Action is the widest label in games, which makes it close to useless on its own. What people usually mean is one of three things: combat with real depth you get graded on, spectacle you get carried through, or movement that is fun before anything else happens. Deciding which one you want narrows thousands of games down to a shortlist very quickly.
What makes a good one
A good action game gives you a small set of verbs and then spends the whole game finding new questions to ask of them. The bad ones keep adding buttons instead. The test is simple: an hour in, are you getting better, or is the game just handing you more numbers?
Character action — combat you get graded on
The style meter is the genre's defining invention: finishing a fight is not enough, you have to finish it well. Expect a deep move list, weapon switching, and a difficulty ladder that goes far past the default.
- Devil May Cry — The genre's origin, and where the style meter came from.
- Bayonetta — The same designer, with the most refined combat system of the lot.
- Astral Chain — Two bodies at once, and the chain between them is a weapon.
Spectacle action — carried by the set pieces
Combat is deliberately narrow so that every hit lands hard and the camera can do the work. These are the ones to play when you want to be impressed rather than tested.
- God of War — The best-produced action adventure PlayStation has published.
- Uncharted 4 — Set pieces held together by writing and performance.
- Ryse: Son of Rome — Short, shallow, and unusually good-looking.
Movement-first — the traversal is the game
Some action games are really about getting from one place to another. The fighting is an excuse to keep moving, and standing still is the losing move.
- Titanfall 2 — The best movement in any shooter, and a campaign of one-off ideas.
- Sunset Overdrive — Grinding a city where touching the ground is a mistake.
- InFamous — Superpowers where the traversal, not the combat, is the reward.
Common mistakes
- Buying on the strength of the combat trailer. Trailers show the endgame move set; the first five hours are a different game.
- Playing on the default difficulty in a character action game. Most of them are tuned so the real system only appears on the second setting up.
- Assuming a hard game is a deep one. Some of the hardest action games have very few decisions in them.
Questions
What is the difference between an action game and an action RPG?
An action RPG gates your power behind stats and gear, so getting stronger is a progression you buy. A pure action game gives you the full move set early and expects you to get better at it yourself.
Which action game should I start with?
If you want depth, Devil May Cry 5 or Bayonetta. If you want to be entertained without being tested, God of War (2018). If you mostly want to move fast, Titanfall 2.
Are older action games still worth playing?
The combat-led ones age very well — the systems were the point and they still work. Spectacle-led ones age worst, because the spectacle was tied to what the hardware could do at the time.
