A Diskussion about "regenerative health" in horror games.

[Obliviator27]

Alas, reading through this thread and seeing terms such as "Stupid viewpoint" brings me sadness.
Opinions are opinions. Nothing more, nothing less. Just because we disagree with it, doesn't mean we should condemn the individual with them. Anyhow.....

On Topic.
As far as regenerative health goes, I feel it's ultimately up to the developer. Sure, sometimes it doesn't make sense (Call of duty. Take a few bullets to the chest, sit behind a rock for ten seconds, bullets suddenly gone and feeling fresh as a daisy) though it assists through gameplay. If I had to try and find health kits that are scattered around the street for some odd reason, I'd be quite frustrated with the game when I ran over to one and was killed along the way. Unforuntately, it's not realistic. But the game doesn't try to be. It strives to be a thrill ride. I read somewhere else that it would do very well as, say, a movie. I agree with that, though sometimes it's just fun shooting people in the face.


On the other hand, it can be very good to make health non-regenerative. Dead Space, as an example. Limited health and health supplies. Definitely gave you the feel of "I can't get hit, I don't have health."
This worked out very well for the Dead Space series, and gave an air of tension to the scenario.

But the downside to that is being put in a situation where you have little health, and simply cannot progress. It's really quite frustrating, and after smashing your head against that wall for a few hours, you simply don't wish to play the game any more.

As stated previously, the idea of regenerative health is up to the developer. Amnesia used it so that the player wouldn't be crawling everywhere with a red screen all the time. That would slow the game down painfully and the player may not notice things that were meant to be noticed. Regenerative health is going to be a part of the gaming community for a while, I feel.