Oh my, what wood I get just thinking of headshots… Seriously, a game with a well manufactured headshot mechanic is like digital sex for me. I mean, it tickles my libido in ways that few other things can. Let me try to explain this phenomenon in a timeline of notable headshot implementations.

For me this infatuation started in 1997 with Goldeneye. I hate to use that game as a reference because it is no where near my favorite FPS, but it changed what I expect when it comes to shooting someone in the face. Goldeneye was one of the first games where you could actually tell where you shot people. The aggressor’s head would give this sexy jerk when you embedded a bullet in it. Even (especially?) when they were dead you could do this and the experience was just as enthralling as it was post lead consumption.

Fast forward to 2004. I’m going to skip a few years because I can’t remember when headshots started to actually remove domes. Unreal had a bitchin’ way of removing the head entirely and happily exclaiming “HEADSHOT” so the whole house would know. It would get to the point where it sounded like I had that recording on repeat and I loved it every time. Any way, 2004: in UT2k4, with the addition of the lightning gun, when this was accomplished it would leave the body convulsing on the floor. What a great advancement! Not only was it a great solid feel when contact was made and the face flew in some direction at ludicrous speeds, but it was something you could continue to marvel at and remember while the lifeless corpse twitches and lightning moves around the body a bit.



I thought that UT2k4 would be the peak of headshotting entertainment and I was extremely satisfied with that, but I was wrong. In 2006 Gears of War was the next game to continue to excite me in ways that make parents uncomfortable. Gone was the lightning effect and in its place was the most fantastic liquification of a skull you could imagine. Accompanied by this wonderful splattering of cranium was a sound that should be forever replicated in future games that wish to be awesome. It’s like a quick and hollow whack accompanied by a short gurgle. The way the body crumples depends on what the poor headless sap was doing, but after it fell you could go over and kick it around the map like the useless sack of meat it always was!

There are other notable headshots, but as far as improvements and additions I feel that these represent the idea pretty well. This is what I look for in games now. If I can’t forcibly remove a head then the satisfaction isn’t quite complete. I understand that it probably wouldn’t fit as well in TeamFortress2, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think it should be there!