Health Packs ++

[Fightersmegamix]

Remember health packs? Of course you do You would get a finite amount, and if you made a mess of things you had to use one. Run out of health packs and it was a tense scramble to the next save point. You would be punished for your errors and had to decide whether to save them up for a final boss or use them to make progress. Then some genius decided they were just silly - who left all these health packs lying around? It ruins the immersion etc. So we moved to regenerating health bars, then a screen that goes red a bit when you get injured. Now you get shot in the head and your only punishment is to stand still for 5 seconds, much more realistic

Are there any modern games where health packs are still used?

[Vyothric]

Ah...health packs....

So we moved to regenerating health bars, then a screen that goes red a bit when you get injured. Now you get shot in the head and your only punishment is to stand still for 5 seconds, much more realistic

I really hate this.

[The Beans]

Now you get shot in the head and your only punishment is to stand still for 5 seconds

Standing still for 5 seconds without getting hit isn't a gimme. It depends on the game and the difficulty setting really.

In truth, both health packs and regenerating health aren't exactly going to trouble the bounds of realism. I've played plenty of games where health packs were so abundant they became irrelevant. And who can forget that handy pile of health packs and ammo right before a boss encounter?

A health pack that magically heals all wounds in an instant or the wonder science of a body that can fully recover over time after taking any amount of damage. Both sound a bit pish to me in the harsh light of reality. That's video games though. The suspension of belief to better facilitate the delivery of fun. One way is as good as another.
If it's done right, course.

[nakamura]

Health packs aren't about realism but good game design.

[Megamixer]

I thought Halo was quite good in that you had a finite space for health packs but your regenerating shield wasn't over-powered and actually made sense (in a sci-fi way of course).

Regenerating health that can save you from death has made FPS' much easier in many cases but it does detract from the survival. Having said that, regenerating health didn't stop me from dying plenty in Black and Duke Nukem Forever.

[nakamura]

Black? That had finite health packs.

[Megamixer]

Black? That had finite health packs.

Yes but when you are close to death, your health recovers slightly. There's a heart-pumping sound and blurring effect until it kicks in. I had to heavily abuse it to get through that damned final room in the game.

[DPrinny]

Deus EX HR
Alpha Protocall

[nakamura]

Black? That had finite health packs.

Yes but when you are close to death, your health recovers slightly. There's a heart-pumping sound and blurring effect until it kicks in. I had to heavily abuse it to get through that damned final room in the game.

Begging your pardon sir, I forgot about that and it also helped me in that final room!

[Rinoa]

Are there any modern games where health packs are still used?

Yep, Tomb Raider still uses them. I think Metal Gear Solid does too, in the form of Rations. Unless MGS4 did away with them? I can't remember.

I much prefer using health packs to characters who slowly regain health by keeping still. The latter slows the game down too much for me.

[Ferret Oxide]

Didn't Far Cry 2 have a health pack-esque system with those syringes you used to restore health?

[Misery]

Ah...health packs....

So we moved to regenerating health bars, then a screen that goes red a bit when you get injured. Now you get shot in the head and your only punishment is to stand still for 5 seconds, much more realistic

I really hate this.

Same here. Damn stupid mechanic, really. It always seemed to me to be one of those things that was designed to cater towards a crowd that was growing ever more averse to actual difficulty/challenge.

I mean, heck, not just health packs..... remember when in most games, you had a limited number of lives, and would (GASP!) actually get a game over if you ran out? Even if the game had a continue feature, the game-over screen pretty much rubbed in the fact that, yes, you had been DEFEATED. Not anymore, now you lose like, 5 minutes of progress MAYBE, and just regenerate at the nearest floaty shiny thing. I've watched players say that such-and-such game is pretty easy, yeah, they beat it without trouble, despite the part where I was watching them do much of it, and watching them die 10 squillion times in the process.... but they still "beat" it, sure!

There was a time when beating a game was actually an accomplishment, as many of them took real skill to finish completely..... now, you're just given infinite chances at that tough boss, and can even heal completely, without items, by just moving behind some pillar for 2 seconds. Exasperated sigh.

[djcarlos]

All the Assassin's Creed games.

[ShadowMan]

Max Payne 3 used health packs (well painkillers technically) instead of a regenerating health bar. It made fire fights more tense and sometimes they could be a real pain in the ass!

[Hiro]

Well, sometimes regenerating health works fine (e.g. Alan Wake), but the good old health packs have a different taste, and can give more focus on strategy and reward good playing.

As was already said, Tomb Raider is the first game that comes to mind, and some fps. But not many games... I loaded up Syphon Filter a couple of days ago... ah, the satisfaction of finding (or stealing dead enemies') a "flak jacket"...