Entertaining Video Games

I am sitting at the airport in San Diego getting ready to play a video game on my PS Vita and I have a couple of choices. I have been trying to get through Sly Cooper but find myself grinding through the various levels and it has stopped being fun. Given the choice of continuing the game or watching paint dry, I am leaning towards the latter. Others may disagree but that is how I feel. Knowing this, I threw in another game in my computer bag before leaving home: Lego The Hobbit.

I have never played a Lego video game for more than a few minutes but find them hilarious. When your character blows up or is killed, there is no blood nor gore. Just Lego blocks being broken down into their individual components. It always makes me laugh.

So what makes one video game more entertaining than another? That is the all-important question and I wish I had a complete answer. I do know that there are a number of games that I have played that are like abusive relationships. The game is difficult and you only continue because you have invested time in the relationship and want to see it all the way to the end. Rather than feeling good because things are going well, you feel good because you didn't get the crap kicked out of you. I hate those types of games and that is what Sly Cooper is turning into.

Contrast that with Tomb Raider or Red Dead Redemption where I got totally involved in the game and looked forward to playing them on a daily basis. Some parts of the games seemed difficult but then they got easier for a time and the story built, allowing me to reinvest in my relationship with the characters.

Sly Cooper was amazing when it first hit the market. Since then games have evolved and it makes it difficult to go back to that style of game. I may eventually go back to it but right now I need something else to entertain me. Hopefully Lego The Hobbit is it.