The lights are on
Veteran Member - Level 11
I enjoy a certain amount of realism in nearly every game I play. Okay, maybe not Team Fortress 2 or Minecraft, but most others. Even games that exist in a science fiction or maybe a fantasy setting, I still prefer a level of realism is applied to the game. Perhaps it's best if I give an example to illustrate the point. One of my biggest complaints with games like Skyrim or Fallout is the inventory system. Now unless your character is sporting a magical "bag of holding" - there is no way a person could tote around that much weaponry, gear and loot. As a fan of the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre, I like games that limit me to a primary and secondary weapon - usually a rifle and a pistol. I don't like games that include an entire arsenal that I can just scroll through, like in Doom. You know, carrying a chainsaw, pistol, shotgun, plasma cannon, chain gun and the BFG. Even TF2 in all of its cartoony glory limits the player to 3 items / weapons. This preference carries over to most games I play. I was never a fan of Gran Turismo (at least the first one I played) because there wasn't any damage. I could fly through a corner at 200 mph, wreck my car, and receive no damage at all. Not a fan of that.
Every now and then I'll find a game that despite its lack of realism, I get hooked on it. And right now, that game is none other than Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts.
I enjoy a good racing game. From Mario Kart to Grid, if it has fast vehicles and slick racetracks, I'll play it. And despite the utter ridiculousness associated with Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit...I actually really kind of like it. A lot.
Okay, so before I go any further I should say that the game is beautiful. It's aged well for being nearly 2 years old. The graphics are breathtaking and the driving physics are adequate. I don't think you would want it too real...I know I don't. The racing is tense and ranges from simple time trials to intercepting multiple illegal street racers. No complaints there.
So, if I have nothing but positive comments about the gameplay and mechanics of the game, why do I think it is ridiculous? Hah, well maybe the reason I think it is ridiculous is ridiculous in itself. But there are two main reasons that make it so.
I enjoy the large stable of cars the game gives me the opportunity to drive. And for the record, I always drive as the police. I have logged dozens of hours into the game and I've never once been the bad guys. I dunno, there is just something about chasing down bad guys while lighting them up with my flashing lights and blaring sirens that I am able to change while in pursuit. The game has given me the opportunity to drive some of my favorite cars - from the Nissan 370 (low end) all the way up to the Bugatti Veyron (high end).
And that is what I think is ridiculous.
I'm playing policeman in this game, but there isn't a law enforcement agency in the world that would use these cars in the line of duty. For one they couldn't afford them, and two...who is going to perform a PIT on an illegal street racer with a multi-million dollar exotic sports car.
Don't get me wrong, the Koenigsegg CCXR is a beautiful car and I'm sure it's worth nearly every penny of the hefty $5 million dollar price tag...and I definitely enjoy cruising it through the mountain passes of Seacrest County at over 240 MPH, but it's comical imagining a police agency using it as a pursuit vehicle. It is sharp with its 5-0 paint scheme and in grille cop lights. But if I'm trailing a Ford GT and trying to pull them over...I don't want to scratch the paint on their car or mine. I like them both.
Ah, scratching the paint...that is the other ridiculous feature of the game.
The title of the game is a tad misleading. I'm not really pursuing these bad guys...I am trying to destroy them. I'm not trying to get these cars to pull over mind you. There aren't any tickets or traffic court. It's all about me destroying their cars (and usually mine in the process). If I can run down a bad guy, boost at the right time and slam into the side of their car...it can (and does) result in sending the illegal driver tumbling end over end before slamming into and over a guard rail. THEN, the chase is over. I suppose it's a good thing the real cops aren't like that, unless you live in Los Angeles of course....then this is an everyday occurrence. I recall one traffic stop I made - there was an illegal street racer in a car that looked like it had a soft top or a convertible top that was up. When I crashed into him at 200 MPH and sent him barrel rolling down the road, I could see this "person" at the wheel and I could almost visualize the white knuckle death grip he must have on the steering wheel.
Despite these ridiculous issues, I don't care. I love the game and I love being the police and chasing down bad guys in the game, even if it is in a $400,000 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4. Never mind that while I'm in hot pursuit, I have the volume cranked all the way up and I'm blasting 30 Seconds to Mars, Pendulum, and Plan B.
Now if I could just figure out a way to have fender mounted machine guns, oil slicks and smoke screens, it truly would be the ultimate police interceptor vehicle ever created. There are other ridiculous games out there I enjoy playing, but for now...this is the only one on the RADAR.
Speaking of RADAR, don't look now but I've got a speeder doing 200 in a 55 MPH. Gotta run.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Cheers.
You wrote a blog about realism in video games too? So did I, just today. We both thought of the same topic separately and published on the same day... whoa. Are we linked on a psychic level?
Seriously though, nice blog. Sometimes it's nice to kick back and have some fun smashing other cars into the mountains. I recommend Just Cause 2 if you want some more absurd, over-the-top fun.
I am thinking of Sammy Hagar for some reason...
I think that the downright goofy games are awesome, perhaps this is why I prefer Resistance to CoD, or Ratchet and Clank to Battlefield. Certainly the modern military shooters are closer to reality, but not really, I mean I doubt that even the most specialist of the special ops can pull off some of the feats that happens in those games(at least in MP, I could totally see the campaign stuff happening).
I lived in Cody Wyoming for a spell, I noticed two very odd things when we got to town. 1--You could only buy alcohol, of any sort, even wine and beer at a bar, so every bar in town was also a DRIVE UP liquor store! Not kidding. 2--The police drover Mercedes and Harley's. Growing up near Sturgis, I was used to seeing policemen on Harley Davidson motorcycles, but to see all these Mercedes SUV's rolling around a town of less than 7,000 people was interesting. Not the cheapo Mercedes either, these were the S class or whatever the mid to high end ones are. Oh, and the wind, I guess I noticed the wind too, that area is very breezy.
Could you imagine the amount of money one would need to justify spending 5 million on a car? Wow, imagine the finance company..."Mr. Brown, your first 90 days are interest free with no payments, after that, a cool 90,000 per month is all your lease requires." I hope the extended warranty is thrown in along with 3 years free maintenance!
Saint, you have to try out Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl or Call of Pripyat. Both are First-Person Shooters in a post-nuclear world. Both have realistic situations. Both have a weight limit that is very realistic (armor, 2 machine guns, some bandages and food is all you can carry) and neither have anything to do with perks or leveling up.
Here's my review of the first game:
www.gameinformer.com/.../best-fps-of-all-time-part-1.aspx
I haven't played the newest Hot Pursuit yet, but Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on PS2 is one of my favorite racing games. I played the heck out of that game! :)
For me it really depends on the game for how real I want it to be. Granted most games should have some level of realism in them. But overall I think sometimes you need to play a game that is so crazy and dum that has no level of realism just for fun. Not sure if it was you or something Pkollar posted a while ago, but there was a story from some online editor person talking about how you should play bad games so you can enjoy the good ones even more.
Sometimes it's nice to check reality in at the door and let loose. Saints Row: The Third definitely scratched that itch.
And I want to second Austin's link about that Italian police Lambourghini. The cops around here drive Chargers, though, and they're not too shabby either.
This reminded me of an instance when I was playing a tabletop RPG with some friends and the GM wasn't quite choosing the right words. We were all in some sort of armored military vehicle trundling along at a brisk 80 MPH...
I'm crap at racers, but love destruction. Which is why Burnout Revenge is my favorite racing game. Maybe I'll check this one out.
I kind of dig unreality in games. When Link can hardly carry the ball and chain in Twilight Princess, then tucks it in his back pocket when he's through with it...too cool. I guess it depends on how much disbelief I am willing to suspend depending on mood.
Inventories are ridiculously big in video games, but on the contrary, FPS games have realistic limits. Saw a similar blog like this about realism limiting games. I do like GTA3's ridiculous physics, etc.
Im in the same boat: generally I like some level of realism in games that lend themselves to it, but occasionally you just want to throw realism to the wind in the name of fun. That game for me is borderlands. Think its impractical to be carrying 40 shotguns that shoot acid as you cruise around a massive alien desert in an armored combat vehicle that was teleported to you by a redneck in a shack? Who cares when youre using those 40 shotguns to melt the faces off an army of alien-dog riding midgit psychopaths. Some games dont need realism to accomplish the goal they set out to, and when that ends up with me having fun, I have no problem with putting my sense of belief on hold.
Very interesting take on a great series, Need for Speed. You brought out some great points about the series; the game you mentioned in specific detail.