In defense of the health bar

So, I'm a longtime gamer. I grew up in the days of the atari, received my first NES back when it was originally released (And you could get the woefully underused Rob the Robot), cut my gaming teeth on classic games such as Final Fantasy, Thexder, and Heroes Quest (Before it was renamed Quest for Glory with the release of Trial By Fire), and so on. I saw rise of SEGA, the fall of SEGA (Speaking of which, Fuck you guys for turning Shining Force into a goddamn action game. Bastards), Sony hitting it big with the Playstation, almost losing it with the PS3, and Nintendo consistantly managing to be completly brilliant one moment (Gameboy, DS), to "Holy shit, are guys drinking from the same Kool Aid as M. Night Shamwow and Jack Emmert?" (Virtua Boy, Power Glove).

Why am I mentioning all this? Because quite frankly, I know games. I may not be the best player. I may not be a fancy reviewer getting paid hundreds of dollars to write magazine articles, or (In the case of the occasional Gamespot reviewer) to play games for five minutes and then pass judgement), but I know games. Which is why it's hard for me to sit back and be quiet about idiotic trends in gaming when I see 'em. Lately, game developers have been taking a "Less is more approach" when it comes to their UI's. And I can understand the thought process behind it... Why have lots of unnecessary info clogging up the screen and preventing you from seeing all the action?

The problem, however, comes when the game developer takes it TOO far. A prime example of this is with Tim Schafers "Brutal Legend". Now, before we continue, not that I am not saying that "Brutal Legend" is a bad game. It's not. In fact, it's a very *GOOD* game. Hell, Schafer has yet to make a *BAD* game (And the general neglect of Psychonauts by the average gaming public should be criminal, and a violation of the geneva convention). The problem is that, thanks to the "Less is more" philosophy, there are some glaring issues that keep it from being the truly fantastic game it rightfully *DESERVES* to be.

Case in point: The lack of a health bar. Sure, you regenerate health. And sure, the game gives you visual indication through the use of a screen that goes redder and redder as you take more damage... but the problem is, it's hard to really tell how badle your hurt. With a health bar, it becomes easier to judge when you can keep fighting while low on health, and what target may or may not be a greater priority based on how close you are to death. You don't get that with "Brutal Legends" way of telling you how close you are to death. Not only that, but I have to wonder how the colorblind would be affected by it.

Second is the fact that theres no minimap. This is probably one of the worst faults of the game, and something that I can't believe Schafer let into the final version. For one, you spend a decent amount of time driving around in Eddies car, the Deuce. Since theres no minimap, you either have to rely on switching back and forth between the map screen and the gameplay screen to make sure your properly oriented, OR rely on the idiotic shaft of light/turn signal combo, which makes it easier to get lost. Even worse, it's makes some tasks (Like the godawful Rack of Death minigames) a task in frustration since it's difficult as hell to tell where the enemies are going to come from when theres no radar blips, and you can't swivel down far enough to shoot enemies when they are right at the base of the "tower". And, since your NPC allies can only be controlled during these sequences by a general area target command, it makes the whole sequence a pain in the ass since you have to hope they attack the enemies you want. It's not fun, it's frustrating as hell, and worse that it could have been solved simply by adding a damn minimap.

Now, there are times when the "Less is more" works: Case in point, if your trying to make a historical FPS as realistic as possible, it makes sense not to give ammo counters, life bars, minimaps, ect, since it's not like George Washington led the US troops against the british with a GPS and medical alert bracelets for when his troops have fallen and can't get up. But in a game like "Brutal Legend", it just leads to more frustration then is worth it, and that's tragic.