Top Ten Best Video Game Combat Systems

Fluid, responsive, looks awesome. What's not to like?

Or how to drop an entire roomful of people. The combat in these games is based on hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and gadgets. Essentially, hand-to-hand combat is limited to takedowns, a single true attack, counters, acrobatics, and a very strong auto-targeting system.

Overall, however, it is very fluid, allowing for armies of enemies to be fought at once with little difficulty. Stealth features many different takedowns relative to enemy and player position, with varying "loudness" or levels of "unstealthiness." Gadgets vary and assist both other forms of combat.

Overall, this system is excellent in allowing the player to toy with many enemies and just be a total beast, but it is quite bad at making a single man a threat, relying on stealth and gadgets instead of physical combat. This system has been imitated by the Amazing Spider-Man games and Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor and is destined to be imitated many more times.

Specifically the combat in Origins. I especially love the variety of weapons, with each type having a different way to use them. The Witcher 3 also has great combat mechanics.

The further you go into this series, the better the combat gets. It started out as a parry/counter system but soon evolved into something rivaling many Soulsborne titles.

In most of the games, it's either meh or blah, but in 1, 3, Rogue, and Unity, the combat is just amazing and engaging.

This is the third-person action combat system many were, and often are still, trying to create. The system consists of long-ranged, varying attacks used in a multiple-input combo system. It specializes in fighting groups of opponents with brutal efficiency and performing just okay with one-on-one fights (often reverting to spamming a single combo).

However, this system is not very good at creating difficulty. Any attempt to do so results in combo stopping and frustration. This system was used in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with some success.

Everyone bashes this combat system for being too flashy, but they haven't really played the game. The combat is very skill-based (not as much as The Witcher 2, but still very skill-based). You can't just casually hack and slash away. You have to be careful about when, where, and how you attack because one wrong move can take away huge chunks of your health.

Combat is great, although it looks silly at times. It makes Geralt look like a ballerina.

A.K.A. "Brawler."

A very unique fighting game format, the Smash Bros combat system is simple but elegant, as inspired by the Kirby game series. The series takes place in open yet limited 2D environments. Combat is built around two buttons, but the attacks change with the direction of movement, position (grounded or aerial), and whether or not the fighter is running.

The system is also unique in that deaths are caused by knocking the opponent out of the environment. The series also features multiple techniques (often born from glitches) that vary between games and add complexity, with Melee containing the most. This system has been imitated in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

The most stylish and fast-paced combat you will ever see.

This is how you truly duel an opponent and fight an army with epic results. This game's combat system breaks many conventions by featuring no auto-targeting, limited flinching, and a character that turns with the camera. What results is a system where everyone creates their own fighting methods.

The scope of this system is massive, featuring legitimate swordplay tied to character movement, the direction you are facing, button/direction combos, opponent position, player position, and style (e.g., fast, strong, dual, staff). It also includes early first/third-person shooter gameplay with unique guns possessing two settings each and Force (magic) powers that vary with astounding complexity (stopping combos, stealing guns, bullet-time, x-ray vision, physical enhancement, etc.).

A limited parkour system, though flawed, allows for unique effects (delaying attacks, kicking people into pits). There is some vehicular combat (ranging from land to space), some rudimentary hand-to-hand combat, and mixes between those systems (e.g., using a lightsaber while riding a speeder bike).

Online multiplayer usually limits this to swordplay and parkour, but the utter complexity of those systems maintains intensity similar to real sword fights. License-wise, the fights in this game feel more accurate to the idea than the source material. On its own, it is mind-blowing. No other game has this combat system, and as a result, the source games are still being modded over a decade after release.

An indie game and its upcoming sequel demonstrate what happens when you take human-animal cross-species and put them in the Matrix. In short, the combat is quick and visceral, featuring parkour, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, stealth, and everything in between.

The attacks are based on the distance from the opponent, character movement, blocking, dodging, countering, opponent position, held weapon, and whether you are in the air or not. Essentially, the combat allows for both single and multiple opponent fights without too much frustration aside from personal ability. It currently has no imitators.

Yes, here it is, and let me explain why. While not the best, it's definitely one of the most unique combat systems around. Mixing bullet hell with RPG elements actually pays off here.

You have a choice between befriending and killing enemies.

Yes, I know you have never heard of it. This combat system combines 2D fighting game combat with a third-person shooter to create a deliciously anime combat system. The melee attacks depend on what position you are in, what buttons you press, where the enemy is located, and what character you are playing as, featuring punches, kicks, grabs, and disarms.

The gunplay features varying weapons with overall impotency to highlight physical combat. The system flows well between ranged and physical combat and features combos similar to standard fighting games.

Sure, the potency of the weaponry is based on the mods you've equipped, but that doesn't change the fact that every weapon has some use in some levels. The Stance System is a decent way to keep melee combat from being boring, while the Quick Melee Ability can be chained with gunshots to increase the potency of the other via Status Procs.

This is the pinnacle of motion-controlled combat. The system features 1:1 precision in both swordplay and gunplay, button and motion combo attacks, motion strength sensitivity, and four guns. The system flows between gunplay and swordplay.