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There are a few things in games that can take you right out of playing and destroy whatever atmosphere the game you're playing had. Having an in-game character tell you to press a certain button is one. Having a character in a game acknowledge that they're in a game is another - I'm looking at you, Splinter Cell 3. But they're both minor offences compared to the bizarre situation that I recently encountered playing Hitman Blood Money. As the name suggests, you play a hitman, who is tasked with disposing of a number of unsavoury characters. One of the levels has you infiltrating a rooftop party. So how do you get to the roof? It doesn't take a genius to work out that there should be two ways up there - the elevator, and the stairs. So upon seeing that he elevator is fairly heavily guarded you might decide to take the stairs, as I did. So you wander over the door near the stairs, and enter the stairwell. So far so good. Except that the stairs are inaccessible. Have they been destroyed? Blocked off with some sort of grill? No, there's a 'yellow' no entry sign lying on the stairs. Yes, that's right - a tiny tiny sign. And this is somehow enough to make the hitman refuse to go any further. Because it's not like he'd want to break the law or anything.
This kind of thing is a fairly regularly occurence in games and it bugs the hell out of me. You've got a hero, or in this case and anti-hero, who can leap around like nobody's business, carry a whole range of guns and take a barrage of bullets before dying, and yet he can't get over a tiny obstacle? Even if you haven't played Hitman, you'll have been playing a game where you found your path blocked by a four foot crate, requiring you to take a long winding path around the obstacle. The sheer absurdity slams home the fact that you're playing a game and takes you right out of the experience that the designers have tried so hard to create. I appreciate the fact that level design requires that gamers be restricted somehow, but forcing players to circumvent some tiny obstacle is nothing short of insulting.
This kind of thing is a fairly regularly occurence in games and it bugs the hell out of me. You've got a hero, or in this case and anti-hero, who can leap around like nobody's business, carry a whole range of guns and take a barrage of bullets before dying, and yet he can't get over a tiny obstacle? Even if you haven't played Hitman, you'll have been playing a game where you found your path blocked by a four foot crate, requiring you to take a long winding path around the obstacle. The sheer absurdity slams home the fact that you're playing a game and takes you right out of the experience that the designers have tried so hard to create. I appreciate the fact that level design requires that gamers be restricted somehow, but forcing players to circumvent some tiny obstacle is nothing short of insulting.
Not being able to smash wooden doors to pieces.
Thankfully Oblivion's fixed this.
Invisible walls or really annoying insta-kill boundaries (Far Cry)
Time limits that don't make any sense ('What? the boat I'm following has made it to the sea and now miraculously I'm unable to blow it up with my helicopter THAT IS FASTER THAN IT!?')
Lame boss battles that you have to complete to get back to the decent bits of a game.
Stealth games that don't have any shadows to hide in.
Being unable to pick up and use enemy weapons even when you're out of ammo.
Having to turn in a semi-circle before you can run in the opposite direction.
Being unable to foul the goalkeeper if you want to.
Guards who continue to speak despite having been shot twice in the head.
Being unable to throw anything at enemies or move perfectly reasonable objects.
Being unable to swim, jump, duck, crawl or roll.
...
Yeah I probably play too many games. :D
Thankfully Oblivion's fixed this.
Invisible walls or really annoying insta-kill boundaries (Far Cry)
Time limits that don't make any sense ('What? the boat I'm following has made it to the sea and now miraculously I'm unable to blow it up with my helicopter THAT IS FASTER THAN IT!?')
Lame boss battles that you have to complete to get back to the decent bits of a game.
Stealth games that don't have any shadows to hide in.
Being unable to pick up and use enemy weapons even when you're out of ammo.
Having to turn in a semi-circle before you can run in the opposite direction.
Being unable to foul the goalkeeper if you want to.
Guards who continue to speak despite having been shot twice in the head.
Being unable to throw anything at enemies or move perfectly reasonable objects.
Being unable to swim, jump, duck, crawl or roll.
...
Yeah I probably play too many games. :D
Something similar in 24, as Kim I can hide in the vents to avoid detection. There's two entry points, one above a raised platform and another behind some guards which was the hard option. I went up to the raised platform, but poor Kim couldn't carry out the easy task of lifting her feet up! I got shot shortly afterwards :(
Ahhh... Relaxes in God of War bliss...
It bugs me when stuff like that happens, especially when you are used to doing it in some games. Take Tomb Raider or someting similar for example. You can jump and climb all over the place in that. Then you play another game where you are some kind of highly trained soldier and you get stuck when you meet a box. Even if for some unexplainable reason you couldnt climb over it, why cant you just move it. Its a box for crying out loud!!!
There are a few things in games that can take you right out of playing and destroy whatever atmosphere the game you're playing had. Having an in-game character tell you to press a certain button is one. Having a character in a game acknowledge that they're in a game is another - I'm looking at you, Splinter Cell 3. But they're both minor offences compared to the bizarre situation that I recently encountered playing Hitman Blood Money. As the name suggests, you play a hitman, who is tasked with disposing of a number of unsavoury characters. One of the levels has you infiltrating a rooftop party. So how do you get to the roof? It doesn't take a genius to work out that there should be two ways up there - the elevator, and the stairs. So upon seeing that he elevator is fairly heavily guarded you might decide to take the stairs, as I did. So you wander over the door near the stairs, and enter the stairwell. So far so good. Except that the stairs are inaccessible. Have they been destroyed? Blocked off with some sort of grill? No, there's a 'yellow' no entry sign lying on the stairs. Yes, that's right - a tiny tiny sign. And this is somehow enough to make the hitman refuse to go any further. Because it's not like he'd want to break the law or anything.
This kind of thing is a fairly regularly occurence in games and it bugs the hell out of me. You've got a hero, or in this case and anti-hero, who can leap around like nobody's business, carry a whole range of guns and take a barrage of bullets before dying, and yet he can't get over a tiny obstacle? Even if you haven't played Hitman, you'll have been playing a game where you found your path blocked by a four foot crate, requiring you to take a long winding path around the obstacle. The sheer absurdity slams home the fact that you're playing a game and takes you right out of the experience that the designers have tried so hard to create. I appreciate the fact that level design requires that gamers be restricted somehow, but forcing players to circumvent some tiny obstacle is nothing short of insulting.
This kind of thing is a fairly regularly occurence in games and it bugs the hell out of me. You've got a hero, or in this case and anti-hero, who can leap around like nobody's business, carry a whole range of guns and take a barrage of bullets before dying, and yet he can't get over a tiny obstacle? Even if you haven't played Hitman, you'll have been playing a game where you found your path blocked by a four foot crate, requiring you to take a long winding path around the obstacle. The sheer absurdity slams home the fact that you're playing a game and takes you right out of the experience that the designers have tried so hard to create. I appreciate the fact that level design requires that gamers be restricted somehow, but forcing players to circumvent some tiny obstacle is nothing short of insulting.