Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

Action Game Genres

For the purposes of discussion, the “action game” genre can be further divided into two sub-genres: those with shooting and those without. These sub-genres can be further divided, but at this point we would start to get into technology based distinctions—that is, the divisions are dependent on the technology used to present the game. For example, some people consider that the first-person shooter (FPS) is a genre in its own right. We can see this point of view, and it is a valid one under some circumstances. However, the key skill used in a FPS is reaction-based, and hence we'll be approaching all games that rely on reaction times as their key playing hook as a single genre. This is not as useless as it may seem. The fundamental ...