Weekend Open Forum: How often do you beat games?

[Matthew DeCarlo]

At 60 bucks a pop, you'd think gamers would be compelled to play new releases from cover to cover, but as it turns out, that's not necessarily true. For instance, in September, BioWare told IGN that only around half of Mass Effect 2 players actually finished the campaign. The site recently followed up on that statistic with a list suggesting why gamers might shelve titles before completion. The highlights include lowered expectations, bugs, failed narratives, and the fact that it's so easy to trade boring games at your local GameSpot for ones that are more entertaining.

Mass Effect 2 doesn't suffer from any of those issues as far as we know. In fact, it's about as good as games come these days, as evidenced by its PC metascore of 94. So we have to wonder if a 50% completion rate is actually pretty decent for a successful modern release. I'm certainly guilty of buying games and not beating them. Looking at my collection, I'd say I've only finished about 20% of the titles, and that mostly boils down to a lack of time. How about yourself? How many unbeaten games are in your library and what's stopping you from reaching the end?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/41422-weekend-open-forum-how-often-do-you-beat-games.html

 

[Shawn Knight]

I'm not a huge gamer these days, but the ones I do play are 99% for the multiplayer experience only. For example, I picked up Black Ops on release day and haven't even touched the single player campaign. I haven't finished a single game in my Xbox360 library (heck, some are still unopened in the wrapper).

Myself and a friend recently completed Heavy Rain for the PS3. On my own, however, I think the last game I finished was Indigo Prophecy or Diablo II for PC. Console games, Mario 64 on the N64 lol. Even some classic games that I love, like Zelda on the NES, I've never finished. I'd get to the final boss then just stop there.

Why don't I finish titles? Well now, I just have zero interest in playing a single player game by myself. I feel like I'm wasting time gaming when I could be doing something productive. But when I was younger, it was more about the overall gaming experience / replay factor than the goal of actually finishing a title.

 

[red1776]

There's an end to these things?

 

[madboyv1]

Considering a majority of games I play have single player modes, I've beaten all of those games, and usually will revisit games if I did not beat them at the highest difficulty or in the case of RPGs, when I still played them, I'd try a "perfect run" whenever I felt assed to do it. lol

 

[lawfer]

Isn't that picture considered spoiler (therefore decreasing the chance of someone actually beating the game)?

Just saying...

 

[Ranger12]

Maybe it's just me but I tend to complete every game I buy. Especially ones like Mass Effect. I just get sucked into them easily and cant stop until Ive completed the story.

 

[mrtraver]

I never really thought about it before, but most of the games that I have completed/beat have specific, linear campaigns. BUt I have ever come close to beating an RPG; I get so bogged down wanting to complete every little bit that i get bored and give up before i get to the "good" parts. Mass Effect, Fallout 3, and GTA San Andreas immediately come to mind as games I didn't play as much as I thought I would, but C&C 3, Crimson Skies, and Bad Company 2 are three games where I did complete the single player campaign.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I always beat them.
Why? Why not?

 

[yukka]

I used to complete everything. Quake/Quake 2 to many times to remember, Jedi Knight games, Hexen 2, I completed Return to Castlewolfenstein in one sitting. Now I have a stack of games I got on steam that I havent completed and there are a number of console games I have enjoyed but got rid of.

In my case its definately lack of time and also a saturation of first person games. Steam sales have alot of answer for.

Then again I have let it slip a bit. I have never completed either Halflife 2 or Doom 3 let alone any of the extra episodes I got in the Orange Box.

 

[Kibaruk]

I think from time to time is just that the game becomes repetitive, or the character advancement gets stuck before you even get to finish the game, sometimes they are way too slow.

Since you took this game as an example, I know my little brother plays a lot of games but he gets bored quite fast, or sometimes he reaches a point where is too dificult to keep going and gets bored. You know... not everyone is a hardcore gamer.

There have been few games that after starting I felt the need to finish them like happened in Final Fantasy VII on PC, Chrono Cross on PSX, Resident Evil 4 on PS2, Gears of War for Xbox, and other 5 or so come to my mind that have been a MUST to end. I have gone through a couple more than I can recall but those were just about getting the game done more than must finish them.

Oh and thats right... time IS fundamental here too.

 

[Kibaruk]

Forgot one of the most important game of all... Breath of Fire for super nintendo, that game was the best ever (And the first RPG I played on a gaming platform).

 

[Guest]

Same as the original poster, I play games for the multiplayer aspect. The single player aspect is the last thing on my mind. When I'm looking at games to purchase I'm only considering the multiplayer. There are some occasions, such as StarCraft 2, where I play the single player, but that's only out of nostalgia and not so much interest. Then, as with StarCraft 2, I play exclusively multiplayer.

I too feel like I'm wasting time if I'm playing a single player game. I think that this is a common feeling among people these days with everyone being so readily connected via the internet.

 

[St1ckM4n]

I tend to swap and switch between games, so as not to get bored. As a result, shorter campaign-mode games like COD, BFBC2, Batman, etc, get finished, whereas large open-ended games like Dirt2 and GRID are still waiting for 100%.

 

[Breech]

I complete nearly every game I purchase but time is the largest factor in how long that actually takes. Sometimes it can be several months before I get to the end. Perhaps I'm in the minority these days but I prefer single player to multiplayer by a large margin. Both can be fun but stick me in the sandbox and I'm a happy camper.

 

[Cota]

Since i played Elder Scrolls Oblivion, i would say that 90% of the games became boring as hell. For an example, i got the so famous Mass Effect 2 (i did finished ME"1") but i got hell bored, i need a more faster game "flow", the graphics are great, but its sooo slow on the gameplay. I got used to run, shoot my bown while making a turn jump, Hit Hit Hit!, omg! Shield! fatigue is low, pew pew pew, invisibility and hide, cast heals! (more HoTs xD), go back to pew pew sold... oh poisons got him....
Games are going HD and low on gameflow? or is it just me?

 

[Rasta211]

I like completing all the single player campaign modes. I consider it as training. I think the games where you get stuck and there are no hints on what to do next, that kills the will to continue to play.

I enjoy the single player campaign story lines and such and sometimes when your waiting for a download to finish or my internet goes down a single player campaign game comes in handy.

 

[Xero07]

I finish games probably 95% of the time. One of my odd exceptions is final fantasy 7. I got all the way to the final Sephiroth battle, lost and then never managed to get myself to do all the extra stuff at the end that to improve my party. I have finished all of the Bioware games i have payed so far.

 

[Guest]

I usually finish the singleplayer in games but very rarely go back and try harder difficulties. Bioware seem to be an exception in 2 ways for me, Dragon Age I never finished but Mass Effect 1-2 I went back and did on Insanity.

I have no idea why I left Dragon Age, it's better done than Mass Effect (on PC) and story isn't half bad. Could be some lingering bitterness of having to buy a DLC just to get a storage but probably not the only reason

 

[gwailo247]

Only when they misbehave.

I usually play strategy games, like Civ or Paradox games, or quick time killers, so there typically isn't a campaign to "beat". But I did play Witcher through twice, once in each language, lol.

 

[bugejakurt]

I almost always finish up games. Unless the game is not so interesting or exciting, or unless the game is too long and monotonous. Else games like Crysis, Crysis Warhead, LOTR BFME 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, etc. encourage me to finish their single player campaign more than once.

 

[dividebyzero]

Always finish what you start.
If it's bad game then I consider it pennance for being foolish/gullible in buying the game in the first place.
If it's an open-ended game/freeplay scenario (i.e. GTA, STALKER+mods) then the "end" of the storyline just means putting hard cash into a pool and competing against both the game and your friends -such as collecting every in-game available item, first to X number of kills, X amount of player cash etc. First one there (in elapsed game time) emails the others a copy of the save game- and we ante up for the next set of milestones.

 

[Per Hansson]

Games that are good I love to beat, and multiple times too. Some I feel have limited singleplayer repeatability, Like Starcraft II for example

But awsome games like Deus Ex 1 I have completed more times than I can count
Really enjoy Far Cry and Crysis aswell, tho have not replayed them as many times...

Otherwise I can also find great fun in starting up some really old game, like Settlers II or Indiana Jonas and the Fate of Atlantis
Games I have not completed are usually open worlds (like GTA and similar) but another that comes to mind is Bioshock, have not finnished that yet, does not mean I someday wont pick it up again and finnish it of course

 

[T77]

i have beaten every game that i have bought.why not? games arent cheap and i have to save for them.
i like to get the whole experience.i played crysis 3 times. it was fun

 

[Guest]

I beat pretty much every game I get. I don't buy games often and if I do, I'm d@/n\n sure going to get my money out of it.

 

[edison5do]

For my feslf I only buy games that Im really into playing nad that mean that every game I buy it is because im going to finish it.

Plus in my country it´s to expensive to buy games so I have to order it by internet ( if I want to have the CD), or buy it by Steam (but I only have 2 moth with my Steam account, Just for DarkSiders..... and I havent Finish it yet, for the Lack Of Time desease.)