What games do you consider "too long"?

HangTime

HangTime

HangTime

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One thing I occasionally read is people complaining about certain games being a bit too long, usually in reference to a particular long-winded and drawn out section compromising the overall gaming experience.

So then, what games would you consider to be a bit too long? Games that started to become a chore to play through, and might have seemed a tad slicker had bits been cut out. Generally speaking my view is that if a game is really good, then I don't want it to end anyway. But if I had to choose a couple of titles, I'd probably go with something like:

-Chaser. Has over 30 levels and while there is great variety I've no doubt it could have been trimmed down a bit with no negative impact on the gameplay.

-Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. The early section of the game is very bland and put me off somewhat. It also has some very annoying and overly long platform sections. Jedi Academy was a much more streamlined experience.
 
In terms of scale, Unreal is a pretty huge game too. 30+ levels of which many are pretty massive with a lot of aimless wandering about. In some ways I think this helped add to the experience however, as it almost felt like an epic adventure.
 
I don't have a problem with long games per se, in fact I loved both KOTOR and Deus Ex which both had over 24hrs of playtime.

What I'm getting at is that there are occasions when games can get a little dull or have a drop in tension due to the way certain things are done.

One critisism I see of some games is that they are too short, e.g. Max Payne 2. But personally I think a relatively short gametime is acceptable if it is a highly polished, enjoyable experience all the way. Take Call of Duty for example. That only lasted me 8hrs, but it was a really intense experience with very little filler and a great flow.
 
What I liked about Academy was that it gave you some choice over what missions you wanted to do, equipment loadout etc, and what force powers you wanted to learn. Gave it a little RPG progression element to it.
 
Streeteh said:
The only good FPS that i felt dragged on was the original Unreal, the lack of flowing plot just made me feel like the whole thing was slightly unnecessary. Ok, you're trapped on an alien island, great, get on with it please.
Click to expand...

I think the problem Unreal was that it came at a time when FPS games had very little in the way of 'guidance' - no radar, no map, not many NPCs to interact with etc so often times one was left to wander around rather than having a focussed goal. It tried it's best through the use of diaries and a fantastic opening 'introduction' level (6 months before Halflife famously did the same thing) but if you compare it to the way modern games like Far Cry or Call of Duty are structured, it could be quite confusing. At times it felt a bit like the levels were thrown together in random order (like 90% of games from that era and before) rather than following on naturally.
 
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