How much are "good" action games worth to you?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I decided to create this topic because I notice among most gamers these days in general that action games are merely only thought of as the "summer blockbusters" of video games, in that they are merely only decent enough for a good rental and aren't worth the same as an RPG, RTS (or other complex PC games), or FPS games with a strong competitive multiplayer. I for one think that this notion holds no real weight to it, though, for 2 reasons: Games with strong competitive aspects can be great but they don't necessarily appeal to everyone (and even if they do you're basically doing the same few popular game types most of the time, anyways), and RPGs are really just long drawn-out quests with lots of padding and repetitive types of tasks and what's "usually" honestly a story as paper-thin as most action games (its just made longer which somehow makes people say that a lot of ones with average stories are better than they really are, IMO). Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that those are bad things. While I haven't played any RTS games, I'm sure that they are popular among PC gamers for a reason, and that's probably because they are very well-crafted and skill and strategy-based games for the most part, and even though I'm not a fan of RPGs, there are always exceptions to the rule for me, in that I like it when I actually enjoy doing the tasks in an RPG, as repetitive as they may be.

That said, to me a good action game can last me just as long as any RPG if its good through great controls, good level design, fair challenge, and high replay value. To put things into perspective, take a highly rated RPG like Oblivion. To be honest, when I first played it I had fun with the game for about the first 10 hours....gee, now that I think about it, that's about how long it takes me to finish most action games these days. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that a whole lot of action games are that great that they have a high replay value beyond those 10 hours of one playthrough, but the gems of the genre are, and in all honest its ratio of good to mediocre to bad games is really no different than that of the RPG or FPS genre, in which its really only the best of them that people keep playing, anyways.

To continue what I was talking about, after those first 10 hours Oblivion felt like a drag to me, and I felt like I had already seen all of the great things that the game had to offer and was quite bored to be honest, but I trudged along for up to 40 hours in hopes that I would somehow get addicted, but it just wasn't for me, personally. In contrast, when I played Ninja Gaiden Black on the XBOX, it took me only about 20 hours to beat the story mode on my first time playing it, but by the time I beat it on normal mode, I was anything but finished. I immediately wanted to go back and start playing it on Hard mode, and was impressed by how drastically it changed things up from enemy placement to weapon and item locations. It also gave me a new mission mode with 50 new missions each with 4 difficulty settings to them, and the overall amount of content that the game had could easily last anyone who liked the game enough to spend well over a hundred to even two-hundred hours on it.

And then there are games like Max Payne which don't have much content beyond its single-player, but you know what, its single-player was so damn good and fun to play through that I immediately went back into it on the harder difficulty settings anyways. Also, while admittedly my play-time in that game still wouldn't equal the same amount as an average-length RPG (about 40-hours I would assume), just about every minute that I played of that game felt so much more enjoyable and memorable than I would feel playing those 40 hours of an average RPG. And once again, keep in mind that I'm not trying to bash RPGs or other genres here, but I'm just saying that just because something is an RPG or a longer game in general doesn't necessarily mean its "better" or worth more than a really well-made action games.

To be specific, it ticks me off how action games are seemingly getting looked down on as the "junk" games of this generation (I know its not like that at all yet, but its getting to be more and more like that, which can be seen with review scores and such for those types of games starting to be much harsher based on the fact that they are linear and shorter games, unless of course the game is called God of War or Uncharted).

Now, to be fair, there are some action games that still get the credit that they deserve, like Bayonetta and a few others, but overall I feel that the genre is kind of looked down on more often than it should be, these days.

I say this because to be quite honest, while there are brilliant RPGs and FPS games out there (BTW, I would offer up an argument against FPS games rather than just RPGs alone, but then I'd be typing forever ), I find that action games are the types of games that are most often the ones I keep coming back to the most, and have the most fun with, alongside platformers.

BTW, I realize that I didn't define what I consider to be action games, so to be specific, I mean anything from certain types of TPS games (not really Gears of War, but more over-the-top and more single-player focused ones like Max Payne and Vanquish), to hack n' slash games like the games I mentioned before, and even beat-em-ups and such. So, yeah, I realize that I'm covering a broad category here, and thinking of it that way it mostly goes down to the more melee-based action games that get less love and attention, but overall, its no question that its probably the least popular major category of gaming among most mainstream gamers when compared to FPS, RPG, RTS, and Sports games (well, Sports games are more of a thing that more casual gamers seem to enjoy, so maybe that doesn't count, but its still more popular overall).

Also, I don't intend this thread to be like some big argument against anything, really, so if you disagree with me that's perfectly fine, but lets not try to start anything up over this beyond some harmless little discussion (if anyone else is even interested in this topic, that is ).

[Spark Of Spirit]

Gamers are a fickle bunch. Just look at all the people who refuse to buy 2D platformers on consoles and deny that they can ever be a GOTY. (I had a retarded argument on TZ in 2008 with someone who called me a Nintendo fanboy for daring to think that NSMBWii could possibly be a better game than Uncharted 2) Which is retarded because I do see certain games get blasted for having short single player campaigns, but others get praised for "keeping it tight" like Uncharted.

I've probably put hundreds of hours into the Mega Man series alone, and most of those game can be beaten in an hour or less. Meanwhile I played halfway through Uncharted once, got bored, and never went back to it.

To me it's all about pacing and creative design, if the campaign is creative enough usually to let me approach it however I want within the context of the game (IE, not a corridor with two options of being shot or not) then I will most likely play it a lot. Replayability means a hell of a lot more to me than length does, especially in action games. Though length can be a factor, as Mirror's Edge is simply way too short for what it offers despite being a fun game I like to replay every now and then.

The problem with multiplayer to me and my friends is that we usually find one game (like the Left 4 Dead games) and we stick with that. So it's usually not a selling point for me anymore unless it offers something truly amazing.

[Angus]

As long as there's Zelda, Prince of Persia, and Kingdom Hearts, action games will remain popular in my household.

[gunswordfist]

Action games are my favorite genre, of course. I always say that I prefer them to be longer...but I can't really think of any examples of longer ones. As much as I love Max Payne, I actually don't think it has that much replay value. And.....here I go talking about what I'd think would be the perfect game again but I wish they'd make more long action games with replay value. I hate hearing about these 10 hour games.

[Foggle]

As much as I love Max Payne, I actually don't think it has that much replay value.

Really? I've played each Max Payne game 4 or 5 times apiece.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, if Max Payne isn't repayable but I've replayed it twice anyways (a total of 3 times; once on each difficulty aside from New York Minute), I wonder what that makes a shallow action game like every DMC game, which are all way too much of a chore to even play through once.

[Neomysterion X. Prime]

How much are good action games worth to me? About $40, $50, or $60 for more recent day titles for the XBOX 360, Wii, and PS3.
For NES, Genesis, and that sort? $20, $25, $30 for popular past picks; $50 to $100+ for the elusive stuff.  

But Neopets Flash Games are FREE my friend! Me, Hime, and Yuu don't have to pay a cent to play some fun games for Neopoints.  8)

[gunswordfist]

As much as I love Max Payne, I actually don't think it has that much replay value.

Really? I've played each Max Payne game 4 or 5 times apiece.

I just didn't feel like going through the short campaign again. I played a few mods in te first game and that was it. In the 2nd, I didn't feel compelled to go through hard mode or whatever it's called at all. Same for the first game. I don't know why but that's how I felt.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just didn't feel like going through the short campaign again. I played a few mods in te first game and that was it. In the 2nd, I didn't feel compelled to go through hard mode or whatever it's called at all. Same for the first game. I don't know why but that's how I felt.

Pshhtt....Real men don't let "feelings" get in the way of their action gaming.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I bought Mega Man X1, X2, and X3 at my local rental shop back in the mid-90s when they were clearing out the SNES games for N64 ones for about $5 a piece.

They were easily worth whatever the fuck Enslaved was retailing for these days and more considering all the hours of play I've gotten out of them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

But Enslaved itself is just an action game, so to make your point better, you should say that they are easily worth far more than shit like Fall Out 3 and Call of Duty.

[gunswordfist]

Shut up, Desen. I refuse to believe that Enslaved is a bad game. Leave the action platformers alone.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So far, 3 missions in and I'm enjoying GoldenEye way more than any Call Of Duty game. Maybe it's because enemies have actual AI, and you can actually sneak around, I dunno. Eurocom should make more FPS games, though. This easily their best game yet.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Enslaved certainly isn't a bad game, as its OK for what it is from what I've played of it, but I definitely don't see how the people who made this game (Ninja Theory) can make a proper DMC game, and that trailer they put out last year doesn't leave me with much hope for the reboot at all.

[gunswordfist]

Enslaved certainly isn't a bad game, as its OK for what it is from what I've played of it, but I definitely don't see how the people who made this game (Ninja Theory) can make a proper DMC game, and that trailer they put out last year doesn't leave me with much hope for the reboot at all.

Ah, DMC remake. I'll be right back.