why are games so short?

jammin · 12-06-2003, 05:15 PM

ok, i'm all for quality over quantity, but recently games have become so short that they're really not worth shelling out for. i haven't bought a game for a while now because i've been able to rent them out and finish them before i've taken them back.

Max Payne 2 i borrowed off a friend and completed in 6-7 hours.
Call of Duty i bought and completed in 6 hours (although i have replayed it through a couple more times).
Tony Hawk's Underground i rented and completed in about 7-8 hours.
Enter the Matrix i completed through with both characters in under 8 hours.
And today i rented out Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and completed it in 5 hours.

And the worrying thing is that all of the above games were played at a leisurely pace, and i explored all of the nooks and crannies i could find. So either i've started playing games with a lot more haste than i used to, or games are becoming incredibly short.

Now i wouldn't want extra, half-rate levels thrown in to lengthen the games a bit. All i ask is that developers spend a little extra time on their games to make our Â£30 - Â£40 worth spending on a product that is going to last. Is that too much to ask?

Feel free to post your comments on whether you agree that games are losing their length rapidly, or whether you think i'm being a bit harsh on developers by expecting more...

KamisoriX · 12-06-2003, 05:19 PM

so you can asked.
naa, jk, I also relized that most new games a freaking short and the replay value is like 0.
But I preffer a short good game in whole than a long crappy game like GTA(what wasn't really long but you could stretch it.
Prices are a different thing. I havn#t seen anything so far that is worth it's money. But what do ya wanna do

:dennis:

Xpendable · 12-06-2003, 05:31 PM

It's kind of a fashion to make games that are short i hope in the future games will last a bit longer. MP2 wuz kewl and short

,but I hope some future games will last a bit longer, Stalker,Far Cry.
Dunno about HL2 and DooM3 (but i read that DooM3 won't be that long.
I think it's the problem of putting 2 much effects and stuff in your game, so it look on the graphic part awesome but that will be cut on play-time.
I thought the original HL wuz on the good size though.(Xcpept for the Xen part Booooring)
I hope there will be games with more freedom like GTA:VC , if you want you can finish it really fast, but like Grandpa Kami sed, you can stretch it aswell. Well let's all pray there will be good stuff in the future.

Pray on and Game on

G-A-M · 12-06-2003, 08:27 PM

if ur talkin about GtA 3 or vice city u goota be a fukin moron..... they were to of the best games made somewhat recently but the first 2 suked whole anyway i agree about games being to short... i havent played Max Payne 2 but the first 1 was short (but good) and i think they need to be a hella of a lot longer,,,,,

[quote] If corn oil is made of corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables.... what is baby oil made from????

lol

jammin · 12-06-2003, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KamisoriX@Dec 6 2003, 05:19 PM
I preffer a short good game in whole than a long crappy game like GTA(what wasn't really long but you could stretch it.

Well in my opinion GTA is the type of game that i would like developers to make. the story was short enough so that you weren't bored by the time you got near the end, but after the main campaign finished there was still so much to do for those who wanted to carry on, meaning the replay value was incredibly high.

KamisoriX · 12-06-2003, 08:38 PM

Different people different taste.

:dennis:

interman · 12-07-2003, 12:02 AM

well i finished deus ex 2 today. took me about 9 hours and i did a fair amount of side jobs. my review is done, so it'll probably be up in the morning

on another note, i actually considered today to make a poll about how long you think action games should be. it does seem to be a trend lately that long games aren't fun or something. this is a shame, because when you've spent maybe 30 hours on a game you're bound to feel more drawn to it than one you've only played for 6-10 hours.. go figure

Sarafan Lord · 12-07-2003, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by interman@Dec 6 2003, 07:02 PM
well i finished deus ex 2 today. took me about 9 hours and i did a fair amount of side jobs. my review is done, so it'll probably be up in the morning

W00T! I been wondering whether or not to pick DX2 up, given the hailstorm of criticism from it's fans. Hopefully your review will help me make up my mind. :thumbup:

About the length of games, i'd rather have a game that gives me 8-16 hours of QUALITY gameplay, rather than 30 hours of mediocre gameplay. Lionheart anyone?

Dennis S. · 12-07-2003, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sarafan Lord@Dec 6 2003, 07:23 PM
About the length of games, i'd rather have a game that gives me 8-16 hours of QUALITY gameplay, rather than 30 hours of mediocre gameplay. Lionheart anyone?

My point exactly!

Would you guys rather play MP2 for let's say 10 hours, or play hrm... Sniper for 30 hours? I think what most people don't understand, is that QUALITY games require A LOT of effort. Primarily in level design, using different textures for different levels, not re-using same old elements over and over again and making the environments, models and so on realistic and polished. It took them what, 2 years to finish MP2 - it's ~10 hours gameplay in total. Now, if you wanted it to be 40 hours.... Would you be ready to wait until 2009 to play it? I really don't think so!

In my opinion, it's quality that counts, not quantity. I've finished MP2 twice already, but it's not planning to leave my HDD for a loooong while. Not with Dead Man Walking and new mods that started getting released. And yet, I've had so many loooooong and booooring games that I had to review that went to my friends before I even completed them...

jammin · 12-07-2003, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sarafan Lord@Dec 7 2003, 12:23 AM
About the length of games, i'd rather have a game that gives me 8-16 hours of QUALITY gameplay, rather than 30 hours of mediocre gameplay.

i agree with you completely, i would definitely prefer games of 8-16 hours quality gameplay.
the problem i have is when a game takes me 5-7 hours to complete, and the experience is all over before it even feels like it's got started yet. it just seems a shame when developers create such brilliant games, but they're over so quickly that it seems like it was a waste of time to make.