Executions Game Mechanic

So I like a lot of what Gears of War did for gaming. One mechanic I focused on for a while was the execution mechanic. Instead of simply ragdolling over and dying when you were shot enough times, like in Halo, in Gears you would go into a down but not out state, bleeding out on the ground. If you were lucky, a teammate would come over and revive you. Otherwise, depending on the mode, you would either bleed out until you die or revive yourself. And of course, if you were unlucky, an enemy would come over and execute you. This entire mechanic is really interesting gameplay-wise, and has been mimicked significantly in recent games, but what caught my attention were the executions in particular.

In Gears of War you can raise your big-ass boot up near a downed enemy and stomp on his head to finish him off, or simply melee him into a lifeless heap. Or, because it's Gears of War, you could rev your lancer and chainsaw him. At first this may sound gruesome and horrifying - it's definitely bloody - but what makes it good is not that it's all gore filled and gross. Epic games tried doing that with the chainsaw for example, and it turned players off from using the chainsaw. It's not about the blood and guts, it's about the viscerality, the groundedness of the game, even though I'm pretty sure I just made those words up. The fact that you connect your avatar to something in the game gives it a sense of realism, or in other words, it makes you feel invested in the game. You know, it's something besides just aiming, pulling the trigger, and watch from a distance as whatever bullet effect just happens to the enemy, as in most shooters.

Aside from the fact that this is a type of connection to a game that developers appear to be missing nowadays, instead favoring stuff more along the lines of tons and tons of unlocks - a cop-out if you ask me - the creativity of the game's artists really shines through these moments of gameplay.

So after I pulled at least one of every execution type in Gears 2, I noticed there were a few weapons that didn't have their own execution. That seemed like a missed opportunity, so I devised some of my own. But that in itself was boring to me. I like innovating, changing stuff, trying new things. So I also suggested a new execution mechanic. Ultimately I don't think it would have worked too well, but the best way to get good ideas is to have a lot of ideas, right?

Anyhow, I proposed the new mechanic on the Gears forums, and put up a bunch of execution ideas for each weapon. Many of the executions in Gears 3 also suspiciously resemble mine (particularly the flamethrower, or the retrolancer if you look at my torque bow execution), and Epic specifically said they got from the userbase on the forums the idea for more executions... so I'm not saying they used my ideas, but I'd like to think I had my hand in just a small part of Gears 3.

Also, everyone on the forums seemed to really like my imagery... but without further ado, the original post from the gears forums, in all its raw unedited glory:


Let me start out with a hypothetical circumstance (which may not be so hypothetical - it may have happened to you more than once upon a time).

You're in the MP map Gridlock. You enter the game of Annex from the spawn as Marcus, the game having started a few minutes ago already. You see the base locator points to the side tower, around the Gorgon Pistol. You, being the commando of your team, rush straight up from the spawn, but stop as you see a Grenadier in a sniper fight with your teammate down at the Boomshot. Sadly, your friend is a fumbling child when wielding the Longshot, so, the Grenadier being distracted, his back turned, you have a choice. Should you switch to your Gnasher and take the Locust out? No. Although the chances are high that one hit will kill him, there's always the chance that it won't - and while you're fighting him after the first hit (or miss) he'll be alerting his enemies in the capture point. The Snubber won't be strong enough - you'd have the same problem as the shotgun - but there's even more a chance he won't die quickly. The Smoke is a viable choice, but you want to kill him - not stun him and wait for him to get up to kill him (while his teammates are rushing you). Lastly you come to the Lancer, your friend. You could just shoot him down, but that would'nt be any fun now would it? That would also take a while. But what about the chainsaw!? Well, that'll take a while, and you'd most likely die by the hands of his teammates around the corner, but I'll know for sure that at least the one guy is dead, and his death will be bloody and exciting. Let's do that one.

Now, you may wonder what this has to do with executions. Well, EVERYTHING! What if you had another choice? The reason for the new executions are because curb-stomping got old - admit it. People were just meleeing for the finishing move. That's all good and fine, but I want something more visceral. You can execute your enemy from behind with the chainsaw, so why not add in similar mechanics with other weapons, the difference being that the chainsaw can also cut your opponent up from the front? That is what I am proposing. Walk up behind the enemy and press and hold Y (like one would hold the B button for the Lancer, though let me expressly say that you would be using the Y button - not the B button - the B is still melee (for all weapons but the Mulcher, Mortar, and Lancer), and a bloody execution will, well, execute, right in front of your eyes. Of course, you would still be vulnerable to getting hit during the animation (like any execution), the execution stopping because you got hit (like the chainsaw), and getting hit during the anim - never mind - already said that (in my schemes other disadvantages will be there, but I'll get to that). But I, not willing to stop with the proposal, concocted animations for every weapon. Although you may not easily walk up behind someone with a Mortar, I thought up an execution for it. Please also keep in mind that these are in no particular order. ALSO PLEASE REMEMBER that these, though they are one hit kills, are no different than chainsawing someone from behind - they are even more in the executionee's favor. Most of them take longer and almost all of them have a distinct disadvantage. Aside from this you'd also still have the choice to regular melee them from behind etc.

Gnasher Shotgun: Simply when you walk up behind them, you jam the gun barrel into their back, fire once (the enemy is bleeding thoroughly), fire twice (the enemy is dead now, but still kinda there), and fire a final time (leaving barely anything of your enemy's skeleton left). The extra effect is that you are 3 shotgun shells shorter.

Boltok Pistol: You whack your enemy, as you would normally with a melee attack, and he gets stunned, turning around in being so. You take the Boltok and, barrel first, punch him in the face - while firing a single shot. That's right, you punch him in the face at the same time as you blow it off with your bullet. The effect here is that you are a shot shorter.

Snub Pistol: If you have seen imSuck machinima you may know what I'm thinking of here. You, with your Snubber, whack the enemy from behind, but instead of spinning around, he falls to the ground. You aim straight down at him and unload on him, reload, and unload on him again, never looking away. Of course you'll be later short 2 ammo clips, but it'll have been worth it (the imSuck machinima I am referring to is the opening scene in HMVH - it's Halo, but check it out).

Hammerbust Assault Rifle: You take your gun by - well, it doesn't matter - and bring it over your shoulder like a baseball bat. You whack the enemy from his right side, then, bringing it around, from his left. After recovering his senses for the moment, he turns around to see you - and your gun barrel right between his eyes. Your gun fires, and he falls to the ground - but without a head. You'll be once again short one H. Burst shot, but, as is always with these executions, very worth it.

Hammer of Dawn: Now this is a difficult one. You walk up behind the enemy and shove the Hammer in his belt. Of course this lodges the trigger into the fire position. You kick your opponent to the ground (as you would kick down a door or a Boomshield) and dive away - though you don't roll as normal but just dive, and get up as you would after getting hit by a Smoke. The unfortunate bloke with the H.O.D. in his belt frantically scrambles to dislodge the Hammer while on the ground, but cannot in time. If he is outside, you see the orbital satellites give him an Imulsion bath. If he is not in open sky, well, the Imulsion charged battery still overloads and explodes, though the explosion does nothing but kill him. The negative to this execution is that there's no more Hammer, but really, who needs one anyway? It should not matter if the battery is too low to operate normally for this execution, because there's always just a little bit of juice left.

Boomshot Grenade Launcher: This one is simple. you lift the Boomshot high (just straight up in front of you, not over your shoulder like a baseball bat or a sledgehammer), having to swing it because of its weight, and smash it down on your enemy's head. The head may still be there when your done, but don't worry, he's dead. You watch him as he collapses limply to the ground. There's not really any negative to this execution, ammo-wise.

Torque Bow: Here's another quicky. You spread the Torque limbs, so they aren't pointing toward you, but up and down. You quick take the Torque still in your fist (palm facing down) and reach around the right side of your enemy, stabbing the limb into his chest. You pull the Torque out, putting him in motion spinning him around. All in the same motion, you pull your arm back, as if getting ready for a big punch, and (Torque still in your hand), give his neck a feeling of the blade on the Torque's outer edge. Yes, this means you decapitate him. Once again, as with the Boomshot, there are no negative effects.

Gorgon Pistol: You take the Gorgon, and, from the base of his back to his neck, let off a burst right along his spine, moving your pistol up with the recoil. You can see the bullet marks along his spine as he arches his back, then cringes in pain to the ground, still facing away from you. You of course seize the opportunity and without further ado, smash the barrel straight down into the back of his head.

Longshot Sniper Rifle: There are plenty of different courses of though I could've taken with the Longshot, my (by far) favorite weapon, but I chose to take this one just 'cuz I loved Epic's existing down-but-not-out execution so much. You take the Rifle by the barrel, just like you would in the DBNO execution, and swing it around over your head (behind you) from your left to your right, ending in a baseball bat position. This position fluidly converts to you whacking your opponent in the head, felling him to his and your left. You (still in the one fluid motion) convert the swing (from right to left) down on your left side and bringing it up behind you on your left side like a sledgehammer (like the DBNO execution). Now you bring it down on him, crushing his skull - but unlike when he is DBNO, he may be facing up. No side effects with this execution.

Smoke Grenade: You walk up behind your enemy, and simply, like normal melee, get him in the head. His cranium pops, and you see his headless corpse standing there, a trickle of smoke rising from his neck. The Smoke goes off, and you, his body (like a rag doll), and anyone else nearby gets pushed down by the concussive force of the Smoke grenade, smoke now billowing out from his neck, trailing from the spot of incidence (the initial explosion) to where his corpse is now. Like a normal grenade tag you lose one grenade of the type you used.

Fragmentation Grenade: You walk up behind your enemy, take out your Frag, and reach around the guy, tagging his hand. He's holding your grenade! Well, you dive backwards (like in the Hammer of Dawn execution) but do not bother kicking him down. He desperately tries to shake off the grenade, throw it off, but the effort is futile, and he explodes (well, his upper half. His lower self is left standing, kinda like when Cole Train made the awesome tag when saving Marcus, Dom, and Carmine's butts from the ambush in campaign). Like all grenades you will now have one less grenade.

Ink Grenade: You walk up behind your enemy, and without hesitation, reach around him and shove the Ink grenade into his mouth - I'd say it's tagged there. You roll away (instead of diving) and it explodes, and of course the area is shrouded with poison gas, but you can still see the silhouette of the figure you tagged in the fumes. He chokes as he bends down, holding his stomach, like he's trying to spit it out or more likely, vomit. He coughs violently a second time, then falls to the ground on his side, still holding his stomach. You'll be holding one less Ink grenade after this execution.

Lancer Assault Rifle: You didn't think I'd leave the Lancer out of this just because it has a chainsaw? Yeah right. This animation is admittedly really similar to the normal chainsaw from behind, but takes longer and is a bit bloodier. You turn your Lancer upside down, prepared to gut your enemy without mercy, but before freeing your foe from his earthy binds, you grab him around his neck with your left hand and twist him around so he faces you, you still holding his neck. You eviscerate him while staring right into his becoming lifeless eyes. Soon your gun's point shows from the enemy's backside, and you, having a tough time sawing through bone, tendon, muscle, and who knows what else, uncontrollably shoot off a few stray Lancer shots. The bullets come from the barrel still sticking out your enemy's back, and though they can't really hurt anyone, give a little glittery sparkle for any other enemy's lurking on the other side of your unlucky chainsawee. Instead of chainsawing straight through your foe, (he has tough skin - and bone, muscle, etc.), you decide to get on with it and pull the chainsaw out before there are two pieces instead of one - he's dead already so why not? His eviscerated self is there standing for a moment, until you kick him down like a door, and face the other side, bloody, and frankly, quite frightening. After this execution you should be short a few rounds - which could either be a problem if you are in a high pressure circumstance or a blessing, giving you the chance to active reload right away.

Scorcher Flamethrower: You violently stab the end of the weapon into your opponent's back, much like the Gnasher, and unload. Of course this if fire. The flamethrower cooks him from the inside. First steam starts rising from his pores, his eyes and mouth first. After that a burst of flame flies from his mouth, like a miniature fireball, though it is more like a puff of smoke - no substance. Soon you begin to see his body showing signs of the heat, his skin reddening and blackening, and fire begins to flame from his mouth and eyes readily, like a smoke out of a smokestack but with more force. Soon enough you are done and remove the Scorcher with a quick yank. He falls down blackened and charred. In the end you'll have about a quarter of a tank left for the flamethrower, having used about 75% in the execution.

Mortar: You walk up behind your foe, slowly 'cuz it's a Mortar, and swing the Mortar with heavy force backward, and now forward into your enemy with even more heavy force. The enemy holds himself in pain from that massive weapon, but he's not dead. You give him another forceful whack with the Mortar, and he becomes incapable of moving. You take him like you would a meatshield, and still holding the Mortar, with one hand mount it on the ground and the other pull your enemy in front of it. You can see where this is going. You blast the Mortar and the enemy goes up with the shell. He explodes at the top of the trajectory, and his pieces fall down to the ground - slightly before the Mortar shell he was shot up on rains down on his bloody chunks. Of course his chunks hit the ground first, and right after are obliterated into tiny little meat and bone particles. You are after this missing a Mortar shot, but the fact that you have to make every shot count with this big weapon is far surpassed by the fact that this execution is awesome beyond all belief.

Mulcher: This one is simple, but takes an extraordinarily long time. You swing the Mulcher back and hit the opponent with the barrel on the front swing. He's forced to the ground and you shove the Mulcher barrel into his back, at probably what is a 60 degree angle, and unload. I mean REALLY unload. A full clip's worth. Yup, he's dead after the first few shots, but what the hell. After you get done with this one man massacre (you would keep going on but the gun overheats), you pull the Mulcher up and cool it down. You have a clip's worth of ammo gone, and you wasted a good amount of time, but really, that has got to hurt.

Boomshield: Here you push the shield into them and they are forced back. They aren't really hurt, but forced back. They turn around, confused rather than really hurt (what was that?), and are faced with another blow to the torso by your shield. They fall over backward, and they see you standing tall over them with the massive and menacing Boomshield. Now, they still aren't really hurt but they probably crapped their pants by now. You bring the Boomshield down on them, stabbing them through as opposed to simply crushing them in the DBNO execution, and with more ease. You don't lose your Boomshield or anything with this execution.

Other than the different executions with weapons, I think it would be cool to have executions that are the same always - not dependent on what weapon you're holding - just mapped to different buttons like the curb-stomp. These would be still be executed by being behind the enemy and holding the button. Keep in mind that the special executions above (for the different weapons) are mapped to the Y button.

X Button: Normally used for a curb-stomp, here it is used to kick down the enemy like a door. After he's down you take the chance to straddle him, and you perform the "punch him like hell until he dies" DBNO execution, but after that, you pause, and perform one final blow to his head, throwing out some much needed blood.

B Button: Haha, gotcha. No, there shouldn't be a special execution using the B Button, except for special cases like the Lancer and its chainsaw bayonet. The B Button should by all means still be a simple melee.

A Button: Here is something fun. You slam into your enemy like you would cover, and force him to the ground. He's weak but not dead, so you, after running up to him, give him a good punch to the noggin. You then pick him up like a meatshield - but beware! He now has the ability to kill you. You both enter into a button mashing contest, much like chainsaw duels. The meatshield grabs his combat knife (COG) or uses a claw (Locust) to try and stab the attacker, making him let go (and killing him), while the attacker tries to hold off the meatshield and force him to the ground, delivering first a forceful push to the ground (which would definitely hurt) and then a smashing face punch (say byebye to your little head). If the meatshield would win the short button mashing minigame his would stab the attacker's neck, swing him around to the ground, and deliver a finishing face punch to him.

Now given, I may have gotten a bit carried away with some of these, but the idea I think is solid. In the end Epic did add more executions into the next installment of the Gears of War series, and there were a few more execution options besides the good ol' curb stomp (retrolancer anyone?).