To video game creators:
Do not make the most challenging parts of your game also the most boring part of the game.
I am talking to you, Sucker Punch, makers of Infamous.
Overall, there is a lot to like in the game. You play Cole, who wakes up in the epicenter of a major blast. Amidst all the destruction, you discover you have super powers-electricity based. Cole also finds that he is responsible for the blast, and the public in the now quarantined city believe him to be a terrorist.
A woman from the FBI states she wants you to help find her husband, who is lost somewhere in the city. Her name is Moya and she sends you on missions to stop the three gangs running the three boroughs.
What makes it interesting is your choices impact your public perception and your powers. You are routinely offered choices that impact your Karma. Helping the citizens and putting their safety ahead of your own push you towards good or evil.
As I mentioned, you have powers, such as shooting electrical bolts from your hands, you are an expert at climbing and eventually, as your power evolves you have limited flight, electric grenades and a host of other uses of your power.
It takes a lot of work to take out Reapers, more for the Dust Men and even more work to eliminate the First Sons. Of course, along with the ground troops, there are the Conduits. And in the case of the Dust Men, there are two kinds of Conduits and the bigger ones are tough to take down. Real tough.
And all in all, this has been a very fun game. I have had a great time playing it. Overall. But the one problem I have? Well, to be blunt, I do not like “time based” challenges in games, where you have a limited number of seconds to complete a task. A roof top race in Crackdown? Well…okay…I guess it can be fun. But here in Infamous, we have instances where you are trying race a few blocks to start satellite uplinks or follow a helicopter. Yes, follow a helicopter around the city. It is as boring as it sounds. If you fall too far behind the helicopter, you have to start all over. The satellite uplinks cause you to skate from rooftop to rooftop. This is fun when you are taking on bad guys and not worried about running out of time. But with the satellite uplinks, there are sometimes six of these things you are running to. Sometimes, they are close by each other which will give you a fighting chance. But you have such a limited amount of time, that the distance is almost impossible to make (there is one in the second Borough which seems especially challenging, from what I have read online).
These are some of the most boring parts of the game, making it frustrating to get stalled by them and trying to get past them. Please, game makers, make sure the most challenging parts of your game are fun to play.
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
I also hate, hate HATE timed missions in nearly any game. I’m playing this for fun, let me play at my own pace, dammit!
But despite my strong words, they are occasionally OK. I thought they actually worked well in inFamous because they were sparse, generally forgiving and relevant to the plot.
I also hate it on the opposite end of the spectrum… you know, when you are forced to follow a slow moving NPC or enemy (inFamous again) to complete a mission.