system is the one they use in both the Chronicles of Riddick games and Assassin's Creed 2 (although AC2 gives you far too many health squares): lose part of a square and it regenerates, lose a whole square and it's gone.

I just saw my flatmate play condemned 2 last night, and the system was pretty similar to that, only it broke your healths into 1/3 chunks. It meant if you did reasonably well in a fight you'd be okay, but badly and you'd be gimped with 1/3 of your bar until you found a health pack, which are really spread out. It made it a lot more tense. I thought it was a near perfect in between.

Yeah, that sounds pretty similar; like I said, the AC2 one gives you too far too many.

Agreed. Especially if you get Altiair's outfit, it's about 20 squares or so, making it completely pointless. Armour breaking was pretty neat idea, but again, it didn't have that much of an impact or neccesitate being careful. I think the game in general had a habit of being too easy, once you can afford to be decked to gills with potion at all times, which doesn't take very long at all.

To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen a game of it's type (so not including TBS games and whatnot) have an economy system that isn't effectively broken after a few hours.

If they'd have limited the number of health potions available (my only annoyance with the games is that they let you carry soooooooo much, when you shouldn't really need anything considering you're supposed to sneak in and escape unseen, or so fast no one can hit you), reduced the max number of health squares and made armour break sooner that would have worked I think.

It's just a balancing issue, although it's not really a series where I think I want a really difficult challenge; you are a master assassin afterall, shit should look easy!