Video games offer various vehicles or mounts to get around throughout their world. Aside from racing sims, action-adventure video games or even fully formed RPGs need a way for players to get around the map quickly while still appreciating the scenery.
These methods of getting around can land one way or another with players. Some of these travel modes might handle perfectly the video game world and gameplay mechanics. However, others might feel too cumbersome to maneuver, with players prefer walking if the game lets them.
Thus, some of these rides are unbearable to drive, while others can be a great option to take a cruise. Here are five examples of some of the smoothest rides available in video games, along with five others that were a burden to maneuver.
Smoothest rides in video games
1) Warthog – Halo
When it comes to rides in video games, the Warthog is one of the most iconic ones in gaming history. Appearing for the first time in the first Halo game in the 2000s, its controls were rudimentary, and yet, it provided a great way to move about some of the large levels.
Generally fitted with a turret on the back seat, this was the vehicle that saw Help players through many tight spots.
While in the Warthog, the player could be accompanied by two other NPC companions, one of whom would take the turret if the Master Chief is driving. The turret made the driving experience much smoother as it mowed down multiple enemies quickly.
It was mostly an optional vehicle in most missions, although the last and final part of the campaign did see a mandatory Warthog sequence which has since become legendary. Now iconically known as the Warthog run, it has featured in all three main entries from Bungie’s original trilogy.
2) Batmobile – Batman Arkham Knight
Batman: Arkham Knight was the final video game in the Arkham Trilogy, which showcased Batman at his peak while also letting players access the iconic Batmobile. While the vehicle in the game looked like a tank, it maneuvered far better and quicker than one.
The car had two modes, which included a pursuit mode. This was the default driving mode, which allowed players to move across the streets of Gotham city, chasing enemy vehicles and employing the iconic rocket-powered thrusters for a speed boost. It also had a few offensive capabilities to take down other vehicles on the run.
The other mode was the battle mode, which could be toggled as per need. This transformed the car into a walking artillery setup with missiles and non-lethal projectiles. Battle mode allowed the car to have a 360-degree turning circle, giving it a quick precision turn to engage hostile enemies and vehicles from all directions.
3) Horse – Red Dead Redemption 2
In Red Dead Redemption 2, players have little choice regarding a reliable mode of getting around. This is why the game went fully into the horse owner simulator when taking care of the only trusted friend players could rely on throughout the game. It is, of course, their beloved horse.
While it took a bit of time to come to grips with all the controls of horse riding and other mechanics such as the saddlebags and feeding, players quickly grew accustomed to it in a few hours. Once that initial hurdle is passed, calling and riding their horse becomes almost second nature.
Later in the game, players would be lassoing a bounty, taking dead eye shots, and tossing tomahawks at enemies while on horseback. The horse was also programmed well enough to ride on its own, with an auto ride feature, which players could mostly rely on to get them where they wanted to go on the map, barring a few trampled civilians.
4) Sunwings – Horizon Forbidden West
Expanding on from Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West gives Aloy access to a lot more rideable mounts. While Chargers return from the previous game, the new animals that Alloy can override and mount in this video game are the Bristlebacks, Clawstriders, and the Sunwings.
Looking like sizeable mechanical robot pteranodons, Sunwings reside in high eyries and put up a difficult fight. Late in the story, Aloy gets access to their override code and can defeat and mount one should she come across it. This lets players soar across the wide-open world of Forbidden West, seeing it from a new perspective.
Sunwings can also be assigned as a mount that can be called at any time, meaning that players can count on them to quickly get out of tight spots and take to the air. While controls are simple and their offensive capabilities are limited, these flying friends are the best kind of mounts in the video game.
5) X-Wing – Star Wars: Battlefront 2
From the skies to the stars, the final best ride in a video game must be a starfighter ship, which is better to drive the point home than the iconic X-Wing from Star Wars. Battlefront 2 might have had its fair share of flaws at launch, but it did get one thing right, the essence of a dog fight in space.
In the rebooted games, Battlefront 2 introduced significant-scale space battles between two different factions: the Republic vs the Separatists, Rebels vs the Empire, and the Rebellion vs the New Order. These featured many starfighters on either side. However, nothing comes close to capturing the feeling of jumping into an X-Wing and blasting a few imps.
The controls were smooth, the weapons had classic sound effects, and the setting all but screamed Star Wars. The thrill of giving chase to a tie-fighter only to realize that another one is locking onto their fighter from behind is enough to give a player goosebumps as they say, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Star Wars squadrons is an upcoming game based solely on aerial combat, which might be able to recapture the same feeling, if not more.
Modes of transport that were unbearable
1) Mako – Mass Effect
With Warthog sharing much of its controls with the Mako from the first Mass Effect video game, it’s a surprise why both these video game vehicles are viewed in polar opposite ways. However, the key point to note here is the level design, which works in favor of the Warthog while hindering the Mako.
In Mass Effect, players are given control of the Mako when they must traverse long stretches in a campaign or in an open world where the environment is unsuitable to the crew. While Mako handles like a truck, its artillery offensive capabilities are too weak, requiring pinpoint aiming.
Players had to tackle enemies from a distance, which meant aiming was difficult while approaching too close meant being shredded to bits due to the vehicle’s low health capacity.
The game also asked players to be quick and responsive in specific scenarios, which was nearly impossible in a tank that wasn’t designed for that. Players will not complain if the Mako doesn’t appear in the next Mass Effect video game.
2) Snow Mobiles – Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4 takes place in the mountainous regions of Kyrat, a fictional country set near the Himalayan foothills. Due to this setting, players must traverse a small variety of terrain, including snowclad mountaintops. Since Far Cry isn’t known for its driving mechanics, one can see where this is going.
While no vehicles in this video game function well, the snowmobiles available in the higher altitude areas are the worst. Bad handling and slow turning circles mean this vehicle is not suited to the same area. Far Cry 4’s Kyrat is full of winding roads, which has become a hurdle for this vehicle to clear.
Compared to larger vehicles, it also offers little to no protection from the hundreds of soldiers who want to fill you up with bullets scattered about the game. Sliding into corners and people, driving headfirst into a tree, and straight off a cliff are what players remember when players have tried to get on a snowmobile in Far Cry 4.
3) Graug – Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor broke much of the new ground as a video game in terms of narrative and abilities from lore, much of which was unwarranted and drove Tolkien fans crazy. One such ability was to dominate creatures, allowing protagonist Talion to ride beasts in the game, even taking them into battle.
Aside from the smaller Caragors, this video game also offers the tank-like Graug as a rideable mount which players could learn to tame later on in the game. A 30-foot-tall, hulking beast might seem the best option to ride into battle until the player tries it out. Then they realize these giant behemoths are pointless compared to the mountable caragors.
The taming process is lengthy, taking about a minute, which wasn’t even the worst part. While sluggish and hard to move around, Graugs also had fatal flaws that made them utterly useless.
Archers up on high ledges could still hit Talin, which meant dismounting from the creature to deal with them. Graugs also couldn’t hurt the small inset like crags, while they could leisurely spit poison all they wished.
4) All cars – Mafia: The Definitive Edition
The original Mafia video game is set during the 1930s, which featured a good amount of historical accuracy with its period-accurate NPCs, references to real events, and era-accurate cars. However, since the original game came out in 2002, no one has looked too closely at the driving mechanics.
However, things were much different when the video game was remade for a 2020 release. Being a faithful remake, it brought back many things from the original game, including the period-accurate vehicles. This led to many players criticizing the driving mechanics in the game, calling it unwieldy and hard to control, which, to be fair, was true.
However, the reason for this was that the game tried to be realistic about these vehicles, and cars in the 1930s didn’t handle as well as those in the 21st century. This led to in-game vehicles’ infuriatingly slow speeds and some of the largest turning circles short of a truck.
5) Dragons – The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – Dragonborn
Riding dragons in Skyrim was a much sought-after feature that players had been asking for some time. The fact that the game was filled with dragons and towards the end of the main story mission, the Dragonborn managed to ride one in a cutscene was just too much of a tease for many.
Bethesda addressed this in the second DLC for the video game known as Dragonborn, where players finally got the ability to tame any dragon in the wild and ride it around as per their wish. However, the experience itself fell short of many of the expectations.
As it turned out, players couldn’t control the dragon’s flight. It only sat comfortably on its back and fired the occasional spell at an enemy.
In combat, when an enemy is locked onto, the dragon would do its best to stay in the vicinity, but the dragons were programmed. This meant long-winded flight paths and many turnarounds.
Players could command the dragon to attack or stay stationary, which was of some help, but the overall process was still so wonky that they preferred to approach enemies on foot rather than on the dragon’s back.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.
Source: https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/5-smoothest-rides-video-games-and-5-unbearable-drive
