Cheats - Due for a comeback?

[DannyFree]

Back before online play, the ps2 was full of cheat modes, wasn't it? And not just ones that completely broke the game in terms of lifespan, or gave you the upper hand over your friends.

There were big head cheats, silly vehicle cheats, environment change cheats, enemies could fight you with toy aeroplanes instead of guns, the list goes on.

I think what really killed off cheats is that in the growing need for realism in games, we also developed a need for immersion and identification with a character rather than the "puppet-master" mentality of previous games. Cheats like the above would serve only to throw players out of an experience, or turn the heavy message into one of parody.

Nowadays, online play has been the last nail in the coffin, with cheats simply becoming hacks, where the only motive is to get the upper hand.

But can they come back? Once realism plateaus, will it be profitable to make games again where playing the puppet-master to a colourful cartoon character sells better than the avatar protagonist?

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I doubt it. But I will always remember them fondly. Cheats in Twisted Metal 2 with friends is some of the best fun I've ever had.

 

[wooty]

Cheats do still exist in some form, at least in the GTA world as far as I know. And they always exist on the PC through the use of trainers.

But it would be pointless to allow cheats in modern games, seeing as most are shooters anyway, and it would be ridiculous to make them any easier than they already are.

 

[DannyFree]

As far as the PC is concerned they certainly seemed to have migrated to the realm of player mods and the like. I'm not a large contributor in that area, but I remember reading something about the TF2 hats a while back.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I think Trophies/Achievements are probably something to do with them being killed off.

Most people want to get all they can from a game (Even if they don't admit it lol) and since Cheats disable trophies allot of the time, Developers leave them out.

 

[brumley53]

Duke Nukem Forever should have cheats, there's no reason it shouldn't would hardly break immersion or realism. also I think cheats died when online multiplayer became bigger, because you couldn't use the fun cheats like big head mode or anything like that in online play.

 

[iLikeHippos]

Heh, yeah... I remember cheats. I had to laugh in Diablo II when some Amazon thought it would be a good idea to modify the attack speed on their bow & arrows.
Turns out it was! Ever seen someone use Bow & Arrows as an uzi? Ate arrows like nobodies business, but shit that was a laugh!

I was also playing in a WoW server when a hunter with a rifle had, again, modified the attack and reload speed; RATATATATATATATATATATATATATAATATA!!! You can't be angry when you see a tauren being mowed down by a dwarf hunter. Or even a gnome.

I hope cheats will be able to do in Diablo III. FUCK YEAH FOR MACHINE GUNS IN MEDIEVAL SETTINGS!!

 

[MarcFirewing]

It's most likely because of trophies and achievements. Or developers started feeling there was no need for them. But it's true, they were fun as hell and need to be brought back. Hopefully Duke Nukem Forever'll bring them back and that'll cause every other developer to do the same thing xD

 

[kasperbbs]

I remember buying cd's (i think they were called 'game guru') for PSone in order to learn cheat codes for various games, but after i migrated to pc the only games i would want to cheat on were grand theft auto series, because those cheats were actually fun and didn't break the gameplay, other games mostly had god modes and unlimited ammo instead of jetpacks and wacky vehicles.

 

[DRSH1989]

I don't remember ever playing a game that had no cheats... lol. It's cool to be immersed and I'm all for it, but at some point you just want to dickabout and do stuff the funny way... so dunno where you got the "comeback" from. There were always there & they never left . You're probably refering to consoles or something... I guess.

 

[EdwardOrchard]

I used to use cheats so much when I was younger. Looking back on it, why did I even bother playing the games if I only ran through them with God mode. Kind of embarrassing really. The worst part is, I have some of these cheats permanently imprinted in my brain... 'IDKFA' anyone?

 

[DannyFree]

It probably is central to consoles at the moment. I know PC games have a great modding community - I've seen some of the Overhaul mods for Oblivion and it's astounding the amount of work they've put in.

For me the fun parts were more in the funny ones. In Ratchet and Clank 3 there was a minigame wherein you could enter the infamous Sonic cheat and have the character play in a tutu.

 

[WalrusPowers]

I bought the recent Bethesda Fallout games for PC specifically for the purpose of using the in game developer console. It adds a huge amount of depth to the game, even more than the DLCs did. You were able to modify your characters skills and levels, so I brought out the ol' D&D dice and wrote myself some different wasteland themed random occurrences. Every hour, I would roll the dice to determine which occurrence to throw my character into. This would modify his skills or deal him damage or something. It really added a lot of depth to the games and I was able to play them both for months before getting bored.