Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Hello. The topic for today is:
Gaming can be a very enjoyable and relaxing past time. But it can also be one of the most frustrating things on earth when things don't happen the way you want them to. I know. I know too well.
I've been gaming for about half my life now, and I've seen a lot over the years. Yes, I've seen the good, but I've also seen the bad. In no particular order, here are 5 of the most screwed up things that can be associated with gaming.
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INSANE DIFFICULTY
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This is a problem that has been plaguing video games ever since the beginning. And when I say "insane difficulty", I'm not referring to challenging games. Challenging games, like Ninja Gaiden, are made to be challenging and you really need skill to pay them.
But some games are just ridiculous. Take Gun for example. It is reasonably easy on Medium difficulty for the first half of the game, then there is a sudden jump in difficulty. Even when I took the difficulty down to easy, the game is still incredibly difficult.
There is a mission where you have to defend an AI ally from hordes of enemies as he transports a bomb through the town. It would be easy if the AI wasn't so dumb. See, this is what I mean. The game isn't difficult because you lack the skill the play it, but because the game is too stupid to play itself.
Then after finally completing that level, you have to face a boss that is simply impossible. Your bullets barely hurt him, but one shot from him and you are left with half a health bar. This is when I gave up on the game. Seriously, if anyone can do it for me, I'll get you a Xbox 360, a PS3 and a Wii. Yes, it is that impossible.
Another example is the Far Cry games. The series has always been challenging, but they really went over the top with Far Cry 2. The game is one of the hardest that I have ever played. The difficulty level is freakin overkill.
Firstly, majority of the enemies are African, and no offense, but I cannot see them when they are in the shadows, or when it is at night.
Secondly, there is an animation for everything you do. For example, when you change from the driver to the gunner seat of a vehicle, there is a lengthy animation. And you can still get damaged during these animations.
Thirdly, pretty much every one is out to put a bullet through your skull. And I mean it when I say everyone. Even when you are on a relaxing drive through the jungle, some one will shoot at you sooner or later. It is really a "me against the world" situation in this game.
Seriously, everything is hard about Far Cry 2. It is hard to find options in the main menu. It is hard to understand the map creator. It is hard to play the game. It is even hard to get online since you have to join another membership before playing. It is also hard to like this game.
As the Angry Video Game Nerd so famously put it, "There's a difference being hard and being ****ing impossible!!"
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NO CHECKPOINTS
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This used to be a huge problem in the past, but it is very rare to find games without checkpoints in the present day. It is a standard thing to include checkpoints in a game. However, there still are games that are guilty of not having checkpoints, and surprisingly, these are pretty big titles.
One game that doesn't have a checkpoint system is, surprise, Grand Theft Auto IV. Sure, they fixed this problem when they released the expansion pack, but the core game didn't have it. The fact that your character is so fragile doesn't help either.
All it takes is a few bullets to kill him, and you can even lose half of you health just by jumping out of a moving vehicle. I know it's realistic this way, but if that's the case, then I would rather play a more unrealistic game like Saints Row.
Imagine this situation. You're almost at the end of a long level. Just a few meters away from the door you need to enter to complete the mission. You still have half a health meter left, and all enemies are dead. So you run towards the door, and suddenly, a hidden enemy pops out from around the corner, just as you are about to enter. He has a shotgun in his hands.
Even when you are that close to completing a level, and you die, you have to start from the beginning of the level. Is it so hard to figure out that most gamers would rather have a checkpoint system in between levels, so that even when they die, at least they can continue from a certain point in the level?
Another game with this problem is Halo Wars. I recently played a mission that required me to defend three evacuation ships for 20 minutes. So a huge countdown timer appears on screen, and I have to defend the ships. When there was a little more than 2 minutes left, I failed the mission since I lost all three ships.
Then I had to restart the mission all over again. Another 20 minutes. Can't they just put a checkpoint for every 5 minutes you successfully defend the ships? If you are wondering, no, I have not bothered to play that level again. I'm not that patient.
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TIME LIMITS
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Time limits are fine, and they can even add anxiety to a game. Take the 6 minute time limit for the last level of Halo: Combat Evolved. Within that time frame, you had to get off an exploding ship. That is an example of time limit in video games done right.
However, I find having time limits in open world games a little ridiculous. With a timer constantly counting down in the background, the open world experience of an open world game is reduced by a considerable amount.
Since you have to ensure that you do not run of of time, you have no choice but to skip the exploration parts of these games. Less exploration is alright for a shooter game or something, but open world games are made that you can explore the world.
Dead Rising is one such game. You get to kill zombies with tons of weapons in a huge mall. It is easy to get carried away exploring the mall, and everyone would want to try out as many zombie killing weapons as possible. The only problem? There is a 72 hour in game timer. Which is about 6 hours in real time.
All the missions in the game are also time based ones. Trying to get to a mission, but short on time? Then you might as well restart the game because you're going to get a "Game Over" in a few moments anyways. This strict time limit is the only reason why I've been having trouble completing this otherwise enjoyable game.
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BACK TRACKING
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Back tracking means that you have to go through a level that you have played through before, only this time, you go through the level backwards. The place where you ended is the one where you are starting at right now.
It pisses me off when games have it because it gives me the impression that the game developers are just too damn lazy to make another level. Sure, the level may look different, since the environment changes, but the basic level design is still the same.
The games of the Halo series is infamous for this. In the original Halo, the last 3 levels that you play are basically the first, third and fifth levels, but you have to back track to them. At least the later levels took different routes as the prior levels, so it doesn't get that dull.
In Halo 2, back tracking was restricted to individual levels. You had to go to a certain place to get a certain item, then you had to make your way back to the start. It would be fine if all the enemies were already dead on your way back, but they always respawn.
In Halo 3, while the back tracking is severely reduced, there is still some levels that consist of back tracking, and there is still back tracking within various levels. Is it really that hard to make an original level?
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GETTING DISCONNECTED
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Ok, this isn't really a fault with the game, more like a fault with my Internet connection, but it is still gaming related. I think the term "Getting Disconnected" is fairly self explanatory, I'll still explain it.
Firstly, you can only get disconnected from an online game. This happens when your Internet connection dies, there are too many people on a server, or when the host of the game lags too much.
I am not a person who likes to hate things, but I honestly ****ing hate getting disconnected. You're having a great time playing a game, and then you are suddenly not in the game any longer. Not only do you get pissed, everyone else on your team gets pissed as well.
I've hardly disconnected from an online game on Xbox Live, but it has still happened, especially on Call of Duty 4. As for online games on my computer, I am disconnecting way too much from DotA. You can just ask Andrew or Say Yin. Anyways, sorry about the constant DC guys lol.
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I spent most of the morning playing Street Fighter IV. I think I'm onto something here. I have no problem pulling off most moves, but I have been facing several difficulties while trying out certain moves.
For example, Ryu's Shinku Hadouken is fairly easy to pull off. With a full Super meter, you just have to half circle the thumbstick towards your opponant and hit any punch button. However, Metsu Hadouken is a different story.
In order to pull that one off, you need a full Revenge meter. Then it gets confusing. When I refer to the move list, I'm required to move the thumbstick in the same way as when pulling off Shinku Hadouken, but I have press three punch buttons instead.
I tried by quickly tapping three same buttons at first. Didn't work. Then I tried hitting all three punch buttons, one after another. Nothing. Then I tried hitting the other two punch buttons while charging up a Shinku Hadouken. Still no use.
But after that, I tried pressing all three buttons at the same time. It didn't work, of course. However, after practicing for a while, I realised that when I hit all three punch buttons at the exact same time, there is a different punch animation.
I think this is what I need to do a Metsu Hadouken. Still need a little practice though. I also have a problem doing moves that require me to charge them, like Guile's Sonic Boom. Many people say that all I have to do is hold the charge for 2 seconds, then it will work. No success so far.
In the afternoon I went out to eat, then I went to slack and play Wii. I need to stop drinking too much though. I am weak and I will get headache after drinking a bit, but honey is a beast and can drink a few cans at a go. Respect man.
I got home and found several cool Naruto related pieces on deviantart.com. Check them out:
Ok, I'm done for today. Thanks for reading. [KOAS KW!! :D] Ending off, see you tomorrow.
posted @ 11:14 PM
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