Editor's note: I totally agree with Ryan's choices of gameplay mechanics that need to die, and I'll add one of my own: unskippable cut scenes. Sometimes I don't care about the story and just want to play the game! -Brett
I understand, I really do. Sometimes we just can’t let go of things, even if they're bad for us. Like how people convinced themselves that The Phantom Menace was a good movie the first time they saw it.
Just as fond memories of Luke and Leia can make even Jar Jar look good, nostalgic thoughts of encountering our first zombie in the original Resident Evil can prompt us to overlook the flaws of later titles. But sometimes you just need to pull the plug. Let’s look at a few gameplay mechanics that are better off dead.
Tank Controls
When developers should use tank controls is pretty simple, really: when I'm controlling a tank. If I’m a human being, on the other hand, I expect to be able to move like one. This type of control scheme was mildly acceptable in the early PlayStation era, when dual analog-stick controllers was still a pipe dream and navigating space in three dimensions was a foreign concept. I loved the first Resident Evil despite its tank controls.
But developers today have no excuses for implementing tank controls. They're awkward, imprecise, and clunky. I walked around the world of Heavy Rain like a drunk on a three-day bender, running into walls, getting caught on furniture, missing doorways. It was a more than a little embarrassing.
Later, I booted up Resident Evil 5, and I felt like I was moving underwater. Zombies and a dude with a massive axe want to chew on my face, and I turn to run away like I’m on a Sunday stroll through the park.
Slooooow Targeting
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This busted mechanic is often in the same games that have lousy tank controls (one of them rhymes with President Weevil Hive). Why do some targeting reticles move like molasses in January? I see the zombie over there, so let me shoot it. Sheesh. Hugh Hefner has quicker hand-eye coordination than some of these fools in video games.
Are you honestly telling me that a specially trained commando takes that long to target something? I guess it’s no wonder he’s on zombie clean-up detail in Africa.
Too-Sticky Cover
Cover systems heralded a revolution in shooters, and it's a mechanic that I wouldn’t want to be without. The problem is that developers still haven’t gotten it completely right. I can recall dozens of deaths where I either: (a) took cover when I didn’t want to or (b) found myself unable to break away from cover to run away.
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I just want cover systems to become more intelligent. (I’m asking a lot, I know.) Does the game really think I wanted to lean up against this wall right in front of a bad guy wielding an M-16?
This also factors into some traversal/grab systems in games like Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted. Sometimes I really don't want to stick to every wall in the environment.
Sprinting
Ugh. I don’t want to have to tap or hold down a particular button to sprint (I’m looking at you, Grand Theft Auto). If I can sprint without getting tired or without breaking the gameplay in some way, I want to sprint all the time automatically. My right trigger finger is sore, and I’m sick of holding it down to sprint through the streets of Firenze or through the corridors of Arkham. Just make me run at top speed all the time, please.
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I know some people think they want to kind of "role play" and walk around a beautiful environment at normal walking speed, but those people are dumb. Make them hold down a button to walk. The rest of us have crap to do and want to do it quickly.
When I think about these kinds of outdated mechanics in current games, I wonder how they made it out of testing. Wasn’t there a single voice of reason saying, "Hey, tank controls are a little…1998. Maybe it’s time for a change"? Didn’t any of the testers who had to play the game for nine hours straight every day say they were sick of holding down the sprint button? I don’t get it.
And there are plenty more where these came from — busted save systems, horrible control schemes, idiotic puzzles, just to name a few. What are some gameplay mechanics you would like to see euthanized?