Challenge.

So this will sound a bit like i've got my head firmly planted up my ass, but a lot of games these days don't present a lot of challenges to someone who has spent a lot of time playing videogames. By that, i mean anyone who grew up with them and/or always picks the hardest difficulty as a reflex. I fall into both of those categories i suppose. (Rest assured, i get sunlight exposure on a daily basis and shower regularly).

I remember the days of Contra. Where almost nobody finished the game without the lives cheat. Because it was so damn hard. Games being hard by default with no difficulty setting was commonplace for some time. Many of the old 2D side scrollers were nearly impossible to beat. Those days are long over.

You've got three categories of videogame these days.

1: The regenerative health game. Cower like a chicken for 10 seconds and you are magically healed. These games have become extremely common, almost nauseatingly so. They make games easier to design. Doesn't matter if the enemies hit hard - if they don't move or don't rush your position you can just chip them down. Especially if they don't have a regenerative ability (and most don't). Most FPS/TPS games fall into this category nowadays. You have Halo 1 to thank for making it popular. These games are easy to beat. Making a mistake can be rectified by a large, solid object and a sip of coffee.

2: The standard health bar/system style games. Generally things like Dragon Age or just about any RPG, Batman Arkham Asylum, Killing Floor, Deus Ex, left 4 Dead, etc. These games can kick your ass if you're not careful, but generally offer a pretty good challenge overall. You learn not to just run out in the open, but at the same time you're not forced to spend your entire time hiding in a corner.

3: Nightmare mode. Also known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mode. Also applies to games like Operation Flashpoint and ARMA. If you are getting shot at, you better cross your fingers and keep your head down. Oftentimes, one bullet in the wrong place and you drop like a sack of bricks. A lot of people don't like these games. I vary with them. STALKER was a nice game, and certainly kept me on my toes. ARMA annoyed me with the clunky controls.

This all comes into my mind as i play through Dark Void, a game i have been eyeing for some time, and got fairly average reviews across the board from many places. It was on sale for less than half the price of a newer game, so i picked it up. A quick recap of what the game does, and what annoys me about games these days.

1: regenerative health - check.
2: instant kill melee attacks - (mostly) check.
3: shitty arbitrary upgrade system - check.
4: escort missions - check.
5: "hardcore" difficulty is a cakewalk - double check.

One of the fun features of the game (besides the jetpack) is the abilit to fight through cover based combat vertically. Either using your jetpack to keep you on the underside of a platform, or standing on top of a platform, leaning over to shoot down at the ones below, who are gripping the underside of the platforms below you.

It adds a nice touch, but sadly there's a critical flaw. Melee attacks in vertical combat are instant kills. Always. Also, when moving from cover to cover (up or down, not sideways) the enemies basically never hit you. Meaning, you can simply bum-rush them and instant kill them with melee attacks. Most of the time, i don't fire a shot during these sequences.

The upgrade system is unneccesary and a total joke. There's 6 guns and your jetpack. fuly upgrading the basic assault rifle makes it completely annihilate basic enemies. Half the time i'm not even using the cover based mechanic. It's much easier to kick in the jetpack, hover across to them while shooting, land and punch them in the face. It's fun, but not challenging at all. But that's the problem with the entire game - it's just not challenging. And sadly there's no epic storyline to carry the game. It's not a -bad- storyline, it's just nothing new.

That's the problem with games today. Most of them follow the same formula, with little variance or deviation. You do get some excellent games out of it, and they often have a distinct feature. (The terraforming gun in Fracture, the cutting weapons in Dead Space, Jetpack in Dark Void, Prettymuch the entirety of Mass Effect 1. The combat systems in just about every JRPG released recently).. But at the end of the day, game developers fall into the same routine. Regenerative health, a simplified arbitrary upgrade system. Some kind of collectible journal or documents, dog tags, whatever. Space marines, or aliens that enslave or enslaved humanity. A mythical creature being brought back by an evil person/king/space pony.

But not everyone sees it the way i do. I know plenty of people that pick easy when they play a game. That play it to unwind, or blow shit up. They don't play it for a challenge. That's fine. I'm not saying i'm a better person than these people. We just have different ideas of how a game is best played. And that's fine.

Now if you'll excuse me while i nerd out, i'm going to go play Pokemon Soul Silver.