Action-adventure game

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"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. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres. The first known game in this genre is the Atari 2600 game Adventure (1978). 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, usually to the protest of adventure purists..

1 Definition and Confusion
2 Common Features
3 Sub-Genres
- 3.1 Isometric adventure games
4 See also

[edit] Definition and Confusion

The term "action adventure" itself has become more generalized since its introduction, and can now be used to refer to virtually any game which combines elements of real-time action-based challenges with some element of problem-solving. The genre exists largely to distinguish these games from pure adventure games, or from role playing games. It should be noted that adventure games never have a pronounced action element, limiting the action-based challenges to mini-games or other brief sequences. RPGs by definition have elements of pen and paper role playing games, such as "experience points" and other statistic-driven gameplay. Games like The Legend of Zelda are better classified as Action-Adventure because of this.

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 particularly prominent in articles over the internet and media. Some people consider Action Adventure to have a free roaming feel, but at the same time unlike RPG's can fight enemies and so on, on screen.

[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, side scrolling, 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 the player has enough ammunition and recovery items to "survive" the horror setting.
"Metroid-style games" (sometimes called "Metroidvania"), like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which emphasize exploration in a 2D, sidescrolling environment, usually with certain areas unaccessible until the player acquires a key item or skill.
"Action role-playing game, such as the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series, not the original however.

[edit] Isometric adventure games

There have been several games with an isomorphic perspective and action-adventure gameplay. The genre was particularly popular on the ZX Spectrum, and most of the games were created by Ultimate: Play The Game.