Even though I might directly contradict myself someday, here it goes: Replay is for suckers.

Loads of independent (and not-so-independent) reviewers will try and tell you that a game’s “replay” factor is a key ingredient toward getting you to shell out fifty bucks for a new title, this is (with few exceptions) total BS. As far as I can tell there are only three factors that justify replay: Relive the experience, unlock contact and alternate endings.

First is the ability to relive the great moments of you experienced the first time through a game. What is forgotten, however, are the moments (and in most cases hours) spent with the frustrating time-sinks that exist in every gaming experience. Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s water temple, endless Metal Gear cut-scenes, leveling in any RPG and every moment in Ninja Gaiden: Black (pure hell unless you’re a sadist, and in that case, more power to you). Do you really want to go through all of that when you could be off to the greener pastures of a new game experience? Besides, your memories of those good moments will always be better then the real thing.

Secondly, there is the case of unlockable content. That is little bonuses added by the programmers to entice you into thinking that their game is worthy of purchase. These can be anything from production sketches to a cut scene theater. Most of this stuff is either inconsequential or could be easily found on the internet. And what about unlocking alternate costumes? Playing as Kratos in a cow suit looks funny, but is it really worth all that time and effort to have to opportunity to kill zombies with milk jugs?

Finally there are alternate endings. This is a sticky spot, especially with the rise of ‘morality-based’ game play. That is a game where the experience changes due to how you play the game ethically. A “good” character will get the “good character” ending, while a “bad” charter will get the “bad character ending.” (My parentheses here are not an error, but a concept I intend to explore further soon). While ‘morality-based’ games could offer legitimate alternate endings, but typically they are just reversed images of each other. So it doesn’t take much to figure out how the other ending goes without having to play through again, i.e. instead of saving the world you destroy it.

Economists call this the Law of Diminishing Returns; I call it time to hit the rental store again.

THE RIDE BOARD:

In the Xbox:   I am not ashamed to admit it I am a big fan of True Crime: Streets of L.A. I found the mix of fighting, shooting and driving to be very well done. The game play was challenging and varied and numerous side missions were entertaining and the upgrades were worth the effort to obtain. The story was solid (even if it got a little ‘out there; near the end) and while some people found the “Nick Kang” character obnoxious, I felt that he was a nice change of pace from the silent, grizzled type we are often stuck playing as lately (I’m looking at you, Mr. Fisher). So when True Crime: New York City hit, I was first in line, and let me tell you this game issssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. Hmm, it looks like my review locked up on me…just like the game did! I have zero tolerance for lockups and I don’t care if Miyamoto himself came back from the dead just to make a game for me, if it locks up its back in the mail. THE END.

Did You Know:span style=’mso-spacerun:yes’>  The term labyrinth is often used interchangeably with maze, but a maze is a puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a labyrinth has only a single path (”unicursal”) to the center.

From The Vaults:   In my semi-frequent bouts of inebriation, I store deeply in to a parquet style hardwood floor (think Celtic’s home court) and I flashed back to Maze Craze for the Atari 2600. Here was a game that made the most of a simple concept: Find your way through a maze and made the most of it. Each level (if you can even call it that) was randomly generated for each game as you and a competitor raced to reach the end first. Nowadays I marvel at this simple program’s capabilities and can’t now recall a game that generates levels randomly between Maze Craze and its spiritual successor: Diablo.

This is my stop.

Comments?  Questions?  E-mail me at seth410@gamertransit.com.  Complaints?  Once will be enough, thanks!

Back of the Bus is © 2005 by Seth “4:10” Robison, used with exclusive permission by gamertransit.com.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.