The action-adventure genre is one of the most popular gaming genres in the world today. In addition to covering a wide range of platforms and generations, this genre also encompasses a wide variety of games, which makes it even harder for newcomers to decide where to begin. There is no one person who is the same, and some people will connect with different experiences differently than others. The first thing people should do is to play a few action-adventure games.
Into the Dead 2
Into the Dead is a zombie-themed action video game developed by PikPok and released on December 6, 2012 for iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 platforms. A sequel titled Into the Dead 2: Zombie Survival was released for Android, Apple, and the Nintendo Switch.
Players must run through a landscape teeming with zombies and move left or right to dodge them. The player has no choice but to move forward and get as far as possible before dying. Weapons can be picked up from supply crates as the player runs past.
Fruit Ninja
Fruit Ninja is a video game developed by Halfbrick. It was released April 21, 2010 for iPod Touch and iPhone devices, July 12, 2010 for the iPad, September 17, 2010 for Android OS devices. It was released for Windows Phone, on December 22, 2010. Also, in March 2011, versions for Samsung’s Bada and Nokia’s Symbian began to be distributed on their respective application channels. In the game, the player must slice fruit that is thrown into the air by swiping the device’s touch screen with their finger(s) or in the case of the Xbox 360 version, the player’s arms and hands. It features multiple gameplay modes, leaderboards and multiplayer. An iPad version, Fruit Ninja HD, was released on July 12, 2010.
In Fruit Ninja, the player slices fruit with a blade controlled via the touch screen. As the fruit is thrown onto the screen, the player swipes their finger across the screen to create a slicing motion, attempting to slice the fruit in half. Extra points are awarded for slicing multiple fruits with one swipe (called combo’s) and players can use additional fingers to make multiple slices simultaneously. Players must slice all fruit; if three fruits are missed, the game ends, (Unless Calligraphy Brush is used) but upon reaching scores that are multiples of one hundred, the player will gain an extra life (unless they have not missed a piece of fruit already). Bombs are occasionally thrown onto the screen, and will also end the game should the player slice them.
A mode known as Zen mode allows players to seek high scores without the hindrance of bombs appearing on the screen, but players only have a minute and thirty seconds. Also available is an Arcade modes in which players have only sixty seconds to achieve a high score. In this mode, special bananas can appear which have unique bonuses such as doubling points scored for a limited time, increasing the amount of fruit on the screen, or slowing down the movement of all fruit for a short period of time. There are also bombs that deduct 10 points from the player’s score. In Classic and Arcade mode, special pomegranates are occasionally thrown on screen. In Arcade Mode, it is guaranteed that at the end of each game that a pomegranate will appear. Players can slice these multiple times to get extra points. Similarly, an ultra rare dragonfruit sometimes appears in Classic mode which, if sliced, awards players fifty points.
When Fruit Ninja celebrated its second anniversary, Halfbrick released an update with a new feature called Gutsu’s Cart, which comprises two characters, a pig named Truffles and a human named Gutsu. In the various modes of the game, the player can earn starfruit to purchase items in Gutsu’s Cart. There are three purchasable items at the cart which are used in the game; Berry Blast causes sliced strawberries to explode and gives the player five extra points. Another item is Peachy Times: slicing a peach in Zen or Arcade mode gives the player two extra seconds. The third item is Bomb Deflects which enables the player to deflect Bombs upon accidentally slicing them. Starfruit can be obtained after each game, proportional to the score, or by slicing the semi-rare starfruit.
In the fifth anniversary update to Fruit Ninja, Gutsu’s Cart was removed and instead replaced with a power-up menu that used starfruit to buy the three power-ups in the game. Berry Blast power-ups were priced at 120 starfruit, Peachy Times power-ups were priced at 100 starfruit, and Bomb Deflect power-ups were priced at 80 starfruit. In addition, certain dojos and blades now had different effects that took place within the Classic, Arcade, and Zen game modes. For example, if a player owned the Cherry Blossom dojo, the power-up costs were 50% off. A new festival mode was added in as well, where players could compete against the game’s artificial intelligence by paying Gold Apples to challenge an AI player. There were also mini-games added to challenge the skills of newcomers and experts alike.
Multiplayer gameplay is supported on iOS devices through Apple’s Game Center application. It allows for competitive gameplay and features leaderborads and achievements. During multiplayer matches, the player’s blade and fruit are highlighted in blue, while the opponent’s are highlighted in red. White outlined fruit are considered neutral and may be claimed by either player. White outlined fruit are worth three points. Players must slice their own fruit while avoiding their opponent’s fruit. The iPad version of the game features enhanced graphics and also supports local multiplayer, with the screen being divided in half and each player controlling half of the screen.[2] Players can also share high scores via OpenFeint, Twitter and Facebook.
Unkilled
Unkilled is a zombie-apocalypse-themed first-person shooter, available on iOS and Android. The player’s task is to complete over 300 missions. Mission goals include rescuing a person or locating and destroying a target. There are also stealth missions. The player is armed and must face hordes of zombies to complete the missions. The player is able to change gear before starting each mission.
The player gets bonuses for every completed mission. Bonuses include money and experience. The player can buy new weapons for money and upgrade weapons by getting more experience. Weapons can also be upgraded so they deal more damage or are more accurate. The player can buy bonuses for real money. The game follows Joe, a member of WOLFPACK, a private military unit whose task is to fight the zombie menace before it becomes global. Joe is sent to New York to deal with a huge zombie outbreak.
Shadow Gun
Shadowgun is a 2011 third-person shooter developed and published by Madfinger Games for iOS, BlackBerry, PlayBook and Android. The game was followed by successful sequels Shadowgun: DeadZone (2012) and Shadowgun Legends (2018). The company is also preparing Shadowgun War Games focused on team based PvP gameplay and e-sports.
In Shadowgun, players use virtual touch screen controls to control the protagonist, John Slade. The controls feature an analog stick on the left used for movement, and context sensitive action buttons on the right, used for firing or interacting with the environment. A major component of Shadowgun’s gameplay is its cover system, which allows players to use cover when necessary, with Slade hiding behind walls and barriers to avoid enemy fire, and opening fire himself at opportune moments.
Each level features hidden Shadowgun logos which, when found, unlock pages in the “Shadowpedia”, which gives information on characters, enemies, weapons and locations in the game.
The Might Quest for Epic Loot
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal. The game combined castle building and dungeon crawling mechanics: each player built a castle filled with traps and monsters and then attacked other players’ castles, earning gold and equipment. While the castle attacks were single player affairs, the game required the player to be online as the castles they attacked were those of other players. The game has also received a mobile version in July 2019.
The game was split into two parts: castle building and castle assault. In the castle building mode, the player placed rooms and filled them with traps, monsters, and obstacles. There were also objects that would generate gold and other resources each day, which doubled as objectives for attacking players to destroy for additional rewards. In the castle assault mode, players would play as one of four hero classes – the knight, archer, mage, and runaway – and attack other players’ castles, trying to defeat their defenses to reach their treasury. If successful, the attacker would get some of the defender’s gold. The rewards would depend on how long the assault took and whether all of the optional objectives were destroyed.
Sky Force Reloaded
Sky Force is a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up video game series created by the Polish video game developer Infinite Dreams Inc.. The gameplay is reminiscent of Capcom’s 19XX series and Seibu Kaihatsu’s Raiden series, featuring a weapon upgrade system and large end of stage bosses.
The second outing was initially released for Symbian, Pocket PC and Palm web OS in 2006 and was later released for iOS (2009), iPhone ios 7 (2010) and PSP (2011). The PSP version of “Sky Force Reloaded” was simply named “Sky Force”. The 2D graphics style of the first title was combined with some 3D polygon objects like destructible towers. It received a remake for mobile in 2016, with a PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions released in 2017, and also a Nintendo Switch version released in 2018.
Mortal Kombat X
Mortal Kombat X is a fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Running on the Unreal Engine 3, it is the tenth main installment in the Mortal Kombat video game series and a sequel to the 2011 game Mortal Kombat. It was released on April 14, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. NetherRealm Studios’ mobile team developed a version for iOS and Android devices. High Voltage Software developed the PC version of the game, with Polish studio QLOC taking over the work on it shortly after the release of Kombat Pack 1.
Like previous Mortal Kombat games, Mortal Kombat X’s gameplay consists of two players, or one player and the CPU, fighting against each other with their selected character, using a large, varied array of character-specific attacks. The game contains several modes, such as a story mode, which takes place twenty-five years after the previous Mortal Kombat game, several ‘Tower’ modes, which feature dynamically changing challenges, numerous online modes.
The console versions of Mortal Kombat X received critical acclaim upon release. Most praise was directed at the game’s controls, overall gameplay, graphics, story, and characters, with some reviewers calling it the best game in the Mortal Kombat series. However, the PC version of the game was met with mixed reception, with reviewers citing numerous technical issues (including frequent crashes and slow netcode) as problems that severely hinder the experience. Selling more than 10 million copies, the game was the fastest-selling game in the franchise and the ninth best-selling game in 2015.
Mortal Kombat X is a fighting game in which two characters fight against each other using a variety of attacks, including special moves, and the series’ trademark gruesome finishing moves. The game allows two players to face each other (either locally or online), or a single player to play against the CPU. The energy meter, first introduced in Mortal Kombat (2011), allows players to perform techniques such as “X-Ray” special moves. Similarly to NetherRealm Studios’ previous title, Injustice: Gods Among Us, fighters are able to interact with the environment, using parts of the scenery to reposition themselves or using available objects as weapons.[6] In addition, each fighter has three different variations, each featuring a different set of moves they can use during the fight: for example, the character Scorpion features a Ninjutsu variation which gives him specific moves utilizing dual swords, a Hellfire variation which incorporates fiery special moves, and an Inferno variation which allows him to summon hell spawn minions to aid him in the fight.
Shadow Fight 2
Shadow Fight 2 is a role-playing fighting game developed by Nekki. The sequel to the 2011 Facebook game Shadow Fight, it is the second installment in the Shadow Fight series. Continuing the theme of its predecessor, both the player character and their opponents are depicted as 2D silhouettes. The player starts out unarmed, but as they level up, they unlock more advanced weapons and armor. This installment introduces ranged weapons and magic, as well as a multiplayer mode, where multiple players work together to defeat various bosses in the Underworld. The single-player campaign’s premise is told through a short prologue film that is shown every time the player enters the game.
Shadow Fight 2 is a 2D fighting game in which players must win the majority of 3 matches against computer-controlled opponents. The game also has RPG elements that let players upgrade their armor, weapons, skills and magical abilities. The game’s characters are entirely silhouettes, but the animations are realistic and physics-based.
The player earns gold throughout the game that can be used to buy weapons. The game contains 7 different provinces, each with a main boss. The player can play only up to 5 fights before their energy must be replenished, which can only be done by waiting, paying real money, or watching a limited number of ads.