quote:Original post by NecroMageYou have a point, but having a more complex design doesn't guarantee you have more immensive gameplay. Take Zelda for example. From time to time, it always has that same design. One boss for each level. You use tools you acquire in your quest to solve the puzzle. People enjoyed playing The Legend of Zelda, and they do still enjoy playing The Wind Waker. What different is the content, but essentially they still have the same design.
That brings me to another point: immersiveness. The more the player thinks he/she is in the game, the more fun they will have. How can a game have immersiveness if the concept is so shallow and lacking interactivity as simple hack-and-slash.
In Contra as an example, you can add vehicles. Metal Slug did it, and I found it fun playing it.
And one thing that mostly ruins a hack-n-slash game, is the save feature. Almost every game today allows you to save. For hack-n-slash type of game, saving is like the most accursed feature. This includes an unlimited continue (if you play an arcade game with emulators). You destroy the purpose of the game, to survive from the beginning to end with only 3 life. Imagine playing UT2k4 with 3 life and you can't save and load the game. You only have one target: to destroy everything you see. You only have one path to follow, so no wandering around collecting ammos. You have unlimited ammos for each weapon. You acquire new weapon as you progress. At each level, you have a big boss waiting for you that's just hard to beat. Don't you think it's going to be fun?
edit: actually as a matter of fact, that's what you get when you play multiplayer. UT2k4 multiplayer is a pure hack-n-slash game. You spawn, go to field, kill as many people as you can before getting killed. People have fun playing it. Maybe the fact that you play against people is one thing, but that doesn't mean you can't have hack-n-slash in your game.
[edited by - alnite on March 6, 2004 6:02:30 PM]
