Poll: Mandatory Vehicle Sections, WHY!?

[wooty]

Noticed to a large degree that most of the new releases and big titles have now included mandatory vehicle sections in them. You all know them, annoying sequences in missions where all movement is resticted, you are usually handed the worst weapon in the world and asked to wade into a torrent of enemies with the accuracy of Lee Harvey Oswald

Most add nothing to the game but are described as "pulse pounding", oh they definately get the heart going alright, but for me its usually only because im expending energy punching the sofa with rage. Ok yes, they may add a bit of variety to the gameplay, but personally I can do without variety without the expense of my hard disk burning out while loading up checkpoints every minute.

(rest of the thread may contain spoliers for following games MW2, GOW2, MGS4)

This all came to light last night while playing Mewtwo on veteran, all I wanted to do was drive towards Nikolai's plane!!! But according to the enemies in game, thats a bad thing to do, 20 minutes to clear a 60 second section of the game, not that im that crap at playing it, just couldnt do anything.

Other culprits that have pissed me off over the years, MGS4 especially the bike chase through Prague and trying to fight Megal Gear Ray in something with the balance and agility of John Goodman. Gears of War 2 also had a fair few vehicle sections, such as near the start on the Derrick was hell in a handbasket, especially on harder settings.

Am I the only one who finds these vehicle sections annoying or are there other poor souls out there, if there are more, then what are your nightmare vehicle sections?

 

[Blackadder51]

I hated RFOM1 tank section, god that was bad and they generally suck

 

[Cherry Cola]

At least Uncharted 2 didn't include them this time, which was a huge plus.

Why did Modern Warfare 2 need to have them?

 

[Woodsey]

That's like asking "why do we have to have mandatory on foot sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory climbing sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory shooting sections?" .

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Cherry Cola]

That's like asking "why do we have to have mandatory on foot sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory climbing sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory shooting sections?" .

Rinse and repeat.

No it's not. Vehicle sections usually come uncalled for and aren't a part of the genre. For example, MW2 is a first person shooter and yet it has several driving sections, and all of them are bad IMO. "Mandatory shooting sections" as you say are not as uncalled for since you are playing a game where you are expected to shoot things. In games like Uncharted 2 platforming is expected and so mandatory climbing isn't completely random. Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

 

[Cherry Cola]

At least Uncharted 2 didn't include them this time, which was a huge plus.

Why did Modern Warfare 2 need to have them?

Because MW2 did it in a way in which you are pilot and gunner.
After replaying Sly 1 I cant help but wonder
What where they thinking? The only way to get ahead of them was by getting nitro boosts, which they steal and dont even use.
Thank fuck there is only 2 of them.

Making you driver and gunner at the same time only made it worse IMO.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I hated the chariot race in Prince of Persia. That counts right?

 

[Evil Tim]

Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

Yeah, I hate the parts in an FPS where you move an avatar with a gun around and shoot things, those parts are stupid and should be removed.

 

[Woodsey]

That's like asking "why do we have to have mandatory on foot sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory climbing sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory shooting sections?" .

Rinse and repeat.

No it's not. Vehicle sections usually come uncalled for and aren't a part of the genre. For example, MW2 is a first person shooter and yet it has several driving sections, and all of them are bad IMO. "Mandatory shooting sections" as you say are not as uncalled for since you are playing a game where you are expected to shoot things. In games like Uncharted 2 platforming is expected and so mandatory climbing isn't completely random. Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

It's called variation; genres are bleeding into each other a lot recently (especially these new RPS's like Borderlands) - differing gameplay mechanics change the pace. CoD's always had vehicle sections anyway, you should of expected it.

Besides, HL2 is a FPS and it (and Episode 2) had driving sections that were a lot of fun.

 

[Cherry Cola]

That's like asking "why do we have to have mandatory on foot sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory climbing sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory shooting sections?" .

Rinse and repeat.

No it's not. Vehicle sections usually come uncalled for and aren't a part of the genre. For example, MW2 is a first person shooter and yet it has several driving sections, and all of them are bad IMO. "Mandatory shooting sections" as you say are not as uncalled for since you are playing a game where you are expected to shoot things. In games like Uncharted 2 platforming is expected and so mandatory climbing isn't completely random. Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

It's called variation; genres are bleeding into each other a lot recently (especially these new RPS's like Borderlands) - differing gameplay mechanics change the pace. CoD's always had vehicle sections anyway, you should of expected it.

Besides, HL2 is a FPS and it (and Episode 2) had driving sections that were a lot of fun.

But that variation is often very forced nowadays. I'm not saying that all vehicle sections are bad, just that if you can't do a good vehicle section you shouldn't do it at all.

 

[Woodsey]

That's like asking "why do we have to have mandatory on foot sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory climbing sections?" or "why do we have to have mandatory shooting sections?" .

Rinse and repeat.

No it's not. Vehicle sections usually come uncalled for and aren't a part of the genre. For example, MW2 is a first person shooter and yet it has several driving sections, and all of them are bad IMO. "Mandatory shooting sections" as you say are not as uncalled for since you are playing a game where you are expected to shoot things. In games like Uncharted 2 platforming is expected and so mandatory climbing isn't completely random. Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

It's called variation; genres are bleeding into each other a lot recently (especially these new RPS's like Borderlands) - differing gameplay mechanics change the pace. CoD's always had vehicle sections anyway, you should of expected it.

Besides, HL2 is a FPS and it (and Episode 2) had driving sections that were a lot of fun.

But that variation is often very forced nowadays. I'm not saying that all vehicle sections are bad, just that if you can't do a good vehicle section you shouldn't do it at all.

Well that's a matter of opinion, because to me things aren't more forced. CoD is no more linear than it's ever been, nor is the inclusion of vehicle sections more prevalent.

 

[Cherry Cola]

At least Uncharted 2 didn't include them this time, which was a huge plus.

Why did Modern Warfare 2 need to have them?

Because MW2 did it in a way in which you are pilot and gunner.
After replaying Sly 1 I cant help but wonder
What where they thinking? The only way to get ahead of them was by getting nitro boosts, which they steal and dont even use.
Thank fuck there is only 2 of them.

Making you driver and gunner at the same time only made it worse IMO.

You must suck at driving, shooting, or both.
It was incredibly easy to kill whilst driving and alot of fun.

Just because you thought so doesn't mean that I think so, so don't insult me.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

I like it when you shoot on rails, but not driving through stupidly linear vehicle sections with a billion enemies which you must switch to the gun to shoot at too. Like Gears of War 2.

 

[Iron Mal]

It's called variation; genres are bleeding into each other a lot recently (especially these new RPS's like Borderlands) - differing gameplay mechanics change the pace. CoD's always had vehicle sections anyway, you should of expected it.

Besides, HL2 is a FPS and it (and Episode 2) had driving sections that were a lot of fun.

Some mixtures work well (such as RPG and FPS, both can blend together quite nicely) while others are doomed to failure (mixing driving and shooting for instance, both require your full attention to drive at high speed, steer clear of obstacles, aim and shoot at enemies, dodge incoming fire and keep a track of your destination while mantaining a sense of target priority, this is simply too much to ask of a player at one time).

MW2's snowmobiles had terrible handling, you couldn't really aim and pretty much everything knocked you wildly off course, HL2's driving segments were crippled by terrible steering, awkward physics and a repetitive sense of pointlessness (I know Valve try to avoid cut-scenes like the plague but there are some instances where it is simply more fun and conveinient to just 'assume they arrive there' without making the player have to do it themself, you didn't have to drive/run/fly to every area in Halo and it still made sense and was still fun).

 

[davidboring]

Rinse and repeat.

This.

Did anyone actually care enough to get worked up about this stuff before Yahtzee? I'm starting to feel like the 'cranky gamer who expects better, frankly' sterotype is getting very, very tired.

 

[Gardenia]

I for one liked the snowmobile sequence in MW2. However I agree that if you can't make a good forced vehicle section, you shouldn't include one at all.

 

[Woodsey]

It's called variation; genres are bleeding into each other a lot recently (especially these new RPS's like Borderlands) - differing gameplay mechanics change the pace. CoD's always had vehicle sections anyway, you should of expected it.

Besides, HL2 is a FPS and it (and Episode 2) had driving sections that were a lot of fun.

Some mixtures work well (such as RPG and FPS, both can blend together quite nicely) while others are doomed to failure (mixing driving and shooting for instance, both require your full attention to drive at high speed, steer clear of obstacles, aim and shoot at enemies, dodge incoming fire and keep a track of your destination while mantaining a sense of target priority, this is simply too much to ask of a player at one time).

MW2's snowmobiles had terrible handling, you couldn't really aim and pretty much everything knocked you wildly off course, HL2's driving segments were crippled by terrible steering, awkward physics and a repetitive sense of pointlessness (I know Valve try to avoid cut-scenes like the plague but there are some instances where it is simply more fun and conveinient to just 'assume they arrive there' without making the player have to do it themself, you didn't have to drive/run/fly to every area in Halo and it still made sense and was still fun).

1. Driving and shooting is easy. If your hand-eye coordination is so lacking maybe you should try slower paced games.

2. HL2 steering wasn't terrible by any means, nor can I remember anyone else saying so. The canal bit was a bit annoying to navigate, but the buggy sections were fun and so was the driving in Episode 2. Obviously that's all subective, but like I said, I can't remember many others complaining.

3. If you ever try and compare HL2 and Halo again, you will be lynched. And I will be behind it. They're not even in the same league, nor are they out to achieve the same thing.

 

[davidboring]

Vehicle sections on the other hand are not necessary to have in an FPS or the like. Just like mandatory shooting sections in Need for Speed would be stupid.

It's not really like that though is it? The vehicle sections in most FPS/action games are at least partially linked to the story. They may not be "neccessary" but they're what the developers have chosen to put into the game that they have made. It's not like putting guns in Forza or MMA in Viva Pinata or whatever else.

 

[tkioz]

For the most part they such massive donkeys really, they are tacked onto a game that wasn't build as a vehicle sim, but as something else, so they handle clunky and are just plain batshit annoying (see Mass Effect).

But it's been okay in some gam... err wait forget I was saying that I can't remember a single game with a tacked on vehicle mode I didn't hate.

 

[davidboring]

2. HL2 steering wasn't terrible by any means, nor can I remember anyone else saying so.

I beg to differ! The canal...

The canal bit was a bit annoying to navigate...

Oh, right. Ummm, yeah.