What do you prefer health packs or regenerating health?

Health packs usually means more complex level design, because the designers will have to take into account exploration and finding an intelligent way to spread out health.

But honestly, I prefer a combined system. With chuncks of health regenning automatically, if you only lose a part. And if the full chunk is gone, you'll have to grab a health kit. This is more fair imho.

Examples: Resistance and Medal of Honor Airborne

I take whatever comes my way. Health Packs, Regenerating Health, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I make use whatever the game intends to work. But "if" I have to make a choice such as thing, I'll go with regenerating health. I like regenerating health because otherwise, it feels like it slows the game down too much. But I really enjoyed how Doom 2016 did non-regenerating health, but that's an entirely different beast.

Of course, if you want my opinion, I prefer "God Mode" XD

I agree @r4gn4r0k

This. Just sitting waiting for yourself to heal is boring shit.

@uninspiredcup:

No, its funny. Nathan Drake getting shot 15 times, taking cover, and catching his breath--thats funny.

Nathan Drake has that Wolverine regen health and just about anyone who takes their breath is a Logan wannabe Mutant lol.

@davillain-:

Huh?

I guess it depends on the game but in general I prefer regenerating health myself.

Health pack. regen health is casual mechanic.

Health packs. Or some hybrid. Regenerating health feels like something devs added when they decided people are too stupid to play games.

@R4gn4r0k said it well.

I prefer health packs.

...but I like exploration and resource management.

If I had to pick, I'd go with regenerating health overall, but an ideal system is a mix of the two. Regenerate to an extent, but still have a separate system to fill your health beyond that.

I'd prefer a blood loss system where you need to stop and do a surgery minigame with the right equipment.

Health packs are a bit cheesy as well if they are instant.

Also put a 5% chance of getting insta killed with a headshot just because it would be funny.

Most games have you play as one man army which is unrealistic.

I guess health pick ups, but it's a non issue to me.

@ten_pints:

Kojima did that in Metal Gear 3--it was, how do you say, dumb.

Where is the "I don't care" option in the poll? As long as the game is balanced, I don't care.

A game can be designed around both features, that's what really matters.

Why would you want realism in your games?

Red Orchestra and Rising Storm have that mechanic:

Get hit in a non vital part and you will need to stop the bleeding, or you will bleed out and die.

Get hit in a vital part (heart, spine, head) and it's the end of you.

I also really liked Far Cry 2's animations, for when you get hit or burned. It plays so many different animations for healing yourself.

Mehh don’t care that much, as long as the game is balanced around it... regeneration of health adds some layer of strategy to the combat that I like, and of course a lot of games have added full health when you die meaning that health packs is kind of pointless anyway...

There are so many hybrid systems and different versions out there. And it does depend some on what the overall game is trying to accomplish. If the goal is forward momentum I think regenerating health makes a lot of sense (Uncharted). But typically I prefer health packs of some kind as they given another layer to the game.

I also really loved the way new Doom did health. In fact the health system design was probably the biggest reason that game worked so well.

Both are related to challenge and I just want a fair challenge. As long as the healthpacks are spaced out well or the regenerating doesn't make the game too easy I'm okay with both. I will say regenerating health does allow for different play styles. You can be gung ho or more conservative, and you are guaranteed full health for the next fight. For a larger game I'd prefer this as I like to delve the level for secrets.

@R4gn4r0k said:

Health packs usually means more complex level design, because the designers will have to take into account exploration and finding an intelligent way to spread out health.

But honestly, I prefer a combined system. With chuncks of health regenning automatically, if you only lose a part. And if the full chunk is gone, you'll have to grab a health kit. This is more fair imho.

Examples: Resistance and Medal of Honor Airborne

I prefer this as well, but if I had to choose one or the other it would be health packs. Regen makes it too easy. I can just run out and then get behind cover and come back out like nothing happened.

Resistance had a great system of health packs.... but your last bar of health will regenerate if you can avoid damage.

In general I would take health pickups over regen if you have to choose.

Plus playing a regen health game on hardest difficulty just turns into a bore: you take a few shots, stay into cover, take a few shots again, rinse and repeat.

Regenerating health is a cheap hand holding tactic. There have been times where I've left my character in a safe spot due to low health and took a bathroom break. Knowing that you can do stuff like that takes all tension out of the combat and gameplay in general imo

Don't care either way. The overall game is what matters to me.

Jet Packs.

That's a great point, totally agree!

I play a lot of Conan Exiles so I'm only getting health regen if I but 30 points into vitality. And that almost never happens. So potions/health packs/food it is!

Yup that's what made GoW so damn hard because you had to kill enemies and hope they dropped some green stones. You couldn't just evade until you were back to normal.

I prefer health packs in games and in real life scenarios.

Regen health.

Or hybrid system like Resistance Fall of Man.

It’s 2019, I don’t want terrible 90’s mechanics in my games.

Hopefully next gen they come up with something even better.

Depends on the game to be honest.

But usually prefer health regen

health packs can be regenerating health framed differently.

play max payne 3. no regenerating health. but when you die the checkpoints are so close to one another you start from nearly exactly where you left off with full health. so it's basically regenerating health, disguised under a health pack system.

it's the ai that makes the game challenging for me, with appropriately scaled difficulty that's not just you take much more damage and enemies take much less, or enemies having super natural instincts. if the ai is good and the difficulty is fair, either can work well

In general health packs, but ultimately can roll with either. It depends on the game. The benefit of a health system around health packs/bars is that of short term n long term consequences. Works in a game where you can reliably avoid getting hit, not a particularly good design decision when the enemies are built in a manner to take you out quickly. Regen health often has some of the shoddiest design, but when done correctly the trade off is you get to be more constant in the action, and so long as the games core mechanics still have a range of compelling micro and macro decisions, the gameplay loop should be rock solid.

But yeah most of my favorite single player games don't tend to have regen health.

Health packs/painkillers. Screw Vanquish.

Health packs for me.

I do not mind health packs which you can pick up and use later on.

As long is the game is balanced to the developers approach I dont mind either. I think Crysis/Halo did regeneration the best while Gears 1 did packs well. I felt Doom 2016 was too liberal with the health packs, too easy.

Depends on the game, action shooter where the goal is moving forward from encounter to encounter clearing enemies and defeating a boss/completing objective then Health regen, more RPG or tactical focus with slower pace then health pack type mechanics.

Health packs. Regen can frig off, for the most part. It's not bad for cover based shooters but I'd still prefer health packs

I'd take regenerating health when you're out of combat. Health packs can be annoying. You get out of a battle with 5% health and if you don't go out of your way to find those damn things you start the next battle with 5% health. That's silly. Just let me regenerate between fights.

Whatever I'm using at the time. If I had to pick one I'd say health packs, since it's seems like more realism. lol

Health paks resistance style. Done in chunks that will regen but once you go past a threshold its gone until you get a pack.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay pretty much nailed the only good answer to this. Sections that regenerate, but can't be brought back when completely exhausted without healing. It balances tension of losing health with less breaks in pacing from unnecessary deaths from poor health management in small fights.

Health Packs.