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Health packs vs health regen. Which do you prefer?
- Thread starter Transistor
- Start date
I think Shadow Warrior (2013) had the best balance between health regen and health packs. In the game, you can use ki to regen your health. The kicker was that you can only regen up to I think 80% of your maximum health. You always had to have the help of health packs if you wanted full health.
The way The Division handles health regen and med kits is also really nice, with the med kits having a cool-down so they can't be spammed and the health bar segments only regenerating to the max of that particular bar.
The way The Division handles health regen and med kits is also really nice, with the med kits having a cool-down so they can't be spammed and the health bar segments only regenerating to the max of that particular bar.
BRocknRolla
Member
As others have already said, it's wholly dependent on the game. Either has to be properly balanced against the design of the game, and if it's done well, or poorly, that's going to determine how much you enjoy it.
At the end of the day, I don't have any definitive preference as a result.
At the end of the day, I don't have any definitive preference as a result.
Hibiki Kurosawa
Member
Depends. I like regen in CoD, but I like health in Unreal Tournament and Half-Life. Just depends on the pacing and style of the game.
The health bar in Resistance is divided into quarters. Your health will fill up the quarter it's in, but it won't go higher without finding a health pack to restore it. Gave a good balance to the two types.
This. Op knows his stuff. Resistance was actually a pretty challenging game.
NightShift
Member
Healing items when done right can encourage a good mixture of offensive and defensive play. I prefer this approach because I like variety but it really depends on the game. Although, I hate the Call of Duty regeneration with a passion, there's nothing fun or challenging about waiting in cover. I'm so happy that trend is going away.
Both have their place depending on how you design the game but I've tended to prefer more games that go the health pack route. Regen kills those moments of great satisfaction when you get through an area by the skin of your teeth with just a sliver of health remaining.
One things for sure is that no one should be advocating widespead adoption of either at the expense of the other as they produce different styles of game and variety is nice.
One things for sure is that no one should be advocating widespead adoption of either at the expense of the other as they produce different styles of game and variety is nice.
I don't know about "favorite method," but I think I prefer games with health packs. I like needing to go out and find my health, rather than the sit and wait stuff.
I do like games with the other method though, like Gears. Or if we're talking strictly single-player stuff then I also like the Halo games. I really, really liked the new Wolfenstein games, although that was a mixture of the two. I guess some of the Halo games used a "hybrid" method, too.
I absolutely love how nuDooM does it with health packs and you "earning" more health with the glory kills.
I do like games with the other method though, like Gears. Or if we're talking strictly single-player stuff then I also like the Halo games. I really, really liked the new Wolfenstein games, although that was a mixture of the two. I guess some of the Halo games used a "hybrid" method, too.
I absolutely love how nuDooM does it with health packs and you "earning" more health with the glory kills.
Bloodporne
Member
Depends on the style of game. I thought regen worked beautifully in Gears of War.
I'm currently playing PSX Doom Total Conversion on PC and am reminded of how fun and tense 'you used all the health pickups already, tough shit, use better strategy next time' can be.
I'm currently playing PSX Doom Total Conversion on PC and am reminded of how fun and tense 'you used all the health pickups already, tough shit, use better strategy next time' can be.
zerokoolpsx
Member
Prefer health packs.
GuitarAtomik
Member
I've never really been a fan of health packs even before regen was a thing so I tend to prefer regen. It depends on the implementation though. Halo's in between use of regen and health was pretty cool. I also like what the new Doom does with health.
Stereogatari
Banned
I'm a traditionalist. Classic TR games and MGS games were all about collecting and managing those resources. Good fun.
Of course you can't have something like Uncharted without regen.
Of course you can't have something like Uncharted without regen.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
Regen generally. Health lack games tend to be harder, lead to situations where you have to reload levels as you get a checkpoint with not enough health to get through the next encounter etc. I'm not a fan of hard games, with a few exceptions like Soulsborne, and particularly don't like over hard shooters. It's a genre I play more for the powertrip,graphics and narratives.
I did love the health system in the new Doom though. Put a nice, fresh spin on the combat and staying alive in hectic firefights.
I did love the health system in the new Doom though. Put a nice, fresh spin on the combat and staying alive in hectic firefights.
If the game excels in its encounters yet leaves the stages open enough to enable back-tracking, I don't want to be encouraged to double back for health pickups. That's pretty lame. If the levels appropriately block me off from doing that, that's a plus, but many older first/third person shooters don't.
Health regen can be an elegant solution to this, but you need it to take long enough that the player can't easily exploit it (or perhaps even don't have it kick in while the player is in an encounter).
In general, I'd say that my favorite is slow partial regen (so you're never screwed) combined with healing items that you can't really backtrack for.
Health regen can be an elegant solution to this, but you need it to take long enough that the player can't easily exploit it (or perhaps even don't have it kick in while the player is in an encounter).
In general, I'd say that my favorite is slow partial regen (so you're never screwed) combined with healing items that you can't really backtrack for.
Knuckle Sandwich
Member
Health packs. I'm ok with regenerating shields but I need to heal myself.
LordOfChaos
Member
Blood Vials. Which do they count as?
John Rabbit
Banned
It's a mixture of both. Health packs that regenerate at specific locations.
I most enjoy the Doom (2016) / Space Marine model of regaining health from killing enemies, but it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of mechanic.
The enemy design has to suit each style properly for it to work. Health regen games tend to have enemies that attack you with hitscan projectiles that you can't dodge and ends up with "under enemy fire" being roughly equivalent to "in damaging terrain". You can't just drop the regen and put health packs into that design and expect it to work properly.
The perfect Dark
Banned
Health packs of course. Everything else is lazy games design with no challenge.
Bloodporne
Member
On second though, I forgot about hating the feeling of never being able to play well enough to not get hit in games that use regen. Many of them seem designed around the fact that you're going to take a little damage no matter what since it regenerates anyway, so no biggie.
I actually really hate that, always makes me feel like no matter what I can't master the game.
A2theFake
Neo Member
so much this
The implementation of health packs in Doom, along with the way you reap health through glory kills, is an effective way to keep the action moving. I probably prefer that, however it would feel weird in a Battlefield game.
Battlefield is a hybrid model, as you can also drop health packs for your teammates.
My guess is a hybrid model makes sense in more games.
Battlefield is a hybrid model, as you can also drop health packs for your teammates.
My guess is a hybrid model makes sense in more games.
Health packs are annoying because they encourage you to scrounge around and even backtrack to keep your health topped off.
But health regen also sucks because it encourages the play style where you hide behind cover, pop out for a bit and kill a few dudes, hide for cover until your health regens again, pop out for a bit, and so on.
So they both suck I guess?
But health regen also sucks because it encourages the play style where you hide behind cover, pop out for a bit and kill a few dudes, hide for cover until your health regens again, pop out for a bit, and so on.
So they both suck I guess?
I like it when they mix the too, a component of recharging health and a chunk that doesn't heal on its own. Prevents the cases of games in the past where you had to restart because you couldn't find a health pack and were low health on save, but keeps some of difficulty of damage permanence.
FunkyPajamas
Member
Yup. Same here.
I generally prefer health packs (and games that are designed/balanced around that), but I've enjoyed games with regenerating health as well. Not a problem there.
I'd like to put the focus not on how to heal damage, but the source of it.
If damage is unavoidable (for example, enemies use hitscan weapons), then regenerating health is the way to go about it. Because no matter what you do, how fast you move, and how good you are, you are going to take some damage.
On the flipside, avoidable damage is better suited with health packs, so that the gameplay loop looks something like this "avoid getting hit, since you can do it. If you screw up, go hunt yourself some healthpacks around the map".
Personally, as a huge fan of classic FPS games, I absolutely love the latter approach, since it encourages players to play better, without giving them the impression of doing something wrong each time they get hit by a hitscan weapon.
If damage is unavoidable (for example, enemies use hitscan weapons), then regenerating health is the way to go about it. Because no matter what you do, how fast you move, and how good you are, you are going to take some damage.
On the flipside, avoidable damage is better suited with health packs, so that the gameplay loop looks something like this "avoid getting hit, since you can do it. If you screw up, go hunt yourself some healthpacks around the map".
Personally, as a huge fan of classic FPS games, I absolutely love the latter approach, since it encourages players to play better, without giving them the impression of doing something wrong each time they get hit by a hitscan weapon.
Health packs by far. Regen kind of ruined games. It breaks up the flow of the game, and allows developers to be lazier with enemy placement. Just throw a bunch of enemies in a room and here's a rock to hide behind for a few minutes. Awful.
The only genre I like recharging health in is openworld games. Ironically GTA never had it. Nobody has time to piss about driving to kfc to get their health back up.
The only genre I like recharging health in is openworld games. Ironically GTA never had it. Nobody has time to piss about driving to kfc to get their health back up.
Automatic health regeneration isn't inherently a bad thing but no shooters are truly designed around it. The last time I remember enjoying a game with health regen was Halo, they used a neat system that had a combination of a regenerating shield but also a traditional health pool.
I prefer health packs because it brings the element of long-term planning. When health and ammo are finite resources and you have options in how to tackle stage with multiple routes, then it opens up to optimization runs like what we had in GoldenEye and Perfect Dark's higher difficulty settings. Those games have tight, interconnected levels with multiple routes through them and objectives that can be completed in any order so it becomes a matter of planning a strategy/route while surviving the level and satisfying all the win conditions which in this case is to complete the levels under a certain time limit + finish every objective. This setup opens up to some really deep and satisfying gameplay.
I prefer health packs because it brings the element of long-term planning. When health and ammo are finite resources and you have options in how to tackle stage with multiple routes, then it opens up to optimization runs like what we had in GoldenEye and Perfect Dark's higher difficulty settings. Those games have tight, interconnected levels with multiple routes through them and objectives that can be completed in any order so it becomes a matter of planning a strategy/route while surviving the level and satisfying all the win conditions which in this case is to complete the levels under a certain time limit + finish every objective. This setup opens up to some really deep and satisfying gameplay.
Combination.
Problem with health packs is being stuck at 1/100 hp. Give an enemy a machine gun and you might as well give up and reload the game.
Slow health regen sucks, since best way forward is to go make coffee, also a terrible system.Normally found in games where you get a lot of hp to start out with. Don't like that system.
Full automatic health regen, convinient, but causes you just to go hide, and fight, hide and fight.
The best systems use a combination of both, health packs with some kind of delay in usage, and only partial health regen, so that 1/100 hp becomes 25/100 as example, making the next challenge possible, but not impossible.
Health packs there are used sparingly for the bigger longer encounters.
Problem with health packs is being stuck at 1/100 hp. Give an enemy a machine gun and you might as well give up and reload the game.
Slow health regen sucks, since best way forward is to go make coffee, also a terrible system.Normally found in games where you get a lot of hp to start out with. Don't like that system.
Full automatic health regen, convinient, but causes you just to go hide, and fight, hide and fight.
The best systems use a combination of both, health packs with some kind of delay in usage, and only partial health regen, so that 1/100 hp becomes 25/100 as example, making the next challenge possible, but not impossible.
Health packs there are used sparingly for the bigger longer encounters.
Aces&Eights
Member
Hmm, I'm a health pack guy but I really liked Bloodborne's way of giving you some health if you attacked right after receiving damage. Prefect balance of "Shit! I'm hit!" and "Take that, fucker!"
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