8 Retro Mechanics We Need In Modern Video Games
5. Non-Regenerating Health
Here's another one we can thank Halo for, along with the Call of Duty franchise. Regenerating health is incredibly common in modern action games, whereby taking cover for a few moments will allow some if not all of your health to replenish.
It's basically an easy way to give struggling players a leg-up and makes balancing the game simpler for developers, as players will always have an in-built way to get more health.
Except, isn't it a bit boring?
In classic shooters like Doom, your health was your health - damage taken wouldn't be magically repaired by cowering or doing nothing, and the only way to get more health was to find a medikit.
Knowing that you can't just wait out the danger makes combat considerably more tense and suspenseful, even if it requires developers to delicately balance the distribution of resources.
It'd be neat to see non-regenerating health come back into fashion, then, at least as an optional feature.