Easy should be Easy

Ever play a game on “easy” and it isn't? That just sucks. I love video games of all stripes and styles, aside from a couple (see history in the sidebar). And one thing I've noticed is that many game developers don't want people like me to enjoy their game.

I spend lots of money on games, and I love playing them, but to be honest, in a lot of ways, I'm not that good at them. I don't sit down for hours at a time and play straight through a game. I play it in 20 and 30 minutes chunks, weekends notwithstanding. :) I don't want to take hours to learn the ins and out of the details of the game just to be able to play it. To master it yes, but to play it - no. A good example of a game done right this way is DoA 2 for the PS2. Easy level, don't know any of the moves, don't know any special moves, and I beat it first time through. That is what an easy mode should be like. Now I like fighting games, and I will take the time to master their fighting styles, and game play, but I didn't need to in order to enjoy this game.

Easy should be hard enough that a guy who has really never played video games before should be able to peruse the rules, get the basic controls, and have a chance of beating the game.

Having recently picked up a 360, and a bunch of older Xbox games, I find that a lot of the Xbox games don't have an easy level, even if they say they do. Take Battlestar Galactica, a game I really have been enjoying, but I still haven't been able to save my game. I have to complete the first mission, with 7 sections to it, before I can save. I don't have 2 hours to sit down and make my way through the whole first mission, without getting killed or failing a sub-mission mind you, before I can save. So I've been playing the same sub-missions over and over. So yeah, I'm getting better at them, and some time in the future, I'll be good enough to get to the point to save.

The point is, I shouldn't have to.

Another game done right is Earth Defense Force 2017. Each scene takes 5 to 20 minutes. You can save after each one. The difficulty does increase, but I've only failed to beat 3 scenes the first time through, out of about 20 I've played so far. I tried the game on hard - first mission beat the crap out of me. So I go back to easy.

I applaud the Wii and the advent of developers who actually make games that beginners or people with no game skill can play on easy. The whole casual game movement is something I hope really takes steam.

But now back to games - shooting down Cylons... the original ones, where Apollo was a guy's name name and not a call sign, and Starbuck was a guy. :)

Games played since last post:
Godzilla saves the Earth (PS2)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Lego Star Wars Complete (360)