Poll: Favourite Health System

[solemnwar]

I liked Issac clarks "rig' systm

EDIT; the worst ones are when everything goes grey....

I liked it too. I think they mentioned somewhere that they wanted as little of an HUD as possible and that's why they had it that way? Was a pretty cool idea.

... there are games when everything goes grey? Which are these? I know there are a few where it goes grey/sepia/something AFTER you've died... probably to taunt you... 8[

 

[Vault101]

I liked Issac clarks "rig' systm

EDIT; the worst ones are when everything goes grey....

I liked it too. I think they mentioned somewhere that they wanted as little of an HUD as possible and that's why they had it that way? Was a pretty cool idea.

... there are games when everything goes grey? Which are these? I know there are a few where it goes grey/sepia/something AFTER you've died... probably to taunt you... 8[

yeah, and if you think about it there is literally no HUD

alsot of games do some kind of "interfce screw" when your low on health

Uncharted and Infamous things go completly black and white when you really low..I think they even dull the sound which DOES NOT HELP GUYS

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

I liked Mass Effect 3's system, although carrying around 8 medi gels made it a little too easy at times. Still, when I decided to limit my use of Medi Gel, it got pretty intense

 

[SoranMBane]

I like the individually-regenerating sections system in Resistance. You'll never be caught in a situation where you're forced to fight a large group of mooks with next to no health, but you also still have some incentive to explore for something other than ammo and the consequences of each fight can still carry on to the next; it's the best of both worlds.

Otherwise, I like having a straight health bar/counter that doesn't regenerate at all, but where the game allows you to carry health items with you. It's especially cool if the game has a tight inventory system that often forces you to choose whether you want to carry either more health items or more ammo, like in Dead Space and Resident Evil 4.

 

[Murmillos]

I'm voting for the Far Cry 2 (and also used by ME3) health system.

As for FC2, I do wish that they tied the malaria into the health system rather than the throbbing green vision.
The longer you left not treating the malaria you would lose health bars, going from 5 to 4 to 3. If you kept at it, you would stay at 5 bars - or maybe even being able to get 6 bars of life.

 

[Piorn]

Despite the standard life bar, I liked how you had to treat certain wounds directly in MGS3 to fully recover, and the stamina was cool too.

And, even though I seem to be the only one, I liked the health system from PoP(2007). Some people said it made you immortal and eliminated all challenge, but "failing" restores the enemies health, which basically cuts the middleman of the game over screen.

Game Over screens are a terrible designchoice in itself. Incorporate player death into gameplay, e.g.Super Meat Boy, Dark Souls, PoP, Instead of punishing the player with a waste of time. We don't use coins to play any more, some devs haven't noticed yet.

 

[Crises^]

I like the realistic health system like rainbow six, operations flashpoint and Arma.

 

[Absimilliard]

It really depends on the games, but I almost always prefer a health bar, and I've never been a fan of full regeneration. In general, my preferred one would maybe be something à la Just Cause 2 or later Assassin's Creed-games, where you regain some, but need a medkit to get to full health.

Despite the standard life bar, I liked how you had to treat certain wounds directly in MGS3 to fully recover, and the stamina was cool too.

Very true, I loved that feature of the game. But I don't think that would work in all games.

 

[thespyisdead]

i like the number health option... the way unreal tournament did it

 

[BENZOOKA]

Numbered and no restoration. But why the hell isn't Counter-Strike as an example.

And this is kind of pointless, comparing the health systems of everything from Super Mario to Battlefield. Different systems suit different games better, that should go without saying.

Staying with FPS', Battlefield 3 has a decent system too, with only one class having restoring medkits and that being the only way to gain health.

 

[Starik20X6]

Regenerating health just feels a little 'hand-holding' to me. Getting shot/stabbed/punched used to be something you tried your damnedest to avoid, and it encouraged you to get better at the game to make sure you didn't get shot/stabbed/punched next time. And I like to be able to see how much I have left in me. A lot easier to judge if I can make it through to the next room when I can see if doing so will kill me or not.

EDIT:

I liked Issac clarks "rig' systm

Spoiler: The RIG has some questionable design decisions...

 

[Whateveralot]

A strange game to mention here, but Medal of Honour: Airborne nailed a great health system.

You receive 4 blocks of health at best. Each block regenerates on its own, but when it's fully lost, only a health kit could give you back one.

At higher difficulties, it causes you to plan every assault you make. Everything needs good preperation (full health), so exploring is vital, to find health packs so you can enter with full health. Eventually, this also means you have to retreat. Retreating in FPS games you say? Yes. It happens.

 

[Dandark]

I usaully enjoy the partly regenerating health that I think is in Resistance. I mean the one where it regenerates up to a certain point but you need a medkit to heal more. So catching a stray bullet isn't too bad but you can't just regen everything by ducking behind cover. I enjoy fully numbered if done well in singleplayer too though.

 

[Jandau]

I voted other simply because there was no "All of them" option.

Health systems are a game mechanic and like any game mechanic they need to fit the game. Not every game would work as well with the same setup. At the most basic level, regenerating health allows the developer to make a fragile protagonist - one who dies from a few shots. Traditional health systems require the player to be somewhat robust so to allow a margin of error. On the other hand, traditional health can add an element of resource management to the game, balancing when to use a health pack, when to backtrack to find first aid kits, etc.

I'm not against regenerating health. I do agree that it's a bit overused and is being shoehorned into games that don't benefit form it, but I don't outright hate it.

Personally, I enjoy a mixed approach, with a bar of fixed health and a bar of regenerating health, with health packs for the fixed health being rare or even non-existant.

 

[DSK-]

Health packs. I remember playing the FPS's of old and I remember how intense it felt to be playing with low health, downing an enemy an a small health pack would spawn off of him in order for you to continue on.

Whereas nowadays you can just hide behind the corner like an asshole and your health will regenerate.

However the health packs are primarily from PC-era FPS games. As I keep mentioning a great deal, the control scheme of consoles doesn't really allow for the same actions as a PC control scheme most of the time, so regenerating health is a great compromise.

 

[Terminate421]

The Halo: Reach method,

See that bar on the top? Only the top bar regenerates, after that, it's just your health which does not recharge. So for haters who say Halo is just another shooter with recharging health, think again.

All other health sits oddly with me depending on the game, Half-life's wasn't good for me because what kind of boss conveniently leaves health packs lying around? Also, stray bullets can be forgiven when it comes to one's health.

 

[skywolfblue]

I liked Issac clarks "rig' systm

I'll second that as well.

I also like Halo 1/Reach & Mass Effect 3's "half health, half shields" method.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I'm going with TF2. Health bars with no negative effects in having high or low health, with a number system, that can be regenerated.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i think different games work better with different systems, however my favorite is halo reach, where the shield regenerated but the health portion didn't, so you'd have to go find health packs if you wanted to refill your health.

otherwise your just going to be camping the health pack spawns online with no restoration, and with the shield restoration you actually have a chance if you don't see the other person first, especially in long winded fights if someone is trying to melee you or such (i've had a couple 1 v 1's at the end of a match last a solid minute or two with the shield recharge helping in the strategic part of it.)

 

[saintdane05]

I enjoy the one from MGS. You could restore to a certain point (About 1/8 of your total health) but needed rations in order to fully gain back health.