Games I Can't Stand© Dan Finkelstein
Jan 28, 1997
Well, now that I've told you a little about the history of computer games, and the types of games out in the market, I might as well tell you about the kind of games that I like and the ones that I don't.
This week I'll write about the two types of games that I absolutely can not stand.
I've never liked Wargames. I'm sorry, but my idea of "fun" is not strategically moving hordes of troops around and coordinating attacks on multiple targets. I believe that games, while they should be somewhat challenging, should not be so difficult that it takes minutes or hours to make the game actually _do something_. I remember a game called "Eastern Front" for my old Atari 800. The game involved moving around a series of white blocks that constituted your army to attack red blocks, which represented the enemy. Before the units would actually move, however, you would have to click on each one and point out the spot where it should go to. Then, after all that, you'd hit "Start", watch them move for about 20 seconds, then do it all over again. Obviously, as a 7 year old kid playing this game, I was intrigued for about 10 minutes (it made a really cool sound when you tried to move a unit into the water), then moved on to playing "Space Invaders" some more. Amazingly, War Games haven't really changed over the years, and I still don't have the attention span for them.
Role-Playing games are another computer game genra that I do not enjoy. Games that have anything to do with hit-points or mystical powers that must be built up are not my cup of tea. Some role-playing games actually require the player to equip one or more players with weapons. (There is this one game, I forget the name, that actually made you click on the axe, then click on the hand to tell your persona to pick up the axe and hold it in his or her hand.) Sometimes I think that the designers who make Role-Playing games _know_ that these kind of games suck, so they try to stick in other game elements, such as action or adventure elements. "Daggerfall" is a good example. They tried to disguise a role-playing game in a pretty "Doom"-like environment where you could walk around and interact with the environment. I wasn't fooled for a minute. Needless to say, when I realized that "Damn--this is another role-playing game", I started slashing at the near-by pedestrians. Then I got arrested. Then I deleted the demo.
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I agree I happen to like role playing and war games.
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In response to message posted by Lance_Lindley:
Hey, I read your comment! Damn have games come a long way since this article wa ...
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I realize this discussion is a zillion years old, and nobody will ever read this comment, especially since it seems like this entire topic has been abandoned; but I felt like adding that 1. using the ...
-- posted by Lance_Lindley
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I agree, maybe in the future Dan and I could team up as editors. I like most all genre's but I am not the best with RPG's or Wargames either. (there were just a few, and I was defending them.) BTW, yo ...
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Enthusiastic yet objective editors are needed for sites such as this. Perhaps more than one editor is needed; each editor could comment on games that are within his/her area of specialty or preferenc ...
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