Are video games too easy? Less rewarding?

[Blacksite]

Do you think the inclusion of a cover system, regenerative health and predictable A.I. have made video games too easy? Furthermore, do you think video games are less rewarding now than they were before?

I mean, if you compare a video game like Doom 3 to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted to Need for Speed: Underground or Saints Row: The Third to Grand Theft Auto III, it seems like they've gotten easier.

[Fijiandoce]

i guess it all depends on the game.

Ghost recon advanced warfighter was quite a good game. challenging, and rewarding.
this game had a cover system, but then balanced that by having you die easily and having no mutant health recovery system.

conversely, Halo had no cover system, and you played a super soldier. so the health regen makes a little sense. it empowered the player.

COD on the other hand is as you say. not very challenging (evidenced by all the children who play it; literally) and not very rewarding. a supposedly normal human solder who survives multiple bullet shots, and has super strength enough to minimalise recoil.
it doesn't fit, it doesn't make sense.

i still play Medieval II total war, and it is ruthless. but the reward for overcoming the games challenges is extremely gratifying.

as for GTA. its kinda stayed the same. some parts have gotten easier (getting shot at etc.) whilst other parts have made use of today's tech and become more difficult (driving the cars as physics plays a major role)
GTA's reward came from the online potion where i was always chosen as our gangs air support because i owned the skies and could put my helicopter in places no one else in my crew could manage. this is, in someways, a gratifying reward as i know i am helping out whilst doing things few others could do...

[Sir_Scud]

There are definitely games out there today that are much easier than games in the past generation. I guess since games became more expensive to make with gaming becoming more popular, publishers want games to broaden its audience to appeal to more people for more sales. 1 million copies sold is no longer a huge success like it was last gen.

Especially when the new Prince of Persia game came out, it was more about the experience than the difficulty. I guess games today are made more in the mindset of people going through the content and not getting too angry. Not like the old days when games were made incredibly hard to increase length.

I don't know if they are less rewarding, though. I guess it's how you look at it. In Skyrim, I can spend hours perfecting my build and still feel it is rewarding. Can't say the same for something like Call of Duty.

Semi-recently I played through Killzone 1. The AI from 2004 was pretty bad in comparison to today. It was pretty cheap, too. If they had explosive weapons, they could hit your 10 miles away with pretty good accuracy, regardless of difficulty. You pop in Killzone 3, the enemies are much more responsive to you, don't just stand there waiting for you. They will even use flanking tactics.

Sometimes it's hard to see what today's gaming brings compared to the older days. After playing Killzone 1 I had a little more appreciation for this generation. Games do seem easier, but they have made pretty good strides in AI.

[DeviousOne]

I say they have gotten easier. Really depends on the gamer if you the type of person that doesn't have a lot of time for gaming then I don't see it as a problem but if you a dedicated gamer I can see this as a problem also would explain the rise of the trophy achievement system

[LfCpS3]

FAR CRY 3 is the biggest example IMO, that game has been made sooooo easy its ridiculous and one of the reasons i dislike it. From glowing plants, see through ai/animals, indicators, hard moe being easier than normal on other games, no recoil/ bullet spread/ bullet drop, simple mechanics, getting guns free etc...

Only tough thing was the tigers, which became easy once you get the 2nd set of free guns.

Especially considering what FAR CRY 2 was like.

On average it does look like games have gotten easier.

[radgamer420]

I say they have gotten easier. Really depends on the gamer if you the type of person that doesn't have a lot of time for gaming then I don't see it as a problem but if you a dedicated gamer I can see this as a problem also would explain the rise of the trophy achievement system

I'm a dedicated gamer and I dont see this as a problem. You want more difficulty? Play it on the hardest setting. More difficulty doesn't make a good game.

[DeviousOne]

I'm a dedicated gamer and I dont see this as a problem. You want more difficulty? Play it on the hardest setting. More difficulty doesn't make a good game.

Absolutely I'm speaking in generalities however everyone is different for sure

[Yuuichi]

I never agreed with regin health and auto aim in online games. Having a medic role to regen is ok. Far as "hard modes" the hard modes are such bullshit in most games. They cheap hard modes. Oh bad guys do more damage your moves take up more whatever. How about throwing in hard modes where bosses have new moves or ai is smarter. Some games have this in their hard modes but not enough.

[ElieKatzQueer]

Regen health makes things way too easy, IMHO.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

I don't always want a hard video game. I want to sit down after a hard days work and become someone else to explore their world. I want to relax and experience someone else's badassness. I don't want to be getting frustrated and angry because of difficulty. If I want that challenge I'll turn up the difficulty. I don't think these aspects (bar health regen) make a game inherently easy, and they were kind of necessary to help games become an acceptable (and RELAXING) form of entertainment.

[podsaurus]

Regen health makes things way too easy, IMHO.

Agree with that 100%. Believe it or not but the original CoD has a health bar and health packs you have to find or you would be screwed. That is the biggest problem with games today. It allows people to jump into the fray, take damage, crouch behind a box and then soak in damage again until they kill/destroy whatever they are attacking.

AI could always be improved but in the PS2 days from what I remember there were hardly any games that had regen health. I just turn up the difficulty it I want a challenge. ME3 on hard was indeed challenging despite regen health and a cover system. In particular the very last battle you had to fight my palms were sweating and I had to pause the game to relax for a minute. It was tough but very satisfying in the end.

[PeanutButterMunky]

Maybe the games are the same, but we're just so awesome at games now they just SEEM easy.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Maybe the games are the same, but we're just so awesome at games now they just SEEM easy.

I think this is a fair point, even if you were joking. Games sure as heck aren't easy for some of my mates who don't play so often.

[PeanutButterMunky]

I was partially joking. ;P

[keefy]

Do you think the inclusion of a cover system, regenerative health and predictable A.I. have made video games too easy? Furthermore, do you think video games are less rewarding now than they were before?

I mean, if you compare a video game like Doom 3 to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted to Need for Speed: Underground or Saints Row: The Third to Grand Theft Auto III, it seems like they've gotten easier.

Doom 3 uses a newer engine as its base than BlOps 2.

Even the toughest AI is predicatable in video games, they rarely adapt to th situation they are in
AI in COD, Quake and counter strike games is just how much they turn the aimbot up.

Anyone Ever play Goldeneye in 007 mode? Its possible to tweak the enemy reaction times and aimbots damages dealt and received and more.

FAR CRY 3 is the biggest example IMO, that game has been made sooooo easy its ridiculous and one of the reasons i dislike it. From glowing plants, see through ai/animals, indicators, hard moe being easier than normal on other games, no recoil/ bullet spread/ bullet drop, simple mechanics, getting guns free etc...

Only tough thing was the tigers, which became easy once you get the 2nd set of free guns.

Especially considering what FAR CRY 2 was like.

On average it does look like games have gotten easier.

Bulletdrop doesnt automatically make a game harder. If somone plays close qaurters bullet drop is negligable. Bullet drop only comes into play for long distances.
Bullet drop doesn't affect all situations all the time. It adds realism moe than it makes the difficulty increase.

[Kuro]

Too easy? No.
Less rewarding? Yes.

[$Greatness$]

Absolutely they've gotten easier. God forbid people get challenged. Just look at what RE, Smackdown and COD have become? The pathetic and weak were allowed an opinion so now I get "In-game manuals" and tutorials. And deathstreaks....

Deathstreaks

Fuck you, Broader Audience

[DreDayDetox]

They certainly have become increasingly easy. Although this is biased because I always play my games on the easiest mode first, unless there's no trophy for completing on easy, like Hitman: Absolution for example.

I like the auto-health thing, I still want that around, however I do hate that every game tries to be reaslistic with the weapons. I want to be able to have every weapon I find in the level be kept on my roster list. I want to use every weapon on that level. I do not want to swap an assualt rifle for a sniper rifle, I want both. Why can't fucking develops stick to that? It's only RPG games that let you have so many weapons and items because of the virtual "backpack". I want every single fps game that takes place in a sci-fi or extremely fictional setting, that doesn't involve a war in the real world, to do that.

Also, games are easy. We get hints all the time. Look at Ocarina of Time. The hints there were from going around the entire map and talking to people. Not randomly showing up on-screen every few minutes. I couldn't Ocarina of Time until last year, and I cheated by using a guide from ZeldaDungoen where I was stuck. The Water Temple could have easily been beaten within two hours less if I had just remembered to use a fire arrow to get that one last skull key. And I love exploring every nook and cranny of every area in a game, so the Water Temple in retrospect is not as hard if you are a natural explorer.

But games these days make it easy. The only noticeable examples of a good and hard game are GT5, Hitman: Absolution, Borderlands Series, Fallout Series, and apparently Demon's Souls which makes you want to throw the controller at the TV, according to some people. Basically, RPG's are hard, and everything else is easy, if we're generalizing.

[LfCpS3]

Doom 3 uses a newer engine as its base than BlOps 2.

Even the toughest AI is predicatable in video games, they rarely adapt to th situation they are in
AI in COD, Quake and counter strike games is just how much they turn the aimbot up.

Anyone Ever play Goldeneye in 007 mode? Its possible to tweak the enemy reaction times and aimbots damages dealt and received and more.




Bulletdrop doesnt automatically make a game harder. If somone plays close qaurters bullet drop is negligable. Bullet drop only comes into play for long distances.
Bullet drop doesn't affect all situations all the time. It adds realism moe than it makes the difficulty increase.

When i mentioned bullet drop i was talking about far cry 3, that is open world and i am sure many snipe in game.
I know for most games now a days, close quarters (which i dislike, what happened to the good old open games were we could do WHAT we want) it wont have an effect.

Plus more realism could mean a tougher game, it would require you as a gamer to learn how to do that specific thing, practice and try to improve yourself, that can be seen as a challenge, especially if you are the type of gamer who plays COD and used to simple mechanics in game.

Realism adds in a learning curve into games and that challenges you.

Obviously there are MANY ways to make a game harder without realistic elements, but this is one of the ways to make certain type of games harder.

[*goo]

Yes, in the name of 'accessibility' aka 'selling more units'.

I find myself gravitating back towards the PC in a big way nowadays, looking for more complex/difficult games such as RTS/Strategy etc.

[Blacksite]

Just to clarify, I don't think the cover mechanics and regenerative health are necessarily bad. I was using them as examples. I prefer being able to take cover since it's something any sane person would do in real-life.

Still, I think it's important that gamers find their video games challenging.

[imINxile]

To be honest yeah I think games are easier but not less rewarding. Lately I judge a game based on replay value so despite its difficulty I find plenty of games worth the time granted they give me gameplay I come back to.

[Equinoqs]

Yes.

"Demon's Souls" is still the only hard-but-fair game I've played on my PS3. Everything else seems to be happy being easy/dumbed-down, or being hard by raising damage/enemy health instead of making a smarter opponent or more clever situation. This dovetails nicely with the article about the end of PS2 shipments, since the PS2 was the apex of videogaming in my view. Games were more polished than the PS1 could manage, and more willing to be riskily-original than PS3/Xbox (and not patronizing like the Wii).

[DarkVincent07]

I think its fairly obvious that they have. It doesn't really worry me though because I play games for the experience of the world/story and gameplay. Not to be challenged

[Foraeli]

It's harder than you think to make great AI. It's like teaching a robot to walk but in a virtual world. As long as the gameplay mechanics are great and the challenges are great, I don't care about how smart the artifical intelligence is. Last Story, BlazBlue, Resonance of Fate, and Devil May Cry 4 are all testiment of games with dumb AI but a great and challenging gameplay experience.