Action game

From Free net encyclopedia

Action games could be considered the video game or computer game equivalent of action movies. Action games typically feature violent physical force, especially shooting, as their main interactive feature. Beat 'em up, Shoot 'em up and platform game are all subcategories of the action game genre. Some use the term to also refer to First person shooters.

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Key and Defining Elements of an Action Game

The term "action game" is very broad, encompassing many individual sub-genres. It is used most often by the mainstream media, although in gaming literature the term has been appearing in a steadily increasing rate. What we will discuss here applies to the broad majority of Action Games and is not to be mis-construed as defining any of the sub-genres.

There are several characteristics that define an Action Game. The foremost would be the typical violence that you would see in an Action Movie, as in lots of physical fighting involving explosions, shooting, fist-fighting, high-speed flying or driving while shooting. The majority of the difficulty or challenge with Action Games lies in that your physical reaction speed, precision, eye-sight, mental sharpness is tested. If there is puzzle elements involved; you are usually pressured to complete them under a certain amount of time or consequence of failing, such as having to start at the beginning of a level.

Another key element is that the Action itself is the highest priority. Plot usually takes a sub-role and won't tie you up with too much thinking. It's almost as if the plot is there simply for rest breaks from the intense button pushing that inhabits most Action Games. When this is reversed and plot takes the higher priority, you cross over into a Role-Playing Game.

Other typical defining characterisitics you would see are:

Lack of a "Save Game" feature. (see Save_game)
Lack of involving or complex puzzles.
In-Depth Plot or Story Elements are absent from many action games and takes a minor role in most.
Lack of Character Interaction or involvement with choices that affect your character personally.
Many times the player controls a single character or switches back and forth between a few different characters while playing.
Most Action Games focus on manipulation of superficial elements such as where an object is located on the screen or how it moves.
Lack of turn-based elements.

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Common "Action Game" Objectives and Game-play

While the individual objective of an action game varies drastically from game to game, it generally involves advancing through stages referred to as "levels"; along the way, eliminating hordes of enemies with minor puzzle solving involved. Many times the games include a "Boss" or "Bosses", often precluded by "Sub-Bosses" (more commonly known as Mini-Bosses). A mini-boss is usually the climax of a series of levels or each individual level, with a "Boss" being either at the end of the game or they can be tiered with many mini-bosses, a few bosses that are harder in difficulty and then finally leading up to an "End-game Boss" which would be the objective of the game.

Bosses are typically defeated by your "pattern recognition" skills and physical reaction speed. In most older action games and even many modern ones, the bosses were programmed with a simple pattern of attacks or moves that would make them very difficult to defeat. Though usually after a few minutes or hours of trying anyone can defeat them as you simply learn the pattern from trial and error. These simple patterns would often include combo moves that require your character to jump, dodge or block an attack, then strike at certain points to deal damage to the boss, perhaps even waiting out or timing the patterns to get your attacks in.

Many sub-genres such as platform games and action-adventure games add gymnastic-style puzzles, such as timing jumps to and from moving platforms (hence the name Platform games). Platform games, whether 3D or 2D are usually similar in concept to the original Mario Bros. series of games originally in the Arcade then on the Nintendo video game console. Some action games feature 3rd-person-shooter-game-play elements, enabling the player to pick up and upgrade various weapons, each sporting its own special abilities.

Another common sub-genre is the Shoot 'em up; which usually involves the player controlling a character or vehicle brandishing many weapons and shooting literally almost everything moving on the screen. The Shoot 'em up genre is well known for its side and vertical scrolling shooter games.

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