Great games are made of great gameplay, and what we call the overall gameplay experience is essentially a wide range of individual mechanics’ that the player gets to perform over and over throughout the course of a game. But there are some gameplay mechanics’ that stand out as far more enjoyable and satisfying than others, so much so that they become the sole reason for replaying the game over and over again. And at the nucleus of all truly great videogames are these unique and memorable gameplay mechanics’ that feel exciting and rewarding every single time you do them and never really get old.
And this article is about celebrating those timeless gameplay mechanics’ that have made the games they’ve appeared in some of the greatest in videogame history. They’ve been ranked according to their ingenuity and re-playability, so let’s dive in.
5. Bullet Time (Max Payne 3) : Although the Slow-mo or Bullet Time is easily one of the most widely used gameplay mechanics ever, Max Payne 3 implements this in a way that's refreshingly unique and makes for one of the most memorable and satisfying gameplay experiences that I've come across.
Unlike the rest of the games that feature auto-regeneration of Bullet Time, the Bullet Time meter in Max Payne 3 only starts to fill when you're getting shot while being pinned down behind cover, and the more enemies shoot at you, the faster it gets filled. This opens up exciting new possibilities as you can plan, strategize and even use the level design to your advantage to fill up the meter and unleash your hyper-fast reflexes to take down multiple foes at a swoop of slow-mo-finesse. This leads to massive risk-vs-reward experiences that's completely unrivaled in terms of sheer thrill and intensity when it comes to third person shooters.
4. Stopping Time (The Dishonored series) : The Dishonored series features one of the largest suit of gameplay mechanics ever conceived, but what tops them all is the ability to stop Time altogether. When combined with the other powers present in the game, it just opens up a whole slew of exhilarating gameplay possibilities that really tap into the player’s creativity like no other game ever did. This ability literally transforms the game into a glorious sandbox of both lethal and non-lethal actions, heck, you can even cross entire levels and get all objectives done without ever being detected.
3. Turning the Entire Environment into your Weapon aka the Gravity Gun (Half Life 2) : When Half Life 2 first handed you it's Gravity Gun, it marked the start of an entire new chapter in the history of Videogames. Instead of being yet another weapon that you can just point and shoot, the Gravity Gun turned the whole environment into your own any-weapon-you-like gallery. Everything from bricks to pieces of wood, from explosive barrels to heavy objects became fully controllable and throw-able, leaving it entirely up to the players as to how they want to carve their own canvas in fps action sandbox. The Gravity Gun is one of those timeless gameplay mechanics that feels as revolutionary right now as it did way back in 2004.
2. Fear Takedowns (Batman: Arkham Knight) : The Arkham games brought a choke full of innovative and exciting array of gameplay mechanics' with each entry, but the Fear Takedowns stand out among them as the most satisfying and timeless one that you just can't get enough of performing. Not only does it make the player think and act like the caped crusader himself, but there’s also a predator-y or tactical aspect to it that makes the Fear Takedown so darn addictive and emergent. Using the many in-game gadgets and myriads of other creative ways to get several baddies in a group for a precious few seconds and then one-shotting all of them in gloriously detailed animations just never gets old, ever. In terms of sheer re-playability, no other gameplay mechanics tops the Fear Takedown, at least in my viewpoint (pun intended).
1. Royal Guard (The Devil May Cry series) : The most Hardcore in nature among all of the gameplay mechanics' listed here, Royal Guard is also the simplest to pull off—all it takes is the press of a single button. But thing is, you have to do it just as an attack is about to hit you. Absolute split second timing is necessary to pull off this powerhouse of a move which lets you negate ALL damage from every single attack in the game, which means you can become literally invulnerable and then return all of that aggression back to your foes with devastating effects.
So when you take the time to carefully observe the repeated patterns of the enemies, their attack animations and all the subtle visual and audio cues that signal when they’re just about to hit you—and when you finally press the button at that split microsecond of a time window and completely nullify the incoming attack without taking ANY damage, you’ll know just why the Royal Guard is the most satisfying and rewarding gameplay mechanics of all time.
The Royal Guard truly makes the player feel like Dante himself, who is rightfully one of gaming’s most powerful character ever. This mechanic also has an old-school DNA with a huge risk-vs-rewards dynamics in place, which makes each successful Royal Block so much more satisfying and feel earned. I just love how it makes you work and there are no shortcuts, no other ways to get around it----Royal Guard tests your passion and perseverance and rewards you with a level of thrill-filled massive surge of adrenaline rush that's completely unrivaled in all of gaming.
These are some of the greatest gameplay mechanics to ever come out of videogames, from my experience. So do let me know if you agree with me or not, sound off in the comments section.
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