Are Short Games Bad? (by Carl B.)

November 4, 2011, by Carl B. - A video game's longevity is one of the most important aspects consumers consider when buying a new title, and is especially influential in these days of high priced games. It seems that very few titles that have come out in recent years have provided a long single player experience, a stark contrast to the 16-bit days when most games – mostly RPGs -- were at least 20 hours long. The majority of games released this generation last only eight to ten hours, which begs the question: are short games bad?

I've been thinking about this ever since I completed Batman: Arkham City. I blasted through it in roughly nine ours, with more than half of the side quests finished. Arkham City is one of the best games released in 2011, but its length leaves something to be desired, especially since there are no multiplayer modes in the game.

The difference with Arkham City, however, is that the experience present was amazing. Every second of the game was fun and exciting, even though I was able to beat it in just two sittings.

Still, I can't help but think that $60 was too much for Arkham City. I haven't touched the game since I beat it, and the game's apologists will note that there are 400 Riddler trophies to collect. Running around in what is essentially a giant fetch-quest is not my idea of replay-ability, and no gamer should lower themselves to such standards.

Many outlets have reported that the much anticipated Battlefield 3 only has a four to five hour long campaign. That's absolutely pathetic in this age, even if the game is mainly a multiplayer experience. If DICE and EA are going to be that lazy with single player, they might as well exclude it from the game altogether and it wouldn't have been a valid criticism with the game.


Uncharted 3, while not as good as the previous game, is another example of a tragically short game. I'm really trying to take my time with it, but I'm already to the third to last chapters with six hours played. Uncharted 3 is meant to be a single player experience, yet the single player is far too short. It does have competitive and co-operative multiplayer, both of which are better in this game.

This entire piece might just be a commentary on what online multiplayer has done to the gaming industry. It's great to be able to play with your friends from around the world, but does every game need multiplayer to begin with? The Uncharted series introduced online multiplayer in the second game, and it felt out of place. Even with improvements with the third game, multiplayer still feels like it shouldn't belong in Uncharted, especially if the single player takes a hit because of it.

It should be no surprise that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are the leaders when it comes to potentially Game of the Year candidates, for people that put stock into those awards. Skyward Sword's main quest is said to last 35 hours, and can even go up to 50 to 100 hours if players complete all the side quests, which aren't trophy collecting fetch quests as seen in Arkham City. Skyrim, like previous Elder Scrolls games, will easily offer more than 50 hours of playability.


Are short games bad? Let us know in the comments section below.