Hardcore:
Hardcore Celebrates Superpowers in Gaming
Published March 4, 2008
At A Glance
- Hardcore casts a fond, if somewhat irreverent, eye on powers in gaming.
The SuperMarch celebration here at Xbox.com is in full swing and with it a look at the hero's place in gaming. While my own superhuman traits are limited to consuming mass quantities of caffeine and an endless supply of hot wings with nary a side effect, I must bring the hardcore perspective to bear on the subject at hand: the powers we all experience in our games.
Rev and go, good buddy.
The Fenix Trademark
It may not require superhero strength to rip through Locust bone and sinew with a black smoke-spewing saw, but goodness gracious it does take a heaping helping of intestinal fortitude for Gears of War® soldiers to grin and bear it through the Locust screams and blood-soaked gore. Much love from me and mine to all those that spend their days dispatching the Locust horde up close and personal. Got to love the sound of a chainsaw rev in the morning.
Every time you send an enemy flying this
way and that courtesy of an exploding barrel,
another Red Barrel Fairy gets their wings.
The Red Barrel Fairy
For decades now, our videogame action heroes have been the unwitting but grateful beneficiaries of a mysterious phenomenon, the Red Barrel Fairies. In the small hours, when villains are at their least observant and our heroes lay restful in their beds, building energy to visit violence on those that oppose them, our stout-winged friends flutter through the night placing explosive barrels and crates in the most lovingly strategic places.
Do not ignore their contribution, my friends! Remember, every time you send an enemy flying this way and that courtesy of an exploding barrel, another Red Barrel Fairy gets their wings.
Slinging Marathons
Spider-Man 3™ on Xbox 360® and its predecessors on Xbox proved to the gaming world at large that superhero games could be done right, and while I love to beat on thugs and face off against super-villains as much as the next guy, nothing is quite so soaringly sweet as web-slinging through the city streets.
Allow me then to take a moment to apologize to all those innocent civilians I failed to save, and, indeed, soared directly over in their time of need so that I could tumble, fly and sling for just a few more seconds high above the New York faithful. Blame Treyarch, not me. It's their near perfect game mechanic's fault, not mine!
It's just too much fun.
I'm Shot! Okay, I'm Fine Now!
Of all the videogame powers that you and I take advantage of, nothing offers more joy and continued success than the constantly replenishing health bar. That you can take a shotgun blast to the face in Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™, retreat behind cover and live to fight with full vigor in a few short moments is a lovely feature worthy of celebration.
Authenticity is to be applauded sure, but so too is a developer's willingness to not punish the player, forcing them to engage in frustrating exploration for health packs and the like. Long live the replenishing health system!
Tequila … No … Bullet … No … Slow Motion!
Call it bullet time, Tequila Time, slow-mo or anything else you like, but call it a rousing success too. Any game, such as John Woo presents Stranglehold™ that lets you leap backwards across tables and through debris in slow motion, while simultaneously gunning down countless enemies popping from all corners of a room deserves a word or two of praise. Stylish doesn't even begin to describe your opportunities for action choreography when you've got slow motion on your side.
Levitation Holmes
Bioware's Mass Effect™ brought a number of classic, not to mention useful, special abilities and skills to bear on its sci-fi RPG world. None though proved so satisfying to yours truly than the Lift/Assassination combo, whereby you cast Lift to toss an enemy in the air, enjoy a moment of light relief as you watch them dangling helplessly in midair, and then one-shot them with the Assassination ability. Good times, good times.
Won't you be my bodyguard?
Big Daddy Bodyguard
The preceding Mass Effect combo provides hours of enjoyment, but BioShock may take the proverbial cake with its Hypnotize Big Daddy plasmids. To fire off a shot at a room full of splicers and watch your Big Daddy bodyguard lumber into action, tearing it up with methodical precision, is, to borrow from the commercial, priceless.
There's no shortage of stunning powers and awesome abilities scattered throughout gaming at large, but for my own part, the preceding highlights represent my most recent favorites. Now remember, go out there, have fun, and be Hardcore.
Article by Hardcore
