Melee - An Unexplored Genre
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Age of Chivalry, it's a free 3rd party mod on Valve's Steam. You just need to own a Valve game (Half Life 2, Day of Defeat, Counterstrike, etc...) and it's free.
i have the [erfect answer. Many games tried this but they would be to complicated if it were skill base. THe combos would be to hard to master, their would be to many combos and for the lack of learning the combos you will never win in single player onless you pay chap (the mortal comat approac) mortal ocmbat did this. But another problem is because of that you can spend years mastering the combos to be betten by a seven year old who knows that one cheap combo and button mashesSolo508 said:As a passionate gamer i've explored just about every genre, from battling an MMO addiction to climbing competitive ladders in FPS and RTS. One thing I've always thought had potential, though, is melee combat games yet i've never found one that pulls it off well.
Maybe its because i've just watched a Kung Fu movie, but I don't understand why there is such a lack of such games. As it stands, melee combat games are bad. You have the choice of either MMORPG, in which time spent and the roll of a dice are the main factors in deciding a win, or simple modifications of first person shooters in which the combat can be easily compared to rock, paper, scissors... without the scissors. There are a couple games that try to pull it off but nothing stands out.
The best melee combat in a game i've seen was Shadow of Rome [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_Rome] except that was just singleplayer and its easy to see how it could fall flat on its face in multiplayer. It still leaves me wondering why nobody has really tried to launch a skill based melee game though. A giant chunk of skill was taken out of combat when guns arrived, since then, anybody with a finger could kill somebody. In games it doesn't have to be this way though, you don't have to be sitting prone firing at a spec in the distance when you could be looking at your enemy face-to-face and I agree that it would be tricky to pull it off in a game but wouldn't it be damn fun to play a melee game in which the skill gap was just as big if not more than modern FPS's like Call of Duty and Counter Strike?
I'd also like to know what the best melee based games you have ever played are
I don't think that I understand what the qualifications of this discussion are. Does the game have to be in 2D or 3D, First or third person, does it have to be a pure fighting game or do you achieve victory by getting from point A to point B or fulfilling some other objective and can it have RPG or strategy elements or is it just action.
Hmmm. Bushido Blade was fairly realistic. Virtual Fighter IV or any of the Tekken games are good options for skill and technicality. I'd even say that games like Fight Night have something to offer here. Ninja Gaiden too. But, since I see so many PC games listed as a point of reference, I suppose my console-centric suggestions won't carry much weight around here.
If you're going for more of a wartime feel, Dynasty Warriors or Kindgom Under Fire should be points of reference (although there is much debate over the quality of these games).
I seriously think I either don't understand your observation about melee games, or you underestimate the fighting game genre in it's ability to deliver what you're looking for.
If you're going for more of a wartime feel, Dynasty Warriors or Kindgom Under Fire should be points of reference (although there is much debate over the quality of these games).
I seriously think I either don't understand your observation about melee games, or you underestimate the fighting game genre in it's ability to deliver what you're looking for.
There are a good number games with good melee combat. The problem is that it's neither effective nor efficient and often too hard to do.
The basic "Move in the direction of the attack you are wanting to do" is straight up Oblivion, and it had one of the worst combat systems in a game of all time. So boring and drab. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic had one of the best combat systems of all time, despite being a terrible multiplayer game.
Fallout 3 has the same melee mechanics that Oblivion had. Hold down left strafe and you do an attack that attacks to the left. It works really poorly, although the game is more about VATS and shooting stuff.
There's another game out there that does melee combat decently. Mount and Blade. It sucks that the game lacks any story (waaaaaaaaaaaaay too open world for my tastes) and is won mainly by the existence of horses. Maybe these things have been changed from the last version I played, but I'm completely unsure.
I would really like to see a game that doesn't suck come out and be all about the melee combat. Stylized, over the top, 300 style action focused entirely on killing things. Load in different types of characters that are fundamentally different. Have one character rely on momentum and speed to win (think Mirrors Edge movement), have another rely on tactics and timing, another on long range fighting, and another on brute force bashing. Just have them all play completely different and you're good to go.
The basic "Move in the direction of the attack you are wanting to do" is straight up Oblivion, and it had one of the worst combat systems in a game of all time. So boring and drab. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic had one of the best combat systems of all time, despite being a terrible multiplayer game.
Fallout 3 has the same melee mechanics that Oblivion had. Hold down left strafe and you do an attack that attacks to the left. It works really poorly, although the game is more about VATS and shooting stuff.
There's another game out there that does melee combat decently. Mount and Blade. It sucks that the game lacks any story (waaaaaaaaaaaaay too open world for my tastes) and is won mainly by the existence of horses. Maybe these things have been changed from the last version I played, but I'm completely unsure.
I would really like to see a game that doesn't suck come out and be all about the melee combat. Stylized, over the top, 300 style action focused entirely on killing things. Load in different types of characters that are fundamentally different. Have one character rely on momentum and speed to win (think Mirrors Edge movement), have another rely on tactics and timing, another on long range fighting, and another on brute force bashing. Just have them all play completely different and you're good to go.
Has someone mentioned Elveon yet?
That looks like a fairly decent melee combat game with strong emphasis on tactical one-on-one/two/three/four humanoid fights - unlike God of War and Ninja Gaiden.
Still I haven't heard anything about that game in a while. It could well be dead.
That looks like a fairly decent melee combat game with strong emphasis on tactical one-on-one/two/three/four humanoid fights - unlike God of War and Ninja Gaiden.
Still I haven't heard anything about that game in a while. It could well be dead.
Really? I saw the Condemned system as an expansion of the excellent system Chronicles of Riddick had, and therefore superior. The only thing CoR:EBB had on Condemned (I and II) is the weapon reversals.cvni2oe87n said:
Dude that sounds sweet! I'd definately play it. After playing Condemned I and II to death I really like the idea, as you said, that every H2H battle is a matter of life and death. Actually when you got the guns in Condemned II it kinda took away some of the tension for me.cvni2oe87n said:
The early Silent Hills had that effect, where you dread coming across an enemy.
One game I played that pulled off melee combat near-flawlessly was Jedi Knight 2/Academies. Once you got used to using the light saber, you could really sword fight your opponents. I found myself setting up blocks and swinging for openings in their defenses. Even swinging the mouse would change the way your stroke would land. There were times where I was doing a hard stroke, which is a good 130* swing in front of you, but by swinging the mouse, it would turn into about a 570* spin attack. Sadly, they changed the mechanics a little when in multiplayer, so I don't know how well real PvP battles could have gotten. I certainly didn't like the alternative feel to the saber.
You seem to look in the wrong places, sure, if you want something completely without ranged weapons you'll have to look for quite a while, and go to the unrealistic area, because really, people USE ranged weapons. They're effective, that's why they're so popular. There are plenty of games out there though, in which meelee is the only (or only sensible) choice of weaponry. Not too many of them have multiplayer though, and a number of them have magic or guns. Vampire the masquerade Bloodlines has all three actually, the Thief series, if a bit too hard to enjoy much, has really nice close quarters combat. I can't go without mentioning Die by the sword, even if that's probably a bit too old for you to enjoy. Mount and Blade, like many people have mentioned (and multiplayer might be a possibility quite soon, if the lead developer get's his will through), is an amazing game, one of the best game released in years, in my opinion, and almost completely melee. Gothic 3 also has quite a lot of melee, and while not as skillbased as the other mentioned games, it's not only number-crunching.
I'm sure there's a lot more I've momentarily forgotten, but they are out there. You just have to know where to look.
I'm sure there's a lot more I've momentarily forgotten, but they are out there. You just have to know where to look.