Why is there no more training mode? Options

[MARS]

I just watched a review of America's Army 3 and while this post isn't really about the game itself, it'll serve as an introduction because it made me realise something: Why do many shooter games these days don't have a training modes anymore? Oh sure, they still have tutorials and hints but that's not what I mean. Remember games like the original Ghost Recon and the old Rainbow Six games? Before they dropped you right into the action, you were a freshly enlisted rookie who, before being sent on his first 'life or death' combat mission, had to run through an obstacle course, fire his first ever live rounds at cardboard targets and learn the basics of fighting in an actual boot camp rather than the battlefield itself.

I wonder: Why can't we have this kind of introduction anymore? What's with this new, unimmersive trend of dropping you right into a top secret high risk special operation while spamming you to death with unelaborate, text-based tutorial clippings throughout this first entire mission? Even though these 'quick action' games often depict this first mission as a major battle (at least as far as pre-scripted action goes), the actual gameplay feels simplified, as if the game was taking you by the hand and deliberately letting you win because 'it's your first day'. Don't get me wrong: Difficulty curves are a good thing but if you turn the entire first combat mission into a tutorial, it becomes TOO easy. Instead, the game should start off with a prologue mission that teaches you the basics through BASIC training back home at the barracks, complete with running, crawling through mud, jumping over obstacles, climbing up a wall, sending bullets down the shooting range and having your sexual orientation questioned by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. It'd be more believable, easier for beginners (because this kind of tutorial would actually be helpful) and it gets you into the mood of playing a military-themed game. After that, the first real mission can be made more difficult than those tutorial missions will ever be. Or go completely retro and have an independent training mode which is entirely optional in case you KNOW the basics but elaborate enough to give you a few extra skill challenges with bragging rights rewards and a sandbox-like environment that allows you to get into the game before you get into the action.

Getting back to America's Army, I'd also like to see more games with a mandatory training mode, the completion of which is REQUIRED if you want to join a multiplayer game. Remember back in games like Battlefield 2 where some 15-year old would constantly nick the fighter jet and crash it right into the control tower of your aircraft carrier because that little moron didn't bother actually practising the 'art' of controlling a plane? Mind you, BF2 is actually one of the easier examples of aerial combat. Sending him through a mandatory introduction before giving him the ability to even ENTER the jet would have prevented a lot of anger and it's certainly NOT too much to ask for.

tl;dr-version:
Bring back actual training modes rather than wasting the entire first story mission on tutorials.

[Chyros]

I could hardly bear playing the game for more than 45 minutes out of sheer boredom. And forced tutorials are a fantastic way to send a game on a one-way trip to hell. The summum of this I experienced in San Andreas when the forced flight tutorial stopped me dead in my tracks because the thing was completely uncontrollable. AA3's training mode is very buggy, slow and not much fun IMO.

AA3's training is realistic (and piss-easy, let's face it) but like the game itself, realism should not really be the focus of a game IMO. AA3 sacrifices all fun for realism IMO and this is why I think it sucks hairy donkey arse. I myself would class AA3 as a simulator and not a game - and an extremely, bad-stereotype-reinforcing propagandist simulator at that.

All that said, I do strongly advocate the option of a training mode though - huge lack of good examples of enjoyable trainer modes notwithstanding - a good trainer mode is an outstanding way to bring you into the game in an enjoyable way and warm you up for the tasks at hand. IMO, a good trainer mode is characterised by game-representative play, with flexible assignments (not too easy, not too hard, and certainly not frustrating) while providing a feeling of sucking you into the game. And most of all, it should not be mandatory, and it should be fun enough that you would actually want to play again.

[MARS]

Disclaimer: I didn't intend to make any statements regarding the QUALITY of America's Army or its training mode. I was merely using it as an example because the fundamental idea of this thread - that training modes were a nice feature back in the day - came to my mind when I heard about how this game handles the matter, even though it may do so in an overstretched and complicated kind of way. An example of a well implemented training level is Call of Duty 4: It's set in a home base rather than a raging battlefield, it introduces you to the main characters, teaches you the basic playing mechanics in a comprehensible way and sets the mood for the upcoming story. It may be short on replay value and very linear (so is the game itself) but for what it is, it's very good.

My point about multiplayer games still stands, though. At least the more 'complex' aspects of a game like BF2 such as using planes and helicopters or playing the commander should require some kind of introduction beforehand, simply to keep newcomers with zero experience from ruining it since some of these aspects aren't easy to learn in a heated multiplayer battle where everything counts. Chances are the douchebags will just skip their way through but the friendly beginners who WANT to have a good game but who are new to the whole multiplayer thing would certainly take their time and go through such a tutorial. If the only way for them to learn things is to play regular multiplayer right away, they might just stop playing after they get bullied into submission by the 'experienced' players because they cocked things up by accident and that's certainly not the desirable option.

[C.o.m.m.a.n.d.e....]

CoD4 had a training mission when u first start other than that they bug the crap out of me i can figure out a game just by touching the controller and most shooters have the same controls anyways so why learn them again

[MARS]

Simple because some people haven't played FPS games before and they still have a right to get into it, haven't they? Plus, CoD4's training mission was part of
the story as it introduced the setting and the characters. To you, it may have been worthless from the gameplay standpoint but it does have it's place in the plot.

[C.o.m.m.a.n.d.e....]

they didnt introduce the americans tho

[Chyros]

they didnt introduce the americans tho

I admit that it's a gargantuan breach of general videogame setting, but the reason for this is that the Americans were not CoD 4's protagonist. In fact, they were the fail guys .

This post has been edited by Chyros: 1 Jul 2009, 23:59

[Shock]

AA3's training mode is unfortunately buggy as hell. I played through the firing range twice, it refused to save my results and instead of goinig to the next (weapons familiarization) course it dropped me in the menu informing me that I had NOT completed the firing range. The next day I log in and I find that I completed all the basic trainings and could proceed to the shoot house immediately, having done actually only half of them. Okay sure.. whatever.

I do like the training mode though. Especially for multiplayer games in which the actual action has little way of learning you how to do it, a good training mode would be great. One example of this is TF2. While the game itself is not hard, I found myself fooling around being clueless for a couple of hours with some of the characters (medic, engineer). Imagine this with a much harder game to learn.

[Cobretti]

Some other games that had a training mode (recently) were the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter games and the Splinter Cell games.

[beefJeRKy]

Delta Force had a training mode

[Shiro]

Renegade had a training mode as well^^ On a more serious note, I know what you mean. It is really annoying to start a game without tutorial seperate from the campaim.

[RaiDK]

Kane & Lynch had a pretty good training level, it ended with the police busting into the complex they were in and gave you a bit of backstory at the same time so it was really a decent level in itself.