Phml
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Posts: 2610
Registered: 06-09 |
+1. Memfis nails it.
If I want to be challenged by a FPS (not that I often do), I'd rather it does so through choregraphed gunfights, set situations requiring me to think of a plan and execute it, and in which playing the right way guarantees victory.
Infinitely and randomly respawning enemies turns everything into a race, and a luck-based one at that. True, you can always mitigate randomness and it is a skill, but it's just not one I like personally.
Then again, it could just be the way it is implemented in Doom. Come to think of it, Left 4 Dead is somewhat close to Nightmare! in spirit, and I enjoy that game. Certain modern features or design choices can be conductive to this sort of gameplay - music cues telling you when you're under heavy attack, level layout and pacing constructed around pushing forward, special events set at particular points, adaptative difficulty, and so on.
Even a loose narrative helps. There isn't much of that in Doom. Just like Memfis, killing NM monsters feel meaningless to me, and rushing to the exit as the goal so... I can start another level and rush to the next exit? It ends up feeling so pointless and metagamey, to me. Less immersion, more stress - definitely not what I want in a game! I'm here to relax.
Going back to the pacing, the big difference between L4D and NM Doom is in L4D you have three buddies (be it botbuddies or meatbags) watching your back, and the AI is designed to alternate between all-out action and relative calm. In NM Doom you hardly get any chance to breath, it's non-stop action from start to finish. I find that extenuating. Many people do. That's why they fill action movies with talky parts even though that's not what we're here for, because if you're at maximum intensity for long stretches of time it becomes tiresome to the point of feeling dull.
(Nothing but my personal opinion, of course. I think liking that stuff is just as valid - just not my thing personally.)
Last edited by Phml on 11-09-12 at 12:33
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