Gaming pet peeves 2: The Peevening

I know that "Peevening" isn't a word, but bleh. Anywho, this is a sequel to February's Gaming Pet Peeves. Oh, and the image below? Pilfered from here. Remember, kids, stealing is cool!*



Ever find something in a game that just peeves you off? Something that just makes you ask "Why?"? Well, you aren't alone. I've seen many a thing that gets on my nerves during my gaming experience, and here are just a few more to expand on part one of this series.

Terrible voice acting

A game can have amazing dialog, but it's all ruined if the developers sprung for the cheaper voice actors in the agency. The worst offender I've seen in recent memory would have to be Elebits. Just... Watch this trailer. Do you hear that man? His patronizing, "You're an idiot" kind of talking? Well, the voice acting in the actual game is even worse. How much worse? Take how bad that trailer was, roll it up in manure and moldy old carpet, then multiply that by 73. That's how bad the voice acting in Elebits is. I'm just thankful that the cinematics can be skipped after hearing them once, but even a single time can be enough to forever stain one's eardrums.

Sadly, it seems that Disaster: Day of Crisis is going down the same ear bleed-inducing path. If you manage to get to the end of this video without cringing, you're a better man than I. "Their name is... STORM. They kidnapped... HER." God, it's like William Shatner, but without the awesome. Also, Ray's voice doesn't suit him at all. The game could sound a lot better, and I mean that in almost every meaning of the phrase.

Invinci-cars

If there's one thing that really bugs me about most Need For Speed games, it's the apparent invincibility of the player's car. No matter how many high-speed cartwheels, roadblock smashes and dizzying aerial maneuvers you pull off, your car will always emerge with no more than superficial damage. That sounds fine at first, but after destroying the thirtieth or so police cruiser, it begins to seem incredibly unfair. It's just way to easy to escape when your car seems to be made of solid diamond! Making this invincibility somewhat odd, however, is the fact that you car is quite often destroyed during a drag race. Hit an object too fast and you wipe out. Overheat your engine and you grind to a halt. Seriously now, selective invincibility? That's just bizarre. Also, your tires are susceptible to spike strips. Oh, so you can make a car out of invincible material, but you can't get tires that won't be shredded by spikes? Come on.

Need For Speed isn't the only offender, though. Halo's trademark Warthog is also a god's vehicle, impervious to explosions, falling from great heights, and even being submerged in water. All this technology protecting a jeep, and the gargantuan Pillar of Autumn gets taken down by a few dozen Covenant ships? Sorry, but you've lost me now.

Inevitable catastrophes

If there's one thing that just breaks my heart each time I play Half-Life 2, it's the poor, innocent people I see gunned down in front of my eyes. But, there's nothing I can do. The shooter is hidden behind a wall or other obstruction at the time, and there's no way I can possibly get in the way of the bullet before it hits the victim. So, no matter what, my trips through City 17 are always littered with the bodies of those that died metres in front of me because their assailant was just out of my range. It's heartbreaking. Damn you, Valve! Damn you and your awesome way of making me feel sympathy for virtual characters I've just seconds earlier made eye contact with! Gah, I'm such a sap.

Another inevitable catastrophe that really bugs me is a certain point in The Godfather: Blackhand Edition. I won't lay down any specifics, but I'll say that there's this one point where I know someone is going to die, but I can't do anything. I can't stop them from going where he/she is going, I can't prevent the goons from capturing him/her, and I can never get to his/her murder scene quick enough to save their life. It's terrible, too, since I got to know the person so well in the game beforehand. Every time I play through the game, I stall at that point. I go around and do odd jobs, constantly avoiding the one mission that will trigger this inevitable catastrophe. No matter what, though, the game cannot progress without this scene. They have to die for the story to advance, and it always hurts to see them go and their family grieve. Dammit, I really am a sap.

That's all for this edition of Gaming Pet Peeves. Feel free to discuss these pet peeves and more in either the comment section, or this forum thread.

*One Duck's Opinion does not in any way condone theft of any kind. Just joking around. Take a load off, Mr. Serious.

Gaming pet peeves

I love games a whole lot, but there are just some things about them that really annoy me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this. Here are a few things that really tend to peeve me off with games.

Showing off moves/abilities unavailable to the player

I really hate it when trailers, cutscenes or promotional art pieces show off the main character doing things the player cannot do. For example, there are scenes in many of the Legend of Zelda games in which Link takes a running jump, but the player cannot spur such interactions.

And what about that promotional art? I was just playing a bit of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. I've learned that angering the local savages is never a good idea, as it always leads to Zack instantly being captured, and thusly ending the level. After I had enough of the game for the night, I flipped through the manual and saw art of Zack running from a savage while holding a treasure chest; Two things impossible to do in the game!

The trailers and commercials are often the worst, though. Ever see the latest commercial for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune? Nathan Drake (The main character) is sneaking up on a group of enemies when his walkie-talky goes off, alerting the foes. He looks at the device, glances up at the opposition and says "Think it's for you!". He tosses the walkie-talky at an enemy, whips out his gun and shoots them while they're reeling. As far as I know, there's no possible way to do this. I've never played the game, admittedly, but after some brief research I saw absolutely no mention of any such unique tactics. Maybe this happens in a cutscene, which is somewhat more forgivable than false advertising, but still a real annoyance for me. And this doesn't apply to just Uncharted, I'm just using it as an example.

Somewhat related to the above, it also really peeves me off when game commercials consist almost entirely (Or 100%) of cutscenes and pre-rendered clips. That really bugs me to no end. At least label the scenes as either actual game footage or not, like in the latest Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games DS commercial.

Invisible walls

I remember when I first got the Wing Cap in Super Mario 64. I was flying around, having a grand old time... And then I hit an invisible wall, and plummeted to the ground. Ever since then, I have hated these see-through barriers relentlessly. I prefer it when the developers take a more unique approach to fencing off the player. In Half-Life 2, straying too far from land results in you being attacked by ravenous fish. Swimming too far from shore in Jak 3 triggers an attack from a bizarre squid-like monster. In Battlefield 1942, leaving the mission area causes your player (Or vehicle) to lose health rapidly after a ten-second warning. More games need to instigate such measures, instead of resorting to the annoying and overdone invisible walls.

Rubber band technology

Ever get a huge lead in Mario Kart 64? Well, it didn't last for long, did it? Instead of letting you enjoy your massively advantageous position, the game juices up the speed of all the racers behind you, causing them to catch up in no time at all. I remember pulling off a huge shortcut at the beginning of Rainbow Road that cuts about a minute off my overall time, only to have my opponents catch up by the end of the lap.

It doesn't bug me much when the lead racer gets crappy items, leaving all the good stuff to those in lower positions. That's just fair, really. But dang it, speeding them up far beyond their usual threshold just isn't right.

Peripheral-dependent games being sold without said peripheral

You wouldn't believe how many times I've seen used copies of Odama sitting on the shelf at my local Rogers Video, only to notice that they don't even have the necessary microphone bundled in with them. Same deal with Mario Party 6 and 7. I know this is hardly the fault of the developer. It's the re-sellers' fault. But dammit, it still really boils my spuds.

Lack of checkpoints

I really, really, REALLY hate it when I get reeeeally far in a level of a game, only to die and restart back at the beginning of the stage. That just annoys me to no end. Working so hard, getting so close, only to fail at the last moment and end up back at square one. You know what would solve this? Checkpoints, people! Like in the old Sonic games from the Genesis/MegaDrive, little markers during the stage acting as restart points. That way if you die, you don't have to restart the whole level.

Another problem is when there's too few checkpoints too far apart. Recently I was playing Half-Life 2: Episode One, at a point where I had to make a timed jump, sprint past a hazard, gun down some enemies and reach a point beyond them, all without dying. Now, I think that's a bit much. In my opinion, there should have been a checkpoint after the hazard. It wouldn't have been quite as bad if I had a chance to heal in between (Thus lowering my chances of losing the gunfight), but that sadly wasn't a possibility.

Then again, there shouldn't be too many checkpoints, either... It's probably a hard balance to strike.

So then, I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the gaming-related pet peeves I have. Now it's your turn: What are some of your gaming pet peeves? Feel free to voice off in the comments section or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.