On police chases in video games and the differing opinions

[Aftrbrnr]

I recently ran into a handful of people at separate occasions who ranted about how they felt police chases were ruining racing games and how we needed more open world racers that don't feature them. The negative comments I hear about them is how Michael Bay-ish or ADD they have become, and scoffing at features such as the missile-launching helicopter from Hot Pursuit 2.

Don't get me wrong, I can understand why people don't like such types of game play, but I really do like the thrill of the chase. I won't say that NFS's police chases are perfect, but I think they are definitely some of the most involved in a pure racing game (i.e. not something like Grand Theft Auto where driving is only a fraction of the game play). One of my friends pointed out how he didn't like how performance vehicles seemingly can't outrun normal vehicles such as Crown Victorias, nor do modified ones keep away from things like what appear to be stock Viper police cars. I think a balance has to be struck here, and I think NFS kind of leans towards boosting or rubber-banding a bit to keep the police chases viable. I think the exact opposite is where the police is pretty much pointless because they cannot keep up with anything, I think this is what my friend wants but I feel such a thing essentially turns the police into scenery.

What kind of irks me is when people try and present something they don't like as something objectively bad, in this case video game police chases. You might think they suck like my friends, but there are many other people who enjoy the game play: don't make it come off as sucky merely because you don't agree with them. Conversely, some of those friends give high praise to the Dark Souls franchise, yet for me I don't find the games fun because it is not my style, in other words I respect the games for what they attempt but they are just not for me. Yet when I tell that to my NFS-hating Dark Souls loving friends, they express a lot of disappointment towards me as if I am saying the games suck, which I am not.

Really, I think the big thing I am ranting about here is don't say something is ruining something just because you don't like it, there are issues in games such as microtranscations that I think are closer to something we can consider objectively bad, but don't try and paint gameplay styles that aren't necessarily flawed but not your type as crappy.

 

[PepeMickey]

The problem is all the gadgets and powerups BS, it essentially turns any game into Mario Kart and I can't see where's the fun in that.

 

[Bhowe83]

The original Most Wanted had the best police chases if you ask me.

 

[BKGlover]

I recently ran into a handful of people at separate occasions who ranted about how they felt police chases were ruining racing games and how we needed more open world racers that don't feature them. The negative comments I hear about them is how Michael Bay-ish or ADD they have become, and scoffing at features such as the missile-launching helicopter from Hot Pursuit 2.

There are two easy solutions. No weapons, save those for kart racers and 007, and, as I'm most certain I will be lashed for but I care not, DON'T make them mandatory.

One of my friends pointed out how he didn't like how performance vehicles seemingly can't outrun normal vehicles such as Crown Victorias, nor do modified ones keep away from things like what appear to be stock Viper police cars. I think a balance has to be struck here, and I think NFS kind of leans towards boosting or rubber-banding a bit to keep the police chases viable. I think the exact opposite is where the police is pretty much pointless because they cannot keep up with anything, I think this is what my friend wants but I feel such a thing essentially turns the police into scenery.

While this is somewhat irksome, MW2012 did it relatively well. I hate it more in something like The Run(s) where the second-to-last stage is you in a hypercar vs a big block El Camino being chased by whatever the cruisers were. every aspect is BS.

What kind of irks me is when people try and present something they don't like as something objectively bad, in this case video game police chases. You might think they suck like my friends, but there are many other people who enjoy the game play: don't make it come off as sucky merely because you don't agree with them. Conversely, some of those friends give high praise to the Dark Souls franchise, yet for me I don't find the games fun because it is not my style, in other words I respect the games for what they attempt but they are just not for me. Yet when I tell that to my NFS-hating Dark Souls loving friends, they express a lot of disappointment towards me as if I am saying the games suck, which I am not.

Ahh, I see you have already met a few of the Wilfully Ignorant. They are a fascinating bunch aren't they? Of course, by that I mean you want to beat some sense into them with every breath.

Really, I think the big thing I am ranting about here is don't say something is ruining something just because you don't like it, there are issues in games such as microtranscations that I think are closer to something we can consider objectively bad, but don't try and paint gameplay styles that aren't necessarily flawed but not your type as crappy.

Used to do it, stopped being completely stupid. The masses, however.....

I get the argument, and the rant, but I can tell you that you can go until you're blue and the ones who need to hear it won't bother with it. I may be mistaken, but I believe the condition is called "Fandom", and can be seen in people who take an unhealthy approach to various things or groups, permanently rejecting anything that defies their mindsets as purely blasphemous and an insult to all associated parties. Examples of this include fans of Manchester United, the Dallas Cowboys, Ferrari, 1980s NASCAR, the Porsche 911, Frank Sinatra, King George VIII, and Metallica to name a select few.

 

[Dan]

I like police chases in some games as long as they aren't so fake. It's like in GTA V, where I'm in a supercar that is accelerating away from a Ford Taurus, out of nowhere, it's like the police suddenly have nitrous oxide installed in their car and ram me. I was flat-out and making a lot of distance between the cop car which was also flat-out, but wasn't gaining on me.

The NFS series is littered with rubber banding only to make the gameplay fair, but it is quite annoying.

 

[McLaren]

The key word is as you said, balance. There has to be some rubber-banding with the cars, but the cops can't also be a force of juggernauts like GTA's have become. I think NFS started leaning towards EMPs and what not to make a little more challenging beyond a helicopter, spike strips, & road blocks, but from what I've seen, they allow the racers to have some of these "upgrades" as well. And yes, it does make a little Mario Kart-ish. I kind of miss the days where if you kept away long enough, the game would introduce faster cop cars along the race to make it more difficult. They had the same options available, but had a much easier time keeping up to "takedown" your car.

For a game like NFS, cop chases are a small staple of the series and make the races much more interesting when you get out in front & can stay there just dodging traffic. GTA's are fun to play, but it's a whole other element of gameplay & they definitely threw the balance out by nuking the character's ability to take damage in relation to being swarmed & tracked by 20 cops by air, land, & sea. The fact you could suddenly go to a 1-2 star level just because you annoy a pedestrian too much is bogus.

 

[PepeMickey]

Driver San Fran did it right, those cops will be left behind if they're not using something on the same range as your car, they're a lot however and their only purpose is to either destroy you car or cause you to crash and die.

If you're fast enough you can outrun them and they won't catch up but if you're just going in circles around random streets they will start appearing everywhere and will try to hit you head-on with heavy SUVs, sometimes it's a one hit kill if they hit you like that.