> What would I expect from a game that lists this on the package? That I could play with three other players and choose to play one of eight different characters. That I could travel through eight different levels, either sequentially or in any order of my choosing. (The writing isn't clear if one plays through them all in order or if, once a "Magical Realm" is entered, one has to play through various stages.) That I could have my character do attack combo moves. That I can pick up many different items on my quest.
>
> You know what? It delivers on all those points.

And yet it's my understanding that it doesn't totally deliver on all those points -- that the worlds require collecting stuff to unlock. I've only played GDL briefly and don't remember it too well, but I played Gauntlet Legends and know for a fact you had to unlock the worlds. And, according to the walkthrough at http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/gauntlet_dark_legacy_a.txt, the levels are only "accessible if you have enough Golden Icons to get there and enough of the proper Crystal to open the World." That sounds like you do in fact unlock worlds and that you can't just play World 8 at the start.

And, yeah, okay MGS2 doesn't provide any promises that you'd be upset about. Go Konami. I don't tend to save game boxes so I don't have a ton on-hand to look at, but I mentioned the Civ II claim of being able to command AEGIS Cruisers (which you certainly can't do at the start) and I noticed that Warcraft II says there are 28 levels (and you must play through it). Deus Ex and Half-Life made no specific claims, so they'd be Faux Pas-safe. System Shock 2, on the other hand, says there are 14 weapons but you only start with a crowbar (or something similar, haven't played it in a while), so it's not.

> Actually, it's like you bought a new car and the dealer told you you'd have to drive it for two years before he'd install passenger seats. Sure, you'll eventually get the passenger seats, but why couldn't something so basic be included in the car when you first purchased it?

Okay, I'm starting to think that both of our analogies are kind of crappy. The process of playing games to unlock stuff is, in my opinion, part of the fun. I enjoy Gran Turismo's rally mode where you have to work to unlock cars (though I can't stand those dreadful license exams).

> I don't think you understand my point at all. With the hypothetical racing game, I was complaining about a game that advertises one thing and delivers another.

And yet the cars are there. They're in the game. If you had a racing game that said "200 cars available the instant you start!" then I'd agree with you 100%.

> Both you and Matthew are moving away from what I originally was complaining about. If a game box or case says I can do something, I should be able to do it. I never said "everything should be unlocked". If this racing game I was talking about actually had 400 cars and said I could play with 200 cars, I should be able to start playing with two hundred cars unlocked. If it says I can play with 200 cars and there were dozens more I can earn, then I still should be able to play with two hundred cars.
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> Action games are entirely different. Fighting games, racing games... they all have short quick race or quick fight modes. There's no real story to the games. You start up an action game -- Half-Life and or Metal Gear Solid 2, you know you're going to play through a story. With the story type of game, you know that you progress through the story and that certain events are supposed to occur at certain times.

Okay, well, here's the thing: assuming we're talking about Gran Turismo or a knock-off, than we have something different than a standard racing game. GT bills itself as a "racing simulation" and part of that simulation is earning money to buy better cars, the way you'd have to do it if you were actually racing. This is different than just a "short race" (though I'm unaware of any racing games that don't have the short race feature). I suppose that if your hypothetical racing game advertised 200 cars and was just a standard racing game with no simulation aspects and the cars were simply time locked and you just had to wait until they were unlocked to get them, then I'd agree with your point. But I don't think this game exists.

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> There's nothing on those two game boxes that say "Jump right to a level." If there was something that said "Access any level at any time," then sure, I should be able to do so. As far as I can recall, Half-Life doesn't say you can play on any of x number of levels. If anything, it says you can play through x number of levels. Actually, it probably says you can play through one entire story.

This is so pedantic. So if Half-Life says, "Play through a storyline with 20 levels," that's okay, but if it says it "Features 20 levels" then that's not?

Stephen