Outdated gameplay mechanics that must DIE DIE DIE

There are 3 videogame mechanics that are completely outdated & cheap... it's astounding that they're still put into games nowadays because they represent the limitation of imagination and programming of videogames of the past.

Infinite respawning enemies - I can see how this mechanic was created, it's like basic programing: line 10 enemy spawns. Line 20 go to Line 10.... back when games were like a few kilobytes big it maybe makes sense to always have the same enemies come back once you went offscreen and back on. But once games got into the 3D level like Doom-- WHY does there need to be infinite enemies?? Sure there are a few exceptions where something is needed from an enemy so it has to always come back in case you messed up & killed it or didn't get it the first time. But for the vast majority of infinite enemies in games this is *not* the case. Games made today still have this cheap & unnecesary game mechanic.

Time limits - Yes I hate time limits. And yes there probably are some cases where time limits are needed for certain sections of a game. But it's used way too often to try to add "challenge" or "prolong gameplay" through forcing the player to repeat game sections over & over. Weak & lazy.

Protect the helpless [whatever] missions - I'd really like to track down whoever came up with this game mechanic & give them a good swift kick in the head. We've all played this; whether it's that helpless furry zurtogg or unarmed steamer ship... whatever it is, it has the same traits: it's completely useless, has little health, and does its' absolute damndest to get itself killed, despite your best efforts to fight off its attackers. What I want to know is, when was the last time you had FUN playing such missions? Ever??? So what does it matter that it made a game 1 hour longer if players *hated* playing through that extra hour?

What makes these mechanics broken is that at the core, they take the control of the game out of the players hands. In protect missions, you fail because of something else's health or whatever. Not because you didn't dodge the bullets but because something programmed to suck didn't.

It's obvious that game developers pull these hackneyed formulas off the shelf & plug them into a game to save time/effort, like maybe for movie tie-in games. It's way past time that they start to think of something new.


later
don