Image via Complex Original
How long should a video game be? After shelling out close to $60 on a new title, what is considered an acceptable return on your investment?
The argument for longer games = better games is thin at best. There are plenty of games that are padded with functionless additions so developers can tout the 50 plus hours to be found in their games. Some games are essentially endless. Skyrim andFallout 3 can be played for countless hours with no real 'ending'. What should the balance be between a game's length versus a game's value? What games do you think are too short?
Read on for 10 Modern Video Games That Are Criminally Short and why, for some of these titles, that's perfectly legitimate.
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Mirrors Edge
Running Time: Hovers between 4 to 6 hours.
To be perfectly honest, Mirror's Edge combat system was incredibly frustrating.
The hand-to-hand combat was pretty steep in its learning curve, but that's not why the game remains so poignant. Obviously, the free running and non-linear level exploration is the lasting impression left by the title. Tumbling, rooftop leaping, and parkour elements combined to make Mirror's Edge visually striking and the movement system instantly memorable. The main criticism of the game has to do with the brevity of its run time.
Hovering between 4 and 6 hours, Mirror's Edge left many of us frustrated by the game's sudden conclusion. Lucky for us, a sequel is forthcoming.
Deadpool
Running Time: Lingers around 6 to 7 hours.
Yes, Deadpool wasn't that great in terms of innovation, level design, combat, or replayability, but that's not why this game was made. Deadpool was a love letter to fans of the Marvel character, pure and simple. Peppering in canon references to the extended Marvel Universe, early 90s comic books, and other oblique Deadpool asides, the game was meant to function as a playable extension of the comic.
Stale combat, boring level design, repetitive gameplay, and ugly graphics were excused thanks to the level of fanboy lip-service afforded to the title. What should not be excused is the length of the title. Landing somewhere between 6 and 7 hours, all of the fourth wall breaking and Wolverine jokes end rather abruptly.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Running Time: As short as 5 hours by some acounts.
A title that perfectly illustrates the debate between a game's quality versus a game's length.The campaign, while visually striking, is criminally short in terms of playabilty. Expanding laterally in the Metal Gear Universe, Rising is considered a commercial success. Some fans of the franchise cite the title as not being a 'real' Metal Gear game. That is a matter of opinion, what is not up for debate, is the title's universally agreed upon soft run time.
Coming in at almost seven hours if you're taking your time and five hours if you're hustling, the game seems abrupt either way you choose to play. The game was innovative and we wished we could have spent more time with it.
Aliens Colonial Marines
Running Time: A merciful 5 hours.
Aside from being fundamentally broken, this lackluster title kept those of us rabidly devoted to the Alien mythology hoping for six long years. When it finally arrived, well you know the rest. Nearly everything that can wrong in a game's development made its way in to the final product. Last gen graphics, screen tearing, an all encompassing boxiness to character and level design, a laughable script, and, most egregiousof all offenses, the Xenomorphs simply weren't that scary. Which, if you're not at the very least accomplishing that simple task, why are you even trying? Muscling through the shit sandwich that was Aliens: Colonial Marines was mercifully short. The single-player campaign, thankfully, clocks in at around the five hour mark.
Sonic Generations
Running Time: An economical 4-6 hours.
Another example of a game not being longer than it needed to be. The single player campaign can be beaten at somewhere between four and six hours, and while that is comparatively short, how much Sonic can you actually play through in a single sitting? Completing main story missions will unlock side quests, but are by no means mandatory. Generations may be brief, but it's still a success in terms of economy.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Running Time: Sits at a light 5 hours.
Granted, the campaigns for all of the Call of Duty titles, no matter how much they'd like to disagree, always feel tacked on. And that's fine, we all know that you're a vehicle for online competitive multiplayer, and that's just fine. What you shouldn't do is attempt to spackle over this fact with the inclusion of famous voice actors and advertising the title as containing a robust story. CoD:MW3 is a beautiful product of its time. Art direction, production value, and a massive budget are all evident. The sub five hour campaign is threadbare at best. Which is understandable, how many people purchasing a new CoD title are genuinely interested in the single player?
Dishonored
Running Time: 6 hours if you don't stop to smell the roses.
Easily one of the best games to drop in 2012, Dishonored can be praised on many, many of the game's elements, Level and art design, a phenomenal script, a meticulously crafted world, and reassessing of what a stealth game can be. With only nine missions in the single player campaign, Dishonored's few criticisms were aimed at the game's length. This is a betrayal on the part of the player who rushes through Dunwall without stopping to examine the world around them. The NPCs, side quests, runes, whales bones, and the whispering heart all offer ways for the player to extend their visas continue to stay in Dunwall. The consistent release of amazing DLC for the title has also fleshed out the title to nearly a 20 plus hours experience.
Halo 4
Running Time: Just under the 6 hour mark.
With such a rich and well crafted history to pull from, it's a shame that Halo 4's single player campaign has taken a somewhat secondary role to what is now primarily a multiplayer-centric title. Which is disappointing considering how much time has gone into making Master Chief such a layered protagonist. With the single player campaign coming in at just under six hours, we could have happily enjoyed another two or three hours of single-player story. Halo 4 should be praised for the amount of worthwhile DLC and the entire episodic Spartan Ops experience, both of which have been fantastic.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
Running Time: Sub 4 hours.
While the content and return to the Star Wars universe might have been a compelling enough reason to purchase Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, the run time for the game was unabashedly short. Just as we were finally becoming invested in Starkiller's story and enjoying the nerfed down Force powers, the game came to a close. The game is gorgeous visually, but is lessened by repetitive combat and the inclusion of shoe horned quick time events.
Portal
Running Time: A teasingly short 2-3 hours.
Let's make one thing painfully clear: Portal is a nearly perfect game. The inclusion for Portal on this list is that its brevity is actually one of the more perfect aspects of the title. With a sub three hour campaign, Portal's campaign length is a boon. There is nothing extraneous, no padding or needless extension for extension's sake, the game is perfectly curated. The jokes never become stale, the gameplay never becomes redundant, and the short length enables the game to succeed beyond the content of the story. A perfect example of what can be accomplished on such a lean clock, the game is exactly as long as it needs to be.