PDA

View Full Version : Cover systems and the "modern" trends in shooting games..


UnDeaDKnight
09-09-2011, 06:59 AM
Suck.

I have been a PC gamer since 1999. Back then there were no cover systems, shooting games were dynamic and there was no regenerating health. Those blissful times stretched out until the coming out of Gears of War, which (to me) seems to be the first seed of this evil, though I might be wrong. (and the trend of making games for consoles and then porting them to PC, I guess)

This mechanic reduces your maneuverability, or indeed roots you in place and turns shooting into nothing more than a mini-game. There were times when you could just duck behind something and you were behind "cover".
Now, you have to click a button, wait for the appropriate animation to play out and you are in cover. It's the same for getting out of cover - press the button, get UNGLUED from the cover and you can now move freely again. All this is unnecessary and (in my opinion) a huge step back in third person shooters.

You might say "Oh, but you have a choice on weather to use it or not ..." most likely NOT ! It's either the only method of actually getting behind something so that it is being shot at and not you, or there are other bonuses to being in cover such as STEALTH (DE: Human Revolution ?)

What triggered this thread is that yet another great game seems to have fallen into the abyss simplified mechanics - one that will truly suffer from this - Max Payne 3. It seems like it will feature a cover system which will "let you pop up and shoot at your enemies, or blind-fire ". An action game where you rarely took cover and used bullet-time to get by is now being standardised. Also rumored to having co-op, turning the grim single-player experience into a jolly co-op experience, and (most likely) a half-assed single-player mode...

Tell me what you think ...

pts
09-09-2011, 08:22 AM
I really don't see what is so bad with cover systems. I'd rather play a Deus Ex:HR with that mechanic than without it, it's just that useful. I don't know what games "roots" and "glues" you to the cover, but I usually find it quite easy to move around, but that's just me I guess.

You might say "Oh, but you have a choice on weather to use it or not ..." most likely NOT ! It's either the only method of actually getting behind something so that it is being shot at and not you, or there are other bonuses to being in cover such as STEALTH
Because enemies have improved their shooting skills since 1999 (aiming down the sights?), you might want to hide a little better than putting your face against the crate you're hiding behind.


Same thing with regenerating health. I think of it as a another method of health management in games, not "the devil's work". I don't see why picking up medkits all day long is a better solution.