10 Hated Video Game Mechanics The World Was Wrong About
Proving the doubters wrong.
As a medium, video games need to evolve or they run the risk of becoming stale. Sure, genres stay the same, but if every publisher put out the exact iteration of every game, we'd get bored.
So there comes a time when things need mixing up; a tweak to the formula to stop gamers from getting bored and turning their backs of a once-favoured series or title.
Sometimes it's shifting the camera perspectives, to add tension by removing more of the player's immediate view. Others it's the ability to go back and discover previously inaccessible areas for more gain, or introduce an alternate approach to level completion.
Or it could be something as simple as making an action game a stealth one, or letting a character hop off of their skateboard. It doesn't have to be the biggest idea, just the best.
Yet the ire some of these features drew, usually before people had even played them, quickly shut the naysayers up when released into the wild. All the pomp and bluster dissolved, to be replaced with quiet mutterings of, "Yeah, that's actually alright, I suppose..."
Not everything works out well when put into practice, but these examples will show that the method in their madness actually worked out in the end.
10. Getting Off Of Your Skateboard - Tony Hawk's Underground
Without lamenting on the insane downfall of Tony Hawk's games over the years, cast your mind back to when they were fun. Then, cast your mind forward a bit to the Underground series, but ignore all the wacky Bam Margera/Jackass takeover stuff.
Got it? Good.
In their glory days, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games were the benchmark for great skateboarding games. But what they lacked was the versatility to explore their levels. Sure, you could to some extent on a skateboard, but with a turning circle like a London cab, it was a bit of a fiddle.
So when THUG came along, and allowed players to get off their boards and explore, minds were blown. It opened up new exploration routes, or where to start new lines from it. It was revolutionary.
And weirdly enough, when the crown was passed onto EA's Skate series, it took them a sequel to allow this luxury to players. It proved that whilst the heart was in the skateboarding, given players freedom to choose their own trick lines and routes was a much needed godsend.