Length of Games
 

If there's one thing I ever noticed about reviews and what people think of certain games is that the factor that always comes up is the length of the game...

I can understand that if you're really excited about playing a game and just get sucked into it a relatively medium length game can feel very very short but why bother about complaining that 8 hours of straight gamimg time from finish to end is a bad thing?

In the Prey forum someone complained that the game was too short with its 7.5 hours of gameplay in single player. He said that he bought it, went home that afternoon, and beat it, was upset that he sat there for 7.5 hours playing a short game, then returned it the next day.

It took me at least....2-2.5 weeks to finish Prey.

Gears of War on the other hand was a short game when you think about it. It takes me 2.5 weeks to beat Prey yet I beat Gears of War in 5 days...I just dont understand how people can seriously sit there for 9-10 hours straight and finish a game then complain about how short it was cuz they beat it in a day...what the hell? do you really not have a life?

This obviously doesnt count for RTS or strat games like the Total War series cuz those go on forever and are always different...I'm talking more like FPS, adventure, and those kinds of games.

Re: Length of Games
 

It takes me a long time to finish those games, with shooters I like to play multiplayer but I usually play strategy.

Re: Length of Games
 

Face it.

Some people don't have time and some people don't have lives.

Re: Length of Games
 

I just can't sit down and play a game for more than 2 Hours, and If I can do that, it's a rarity. For me though, games have to be looong . . I don't play multiplayer, and I enjoy a story and killing monsters over people.

P.S., Happy birthday to me!

Re: Length of Games
 

umm thats not true with the game time.....sure it says it...but once i brought a game (FEAR) and with in two days it was done...i clocked it. and i only ever play games for two hours and thats it. i never go over....(i have a egg timer(SHUT UP)).




and ZOMG happy birthday mate!!!!

Re: Length of Games
 

i like to play games that have long levels

Re: Length of Games
 

Ever played Serious Sam? Largest levels and most enemies in any FPS, anywhere. It's just a shoot-em-up.

I'll never beat a game in one sitting, but I think you answered your own question on why people never issue a standard time-to-beat: there are the hardcore gamers who will tackle the game in record time, and then there are the casual gamers who will take breaks and keep it cool.

Re: Length of Games
 

As a big fan of RPGs, and a gamer that will periodically lose interest in and wander away from a game for weeks or months... I like them long. That way, I can play through an adventure or chapter or quest or whatever you want to call it, stop for the day, and come back next time and there's still game there for me.

But I'm also one of those rare gamer who enjoys the trip to the endgame better than the actual endgame most of the time.

Re: Length of Games
 

It also often depends on what level of the game you want to master. My favorite RPG ever, Legend of the Dragoon (PSX, 1999 or so) took about 30-40 hours to play through the shallow story alone: no side-quests, no trying to max out items or find everything, only rushing to the boss. In contrast, a play-through with all good equipment purchased, all Stardust found, and all the side-quests played needs at least 60 hours (I never did get all the Additions for all the characters).

Re: Length of Games
 

I perfer longer games. I do play some multiplayer, but it needs to be good for me to play it. A long game makes me feel like I got more for my money. I spent $70 on Oblivian, and I am about 110 hours into it. I still have a good part of the main story, and good part of the guild story lines left to finish.

I blew thorugh GOW on easy in about 7 hours. Thankfully the MP is good so I will keep playing it for some time.

Re: Length of Games
 

Many games do seem to be getting shorter, hell some even remove the single player component completely (Battlefield series, I am looking at you...what on earth happened to the campaigns that we saw in BF1942?!). But look at it this way...

An average FPS, 8-10 hours at £30.
An average action film, 2 hours at £19 for a DVD.


An RPG, bloody ages at £30. There are games like Final Fantasy on the PS2 that keep track of how long you've played, and often if you play through it looking for secrets and whatnot you can easily hit ridiculously long play times.
Lord of the Rings, ~9 hours at around £50 for the boxed set.


...are you really getting ripped off in comparison?

Re: Length of Games
 

well for me I like a long game such as Oblivian thats open ended. Freelancer for another example took me a week or so to do. mainly I look at games that are open ended something that will keep my interst in the game like GTA game mainly SA for it's opened endness.

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That's right, I've gotten incredible mileage out of some games like Rome: Total War, Neverwinter Nights, and Serious Sam. Other games, like God of War, were awesome but really only took 10 hours of playtime.

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I like long games. One of the reasons i like long games is because they are more fun to play, there's usually more story, and therefore more stuff to do and more stuff to be seen. I don't care for games that you can beat with only a few hours of playing.

I don't see how some people can sit there are play games for 7 hours straight. I can't do any one thing for that long. At most i may play two to three hours a day when i do play games. Most of the time anymore its maybe a half hour or so and i go do something else. Actually, come to think of it, the game i've logged the most time on was KotOR.

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I hear ya there...I think the most I can ever play straight is 3 or 4 max hours. Yet - that would only ever happen with games like the Total War series or KOTOR too...I could never play an FPS for more than an hour at most.

Re: Length of Games
 

Another thing that effects game length : Skill.
What Mr Pink may be able to do in 1 attempt in 5 minutes may take Mr. Blue an hour and 15 attempts.
For example I would get a huge game time from an RPG because I dont play them. I would have to learn a new set of skills and things whereas a RPG fan would be able to progress faster then me. However if you put an FPS in fron of him, he will not progress as fast as me (I only play FPS games & rome : TW).

Also, I dont play often but when I do it is a binge session. I will play 4 hours or Rome, then a few of an FPS...could easily last 7 hours. Tends to be on the occasional saturday when I feel too hungover to go outdoors.

Re: Length of Games
 

in shooting games, it depends on how good your reaction time is. this makes u better at the game and so you finish it pretty fast.

Re: Length of Games
 

That's 100% true and something that I didnt think of before.

See now I can do the same b/c there's a game that's meant to be played for long hours as it pulls you in...so spending hours straight playing that could be expected...with an FPS though I just cant play for more than an hour at most...the only time I ever binge gamed was with the original Call of Duty...I literally played my friends copy of it for a few hours straight on the hard level while he sat there and watched the whole time.

Re: Length of Games
 

to me the ideal playtime of a game would be at least 50 hours.i hate short games.one thing i dont like about most FPS is most of them only have like 11-15 levels

Re: Length of Games
 

Thats why I love games that will let you continue doing things after you've completed the game. I hate games that when you beat it, the credits roll, and you can't even just torture towns with what you unlocked.

It takes me at least a 2 days to complete a game. I used to be good, but I just don't have the time to sit 5 hours a day on a game.

Re: Length of Games
 

for me it just really depends on what the game is...if it's something like the Total War series, an RTS, or something like GTA then yeah...I'll beat it and keep playing it and love it but I also love great FPS games like Prey and FEAR where it feels like you've accomplished something when those credits roll...I have no need to run around with a secret unlockable weapon and kill aliens and monsters again...I like to think of those really cinematic FPS and adventure games as movies actually...when you beat it you say "hmm" put it away for a few months and then bring it out...play through it again...and repeat

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I prefer games where the player takes control of the story enabling endless gameplay. One game which did this was Indigo Prophecy. It starts out like the average point-and-click game but after about five minutes you're faced with one choice that'll change the flow of the game. After that, every decision can affect the gameplay and storyline. If you let a character die or drop something or forget something then it'll have serious consequences later on. It's because of this that the player can go back time and time again to unlock all the endings. I think there's about ten storyline developments, and four different endings.

If future games did that, I'd be very happy.

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I don't think I've ever finished a game in just one day, let alone one afternoon!

Re: Length of Games
 

The only game I ever beat in a day was the old NES Rampage game... but that was because if I turned it off, I'd have to start over again...
*possible spoiler*
Indigo Prophecy was an awsome game, but too different for most gamers... although the story line was outthere too... (didn't like the ending I got after I beat the game either... what the hell did she say! grrr...)