Video game update

I'm still working my way through Star Wars: Republic Commando. I'm on the final world (Kashyyk) and I worked my butt off trying to get past the stinking bridge. My struggle with it lead to my rant for today.

Why do video game designers feel that their games need to cheat in order for players to be challenged? For example, in SW:RC, my teammates continually walk in front of my firing line. They know how to crouch; I've seen them do it. But as the game progresses they consistently walk in front of me while I'm using my rapid-fire weapon. Or they will have crouched in front of me, and then stand up while I'm shooting, causing me to give him a fatal headshot.

As another example from the same game, I will give my guys a command, say to start using a turret to attack the enemies. They will start heading to it, but then they will stop and just stand there, not even defending themselves from the advancing attack droids.

In the game Driver on the PS1, I actually saw the game switch civilian cars, which were easily destroyed and were there simply as obstacles, into indestructible police cars which would promptly begin attacking you. The game seemed to do it whenever you managed to outdistance the existing cops, when the game had no other chance to beat the player.

Why can't game creators just write better games? There seems to be an inverse correlation between the beauty of a game and the strength of gameplay. If the game's beautiful, the gameplay is utter crap. Conversely, if the game play is excellent then the game's graphics get low ratings. SW:RC is very pretty, but when there are many characters on the screen (and remember, you have three teammates) it gets slow and jerky which makes the game difficult to control.

And don't get me started on Halo 2. I'm one of those heathens who thinks that the hype for this game completely overcame its actual quality. And now it seems that others don't want to admit it, so they jump on the "this game is awesome" bandwagon. I refuse to play this game online anymore because the host has such an obvious advantage, the weapons are so completely unbalanced, and the view is so limited that I find it totally unplayable. I can't count the number of times I've had a bead on my opponent with the sniper rifle, only to discover that he must have an impervious helmet on. By the same token, I'm not so impervious when someone snipes me. That disparity just boggles me.

I can't believe it's just me, since other games get it right. Rainbow Six 3 handles it very well. So does Ghost Recon 2. And I don't mean to pick on first-person shooters, that's just where I notice it most.