Makes sense. A lot of games that score you based on how long it takes you to clear a board (like Sudoku and such) don't even let you see the game board while you're paused, so you can't continue to work on the game while locking down the clock. But yeah, if they ended up putting out a game where your character's pretty much doomed to die if you suddenly have to hit the head...instant sales-killer. Well, unless people learn to start forcing their computer into sleep mode for a quick bathroom break...

Purple Dave

@Mr.SithNinja:

Army of two is pretty good, save for that anti-climatic last battle and ending.

I have high hopes for dead space.

ManjiKengo

@finelicker: No.... EA 'is' making it. It 'will' suck major ass.

Mr.SithNinja

EA are making it, it'll suck major ass.

finelicker

@boxofthegods: We're you meaning to reply to me? I understand that it was a love-or-hate feature, but the part I kinda wanted people to take away from the example is that they (mostly) did a good job of balancing the difficulty around this mechanic. Think about it-if they allowed you to move and shoot, they would have to adjust the difficulty a lot, and at that point would it even be the same game?
The only time I really hated it was in the room with the armor parasites, because that room was so small that it was difficult to aim, shoot, and move away. Besides, I think it managed to do what it set out to do: it gave the game an action feel while staying in survival horror territory and not just becoming run-and-gun.
I'm simply saying that RE4 did a good job of making what would be a debilitating weakness in any other shooter into a game mechanic, and that EA had better put a lot of thought into how this idea of theirs translates into gameplay.

Tiber

blasphemous
bedpan is still needed.

D:

Onizuka-GTO

@Android8675:
I thought that was the biggest weak point of Resident Evil 4 actually, and made some parts of the game a much bigger pain in the ass than need be, it also always struck me as kind of odd that this bad ass agent couldn't move and fire at the same time, a game like metal gear solid 3 didn't have as much of a problem with this for two reasons, you could shoot while moving around as long as your were not in first person, and two it was more of a sneaking game so standing still and sniping your enemies makes more sense.

boxofthegods

I think it could work.

It would add more pain to getting caught off guard, thus increasing tension whenever you manage your inventory.

"$%@#! Not now, I don't have ammo in my weapon!"
Plus, it makes sense that you won't be able to mix herbs while getting overrun by 10 zombies...

Coquiton

I actually quite like this idea. But the actual inventory is going to have to be designed so it can be used relatively easily in realtime i.e. quick to access the item you want, as opposed to it being an RPG-style list of everything you're carrying.

To make a real-time inventory system work well, you're going to have to strike a balance between ease of use and item capacity (personally, I think these systems work better on a keyboard and mouse set-up where the player can just mouse over and click on the item when they see it). I dunno if anyone's ever thought about the system in Army of Two as being a real-time inventory, but it basically is. It's just that it doesn't hold much (3 weapons and grenades, each assigned to a d-pad direction). And the action doesn't stop when you bring it up. That's an easy to use, real-time inventory that's easily usable on a control pad setup.

I'm hoping they don't just make an inventory system like that of RE4 and just have it real-time, 'cos I think that'd be very poor indeed.

I don't think this is necessarily the cop-out decision that most people seem to be saying. Because I personally think it'd be quite difficult to have an inventory system that both works well in real-time and has the capacity that we're all used to in survival horrors AND works on a control pad.

StormTec

@joeymojo: Why do you consider adding realism to reloading and inventory management a gimmick? Personally I think it's dumb that in a game like BioShock you can have an enemy right next to you beating the crap out of you and start hacking a turret without getting your ass handed to you.

Goatfish

Their inventory system looks dialed in, so I don't think this will be a problem.

Android8675

Eh, it could be clunky, or it could add tension like he wants. I mean, it was odd that you couldn't move and shoot at the same time in RE4, but they built the game around it, so it worked and it worked well.
However, in my mind a better solution is making it so that you can take as long as you want to look at your inventory, but taking an action happens in real time. For instance, in fantasy games, you click on a potion, and the bottle disappears and your health raises. What if instead you had to pull out the bottle and put it to your lips? That can change the gameplay quite a bit, especially in MMOs, but as long as the developers aren't stupid about it, it shouldn't feel like a forced limitation. A more relevant example would be putting away your old weapons and pulling out new ones in real time to switch weapons.

Tiber

I just love it when game designers think that the only way to achieve their goal is to prevent the user from playing the game how they please. All I read from that guy is: "We don't know how to make the game more intense, so we're going to handcuff the user."

I mean, I'm sure he's pushed other methods of making the game more intense and difficult like limiting the number of saves and where the user can save. I'll bet he's got some incredibly awesome boss battles lined up too.

Frankly, if the game is compelling in its own right, it doesn't need gimmicks like preventing the user from pausing the game during action for any reason.

joeymojo

I love when game designers think that they can make the game artificially difficult by preventing the user from doing certain things.

What I read was "we can't figure out how to add tension any other way than to handcuff the player and prevent them from pausing the game any time."

I'm sure he has probably thought about things like limiting the number of times you can save, and where you can save.

joeymojo

Sorta makes sense. I've always had this annoyance in terms of realism from Survival Horror games where you can suddenly pause the game and regain your health and ammo.

Glad to know they're not going idiotic with the idea :)

Death-Grin

@OtherAdam: looks like his mini-me

ban_hammer

Resident Evil Outbreak Style

Ryuzaki

You shouldn't use the interface to add tension, that should come from the gameplay. I mean hell, I guess you have to run away to even reload your gun. Seems strange to me, I hope he clarifies.

HurricaneDave

@OtherAdam:
LOL When i first saw this shot i thought it was a Bioshock prequel or something

JDam

@Witzbold:
Im just glad they are bring back Deus Ex...That was always kinda the spiritual successor to System Shock.

Dead Space's "pause" idea should help to highten the sense of urgency.. which is always good

JDam

Does that guy remind anyone else of a Big Daddy?

OtherAdam

I dunno, I still think that adding tension through a clunky interface is lame. Tension should be inherent in the game, you shouldn't need a real-time inventory to add tension. In practice, what will you do? Backtrack to a previous area that's cleared, hang out there while switching your weapon out? Lame. Resident Evil has plenty of tension without having a real-time inventory system.

darthmole12

@Jim Reilly: Yeah seriously eh? Im still hoping that someone will revitalize the System Shock franchise. D:

No not Bioshock, Sytem Shock.

Witzbold

With Criterion happily removing the Retry option from Burnout Paradise, it's always best to be sure exactly what people are doing to their games!

I'm glad to see there's no pause inventory - having used it in Bioshock and Mass Effect to survive fights, I feel almost like I'm cheating. Only I don't have the willpower to not do it... I am weak, weak! :)

Headlam

@SOG Cerberus: War stops for no man. Poor Chromehounds. As far as I'm concerned, it still is made of win. And the win is made of extremely heavy girders. It rules.

pylon_trooper

Cool, Fear Effect used a real time inventory and although I had a love/hate relationship with it, for the most part it was great and added to the tension!

Vermillionaire

So it is NOT Chromehounds? Whew, had me worried.

SOG Cerberus

I'm actually pretty pumped about this game. There aren't that many space/sci-fi games anymore.

Jim Reilly

So in other words its similar to the system in the new Alone in the Dark? Since that was suposed to be in real time too right?

Witzbold

Not pausing to reload. Oh yea thats orginal. Because NO ONE has ever dont that before.....

Modus_Operandi

That's what I always thought he was referring to... I'm amazed it took him that long to clarify his position, though.

Roadkill