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by Jerry Whorebach 07/20/2013, 11:15am PDT |
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Great racing games are rare enough. The odds that one game is going to be both a great (beat 'em up / shoot 'em up / platformer / whatever) *and* a great racing game are so astronomical as to not even be worth considering. So why in God's name would I want to abandon a title's core gameplay - which I'm presumably enjoying, because I'm still playing it aren't I - to waste my time on a sub-par racing game? I almost want to say there must be exceptions (since, as a general rule, I hate hard and fast rules) but the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are the Grand Theft Auto games, and in case the titles didn't give it away, the closest thing they *have* to core gameplay is racing - whether it's racing to reach an objective, racing to outrun the cops, or racing to finish the story missions before Gamestop drops the trade-in value. (Of course, the mandatory races are only an improvement compared to the mandatory gunfights, obviously these games' real strength lies in giving you the freedom to find your own creative solutions to problems, something everyone seems to understand except their designers).
The same applies to non-racing events in racing games. License tests, time trials, cone challenges, drift tournaments... I've enjoyed all of those things in the past, but I don't think I've *ever* enjoyed being forced to stop racing actual races until I do them. I've always maintained that if your game is varied enough that someone might reasonably want to skip any part of it, you should probably consider breaking it down into a selection of modes accessible through a menu. I love a challenge but I hate having to unlock anything I've already paid for; I believe the majority of games with a save system would be better served by a level select. I know it's important for games to recognize your virtual achievements (if they don't, who will?), but the best way to do that is through trophies, high scores, leaderboards, and sew-on patches. Animal trainers and human happiness researchers know the most effective reward isn't a treat, it's a pat on the head - just give me all my treats up front, and if I still feel like performing, I'll take a pat on the head as well thank you. |
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