# The single worst design feature in a video game ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 7, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954 "2009-10-07T16:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/41 "2009-10-09T01:51:05Z")
Otis from Dead Rising was pretty infuriating. The phone rings. You answer it. You get attacked by zombies so you have to hang up and fight. During that fight the phone rings nonstop and when you finally answer it again he bitches at you for hanging up on him. What the hell? And don’t even try to ignore it because he will drive you crazy with constant calls. I never wanted to club an NPC to death with a barbell as bad as I wanted to club that guy. Also the important text that was unreadable on a standard CRT. That was nice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/42 "2009-10-09T02:18:43Z")
In an edition of Total Baseball, I read about an (unnamed) early baseball sim that was programmed to not let any player exceed their stats for that particular season. Example: Guy hit 48 out of the park that season; if sim Guy hits homer #48 in August, he won’t hit any more for the rest of the season! ---
**Author:** ![JoseArcadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@JoseArcadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseArcadio)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/43 "2009-10-09T13:01:34Z")
Civilization on the PS3 (Civ: Revolutions?) had the characters talk in a nonsense Sims-style voice. It was easy to mute them but… what the was the point? Either make them say words or keep them quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/44 "2009-10-09T13:59:32Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Unlike JRPGs, there’s rarely a need to grind in western RPGs, just make sure to do the sidequests and you’ll be high enough level. If there’s one thing that KOTOR 2 lacked (there weren’t, by the way - there were millions of things that KOTOR 2 lacked…), it was side quests. There was already a level cap, why impose a near-inability to actually reach that level cap? The “final” boss was pretty hard. I like a challenge, so didn’t really mind a few restarts to get the strategy right - but I also like to on replay go through with a power leveled character and beat the crap out of that boss. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/45 "2009-10-09T15:17:18Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > That wasn’t Baldur’s Gate’s most wall-punchy feature for me. However, instant game over the second the protagonist dies ? Oh yes. Nevermind the fact that you can resurrect dead NPCs in town at the drop of a hat, or hell that your party’s cleric might have the spell ready to fire RIGHT NOW. Nope, game over. > > Not much of a factor when you’re playing a dwarf barbarian, but forget about playing a pure mage. Even more so in the first game, where you start off with 4 hit points and a magic missile. Wee, a kobold looked in my direction, load screen time ! Interresting variation that used to drive me insane: Arcanum. Now, I -love- Arcanum. If my CD of it hadn’t gotten broken during a recent apartment flood, I’d still be playing it, but… When it comes to resurrection… In Arcanum you can either follow a path of magic or a path of tech, or try to hold a middle ground. If you follow one of the first two too closely, the other side won’t work for you (ie- if you’re a powerful wizard, tech will become pretty useless to you, and if you’re a great inventor, magic becomes useless). There are two general ‘healer’ NPC’s you can pick up. One’s magic, the other is tech. The magician learns resurrect as a spell pretty early, but will NEVER cast it on you. If you die, he’ll just leave you there, game over. The inventor healer, if given resurrection devices, will use them on you immediately upon your death (heck, she even brought me back more than once during a combat.) I keep wanting to scream at the mage-healer, “You dofus! You even cast healing spells on my inventors, which do no good! Why won’t you cast resurrect when I’m playing my archmage build?!” :mad: ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/46 "2009-10-09T16:09:11Z")
-Degrading weapons. This almost never works and usually feels like a really cheap way to keep you from using your guns too much. Fallout 3’s was tolerable, considering most of the guns were probably 200 years old and ill maintained, but it makes no sense in System Shock 2. -If you want to get the best ending, you must find absolutely everything, which are usually very, very well hidden. Doubly so if this is the canonical ending. Just one of the many, many problems with Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. One of the reasons I didn’t feel compelled to finish the game. -The enemy has released zeppelins with nuclear bombs/helicopters/etc. If one escapes the map, you lose. Prototype and Red Alert 3 really pissed me off with this one. Red Alert 3 gets bonus points that the zeppelins automatically start popping out at a certain point, so you can’t even clear the map ahead of time. Oh, and they keep respawning infinity until you kill their bases(of which there are 9 or so). And the kicker being that apparently, if the zeppelins leave Cuban airspace, apparently none of the allied air forces will be able to track and destroy them before they reach their targets hundreds of miles away. These are ZEPPELINS, not ICBM’s! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/47 "2009-10-09T17:30:07Z")
> [@](#): > > -Degrading weapons. This almost never works and usually feels like a really cheap way to keep you from using your guns too much. Fallout 3’s was tolerable, considering most of the guns were probably 200 years old and ill maintained, but it makes no sense in System Shock 2. The worse offender I ever saw for this was a Doom-era FPS, with a name that had something to do with witches (I can’t remember exactly what it was called). All the enemies had swords or bows, but you started off with just your fists. After searching long and hard, you eventually managed to find a dagger… Which would fairly quickly wear out, without warning. And there was only one dagger in the entire huge starting area, which didn’t respawn, even though all the enemies did. And of course you couldn’t get a sword off of an enemy corpse. And just to add insult to injury, your automap also wore out, so by the time you crossed the map and came back, you couldn’t tell where anything was any more. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/48 "2009-10-09T17:57:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The worse offender I ever saw for this was a Doom-era FPS, with a name that had something to do with witches (I can’t remember exactly what it was called). All the enemies had swords or bows, but you started off with just your fists. After searching long and hard, you eventually managed to find a dagger… Which would fairly quickly wear out, without warning. And there was only one dagger in the entire huge starting area, which didn’t respawn, even though all the enemies did. And of course you couldn’t get a sword off of an enemy corpse. And just to add insult to injury, your automap also wore out, so by the time you crossed the map and came back, you couldn’t tell where anything was any more. OK, degrading weapons I can grok where they’re coming from, both from a gameplay and a realism standpoint but a decaying MAP ?! WTH ? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/49 "2009-10-09T18:01:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The worse offender I ever saw for this was a Doom-era FPS, with a name that had something to do with witches (I can’t remember exactly what it was called). Hexen. My nomination - enemies with infinite ammo/mp when yours is limited. Particularly enemy healers with infinite MP. That come in pairs (or larger groups). So you can’t kill one because the other will heal it. Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Rattlehead02](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rattlehead02/32/3944_2.png) [@Rattlehead02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rattlehead02)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/50 "2009-10-09T18:10:33Z")
“Hero, your will power is low. Watch that.” Ugh, from Fable I. They even make fun of it in Fable II. ---
**Author:** ![Neverending\_Elbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@Neverending\_Elbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neverending_Elbow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/51 "2009-10-09T20:26:32Z")
Yes, the Guild Master was one way of turning an otherwise good character evil. I found out too late that you can just switch his ‘advice’ off. The bit in Fable 2 about the GM being found dead with “Your health is low.” carved on his forehead was brilliant, though. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/52 "2009-10-09T21:15:58Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > But isn’t this the case with most western RPGs? Neverwinter nights, baldurs gate, kotor 1, etc… All had finite enemies. That’s one reason I like them is because there’s no worrying about having to grind for a few hours just to be powerful enough to beat the game. Unlike JRPGs, there’s rarely a need to grind in western RPGs, just make sure to do the sidequests and you’ll be high enough level. Really, this is the mark of any reasonably well build RPG, J or W. Your choice. I’ve gone through many JRPGs with zero grinding. Most of them _also_ have “extra super hard bonus content which you are not required to do to beat the game (and in some cases can’t do _until_ you’ve beaten the game.).” THAT requires grinding. And that’s also…sortof the point. I’m a big fan of delayed respawns myself. Area stays cleared for as long as you’re in it, but once you leave, thereby travelling to whoknowswhere, it only makes sense that something would creep back in. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/53 "2009-10-09T21:46:09Z")
No, the game I’m thinking of wasn’t Hexen-- In Hexen, the first weapon never needed ammo and never wore out, and the later weapons that did use ammo (actually, mana) they told you how much you had and how close you were to running out, and the mana was plentiful. This was some minor studio contribution which has been (rightly) forgotten in the mists of history, and I’m certain the name contained “witch”. “Witchhaven”, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/54 "2009-10-10T01:55:25Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Degrading weapons. This almost never works and usually feels like a really cheap way to keep you from using your guns too much. Fallout 3’s was tolerable, considering most of the guns were probably 200 years old and ill maintained, but it makes no sense in System Shock 2. I agree completely. _FarCry 2_ has its weapons degrade at an incredible rate, which is nonsensical when you consider that things like the AK-47 are well known in real life for working pretty much forever in the worst conditions… with no maintenance. What’s interesting is that when you disable the weapon degradation (via cheat codes), the game suddenly gets appreciably shorter since you don’t have to keep running off to the armoury all the time to get a “new” gun. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/55 "2009-10-10T04:42:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This was some minor studio contribution which has been (rightly) forgotten in the mists of history, and I’m certain the name contained “witch”. “Witchhaven”, maybe? I don’t recall Witchhaven having degrading weapons but it’s entirely possible it did. I’m certainly not digging out the CD to check. 🙂 I can’t believe they made a sequel to it as well… I just encountered a doozy of a bad design decision in Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (which could be a masters class of bad design decisions when taken on the whole). To gain abilities you have to sleep. You can only sleep in certain places when enemies are not around. You are limited to a narrow path despite the graphics showing an effectively open environment (a contender for worst design decision right there). Some enemies are not constrained to the path and they run from you. So there are enemies that you cannot attack staying out of your reach preventing you from advancing your character. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/56 "2009-10-11T01:09:37Z")
Speaking of _KOTOR_. I like playing intellectual characters in RPGs, I like to have many options in the dialogues. I usually sacrifice other stats to have high intelligence and charisma. This makes my main character weaker in combat, but I make up for it by honing the the supporting characters to become mean lean killing machines. So what happens in _KOTOR_ to piss me off, you say. Only that you have to fight the end boss alone. ALONE! If I hadn’t have had a gazillion sticky grenades and plasma grenades, I’d have never beaten him. The whole end fight was me spamming plasma grenades, with a few sticky ones so the boss couldn’t move. ---
**Author:** ![Rin\_Twisted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Rin\_Twisted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rin_Twisted)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/57 "2009-10-11T06:19:18Z")
The single most frustrating thing I’ve ever encountered in a game is the cliff racer enemies in Morrowind. As in all Elder Scrolls games, you can’t rest when enemies are nearby, right? No big deal normally- either kill them, or keep moving until you get out of range. Not so with the cliff racers. I guess because they’re like big, prehistoric birds, they could ‘see’ you with a far greater aerial range. Waaaayy before you could see them. You were then forced to wait as they awkwardly descended towards you with agonizing slowness, and you could finally sort of hack at the air until they died. I don’t know how many hours of my total gameplay in Morrowind were actually spent staring at the sky, searching in vain for the cliff racer I just knew was there. They weren’t difficult, they weren’t high in XP- they were just frequent, and frustrating beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/58 "2009-10-21T18:13:42Z")
Spore’s space stage. Everyone else gets a fleet of ships. You get a UFO. The end. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/59 "2009-10-21T18:42:20Z")
Replaying **Baldur’s Gate** right now… To start the game each time, you need to click-skip past endless producer-brand clips and video sequences. I think there are at least 8 separate ones. Quitting the game is almost as bad. I can’t believe that I was able to play this game back in the days of 2x speed cd-rom drives without smashing something. _quit_ Are you sure? Progress will not be saved _yes__quit_ loads main menu _quit_ _quit_ ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954/60 "2009-10-21T19:02:29Z")
Different control schemes for practically identical sequels. I recently bought the first two Oddworld games off of Steam. They use the same graphics engine and have the exact same play style. The second game is more of an expansion than it is a sequel. So when I plug in my USB controller, I would expect the controls to be identical. Nope, they remapped almost every single button for the second game and there is no way to change it. Fantastic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-design-feature-in-a-video-game-ever/512954.md?page=4)