Gaming Turn-Ons

Rex DartRex Dart Registered User regular
edited September 2011 in Games and Technology
Games.

Some of us like them. But why?

Sure, the big stuff has all be covered: fun gameplay, engrossing atmosphere, appealing aesthetic, yada yada yada. Let's talk about the little stuff! As Hank Scorpio once said, "It's the little things that make up life."

Hence, this is a topic for the little stuff: gaming turn-ons, for want of a better term. To help keep the scope of this topic with-in reason, allow me to define what a gaming turn-on is:

- It's not something that would appear in a press release or on the back of a case (at least not today). If publishers are trying to use it to sell games, it's too big for this topic.
- It's something that appears across multiple series. "Hiding in a cardboard box" may be very enjoyable, but there's only one game series it occurs in, so I don't count it.
- It's not a genre.

Does that make sense? Then allow me to begin with one of my own.

Mashing a button repeatedly in order to do more damage/hits
Button mashing is almost universally reviled as the antithesis of what a good action game should be. But there is something incredibly satisfying about seeing my character repeatedly punch/headbutt/pummel/spank an opponent with each hit corresponding to a button press. Yes, these moves eventually hurt my thumb, but I don't care. God Hand and Yakuza both have some excellent examples of these moves. Also, some fighting game characters have supers like this. (For example, Yamazaki's Guillotine move from KOF, or [slightly less cool] Ken's Shinryuken.)

Please share yours!

Rex Dart on
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Posts

  • Big ClassyBig Classy Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    The most obvious one for me is a beautiful landscape to explore. Games that would otherwise be awful I tend to like because of this. Just Cause is the most obvious that comes to mind. Whilst not a bad game, it wasn't fantastic either. The thing that hooked me and completely blew me away was the landscape and the fact that I could go anywhere I wanted. Oblivion, Morrowind do this too and they're fantastic for it. Testt Drive Unlimited was probably the most surprising though. I ended up liking simply for this reason alone, that I could go anywhere and had such freedom.

    Big Classy on
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Character customization of any kind is always a gaming turn on for me.

    Skull2185 on
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  • SenshiSenshi BALLING OUT OF CONTROL WavefrontRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Tight controls. I just love it when I press something and what happens is exactly what I expected/intended.

    Senshi on
  • BlurblBlurbl -_- Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Enemy reaction from every shot fired. Games like Fallout and Oblivion make me depressed when I can shoot someone and nothing happens except the health bar goes down and maybe a blood texture.

    Games where people who get shot flitch and stuff really inproves the combat for me.

    Blurbl on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Games that don't waste my time.

    I meam King's Bounty has a little tick box which allows you to skip ALL the intro movies and get right to the menu. Indie adventure game Overclocked literally loads you right into your last savegame. More devs need to take a not of things like that. Especially the intro movie thing, every game has like 6 or 7 of them loaded at the front now, it's ridiculous even when you are allowed to press a button to skip each one individually. I've seen the logo for your 3rd party middleware solution ONCE, that is enough.

    Lots of little things like that. Needless repetition and grinding that doesn't add to the gameplay "fun" that you're supposed to be having. Games that force you to wander great distances between points of main gameplay or story points (unless exploration is part of the point of the game itself, no, this isn't fun, even if you put a tonne of grinding in there). Fast travel is much preferred in those situations.

    Unskippable cutscenes goes without saying. As do in-game loading corridors and elevators that take a set amount of time even though the game itself will have loaded up ages ago (Mass Effect's elevators. Gears of War's "walky-talky" bits) Batman Arkham Asylum only kept you in the area as long as it took to load, then the door opened.

    In general, gaming takes long enough as it is. If the activity you're putting in isn't a fun part of the game (or story depending on genre) and just pads length between the fun bits, then you really ought to ask yourself why it's there. Mass Effect 2 was really good in this regard, it did so much to keep things flowing, about the only thing that slowed it down for me was the mineral hunting (that minigame really could have stood to have been shorter in general).

    It's trite, but I've come to realise over the years that a lot of my favourite games are also ones that you could effectively speedrun. Not always the case, but I understand why, it's because they generally have minimal crap between the gameplay bits. So I basically like games that keep the flow going and don't try to disrupt it with tedium. You can take things down a notch, vary things (gameplay can't exist on a "high" note of activity at all times, that just wears the player out. Things need to ebb and flow), but if you can trim the fat, that's probably most of what makes a good game right there.

    subedii on
  • DunxcoDunxco Should get a suit Never skips breakfastRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    "Tank" controls.

    You know, the style that Resident Evil sort of brought into focus when it was the original series on the Playstation? I love tank controls because they take a certain finesse to master. People surely remember the Hunk (and Tofu) bonus games lobbed in with Resident Evil 2, and I gotta say your ability to master the tank controls is probably more important than your ability to conserve ammo. Ivy's could be downed with an entire handgun clip, but damn, swerving between six zombies and not a single one touching you? That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

    Dunxco on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Dunxco wrote: »
    "Tank" controls.

    You know, the style that Resident Evil sort of brought into focus when it was the original series on the Playstation? I love tank controls because they take a certain finesse to master. People surely remember the Hunk (and Tofu) bonus games lobbed in with Resident Evil 2, and I gotta say your ability to master the tank controls is probably more important than your ability to conserve ammo. Ivy's could be downed with an entire handgun clip, but damn, swerving between six zombies and not a single one touching you? That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

    Yeah despite all the hate tank controls get, I don't mind them. They're just a different control scheme that works in a different context. I mean RE2 and RE4 are my two favourite games in the series, but I'm still not sure which I prefer. They're two completely different styles of game so I can't really compare them.

    On the note of controls, games that have a sense of weight and heft to the proceedings. Gears did that quite well I felt, as did Dead Space. Well, apart from the bouncy hyper-physics some objects had anyway. You felt as if the character was interacting with their environment and surroundings.

    subedii on
  • MrVyngaardMrVyngaard Live From New Etoile Straight Outta SosariaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Satisfying melee impact sound FX.

    When I slam my foot or sword into someone's head, I want to KNOW I've hurt them. And if the sound is right, then I'm quite happy. If I punch a guy in the face, I like hearing a good crunching noise as it lands.

    Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage Split-Leg Punch attack was an EXCELLENT example of doing it right.

    MrVyngaard on
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  • Hockey JohnstonHockey Johnston Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    The comedy of screw-ups is really my favorite part about gaming.

    Like how easy it is to damage yourself (or create a chain of unintended consequences) in Worms. Or how easy it is to knock your buddy into the pit in New Super Mario Bros. Or even playing Demoman and having a pipebomb roll back into you at a funny angle.

    Having your intent turn back on you and create an unexpected result is really one of the coolest things that interactive arts can do.

    Hockey Johnston on
  • Orochi_RockmanOrochi_Rockman __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    New Game +

    Always a good feature. Its the developers saying "Thank you for playing our game, here go make that difficulty you just beat a playground. Enjoy." And I do.

    Orochi_Rockman on
  • LeitnerLeitner Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    Character customization of any kind is always a gaming turn on for me.

    Tying this back into the RE love. Having a choice of different characters with slight benefits/weaknesses without being tremendously different.

    Leitner on
  • AsheAshe Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Lotsa stuff I can find and equip to change the appearance of my character so I am aesthetically pleased as I wander around/do things. In essence, I enjoy the game-within-a-game: playing dress-up.

    Ashe on
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  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    convincing sound design.

    The first time I was being suppressed in ArmA2 I was shitting my pants from the sound of bullets cracking inches overhead while mortars are landing all around.

    acidlacedpenguin on
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  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    The comedy of screw-ups is really my favorite part about gaming.

    Like how easy it is to damage yourself (or create a chain of unintended consequences) in Worms. Or how easy it is to knock your buddy into the pit in New Super Mario Bros. Or even playing Demoman and having a pipebomb roll back into you at a funny angle.

    Having your intent turn back on you and create an unexpected result is really one of the coolest things that interactive arts can do.

    Oh man, playing Black and White II. I was trying to be peaceful, but the Japanese kept stationing troops just outside my city gates. "I'll show them!"

    Tried to trow a boulder over the wall and onto the Japanese...yeah, tore down my own gate.. and the Japanese swarmed the city...

    My bad

    Skull2185 on
    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • OpiumOpium regular
    edited February 2010
    Selling excess inventory/weapons/armor/etc.

    Prettty sprites/2D games (the DS is my favorite current gaming system for this very reason).

    Enslaving giant, ferocious beasts to do your bidding (Pokemon etc.).

    Opium on
  • ChrisDudeChrisDude Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I absolutely love it when there are genuinely funny characters or situations in a game I play. Tim Schafer has always been good about this, but Battlefield: Bad Company is the game that really stands out to me. I wouldn't have cared about shooting thousands of guys had Sweetwater and Haggard not been there making fun of all of the preceedings.

    ChrisDude on
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  • DirtyDirty Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    subedii wrote: »
    I meam King's Bounty has a little tick box which allows you to skip ALL the intro movies and get right to the menu. Indie adventure game Overclocked literally loads you right into your last savegame. More devs need to take a not of things like that. Especially the intro movie thing, every game has like 6 or 7 of them loaded at the front now, it's ridiculous even when you are allowed to press a button to skip each one individually. I've seen the logo for your 3rd party middleware solution ONCE, that is enough.

    I second this. It should be standard that after you've gone through all the intros once, the game should automatically load your last game and auto-pause. I'd love to be able to load my disc, go take a piss, grab a snack, and have my game ready to play when I got back.

    Dirty on
  • ArkanArkan Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Destructible or modifiable terrain. Not even Red Faction levels of tomfoolery; even something like Dungeon Keeper is awesome because I can plan not even my base but the very terrain and definition of space in my base and how enemies approach it.

    I would buy Dungeon Keeper 3 so hard that the money would form into a fist and punch Peter Molyneux in the face.

    Arkan on
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  • DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    A framerate that never speeds up or slows down is one thing that not many people care about, but I do. It really bothers me when for a second or two the framerate drops because of some effect on screen. I was actually very impressed by Super Monkey Ball on the GCN when the console launched. The graphics were pretty damn crisp, the sound effects and the presentation all felt super arcade-esque, and the framerate was high and stayed the same without a single slowdown. It made the experience much more satisfying, the same way Crazy Taxi impressed me when it was released in arcades.

    Another thing I like is a very polished presentation. Take for example Tetris Attack on the SNES. I love how there are tons of little visual effects happening as you move blocks or blow them up, to have little fanfares play when you do combos, to have the pitch of the block breaking sound increase with each new explosion in a long combo, the enemies reaction on-screen, etc. I also like when they do that in menus. Compare TMNT Smash-Up to the new Prince of Persia game. Both games are made by Ubisoft, but doesn't PoP feel more like good work from the devs as soon as you start the game? The menu navigation is sublime and inspired. Smash-Up's menus look like the most basic thing you could shit from Photoshop.

    Hockey Johnson is right, too. I love when games have enough freedom in their gameplay and mechanics to allow unexpected actions/events/twists, or effects that weren't predictable but happened because of a physics engine. In Wii Sports Resorts, as we were playing Disc Golf, I once threw the disc with way too much spin to the right rather than forward to the green, so the disc hit a tree but since it was still completely horizontal, it bounced a made a second arc, making it glide towards the green and onto it. It was glorious.

    Djiem on
  • GanluanGanluan Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    In-game achievement trackers.

    Ganluan on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Arkan wrote: »
    Destructible or modifiable terrain. Not even Red Faction levels of tomfoolery; even something like Dungeon Keeper is awesome because I can plan not even my base but the very terrain and definition of space in my base and how enemies approach it.

    I would buy Dungeon Keeper 3 so hard that the money would form into a fist and punch Peter Molyneux in the face.
    I'm not really an open world guy, but this aspect of The Saboteur was what hooked me. I just wandered around Paris blowing up Nazis, and the next time I came back, they weren't there. It felt pretty awesome.

    OptimusZed on
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  • ArkanArkan Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Also there's a thing in Civ 4 I really like: At the start of the game, the minimap is scaled such that the area you can see takes up practically all of it, which makes the map look tiny. As you explore the minimap scale changes so that the area you've explored always fits in it perfectly until eventually you explore enough that the thing matches the true scale of the world you're in.

    If there was a mod for civ 4 that made it just generate new world tiles so there was always more world to explore and the map was essentially infinite in size I would play the hell out of it.

    Arkan on
    Big, honkin' pile of WoW characters
    I think it's hard for someone not to rage at mario kart, while shouting "Fuck you Donkey Kong. Whose dick did you suck to get all those red shells?"
  • DirtyDirty Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Arkan wrote: »
    Destructible or modifiable terrain.

    I would love a Red Faction/GTA mash-up so hard. I grow tired of only being able to destroy cities on other planets or in other countries.

    Ganluan wrote: »
    In-game achievement trackers.

    Being able to turn off in-game achievement tracker notifications.

    Dirty on
  • HunteraHuntera Rude Boy Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    The musical score.

    There is nothing that puts me in the mood for a game more than the music accompanying the scene.

    Huntera on
  • DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Dirty wrote: »
    Ganluan wrote: »
    In-game achievement trackers.

    Being able to turn off in-game achievement tracker notifications.

    Indeed. This kills the immersion for me. You're in the last temple of some game, about to go shoot the head off that bastard who betrayed you 4 chapters ago or whatever, and he sends his elite squad to kill you. You promptly run behind cover as dramatic music throws you in the hardest fight of the game yet. You get off from cover, kill one of the guards who was getting dangerously close to you, POOT *ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - KILLED 200 BADDIES IN NORMAL MODE*.......... what?

    Djiem on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I enjoy the tiny, obsessive details in wargames. Things like armor on combat vehicles being represented in real world standards. Things like historic battles getting a writeup in the manual or an in-game encyclopedia. It's neat to know what general was where on what day of the campaign, what the disposition of his forces were, what his perception of the situation was. It's even better when the game makes use of this too. Like SSG's game Korsun Pocket. Reading the history bits in the manual clued me in to the fact that German artillery pieces were still drawn by horse in most cases. This meant that weather would have a greater affect on movement rates. Watching for conditions like snow or mud let me know that their artillery would be vulnerable to penetrations in their lines. That shit gets me off.

    Drake on
  • AngryPuppyAngryPuppy Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    My first thought was hit indicators, the little sound effect and subtle visual cue that your shot landed home. The first game I can remember with these was Quake 3, which had a strange shrill kind of electronic noise - odd choice but it worked. Better yet is CoD4 / MW2's 'thud' noise when you land a hit. I think these probably appeal to everyone on a visceral level given that they're tied to a pretty substantial 'reward' even if the sound effect itself doesn't appeal to you.

    I was trying to think of something more personal when I hopped over to the Halo: Reach thread and then it hit me - whenever there is discussion about an upcoming game with co-op I always wish (but rarely get) to see some facts or speculation on what characters or player-models players two through four (or sixteen, ghost recon!) will play as.

    The absolute worst is when you simply play as a clone of the main character. Palatte swaps are the next step up. After this in no particular order are unique characters - whether they be integrated into the storyline or not - and customized avatars.

    Halo 2 for instance had the second player represented by a second identical master chief. This particular problem is augmented in games with more than two players, as I really like knowing who I'm looking at at a glance.

    Halo 3 had the second player play as the arbiter and even changed cutscenes and dialogue from the single player experience to explain his prescence when in the single player game he and the chief may have split up. In addition to this the third and fourth player played as a combat and assault style elite who were not present in the cutscenes but had unique appearances.

    There's been speculation that Halo: Reach will have 6 player co-op due to the number of characters in Noble squad, however there is increased armour customization and talk of the player's character spanning single player, co-op and multiplayer. As well as this I recall reading about a segment where the player was following the character Jun along a cliff - no mention of the other squad members. Due to these factors I'm beginning to think that additional players may play as their own customized spartans (and probably not be recognised by story elements). However I haven't seen any mention of this as obviously most people don't spend as much time thinking about co-op player models as I do.

    One competitive FPS that did something like this was the half-life mod 'Existence' - it was an 18 player game with 9 unique characters per team and there could only be one of each, Left 4 Dead style. I really liked that feature even when I got stuck with one of my less preferred characters. I think it has to do with being able to read who an enemy as well as a teammate is at a glance even in a game where you don't see enemy names.

    So yes I guess I do have a strange little gaming turn on.

    AngryPuppy on
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  • Joe Camacho MKIIJoe Camacho MKII Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    A game finally "clicking", let me explain:

    Like, take for example God-Hand, Ikaruga, Viewtiful Joe and the Megaman Zero Games, which you could say they have above average difficulty; the first time you try the game, there is a high chance it kicks your ass.

    And still, a couple of play sessions or playthroughs, and you are able to play/juggle/destroy everything in your way once the game "clicks" on you, you understand the gameplay now, or you figured out the controls, I don't know, but it's really nice to play a game which kicked your ass at the beginning and say "It really not that bad, hey, I could even play on a HARDER difficulty."

    Joe Camacho MKII on
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  • Theodore FlooseveltTheodore Floosevelt proud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelo dorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    AngryPuppy wrote: »
    I was trying to think of something more personal when I hopped over to the Halo: Reach thread and then it hit me - whenever there is discussion about an upcoming game with co-op I always wish (but rarely get) to see some facts or speculation on what characters or player-models players two through four (or sixteen, ghost recon!) will play as.

    The absolute worst is when you simply play as a clone of the main character. Palatte swaps are the next step up. After this in no particular order are unique characters - whether they be integrated into the storyline or not - and customized avatars.

    Yes. All of this.

    I was really disappointed with the way ODST handled the co-op, especially after Halo 3 had done right with including unique characters (though I would've loved if they had been, at the very least, introduced). The way that everybody was the same ODST rookie while dropping in was poop. If the character is just going to be a mute cipher, at least give each player their own.

    Theodore Floosevelt on
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  • PeasPeas Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Boob physics :winky:


    A good boss fight turns me on and gives me a sense of satisfaction after defeating them.

    Peas on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Counter-attacks, particularly in action games (I'm not good enough at fighting games to pull them off). Batman AA, Assassin's Creed, DMC3, there's something about getting exactly the right timing on a counter-attack that makes me giddy.

    KalTorak on
  • FerrosolFerrosol Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    A big manual is always a turn on for me. Opening up the case and finding a solid chunky manual to read. Instead you usually either get a thin little booklet with a list of the controls or even worse a note saying the manual is a pdf on the disk. Bring back manuals that weigh more than the game!

    Ferrosol on
  • GibbsGibbs Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Late 90's ugly 3D.

    Really.

    And simple, but clean 2D graphics and sprites.


    I appreciate the advancement of graphics, I love playing Ghostbusters and having the character models actually look right, but I like using my imagination to "finish" the graphics.

    Unless its First person.

    Gibbs on
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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Games that don't come off as mid-century propaganda reels.

    It's quite easy to do, really. Even Crysis, with its hilariously bad writing, manages to avoid it.

    Being able to raise and lower your landing gear in any game featuring an aircraft of some sort.

    Also, "multiple approaches" in gameplay design. Not necessarily open-world (actually, that tends to disappoint me), but affording multiple ways for a mission to be accomplished. The Hitman games are a good example of this.

    Synthesis on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Games that don't come off as mid-century propaganda reels.

    It's quite easy to do, really. Even Crysis, with its hilariously bad writing, manages to avoid it.

    I imagine Russians and Eastern Europe has less tolerance for that than the "West" does these days.

    Drake on
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Games that don't come off as mid-century propaganda reels.

    It's quite easy to do, really. Even Crysis, with its hilariously bad writing, manages to avoid it.

    Being able to raise and lower your landing gear in any game featuring an aircraft of some sort.

    Also, "multiple approaches" in gameplay design. Not necessarily open-world (actually, that tends to disappoint me), but affording multiple ways for a mission to be accomplished. The Hitman games are a good example of this.

    They are open-world, but this made me think of the most memorable missing in GTA IV for me. It's a simple run-of-the-mill "kill this dude" mission, and they lead you to the building he's in and tell you to storm it taking out his thugs along the way, but if you've been exploring the city you realize that you can climb up a nearby crane and get off a clean sniper shot ending the mission successfully, cleanly, and with (presumably) all the thugs thinking "Oh holy shit, who is after us, and how did they get the boss!?"

    jclast on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    New Game +

    Always a good feature. Its the developers saying "Thank you for playing our game, here go make that difficulty you just beat a playground. Enjoy." And I do.

    I'm kinda finicky about NG+ in games. It's good, but how good it is varies. Just about all the Metroidvania games are kinda "feh" with their NG+ modes because they've all generally been easy (Order of Ecclesia is exception to this, because of how the difficulty scaled). Games that offer the NG+ while also offering a harder difficulty are pretty great.

    As for other turn-ons / turn-offs, I'm hyper-sensitive to music in games. I know a lot of people mute the music or audio completely when they can, and that's fine by me, but in the short period I did that years ago I exhausted the attraction of all the music I owned at the time. I got sick of The Postal Service and such just because all of that stuff was eventually looping as I played WoW or whatever. So now I just stick with the music in games. I hate when soundtracks are limited and you hear certain songs over and over again for a lengthy period of time. This actually gets less frustrating as a point the further back in console tech you go. If I'm listening to the beeps and boops of Double Dragon over and over, it's fine by me because it's fuckin' beeps and boops and takes me back.

    Floaty controls piss me off. See: Super Mario Bros. (the first one / All-Stars)

    Henroid on
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Drake wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Games that don't come off as mid-century propaganda reels.

    It's quite easy to do, really. Even Crysis, with its hilariously bad writing, manages to avoid it.

    I imagine Russians and Eastern Europe has less tolerance for that than the "West" does these days.

    Maybe. Most of the guys (in fact, probably about 80%) I play Arma 2 with are Russian (or rather, speak Russian). The end result is pretty hilarious much of the time, especially when people suggest playing the pre-made missions. "Hey guys, let's go kill some Ruskie bastards!" followed by canned laughter.

    Mostly, I like games not to rely on the "These people are evilly evillly evilllll!" crutch. It's the same reason I don't, personally, watch 24.
    jclast wrote: »
    They are open-world, but this made me think of the most memorable missing in GTA IV for me. It's a simple run-of-the-mill "kill this dude" mission, and they lead you to the building he's in and tell you to storm it taking out his thugs along the way, but if you've been exploring the city you realize that you can climb up a nearby crane and get off a clean sniper shot ending the mission successfully, cleanly, and with (presumably) all the thugs thinking "Oh holy shit, who is after us, and how did they get the boss!?"

    The GTA games, for their problems, are actually pretty good examples of this, since there's almost always two ways to do kill someone: get out on foot and shoot them (usually boring) or drive over them (more eventful).

    It was less true for the most recent game, but Hitman 2 and 3 literally had three or four ways to complete each mission, if not more, from the unfairly easy to the ridiculously over-the-top and roundabout.

    Synthesis on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Since I'm playing Riviera: The Promised Land (with intent to finish it this time), I'll bring up something I realized. I really really like games where your party or team or whatever interacts with each other a bunch. And functions in the game built to appeal to one character or another are a plus. Even useless dialog brought up every now and then helps bring each character into focus, rather than a few lines at serious moments. As far as RPGs go, characters interacting and how well they interact and stay true to their personalities is way more important than whatever plot is at play.

    Also, (I apologize for using images when jailed, dear god, you have to click a couple times)
    holdontherekiddo.jpg
    isaidhangontherekiddo.jpg

    Henroid on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Drake wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Games that don't come off as mid-century propaganda reels.

    It's quite easy to do, really. Even Crysis, with its hilariously bad writing, manages to avoid it.

    I imagine Russians and Eastern Europe has less tolerance for that than the "West" does these days.

    Maybe. Most of the guys (in fact, probably about 80%) I play Arma 2 with are Russian (or rather, speak Russian). The end result is pretty hilarious much of the time, especially when people suggest playing the pre-made missions. "Hey guys, let's go kill some Ruskie bastards!" followed by canned laughter.

    Mostly, I like games not to rely on the "These people are evilly evillly evilllll!" crutch. It's the same reason I don't, personally, watch 24.

    Yeah, I'm with you on the overdone evil bit. What I was suggesting is that they are just as equally, if not more so, tired of their own propaganda from the same period. I mean, the Soviet Union had some pretty famous propaganda of their own, and I imagine their Cold War stuff was just as fear mongering as ours was. That's the whole purpose of that stuff anyway, and it always seems to follow the same course; "See these scary fuckers? Are you shitting your pants? Now watch this. Wasn't their behavior atrocious? Don't you hate them? Now KILL THEM ALL, we must protect our way of life!" I suggest that you would laugh just as hard if the Russians you play with said something like, "Lets kill some Yankee Capitalist Pig-Dogs."

    Which is another reason I prefer the grognard end of the spectrum when it comes to real world combat in games. The vast majority of them avoid moral distinctions between forces, and instead focus on the battlefield, equipment, training, morale, logistics etc. Don't force feed me shallow moralizations.

    Drake on
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