When it comes to video games, it's very easy to figure out what to do with games that are clearly good and games that are clearly bad. A good game will not let you go until you've squeezed every last bit of the experience out of it, while a bad game will eat at your soul until you get rid of it. But what are we to do with mediocre games? The games that aren't bad, but aren't necessarily good, either?
The last time I wrote about Silent Hill: Homecoming, I had some good things to say about it and a number of criticisms as well. The post ended on a very negative note. Despite the things I disliked about the game, I did go back to play it again. I wanted to be able to definitively back up my negative feelings towards the game and let it collect dust on my shelf once and for all. The problem is...it got kind of good. The scenarios I was playing through were interesting enough to keep me pacing forward, even though I'm still not sure exactly what the story to this game is. I played some more, until I felt like I was done for the day.
Unfortunately for me, this is when a new problem arose. I got to a stretch in the game that did not offer a checkpoint to save. I said to myself, "OK, I'll just play to the next checkpoint." I wouldn't actually get to the next checkpoint for another hour. Games made in this day and age that have such disparate save points should die in a fire. I was ready to let this game go when I decided to check a strategy guide, just to see how far I had made it through the game. "Damn it!" I said to myself. "I'm half way through."
Image from IGNI've only been playing this game for about four hours. At this moment, what's another four hours? I could still get to experience what is good about this game, if I can bear with its weaknesses. There are also achievement points to be had, which seem to be coming at a decent rate. Ultimately though, I should be playing games because their fun, right? And there are definitely other games I could play that would be more fun. But maybe this game will be fun enough for the four more hours I'll need to beat it.
Maybe I'm just a game snob, but I don't like having to think about whether or not I want to continue playing a game. If it's good, I'll keep going. If it's not, forget it. But when you play a mediocre game and already have invested some time in it, the choice of whether or not to play it gets murkier than it really should.
So what am I to do with Silent Hill: Homecoming? I have decided to play it through to the end on two conditions. One, I will only play from one checkpoint to another. I don't ever want to get stuck want to quit between checkpoints ever again, and I won't know when the next one will arrive. The other condition? If this game commits another heinous crime against fun, then I'll bury it once and for all.
Maybe I'm just a game snob, but I don't like having to think about whether or not I want to continue playing a game. If it's good, I'll keep going. If it's not, forget it. But when you play a mediocre game and already have invested some time in it, the choice of whether or not to play it gets murkier than it really should.
So what am I to do with Silent Hill: Homecoming? I have decided to play it through to the end on two conditions. One, I will only play from one checkpoint to another. I don't ever want to get stuck want to quit between checkpoints ever again, and I won't know when the next one will arrive. The other condition? If this game commits another heinous crime against fun, then I'll bury it once and for all.