Community Question: Favourite Melee Style

[badman]

Every game we've ever made has included some form of melee combat. Be it Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory's knife or Brink's "off-hand" strike with whatever gun you're currently holding, there have been a variety of ways to bring the pain up close. With melee mechanics being quite different, we'd like to find out from you which of them you prefer. With that in mind, here's this week's question:

What is your preferred style of melee attack in first person shooters?

Please vote in the poll attached to this post and let us know why your choice works best for you. Our designers look forward to your answers!

[tokamak]

Like always, do whatever ETQW had.

With the knock-down mechanic of Brink you have room for both the weapobutts and the dedicated melee weapons.

[Dthwsh]

It's more fun an satisfying when you have a dedicated melee weapon. Quick attack unequipable ones can be to overkill (play a game on COD using only a knife and you'll see).

[Indloon]

A dedicated melee weapon that you have to switch to [Wolf: ET]
Because quick attack non equippable one screws it,lets take an example of CoD,I hate that if someone uses a melee like that,at wolf:et,its way better,more realistic actually...

Where the hell the solider takes a knife when he uses weapon and then POM..(magic pants I must admit)

[Humate]

Easy question.

Weapon banked dedicated knife.
And in case you wanted to ask weapon banked dedicated nades.

You should never have a combat/class action that is triggered off a key imo.
This allows you to tie other mechanics - priming, speed increase on switch.
It allows the player to see the enemy's intention and react to that intention.
You cannot counter nade shooting in Brink. You cannot counter insta knifing in Cod.
Knockdowns dont solve this issue either. It just delays the inevitable.

[tokamak]

Well said. Key word is intention. Without it, the melee strike is reduced to an ad hoc emergency move.

[Dormamu]

on PC i would go with option 1, for console with option 2, and for a game likeTribes with option 3.

[Slade05]

I want ET knife with crazy saw animation and buckets of blood.
And goat sound!

[SockDog]

Why not have a push/stun mechanic with the current weapon and then a dedicated melee weapon for actual player damage.

And to fan the flames, how about a push to charge feature on the melee weapon to increase damage.

[tokamak]

Yes, that's what I want.

[Snotling]

I prefer an equipable melee weapon, magic knife like CoD are too magic to be really fun, it requires no skill. ETQW knife is sexy we want more of it!

[BioSnark]

What sockdog said, like left 4 dead 2.

[DarkangelUK]

Problem with me is I like both, I like that I can have a dedicated weapon that will deal a decent amount of damage and humiliate the player that isn't paying attention (gauntlet/knife), but I also like the melee that uses your current weapon where again the enemy is punished for letting you get too close in the first place (Halo/Brink). Brink's melee felt weak and 'fluffy', there wasn't really any oomph to it... Halo did the *THWAK* quite well.

So I'm guessing Socks option by the sound of it

[Boktor]

Heh I think the poll reflects the userbase more than anything else..

I'd like to see a dedicated melee weapon, but a melee strike with weapons as well.

So you have a something like a blade weapon, but a rifle-butt mechanic for guns as well. The dedicated melee weapon can do heavy damage if you want do a more sneaky, run-around-meleeing-people playstyle. The rifle-butt adds flavor to gunfights without overpowering the role of gunplay. It could be a very short stun and do minor damage. No "magic-knives" like in CoD.

Perhaps combining the best of ET and Brink??

[Humate]

I dont rate knockdowns, or last second knife spamming in close.

I can handle something like the charged melee in UT, but at the cost of footspeed.

[Apples]

I really dont like knockdowns, one man can take a bazzilion bullets without dying and *puf* you tackle him and he stay on the ground for X seconds? It breaks the flaw of the game to me, backstab only ala etqw for the win, maybe some pretty powerfull melee weapon too (gauntlet lovah) but nothing like instant knockdown or instant "I grab you from across the map and kill you" animation (BFBC2 LOL)

Peace

[tokamak]

It reminds me of the ability to push opponents really far in W:ET. Most of the time you're better off emptying your clip, but sometimes they get so close that you want to shove them. The shove itself is just done incredibly awkwardly, I'd rather see it like in Left4Dead.

[light_sh4v0r]

Dedicated weapon.

[.Chris.]

Thought shove in ET was to stop door blocking when people 999ed and for trolling campers on high ledges. Also it was modded in.

[tokamak]

I know, but it was fun as well as a viable addition to the game.

All the knockback stuff can be tweaked. Perhaps players on the ground receive a bit less damage to make up for their immobility. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.