I have to strongly agree with your appreciation of the cause and effect aspect in gameplay, but disagree with your opinion that theres no more of it in the games, what about in h2 where you have to board the scarab, if you don't get to the bridge fast enough you miss it, and also in h2 when youre in a warthog chasing the convoy of shadows through the underground tunnels, if you dont haul @ss, theyre impossible to catch, also, if you took out the forward one first, the others were a whole lot easier to take down, in h3 during that last hog run, sure there's no timer, but the ground slowly falls apart behind you, if you get held up for too long, youll fall to your death, also h3, on the ark, 2 prowlers come over a hill next to a crashed pelican, these are the first vehicles you see, and if you dont rush to the pelican, and grab the rockets, the prowlers are a whole lot tougher to take care of, these are just a few of the examples i came up with off the top of my head, i definitly wish the battles didnt just sit around and wait for you, but there is still reward for being quick and this does give a sense of urgency