“You’re not the boss of me!”

Difficulty in gaming. An oft discussed topic nowadays, and perhaps relating to the “ageing population” of gamers, who suddenly find what with adulthood (and in the case of many of my friends, childhood, just not theirs!) and work and so on, gaming time is a little restricted.

What might have been seen as a challenge a while back, has now become an irritating sticking point, blocking progress. Also in terms of actual skills, a hardcore gamer will dedicate time to a title and really “settle into the groove” of both its visuals and its control layout and responses. Picking up a game after time away really shows you how much you learn by experience while playing. It’s no coincidence FPS’s are ‘pwnage zones’ as well practised players put the smack down on ‘noobs’ and rookies. EVE online too, the space based MMORPG, and in my eyes, one of the best games ever made, was ruthlessly ‘elitist’, where veterans often made mincemeat out of new players, even if the newbies had better equipment or outnumbered the veteran players. Even good gamers usually suffer a little when they switch to a new title. Thus our new ‘old timer’, part time gamers (like me!) don’t have the time to really soak up the skills for a new title, when they just manage to play it in small time compressed chunks. We never really get over the rookie hump, and into “the zone” of the new title. Of course, this initial learning period can be half the fun of a new title, especially when you get the satisfaction of realising you have cleared the “rookie hump” and are now the one handing out the pain. The satisfaction of gaining new skills and “making the grade” may explain why people move onto new FPS titles so often….


While progress can still be made even by amateurs, it’s often when bashing into what has often ruined a game for me, the “BOSS” that everything grinds to a halt.

A notable case in point for this was in a title I actually really enjoyed (and aside from the BOSS HELL) would highly recommend, Conan on my Xbox 360. The slashing sword fighting was great fun, with a real visceral control and feeling of achievement. I slogged through to the end, defeating some huge bosses at the end of each level (often with great difficulty and multiple retries…. In fact I nearly gave up at about 3 of the bosses, but carried on doggedly, as I enjoyed the mainstay fighting so much).

I was playing on hard level, which I often do as I don’t like to ruin a title by revealing everything dashing through on easy. I enjoy a challenge, so I hope this entry doesn’t make me look like a whiner! I don’t mind dying as long as I’m enjoying it! Anyway, after I completed the game, I immediately started a replay…Not a chance on the hardest setting after ‘my boss hell’, but actually a level easier. What do you know, the sword play was still great fun, and the bosses were a cinch. I still got to enjoy their grandeur, but actually got past them quickly and without being reduced to tears!

Now why was the “hard” setting seemingly exactly the same, except for the bosses having 3x the health, and just making them into an immense pain. There was no difference in the victory technique required; you just had to do it over and over and over again. I was terrified at even the thought of the bosses on the most difficult setting. My question is what do some designers think they are achieving by adding ridiculously difficult bosses in, especially with the growing trend of having them being defeated by QTEs (as indeed Conan features in some places)? OK the great graphics and sense of scale or menace is introduced, but rather than crushing the player, they should help him feel heroic and special, after achieving victory and moving on. If you want to use QTE's, why not make a success be an awesome kill, and some failures an ever more mundane and struggling one. Let the player see a cool Beast / Mech / Demon / Wizard / Mafia Don death of some kind, and move on!

I was reading NGai Croal’s piece in this month’s Edge, and was inspired to write this entry. I totally agree with his idea of “on the fly” changeable difficulty. If one part of game is annoying me, the customer / player, why not give me the option of making it a little easier? I especially liked his “drop difficulty level down one, for one checkpoint” idea. Perhaps it could even be handed out as a ‘reward item’ which could be used only a few times, to keep a sense of challenge for the player…. After all if I can only use it a few times, I might just try and beat this bit a few times first……

Anyway, little blog entry over. I bought the game, so I should be the boss!