My Top 10 - Video Game Features

I love the variety found in video games. Over the years I've experienced a bevy of features, gimmicks, and mechanics that games use to either improve or accidentally destroy their product. For me, there are some features that can turn a barely-passable game in to something I'll really enjoy. While some aren't must-have, there are others whose absence will make me question whether I'll buy a game I'm not familiar with.

10. Unique Aim Assist - Splinter Cell Conviction, Hitman Absolution, Fallout New Vegas
This is something I didn't realize I loved until I started playing Hitman the other day. I love shooters, but I'm so tired of shooting people. I love being given the ability to queue up my targets and take them out in slow-motion like I'm an action hero. Some games (and gamers) thrive on frantic shootouts, but I like dispatching them with flair.

9. Pimp My Crib - Saints Row, Elder Scrolls, Assassin's Creed, Minecraft
There are days where I'd use a more umbrella term of "vanity unlocks," but to be honest I don't often look at what my character is wearing. However, I love the feeling of being able to customize my home, no matter how limited it may be. Some games have preset options, making your house look like everyone else's. Others will let you go nuts and make it completely unique. While I'm no home decorator by any stretch, I really enjoy working toward something I can walk in to and enjoy in between quests.

8. Rewards for Perfection - Hitman Absolution, Deus Ex
I hate when games have this so much that I go full-circle and change it to love. My brother-in-law thinks I'm nuts, but it's hard for me to play a game that docks rewards for mistakes without playing a single level 5 or 6 times until I master it or get frustrated enough to move on (and finish later, of course). If a quest has an optional objective, I'll do it. If a game tells me not to be seen, I'll sit in a corner for 5 minutes until I understand the patrol patterns of a set of guards, allowing me to sneak by them and spend 5 minutes memorizing the patterns of the next set.

7. Long-Range Combat Options - Any game with decent bows or sniper rifles
Maybe this shouldn't be so high on the list because it makes me play like a coward. If a game won't give me unique ways to kill the enemy, then it had better let me do it from long range. In fantasy games I'll always play a sneaky archer. In modern shooters I'll drop a grenade launcher with infinite ammo in order to pick up a sniper rifle with 5 bullets. Killing enemies from long range, especially if you aren't detected while doing it, is one of the most satisfying ways to play.

6. Multiple Ways to Accomplish a Goal - Most stealth-based games
Despite its flaws, I love the multiple options Deus Ex offered. I could hack my way into a building, sneak around it, or blast my way through. I tried all three, and I loved being able to play the game based on my mood. A game gets bonus points if it doesn't lock me in to a single way of playing - i.e. in Skyrim I can only be sneaky if I've dedicated my character to doing so. In Splinter Cell, on the other hand, your options are primarily dictated by the gear you've brought to that particular mission, although all options are always viable.

5. Destructible Environments - Battlefield, Red Faction, Worms
This could be number one, this could be number ten. I got a taste of (laughable) destructible environments while playing Red Faction on Nintendo 64. Since then I've always wanted a game that would just set me loose with a rocket launcher and let me make the world bow to me. Red Faction Guerrilla came close, although blowing up decrepit buildings in a desert wasteland soon got repetitive since they were isolated instances. What I'm waiting for is a game that lets me tactically destroy the world - letting me blow holes through walls to gain entrance to a building, collapse the floor beneath my enemy, or just level an entire city block in hulk-like destruction. Again, games have come close, but I want buildings to be destroyed by the inch, and not be set to premade visuals based on the level of damage dealt to it.

4. (Pseudo) Open World - Skyrim, Far Cry 3, Minecraft, Assassin's Creed
I say pseudo because I often don't want to waste a bunch of time in a truly "open world" game. Skyrim gets a pass because you can find new adventures in every area, but Far Cry 3 took it too far and had me wanting to wander around and accomplish side quests with far too much aimless wandering in between. It's a hard balance to find - letting players wander about as they please without them growing incredibly bored with the experience.

Let's face it, at the end of the day almost every open-world game just provides a large number of distractions while you work on completing the main task, and that isn't a bad thing. I loved Minecraft, but I got so bored with no real goal outside of building Legos and occasionally spelunking. I just don't want to have my hand held as I get to the next quest. I like being able to wander off and explore a new cave, or work on leveling up my crafting abilities, or any other number of events that serve as a good distraction when I want to play a game without mentally investing in the main story.

3. Creative Powers - Bioshock, Prince of Persia, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
After so many years, I just can't throw another fireball. I don't care how many powers a game gives me, I want the stuff I'm doing to feel like more than shooting big bullets masquerading as "magic." There are some games that pick one power and make it sweet, like Prince of Persia's time manipulation. Then there are games that give you a few ho-hum powers mixed with some really amazing, creative things like in Dragon Age Origins or Darksiders. And any game that lets me summon a useful AI controlled ally (especially if it's some undead minion) automatically goes up a letter grade.

2. 100% Stealth Option- Thief, Splinter Cell, Dishonored
To clarify, I do find this different from #6. Some games will give you an option 95% of the time, but there are some scenes in the game that force you to break from that and funnel you in to a combat situation. It's usually a poor design decision, but I'm usually willing to deal. But when a game lets me go all the way to the credits without needing to get in a firefight, I'm sold. I usually can't resist and will still knock enemies unconcious, but when a game is built around playing cat & mouse with the enemy, I will play and replay the game for the mental excercise alone.

1. RPG-like Progression - Call of Duty, Tomb Raider, Pokemon, Dark Souls
This isn't necessarily a deal breaker per se, because I have enjoyed games that didn't let you customize your character's stats and abilities just fine. However, I really like the entire RPG model that games have been incorporating lately. I don't want a game to be so entrenched in it that you have to spend time just killing enemies or gathering supplies in order to progress; instead I want to know that killing (or not killing) enemies, doing optional objectives, exploring the world, and taking advantage of everything in the game won't be for nought.

This really plays in to most of the list. When a game is so linear that what I'm doing in the game is practically meaningless, I'm much less inclined to risk wasting time on extra stuff. Sometimes it will be worth it, but it's 2013 and I fully accept my enjoyment of instant gratification. I like seeing a numerical value to the extra effort I'm putting in a game. I want a thumbs up for getting a headshot, exploring a hidden area, using a combination of powers together in a deadly way, or just completing an entire optional quest line.

Without this, developers have almost no need to waste time on extra features. Sure they can include stuff to reward people who want to get achievements, but the majority of players won't bother diverting from the main path if they know that spending an extra 20 minutes tracking down a hidden item will be meaningless. Even if a game tries rewarding you with improved items in order to avoid the RPG model, I still don't think it's enough. What if I like my current weapon? What if I've outgrown a piece of armor at the end of a dungeon? Without a lasting, universal incentive that lets me dictate what I want to do with it (i.e. spend it on buying a new weapon over just being given one), I have a hard time being excited for it.

And of course, it lets me play the character I want to play. Whether I'm spending points on gameplay-altering abilities or a new hat, I like knowing that I earned it, and that I got to decide how to spend it. Sometimes this can be frustrating because it can take awhile to unlock the really great stuff, but I will always prefer earning it over having it given to me.


Special Mention - Zombies
I freaking love zombies.


There you have it! If you're ever trying to sell me on a video game, mention a few of these features and you'll have my attention. What features are huge deciders in your enjoyment of a game?


See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook! I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways. This month's giveawayis for a set of Original FPS Freeks!