Games and their unique game play

I spent the last week finishing off Max Payne 3, which really is a great game (I also got it for a lovely £4 on Steam). Very good story line and pretty much constant action, Max even turns into John McClane for a portion of the game! What I had the most fun with though was the 'Bullet Time' slow motion game play effect.

This got me thinking last night, with the gaming world constantly changing and new ideas being thrown around, where did some of these unique game play effects start? And which games have made the most use of these effects? Lets take a look.

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Max Payne (Series) - Bullet time

I will start with what I just finished. Max Payne pretty much revolves around bullet time, in simple terms, slow motion. When activated time slows down to the point where the player can see individual shots fired at them and also enables Max to go on the offensive. The advantage is that even knowing time is slowed, Payne can still aim in real time giving you the chance to get those satisfying head shots. To add the the effect, when you down the final enemy in the area you are treated to bullet camera which shows your winning kill.

The Matrix films were famous for using the slow-mo effect but in the video game world Requiem: Avenging Angel was one of the first to use it. You can get a glimpse of it here (starts about 2:45).

Gears of War (Series) - Cover system

GOW, released in 2006, was I think when the cover system really got its acclaim. The games selling point was its cover based combat game play, you can easily jump behind cover at the touch of a button and used it to tactically take down the Locust horde. You could pick enemies off by peaking from cover to get a well aimed shot or use the non risky blind fire approach. This was improved for GOW 2 thanks to an improved Unreal engine when cover would take damage from gun fire.

The cover system was used well before Gears of Wars time, you could go right back 1986 when 'Rolling Thunder' was released to get your first glimpse of cover based game play. 'Kill Switch' was the first game to base its game play on cover, you also have the first two Metal Gear Solid games and Uncharted: Drakes fortune which used the system just before Gears was released.

Mirrors Edge - Free running

Mirrors Edge really is in a league of its own when it comes to uniqueness. It is based on Parkour and truly is a first person experience, the use of cameras and being able to see Faith's limbs while performing sprints and big jumps helps create the feeling of performing free running moves. The game also uses 'Runners Vision' which highlights pieces of scenery you can interact with to perform your moves. 'Bullet Time' also features in a slightly different variance, 'Reaction Time' slows time down to enable the player to plan our the next move without losing speed and momentum.

Like I said, Mirrors Edge really is one of kind. The only game that kind of comes close is 'Prince of Persia' for his ability to run along walls but even that is really clutching at straws.

Those are the three that jumped at me while thinking about this, there are probably loads more examples out there. If you can think of any then please feel free to comment below. Meanwhile, I will sit back and wait for the next game to utilise or possibly even revolutionise a new game play mechanic.

@Joe_Copson