15 Hidden Video Game Design Secrets That Are Total Genius

9. Half-Life 2's Ledges & Railings Attract Enemies So They Flip Over More Frequently

Lovingly nicknaked "ragdoll magnets", if you thought Half-Life 2's glorious physics-based combat was resulting in one-off experiences just for you, many of these things were actually coded into the game.

It's purely down to the mastery of Valve's design department that such 'features' weren't too obvious or went on to feel parodic, but the team actually made it so after enemies' health is depleted, they'd occasionally flip over a nearby railing or plummet off a ledge, rather than just ragdoll down to the ground. Not only that, but for any bullets that missed, they'd really miss, punctuating fractured pieces of the environment, causing explosions or helping bring down towers of smaller items.

For more ragdoll magnet'ing see Metal Gear Solid 2's guards reaching for ledges to die in style, or Rockstar, who have started putting this in their past few games too, resulting in - in Red Dead Redemption's case - many fantastic moments where gunfights are peppered by pirouetting bodies falling all around.