How accurate are "hours of game play" for you?

[redcat]

Whenever people complain about a single-player mode campaign being too short, I know it'll be the perfect game for me. Considering how sporadically I play and how much I suck at games in general, I seem to get around triple the gameplay hours on the rare occasions I actually complete a game. Do the hours mentioned in reviews generally hold up for other people?

[nemein]

WRT things being too short, I say anything under 10 for a single player campaign is too short (conversely anything over 20 is starting to be too long ;)). As far as how that compares to what other people say it really depends upon the game. There was one recently (can't recall which... maybe Haze) where I went through it in fairly quick fashion (no real hang ups/didn't die/restart too often) and cleared it in about 6-8 hours, someone posted they finished it in something like 3 :hscratch: not sure I buy that one. Most of the time though when people say it's about an 8-10 hour game that's what it usually takes me.

[PopcornTreeCt]

Whenever people complain about a single-player mode campaign being too short, I know it'll be the perfect game for me. Considering how sporadically I play and how much I suck at games in general, I seem to get around triple the gameplay hours on the rare occasions I actually complete a game. Do the hours mentioned in reviews generally hold up for other people?

I agree. I don't think I suck but it seems like the hours of gameplay mentioned are factoring in never having to repeat levels or missions.

[lordwow]

I think the funniest thing is the # of hours that devs and websites report before the game is released. 60 hours for Mass Effect? And many others. I usually cut those #s in half.

[dvdsteve2000]

If I'm really into a game, I generally take my time. I don't care how long a game is supposed to be, because if it's a good game, I'll be playing it way longer than that anyhow.

[mhg83]

If I'm really into a game, I generally take my time. I don't care how long a game is supposed to be, because if it's a good game, I'll be playing it way longer than that anyhow.

Same here. I remember checking my total time for Grand theft auto san andreas was 70 hours and i was still on the desert missions.

[taffer]

When I was younger, I preferred long games. Now that I am older, I generally like games that are in the 10 hour range.

On a somewhat related note, a lot of people talk about how games used to be so much longer in the olden days. I really don't see this. Most games have always been short, even in the NES/SNES days.

People act like games were so much longer back then, but I think what it really was is that games were much more difficult but not any longer. Look at the typical action games back then. Most of them had 6-10 levels that could be beaten very quickly once you knew what you were doing. Popular games like Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, Battletoads, etc were really not that long. The thing is that those games were very difficult. Plus, without quicksaves and autosaves and such, if you died, you typically started over from the beginning of the level. It would take hours and hours just to beat one level, but once you really knew what you were doing, the games were pretty short.

I don't see today's games as being any shorter. Today's games are just easier. You don't have to replay the same level over and over again every time you die. There aren't really any gruelingly difficult games todays like Battletoads, TMNT, and Ghost & Goblins on the NES were. Even the Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden (which is toted as being difficult) is considerably less difficult than the old school Ninja Gaiden games.

Then, you have some genres like RPGs which are much longer today than they used to be. The old school Final Fantasy games and most NES/SNES RPGs were usually around 20-30 hours long. RPGs today are typically twice that.

[lordwow]

Also I feel like old games were more replayable. I can't really sit there and play the Turtles arcade games over and over again now, but I know I did then. It kinda artifically inflated the amount of time time you could spend on the game.

[The Bus]

Considering a handful of my favorite games have "hours of game play" into the hundreds of hours (Elder Scrolls, SMB & SMW, Halo 2, the SSX series), no it doesn't matter.

[The Bus]

People act like games were so much longer back then, but I think what it really was is that games were much more difficult but not any longer.

Yep. SMB takes a moderately skilled player who's mastered the game (i.e. many/most of us on this forum) what, 10-20 minutes to beat, max?

[ElementZ]

LOL....Love the warp zones.

[taffer]

Yep. SMB takes a moderately skilled player who's mastered the game (i.e. many/most of us on this forum) what, 10-20 minutes to beat, max?

LOL....Love the warp zones.


Yeah, it takes 10 minutes or so if you use the warp zones, but even still, by playing through every single level, SMB is not that long.

It has been ages since I lasted played SMB, so I could be wrong, but I believe there are 8 worlds with 4 levels each, right? Okay, consider that every level is on a timer; you have to beat the level before the timer hits zero or you lose a life and start over. This means every level can be beaten in 5 minutes or less. I don't remember any timers being over 5 minutes but I could be wrong; they all seemed really short to me.

Okay, so 8 worlds times 4 levels/world = 32 levels. 32 levels times 5 minutes/level = 160 minutes. Playing through every level in SMB can be done in less than 3 hours....

The thing is that SMB was a pretty difficult game. Some of the later levels especially, you would die repeatedly before getting through it. Today's platformer games are just easier. You don't die as much, so this makes them seem shorter, but they really aren't.

On a similar note, doesn't Contra have like 6 or 8 levels that take about 5 minutes each? You can beat Contra in less than an hour. Makes Gears of War's 6 hours seem really long... The thing is that Gears is a very easy game that can be played through without dying much. Contra was much more difficult, so the hours racked up.

[Groucho]

A lot of games "keep the meter running" while they are paused, which ends up beefing up the final number.

[DRG]

I tend to take way longer than the alotted time because I'm one of those players that likes to explore the game worlds before proceeding on with the missions. I also like to collect anything the game has me collect (flying rats in GTA4, laptops in CoD4, etc.) so I tend to scour areas before moving on, unless it's something that's timed in some way. And I like to get as many *realistic* achievements as possible.

[orderandlaw]

I prefer games I can get 20 or 30 hours out of. Games like MGS and God of War have disappointed me since I feel like I get half a game.

That's probably why I prefer RPGs due to the length.

[jw2299]

If I'm really into a game, I generally take my time. I don't care how long a game is supposed to be, because if it's a good game, I'll be playing it way longer than that anyhow.


That's my experience too.

That said, I enjoy shorter games. I guess I don't feel that I get ripped off because of a number of hours spent, whether it's too high or too low. If the game gave me a fun experience, it was worth it.

Also, I enjoy shorter games. A 20 hour RPG with a decent story is right up my alley.

[Michael Corvin]

Do the hours mentioned in reviews generally hold up for other people?

I'd say 95% of the time, yes. My play time is generally within the time mentioned. I do explore a lot and take my time. Of course most don't include dying/retrying time which can change things, but generally I'm within an hour or so of the estimated time given.

A notable exception was Bioshock which was toted as 20-30 hours long. I savored every minute of that game and explored every nook and cranny and it still only took about 14 hours.

[The Bus]

For me, an interesting game I want to play over and over, even if it's only 4 hours long. A boring game can be 50 hours long, but I won't finish it.

[maingon]

a good length for me is 20 hours or so. I dont have time to play 40+ hour games. Anyways Most games I sadly dont finish.