Action-adventure game

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Action/Adventure" redirects here. For the 2004 album by Dealership, see Action/Adventure (album).

Action-adventure games (British English: arcade adventure) are video games that combine elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. The first known game in this genre is the Atari 2600 game Adventure (1978), though Nintendo is often cited as creating the genre with The Legend of Zelda (1986). With the decline of the adventure game genre, the action adventure genre became much more prominent. As a side effect, action adventure games are sometimes simply labeled as adventure games by console gamers.

1 Definition and Confusion
2 Common Features
3 Sub-Genres
4 Notable examples of action-adventure games

[edit] Definition and Confusion

The term "action adventure" itself has become more generalised since its introduction, and can now be used to refer to virtually any game which combines elements of reflex-based play with some element of problem-solving. This can be contributed to it never having a definite definition to begin with. As such, many consider the Legend of Zelda series to be hybridized role-playing games ("adventure-RPGs" or "action-RPGs"), however this is more of a false association due to the series' fantasy roots as extremely similar games with other settings (such as sci-fi) are never referred to as such.

Due to the lack of a definition of the term of Action-Adventure (although it may be considered a game that contains elements of both genres on assumption) there are quite a few disagreements in the community and in the media over what actually constitutes an Action-Adventure game. One definition of the term "Action Adventure" may be '“An Action/Adventure game is a game that has enough action in it not to be called an Adventure game, but not enough action to be called an Action game.”'[1]Despite this, disagreements over which games fit under the categories [2][3] are particulary prominent in articles over the internet and media.

[edit] Common Features

In action-adventure games, while reflex-based actions are required (often revolving around combat or the avoidance thereof), the gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items, exploration of and interaction with one's environment, and puzzle-solving). While the controls are arcade-style (character movement, few action commands) there is an ultimate goal beyond a high score. This type of game is often quite similar to computer role-playing games.

They are distinct from graphic adventures, which sometimes have free-moving central characters, but also wider variety of commands and fewer or no arcade game elements and are distinct too from text adventures, characterized by many different commands introduced by the user via a complex text parser and no free-moving character. While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye, sidescrolling, first-person, third person, over the shoulder, or even 3/4 view.

[edit] Sub-Genres

As said before, the action adventure game is hard to define, however, there are some destinct sub genres. Popular sub-genres include:

"Survival horror games", like the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series, which emphasize "inventory management" and making sure you have enough ammunition and healing items to "survive" the horror setting.
"Metroid-style games", like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which emphasize exploration in a 2D, sidescrolling environment.
"Action role-playing game, such as the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series, not the original however.