Hiding behind crates and barrels (not red ones though - those tend to be a bit explodey) has been an integral part of action gaming for decades. Whether it has been a free cover system or a built-in gameplay element like the snap-to-cover mechanic, finding a quiet place to catch your breath in the heat of battle is essential in most shooters. Its a system that not everyone gets right, often coming off as a cheap design short-cut, and it can be truly frustrating when weakly implemented. But developers need only take a lesson from Gears Of War for the blueprint for perfecting cover-based gameplay. Kill.Switch predates it as a game built around a cover element, but Epic's epic Locust Horde death-fest improved on it in such dramatic fashion that it's Gears which has become synonymous with the idea. The transition between cover and free action was seamless and silky smooth, structured in a way that never breaks the flow of play. Uncharted came close to copying this fluid feel, as did Mass Effect and Vanquish, and to a lesser extent the Grand Theft Auto franchise, although none have surpassed the intuitive nature of Gears Of War. Diving into cover, lobbing a grenade and and then strafing the Locust scum to find the ideal angle of attack, Marcus Fenix and his pals made it look easy.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
