Re: FREE GAME: Intravenous

On Thu, 08 Aug 2024 19:20:28 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 8/8/2024 7:01 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 
A free game on Thursday? It's not what you think!
 
 
* Intravenous
https://www.gog.com/en/game/intravenous
      This game was free on Steam just a while ago. Well,
      if you missed it then (or just want it DRM free), you
      can grab it on GOG today... and only today. It's a
      24-hour offer. "Intravenous" is a top-down action/
      stealth shooter/strategy thingee. Fine if that's your
      thing. I couldn't get into it.
 
Anyway, tick-tock, tick-tock; the clock is ticking down and you've
less than 24 hours. Don't wait.
 
 

"Time to beat: 8.5 hours"  So, not a long game.

>
Good. I have too many unplayed games to play!

Yeah. I'm not opposed to shorter games in general. In fact, one of the
most interesting games I'd played recently ("Exit 8") took me less
than 15 minutes to finish (my biggest complaint wasn't the length so
much as the value; it's an excellent game if you get it for free,
though ;-).

Too often developers overcompensate, expecting that the excessive size
and length of their games are the most important features. But there's
a lot to be said about a well-paced game with a definitive end and a
minimum of pointless side-activities that do little beyond dragging
out the game. Ubisoft especially is keen on this design philosophy,
but a lot of Indies chase after it too.

It's not that I dislike these open-ended, open-world games. Sometimes
I quite enjoy them. But these days it seems as if EVERY game wants to
be a giant sandbox world, and there's a dearth of shorter, more
focused experiences. Especially since too many developers either don't
want or (lacking the resources), can't properly utilize their massive
maps. It takes a LOT of work and effort to fill out even a couple
square miles of territory, and that's considered small these days. Too
often the developers just dump a bunch of make-work onto the map and
call it a day. It makes for repetitive and tedious game-play.

Sometimes limiting yourself to a smaller scale -a game with finite
levels and game-play that can be completed in a few hours- gives you
better results. But sadly, the market rewards pointlessly large games.
Players bitch about a game that -even if it has an AWESOME experience
throughout- only lasts 20 hours, and instead buy games with tedious
gameplay that lasts for 100+ hours. Meanwhile, publishers are
attracted to these longer games because it gives them more chance to
monetize the players: buy more DLC! Buy more season-packs! Buy tools
to bypass the grind! Just buy!