On RPG Elements

[mollemannen]

Frankly what makes me going over a good game is the customizations. If this means i have to earn money or experience or off-bitten toenails to purchase a nightvision ACOG thingy for my new baby; m4a1 with extended barrel and suppressor then no problem ^^.

Wolfenstein made the mistake of having to few upgrades and what i mean by this is that when i was finished upgrading the kar 98, mp43 and flamethrower i had all the weapons i desired and thus not needing anything else. And since my guns couldn't get any better there wasn't really any meaning in progressing.

Point being i rather have billion small parts that virtually does nothing on changing the stats on my guns than just a silencer, extended mag, scope, thingy-that-makes-the-bullet-go-faster-thus-making-the-gun-do-more-damage.

p.s. Stoked for bordelands ^^

 

[Fuhjem]

God, I hope Kathleen from The Escapist News doesn't read that last paragraph. (She's afraid of bears)

 

[nomzod]

That has barely any RPG elements nowadays, due to the fact that it doesn't need them.

All it ever really had was Upgradeable weapons, but considering that that's almost 90% of Yahtzee's gripe, I think the point is more than valid

 

[Ridonculous_Ninja]

OH MY GOD A BEAR!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...

Oh come one! You know someone had to say it. And probably already ahs in the 3 pages I haven't bothered to read yet because this is just about all I really awnted to type up.

OT: I agree with just about all of that. A level up for weapons in FPS games should eitehr be for skills, maneuvers, or specialty parts that aren't required to beat the game.

Your character should have competency with all the weapons that make sense. (i.e. your a sharpshooter, but your sniper skill has no points in it. wtf?) At least make lvl 1 on a skill a reasonable handicap instead of a reticule the size of half the screen for a pistol.

 

[nomzod]

Some RPG elements in shooters fit. Like in Ratchet and Clank

I really have to agree with you here. However Ratchet isn't your typical shooter.

But there's no reason that the weapon dynamic it uses couldn't be used elsewere. Why no modable guns, with mods that you purchase? It's an RPG element that turns you plasma cannon into a plasma cannon with poison.

Or, more effectivley, it's a mod wich allows you to either see through walls, or see in the dark, but you can only equip one.

 

[Megacherv]

That has barely any RPG elements nowadays, due to the fact that it doesn't need them.

All it ever really had was Upgradeable weapons, but considering that that's almost 90% of Yahtzee's gripe, I think the point is more than valid

He's more on about pay-to-upgrade weapons. Sure there are those aswell, but they didn't do much at a point than the gradual upgrades.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

You know, that was really annoying in RE4.

I like customization. If it comes out badly, methinks that's because it was so shit everywhere else and they tried RPG elements to cover it up.

Oh and you don't have to tell me twice.

*runs away*

 

[timax]

Good article, this sparked a fierce debate between me and a friend about the quality of this element in games, his argument being that it should be in every shooter, to add customization, and mine was that he was well, full of it.

I won't get into the details, but I felt like my argument was proven true, and I felt vindicated, but then I thought about it for a second, and realized we both lost. :/

 

[The King of Rock and Roll]

Meh, I was never a fan of the upgrade system in any game myself. And Yahtzee, there is no bare behind me, it's just a bear wall.

 

[NickCaligo42]

RPG elements work wonderfully where they fit and terribly where they don't fit. Bottom line, should-be-obvious fact of life that developers and businessmen often ignore out of sheer superficiality and stupidity. Key rule: don't start people off TERRIBLE and then slowly build them up to the point where playing the game is actually comfortable. Case in point: Sonic and the Secret Rings, where you have wait until halfway through the friggin' game to upgrade to the point where the controls are actually responsive.

Worst. Upgrade. Ever.

 

[Deleted]

Leveling up transportation systems is so stupid in my opinion. I don't care if I can warp faster I wanna enjoy the ride. Gees kids these days don't know a good trip around the map.

 

[MR T3D]

customization is nice in almost any game, RPG elements, however, not so much.
there is a world of diffence between the two.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

I belong to an extremist philosophy that believes that the level up system should be kept out of video games period.

Experience points and stats are something that came out of Pen and Paper RPGs. Since everything was imaginary there was no other way to give elements of danger and variables that happen with those games.

But in the video game, we can simulate everything, regardless of the level up system. We increase our stats as the player gets adjusted to the game through the real experience of playing it! After carefully aiming a shaky sniper rifle to strike a target in the head, why would the bleeding target fly backwards bleed and show a zero over his head to denote a miss? It doesn't make a shred of sense.

I understand the game designer desire to reward the player and not overpower the player character from the beginning. Under powering Batman in Arkham Asylum definitely made the game more challenging. It still doesn't make sense. Although it is one of my favorite games of the year, the developers couldn't seem to make up their minds on how the game worked. In some parts of the game items are unlocked through picking them up in sections of the story. In others you simply unlock them through experience points.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came up with an innovative method of handling player character progression. Every single action would eventually add up to their physical look and power. Run around, swim, and ride a bike a lot and Carl Johnson becomes slimmer and faster. Drive everywhere, eat a lot of fast food and sitting alot makes him grow fatter. Exercising makes hand to hand combat easier, and fighting regularly in general makes it better. Instead of assigning a stat through experience as a whole, the game took into account every individual action and assigned it to the appropriate place.

 

[MikeBBetts]

Great article. You're right.

 

[The_Amaster]

RPG style upgrades and customizations work in games where you can approach a situation and handle it different ways.
i.e, you could snipe those guys off, or you could go in guns ablazing, or you could lay land-mines, or some other method. but it seems like in games like Call of Duty you don't choose to do those things. Instead, you have "the stealth section" or "that one part where you have to be a sniper"

Despite not having really any leveling elements, one of the best shooters with RPG elements is Team Fortress 2, precisely because you can play it exactly how you want.

 

[Jsnoopy]

I don't know, the RPG element worked quite well in CoD4's online multipl- Oh wait, you didn't bother with that did you? Tsk Tsk

 

[mollemannen]

customization is nice in almost any game, RPG elements, however, not so much.
there is a world of diffence between the two.

not really a big differens. unlocking parts for a gun is customization. earning money to unlock parts for a gun is rpg element. i think thats what he meant with the re4 part.

 

[protogenxl]

"Resident Evil 4 pulled a very mean dick move - after spending the first chapter blowing sackfuls of zombie farmers' stolen pocket money on upgrades for the shotgun, rifle and pistol, suddenly the merchant remembers he has some better models you can trade in for, which have to be upgraded from scratch. So you either write off the upgrades as a loss or stick stubbornly to the inferior models, and then who's the Luddite?"

This dick move has been around for quite some time. My favorite old school example is Rock and Roll Racing for the SNES. At first you can only afford the Pickup Truck you save a bunch of money and buy the car. that holds you for like two planets until you hit the swamp planet that has a Tyco Fast-Traxx thing that has Rockets and Land Mines that will cover most of the track. That is the best vehical in the game until you hit the snow and inferno levels where there is a God-Damn hovercraft that can turn on a dime, has Best acceleration, And to top it off the primary weapon is a HEAT-SEEKING ORB BEAM!!!!!!!!!