Poll: HUDs On Screen

[MeatMachine]

Depends on the game, really.

In a relatively slow-paced single-player game, all I really want to know is how much health and ammo I have.
In a more action-oriented sandbox game, I'd like the inclusion of a minimap, status bars, alerts, etc.
In a ball-of-fury, highly competitive and/or cooperative game, I want every fucking variable on display.

Take for example Payday 2, a game I love. The default HUD is pretty cluttered with tons of information, but I use a mod called "hoxhud" which actually makes it even more cluttered and gives you more information. To me always knowing exactly what's going on and what people on my team are doing is way more important than pretending my character is a real person.

Payday 2 is a perfect example of the last catagory.

 

[DirgeNovak]

Heavily depends on the game, but in general, yes. HUDs generally give us important information, and it would be a hassle to have to go to a separate screen to get, such as health, a map, ammo in shooters, quickbars in RPGs, etc.

I generally agree with MeatMachine. It depends on the game's pace.

Silent Hill 1-3 don't need a HUD at all. The only important stat you have is health, and the game tells it to you through controller vibration. Not having HUD increases the immersion.

OP's example of Far Cry 3 looks bad to me, because the minimap is important in that game. Having to pause to check the map to make sure I'm going the right way all the time would be annoying. Removing the HUD would actually decrease the immersion.

And I could not imagine playing Final Fantasy XIV without every element of the HUD on screen. In this case, the more stuff the better.