What Makes a Game Worth Playing for You?

[Dastardly]

We all consider ourselves 'gamers', whether it be the diehard retro only types or those that like games both old and new.

Despite all being classified as gamers our tastes in games are extremely diverse and one mans classic is another man ROTR's.



For me a great game has to be immersive, I enjoy games that grab my attention and draw me into their fantasy world. Games that temporarily disconnect me from the hassles of life and let my imagination run riot.

Another attribute I look for in a game is a good story. I like games that grip me like the story the Monkey Island games. It makes me wanna find out whats gonna happen to the characters next.

Masterability. I wanna be able to feel myself getting better and better at a game, and I want to be able to crush my enemies/opponents like in Speedball 2.

It has to be addictive. I like games that make me itch to get back to them when I put them down. Sadly these types of games are few and far between but when one does come along its special.

Finally atmosphere. If a game has that magic elusive ingredient, then it will draw me in until its over, and even then Ill want to return.

Of course elements like playability go without saying which is why I didnt.



What makes a game worth playing for you?

[killergorilla]

This is a bloody good topic, but I always feel that these topics drift into long, almost endless threads were nobody actually reads the previous 'umpteen' posts because it's a lot of time wasted.

I agree with a lot of your points but I could never place it like you could. That's not exactly a clear way of putting it, but basically I've never understood why I've loved a game enough to stand by it even when other die hard gamers are tearing it to pieces.

It's never down to instant likeness for me, Some of my favourite games of all time I've played for bugger all time, almost forgetting about them until I go back to them and finally get to know their true worth.

Other than that, it's go to be special, I never find a game that seems very familiar to be a good game, not unless I really liked the prequel (I know that sounds weird, but I don't like copies of games when the people didn't make the original)

Other than that it's genuine innovation to be honest. Some of the finest games I've played recently have been clearly brilliant because of the risks taken in making something new, something inovative

[Unknown_K]

I look for different things in different types of games.

I like racers like Wipeoutxl for the psx because you get the feeling you realy are going fast, and the controls are real responsive.

The classic arcade games are great for that fast moving repetative simple gameplay when I dont feel like reading a manual or spending 4 hours getting to the next level of another type of games. Examples are pacman, galaga, space invaders, battlezone, defender, etc. Just dont make them too complicated with too many buttons to have to worry about.

RTS games apeal to me because of the varied strategies you can do to win. To me this is a real planned out type of thinking games where tactics and strategy realy matter. I guess I like collecting resources and building different units. Tech trees are real cool in games, as long as what you choose really affects how the game plays later, too many choices that dont matter just make the game tedious. I also like games like master of orion because of the exploration and conquest involved in them (same as with rts). Dune 2, Age of empires series, first 2 warcrafts, and starcraft. I didnt like warcraft 3 because the defensive structures sucked (basically no defense unless you had an army there), and hero units that killed entire armies basically made all the other units worthless so why bother.

FPS that have nice maps and good but not overpowering weapons are also nice. Capture the flag mode on the facing worlds map in the original UT has got to be one of the best of these type of games. One of the cool things about doom and doom2 was the music and that fact you could have a 100 monsters behind a closed door waiting to kill you plus the gameplay was fast. Its very hard to get the same type of oh shit feeling with the newer 3d games because the computer just cant push the polygons fast enough to have that many monsters going on the screen at the same time at a good framerate (its the hardware dictating the game design).

Im not sure where diablo I/II fit in but mindless hacking and slashing in dungeaons where you get rewarded with magical weapons always kept my attention. There are lots of clones of this type of game that never got my attention, not sure where they went wrong. Note this is a 2d games, the ones that are 3d just dont look right to me.

One of my all time favorite wargames is second front (remake is war in russia) because of the vast playing map, production levels and type of units produced, and the vast possibilities of fighting a huge war in russia between the germans and russians. The graphics are terrible but the gameplay is so cool. Nothing like looking at city objectives knowing if you capture a city with an oilfield your supply of oil will go up, or bombing a city in the hopes you slow down t-34 tank production.

So basically in a nutshell I like games that are extremely simplistic and take 2 minutes to know how to play or deep thinking strategy games with tech trees that make a difference and exploration and conquest being important.

[Djay]

details, details, details...

i like a game, that i have to play for a while to understand and play well (lemmings)

a game that once i have got used to the way things are going suddenly goes and throws a twist at me (ff7, main character dies)

a game that give me a detailed world where i keep finding new things (GTA vice city)

a game that i can play all weekend or for 5 minutes (bust-a-move 2)

i have a really varied taste in games, i like the triple AAA, yet i also like the off-the-wall stuff too...

for me, there isn't a clear constant.. more of a feeling

[manicx]

a) 2-player playability (something that we miss these days unless we play games in our Amigas or in emulators)

b) Solid 1P arcade-style gameplay that is not getting boring

[Muzkat]

The game just has to suck me in, usually through fun and addictive gameplay. That's all I really need.

I'd like to look all cultured and refined (!) and say that a good storyline is a prerequisite to me playing games, and while a good storyline is great, it is not necessary. I love mindless shooters too.

[Mangar]

For me, it's all about originality.. If the game has something NEW to offer I usually get hooked no matter how crazy the game. Doesn't mean the addiction will last but that is generally the first thing I look for when playing a game.

Unless, it's an RPG. Those I play no matter what. Even if they suck.

[Mick_AKA]

It defornately comes down to originality and gameplay, I can do without pretty graphics for a good addictive game, and of course if we are talking RPG a good story is first and foremost the most important thing.