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Design :: Day 010

Some thoughts on Cover

Cover is a key ingredient in many shooter games, whether first or third person. As the name suggests, covers serve as a way to provide protection for the player either to hide from the enemies, and in many cases, a safe spot to launch an attack.

Cover and Concealment

If you’ve been in the army or if you’re an avid hunter, cover and concealment would be a familiar concept to you. To touch on the subject quickly, cover is something that can protect you from enemy fire and concealment is something that hides you from the enemy but doesn’t protect you from them.

While many games feature cover, concealment is usually more commonly seen in games that has stealth as a key part of its mechanics. One example of this is the tall grass ingredient in the Assassin’s Creed series.

It goes deeper than that of course, but for the sake of video games and this write up, understanding that distinction would be good enough.

Cover in video games

Covers can be an integral part of a game such as in Gears of War. Though not the first to do so, the game employs a cover system and was considered revolutionary for that time by making it a key part of their combat loop. For instance, how can we forget the arcade classic – the Time Crisis series with cover being a key part of the gameplay loop as a way to hide from enemies and reload! They preceded Gears of War by 11 years.

Cover systems marked the beginning of an evolution from a run-and-gun style of combat to something more realistic. In these games, a cover is its own mechanic and has a system that revolves around it. It is not without its shortcomings as some games make the transition awkward and clunky, or don’t expand on it enough to make players feel that it’s a valuable mechanic to use.

Crouch vs Cover

A common rudimentary take on cover is the crouch mechanic. At its most basic, it’s a way to crouch and make the player a smaller target without any state change. The only changes would likely only be on the visuals and collision box. You can do it anywhere and almost anytime. Even while jumping. For games like this, cover serves as nothing more than a way to block enemy projectiles and to hide from enemies. I think this was well done in Skyrim where it forms an integral part of the stealth mechanic. Though, I might add that this can also become really fun but unrealistic in late game when the player can abuse it well enough to gain a ridiculous advantage. But to me, that plays into the game’s fantasy.

While this was enough to satisfy gamers not too long ago, I feel that this technique would feel cheap and clunky in the AAA landscape today.

A “middle way” approach

I feel that the best way to approach the cover topic is through an approach that mixes the best of cover and crouch.

One game that comes to mind is Hitman 2 with how the player can quickly switch between the states and engage the world slightly differently in either states. This is reflected in the camera work and the actions available to the player in the two states. The player could quickly transition and it is clear which state the character is in. To me, this makes the gameplay feel natural and seamless, and it adds value to the cover state as a contrast to the regular state.

However, to me, the benchmark on how this can be done is in The Last of Us 2. While the game allows for open combat, the levels accommodate for traditional and aggressive stealth playstyles with spaces for both cover and concealment and making it fun in all approaches.

As for the cover mechanics, it might look like a regular crouch mechanic to someone watching the game but having played it, it feels natural as I transition between states, especially during crucial moments such as when I’m being ambushed while sneaking. I am aware that I am in a different state but it doesn’t feel clunky or I’m forced into that state without planning to do so.

The Last of Us 2 clip I shared above is a memorable level as I had a lot of fun playing it and I’m sure the person who uploaded it had a lot of fun too.

Conclusion

What do you think? Is cover that much of a big deal? I think it’s worth thinking about in most action games as the alternative to it is usually running and gunning, which breaks realism and doesn’t really allow for tactics. I’m sure there are games where running and gunning is a favorable option and the game can still be fun that way (Left 4 Dead 2 comes to mind), but for the most part, I feel that players would seek out cover even if it was not built into the mechanics of the game. Players don’t want to get shot and covers help with that goal. Think about how many times you might strafe in and out of a corridor in one of those old school multiplayer FPS games because that’s the closest thing to a cover you had in those games. So it might be worth it to spend some time thinking of cover the next time you’re working on a level in an action game. And if you’re a game designer working on the mechanics of an action game, then it might be worth it to consider how cover and crouch could be incorporated into each other in a seamless experience.

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