After some time in both new releases Mass Effect and Assassins Creed. I wanted to discuss some of the similarities and positive effects of these games on combat and the skills they are trying to bring forward.

The good about AC was the completely fluid scale-able sword combat system that would also work very well as a combat system for some fantasy MMO titles. The best part is there is no need to engage and manually target each player. Simply by pointing in the direction you wish to attack your player will follow through. To the button mashing crowd this can be far less exciting then the mauler melee but the first time you take on twelve guards in Acre without a single one landing a blow you will just plain feel powerful you will understand. It’s a beautiful artful construction of death.



In reality death is just a small part of the total system. But you are an assassin so death is your trade, even though they try to peddle it as peace. This is definitely not the pinnacle of total single player combat systems but it touches on some major strong points. My general review places AC as a very solid but incomplete game. Although the focus was correct in making sure the game was completed before they worried about the extras holds true combat even at this high level can always be improved upon. Even with the inclusion of another very strong game play element in this system. Free running which is on its way to being a major hit in Europe could have moved this game to bliss very quickly. Imagine if you will running over your opponents instead of around them when fleeing from an encounter. Not that i feel this game lacked this as a major feature. Even could have detracted from the total experience it just an example of looking at the system as a whole not pieces that are used at different times. Ultimately this is the core of players creating their own content and game-play within a system. Some players of course could be brash and fight the guards while others could flee and escape by grappling and stepping over the guards. Of course in situations like this it is important to remember that a human has to control this with a limited control set. This said the control set used in this title would be perfect for the mode of game play. Using action toggles the number of permutations of actions could be greatly increased with little extra work from the player.



On the other hand is Mass Effect which uses no extra fancy animations and targeting is point and click. Although this is a very smooth system as well game play like this outside the game as a whole is shallow. Shoot shoot shoot shoot don't get shot. Tactical never really comes into play unfortunately. In most cases this is really the other side of the shell the player has to control everything and although a bit of time compression is used to help keep the player from being overwhelmed this is the old school of combat, lengthy and lacking reward. I guess no matter how many games I play there is never an end to the question "wow I look pretty damn good for getting shot that many times." I have always thrown around the ideas of putting a scar system into a game like fable did but it almost seems unimportant. A deformity system would be better. What better reason does a player have not to get shot up but a gimp leg from the last combat. Is this too much realism for a game. Games are supposed to be fun after all. Or is this a method of difficulty that is far better then just making the enemies have more shields. That aside in Mass Effect the failing in combat really comes after you have completed the game the first time and resume play with all your high power gear. You find that you will remain so over powered that it does not matter that the enemies have immunities to some damage. You just deal too much. This is rewarding in its own way of course but from a difficulty standpoint this only makes combat longer it doesn't force you to employ any new tactics.



This is as far as I am concerned the ultimate problem with MMOs like I have stated elsewhere combat in an MMO is very very lame. Truth is that even extra fancy animations are not enough to give it purpose if anything the combat has to be open. This means supporting combat with multiple simultaneous combatants enough one at a time. This also mean that combat has to be about hitting the enemy not shooting at them or cleaving away until they go down. Combat could be simplified to hit or miss a well defended opponent will be hard to hit. Imagine a world where everyone had 1 hit-point all the time and all that changed was how fatigued they were or if they were defending. Lets assume that in combat everyone is always defending by default we call this Neutral Guard to the enemy or enemies you have directly engaged with. Health is described as fatigue. The more aggressive dodges you do the more health you lose. Health can be gained by placing blows on an opponent so in the end it is represented as a mental thing. The spirit has more to do with fatigue then the body anyways. The actual combat can be time based or on demand the same effect can occur. The goal is that equally matched opponents will last a long time until both sides are worn down and eventually one prevails. This of course becomes a fancy game of rock paper scissors between the opponents with luck and the ability to read your opponent become key. Of course combat against an undefended opponent end swiftly. This works as is with melee but with projectiles that you cannot dodge it is a bit different. Fatigue again is a mental thing near misses drain upon an opponent. So in a fire fight you will try to stay out of the open fire zones. Of course this will force a tactical method of play automatically especially in a team sense. By providing suppressing fire your wear at the enemies will until they will succumb to an attack more easily. Game combat needs to be a dynamic dance like in the movies. Where the characters never get shot, just shot at. Also at the same time it forces the proper and necessary use of environmental cues. Not just choke points but cover flanking and drawing fire.

It is possible that rock paper scissors is too easy of an analogy for this combat system. More appropriately is fight choreography. When combat ensues its not a direct camera lock except at close range for convince. The characters are still free to move but will generally face each other. Imagine combat during free running in with one player chasing another player or NPC. The camera would be more of a chase cam showing both players while the players interacted in combat and with the environment. So in our example the player running away decides to climb a wall meanwhile chase player is shooting in this instance the player is exposed and moving in a slower forward rate. This affects what defensive modifier is applied to his fatigue while shots land around him. Of course if the player escapes the climb unscathed then he will have a much higher modifier as he moves over the wall and out of sight. In this same way the character chasing the player will have a higher modifier until they reach the top of the wall and become exposed. This will result in a serious drop in defensive modifiers especially since the offensive modifier that could be gained by the running character due to a better tactical position in relation to the opponent and a possible higher defensive bonus of cover if available. This is also a great chance in this system to turn the tables on the chase character by waiting for the chase player to pass by and reverse the tables. Most combat could play out directly or as a game of cat and mouse. There are more obvious options that could be placed in this situation but I think I have at least broadly drawn the picture of a more fluid on demand combat methodology.