Why are games so short nowadays?

[Aktunka]

I swear, this is the thing that ticks me off the most. Let me give you a few examples from recent memory...

Unreal II- The worst thing for me on this game was that it was so short.

Max Payne 2 - Again, biggest disappointment for me was just how short this was.

Chaser - Too damn short as well, although not as bad as Unreal II.

Halo - Seemed short to me as well.

Call of Duty- Great game but waaaaaaaay short.

Medal of Honor - Also shorter than it should have been.

etc. etc. etc.

What ever happened to games that gave you a good value? I remember spending a LOT of time playing Quake 2. Half Life was a very long engaging story and you didn't feel gouged when you finished it. Thief and Thief 2 both had a long story and seemed a good value. The original Unreal made Unreal II look rediculously short by comparison.

Am I the only one that misses Single player games being long and engaging? Am I the only one that enjoys multi player but doesn't think that the single player game should suffer just because the company wants to rush out the multiplayer package? I wanna know!

 

[Deathknight]

I agree it is a shame that single player FPS games have such a short play time. Most good RPGs offer a ton more playtime though, and i don't really find FPS games to be that fun in single player anyways (which is probably the reason not much time is spent on it). Games like max payne, that do not have multiplayer, shouldn't be as short as they are though...

 

[9mmCensor]

Make a game. Chop it up into bits. Sell them each individually for 50 doallrs instead of 75 for a big game, and then make more money.

The computer game INDUSTRY isn't just a bunch of guys that sit in there basement and make sweet a**ed games, for fun.

Its now more about money and less about GOOD GAMING EXPERIANCES. There are exceptions to this and some developers are still turning out awesome games. (id, Rockstar)... but the list is short.

(games just seem to be done quicker because we are overclockers and the games just run sooo damn fast on our machines)

 

[Aktunka]

It is a good thing you mentioned id. I could swear that I read that the someone from id said that the single player game for Doom 3 would not be very long. Is that correct? I will be even more disappointed if that is true. But the one that scares me the most is Half Life 2. The first one was sooooo great for the single player game, but I am praying that they do not decide to go the route of the typical nowadays and make HL 2 short as heck

 

[9mmCensor]

Doom 3 probably wont be short at all because they aren't making it to be a multiplay (primarily) game, it will only feature limited player deathmatch type stuff. Doom 3 will all be about single player stuff.

 

[DayUSeX]

simple its easier to make a shorter game, and if you make a long game 60+ hours people complain it being to long. I think about 20-30 hours a game should be, but i would rather have a short game liek COD that was very good then a long game of just warehouses ya know

 

[mage_x]

id like to have a single player game where i could spend 100s of hours and everything be new content and still be fun, only a few rpgs are able to do this though. games are never too long for me

 

[PhoenixMDM]

Games only get long when they're monotonous. I usually beat games in at least 10 hours less than their advertised playing times, but i usually don't get every little easter egg and secret. Warehouse after warehouse is dumb, but a good long game like Deus Ex (maybe i only thought it was long because i took the covert route first time through) or HL or FF7 *drools*

Multiplayer is nice, but I think it should be sold seperately. Sell HL2, have it come with a multiplay demo, and sell HL2 Multi seperately. That way they've gotta make longer games or else we'll riot for spending $50 on a 10 hour game!

 

[Falcon-K]

but in defense to games like max payne 2 and call of duty at least those 10 hours are filled with awsome gaming, but it is too short.

 

[SniperXX]

I agree I think the single player modes should be longer and more engaging, ahh the good ol' days when single player couldnt be beating in a long day of playing..

 

[Noodles]

Well...as far as FPS go....I usually just play like maybe the first episode, get used to the weapons, then I jump right into multiplayer. I would just assume that put a 5 hour essentially 'training mode' single player in a FPS and work on the multiplayer more. I don't buy single player games for the most part, and I never buy a FPS for the single player experience. The single player always gets old, but the multiplayer takes forever too. At least for me.

Even single player games I really liked I didn't play that long. The thief series for instance. Doom ]I[ might be fun though. The shots I've seen look like it really brings back all the greatness of the originals...only much prettier.

I don't know if I represent the market as a whole, but thats the way I think. I want multiplayer...single player? Who cares.

 

[Bensa]

Man, the longest FPS (kinda) game that I remember is Thief 2. I could sometimes spend, without loading, around 5 hours on one level just to find all the loot and kill as little as possible.

 

[Aktunka]

Yeah I understand ya Noodles, but me, I love the single player game. In fact most of the games I have that have multi player as well I have never and don't plan on playing multi player. Never played Warcraft / Starcraft in multi player, but I love the single player campaigns and the story with them (especially the original Warcraft which i still play every now and then heh). I love FPS single player games as well and play them through to the end. When I want MP I turn to BF1942 and its mods and occasionally CS. Anyhow, I can understand the way you are on it though.

 

[KfistoRok]

Never heard anyone complain about Halo being short before.

 

[Noodles]

Yeah, Aktunka, I realize everyone isn't the same too. I used to really enjoy single player games. But most of them don't really hold my interest for long anymore.

Thief was good though. Only game I could spend 10 minutes crouching in a corner, not moving, just watching...and not get bored. I hope they don't f**k thief 3 up.