I'm of the opinion that probably 75%+ of games with melee do a terrible job at it, and sadly I don't think TES has been an exception. Oblivion was an improvement over Morrowind, but still had many issues.

I remember back when I was more active on these boards, so much argument and discussion was about what weapons should belong to each skill and so on which is just not anywhere as important IMHO as how we actually wield our weapons in combat.


I'd like to bring some attention to games that actually successfully implemented decent melee combat, please add your own!

- Monster Hunter games
The weapons were unrealistic, giant, etc. but it was part of the fun. What really made the combat interesting though, is that while there weren't too many different weapon types, all had a unique and fluid style that was complex enough to feel tactical - more than just hacking and slashing. Dodging and blocking were also very important and handled great in these games. Enemies made it important to use dodging and blocking strategically. Locational damage was also important and well done, you could see certain parts of monsters break from damage, some would limp or lose abilities from taking damage to certain parts, etc.

- Chronicles of Riddike games
This is more close quarters hand to hand/knife style combat, but it felt very visceral, deadly, and satisfying. A game to look @ for hand to hand style and stealth at least.

- Prince of Persia games
Acrobatics and kicks, combo attacks that don't feel overly cheesy, ability to throw any weapon and just very appealing visually.

I really hope they talk about this the GI spread. I have a feeling we will be pleasantly surprised. I agree Oblivion wasn't amazing, but compared to Morrowind, the melee was phenomenal. I expect that we shall see another leap forward in wrt melee, and magic as well.

Maybe when you start to fight it will zoom out and take on a Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter approach! Lol jk!!!

Don't flame me for this, but both Fable III and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood have good elements to their melee combat.

Fable III has something most games don't: sword clashing. The AI in that game gets the animation that your character is about to make, and chooses the matching block animation so it appears to be a sword clash. Also Fable II has some amazing cinematic moments when fighting where you bust out some amazing move. Its also not so often that it gets annoying, but that part can be argued.

Assassin's Creed has cool features like countering, disarming, throwing an NPC's weapon at any NPC, quick combinations of using a melee weapon like a dagger and using a ranged weapon like throwing knives at the same time, and being able to throw sand into someone's eyes.

Dark Messiah: combat and magic was amazing, the fact that you could kill your enemy in 20 different ways was the most fun factor for me, the finishing moves were awesome, you could kick parry, disarm, decapitate, throw an oil jar then light it on fire...etc etc etc.

Hexen 2: OK not the melee combat of course but the battles, they were intense and everything was exploding, burning, getting cut, even some of the environment, the spells and abilities were really unique and cool.

Assassin creed: the movement and combat were fluent and beautiful, you could jump, kill, run, hop, jump, dodge, fight, counter ...etc it was very very well done.

Hand-to-hand like Riddike would be totally awesome. That game has some vicious melee combat.

Dark Messiah (with less kicking into spiked walls ) would also be a good title to draw from, particularly the great animations and brutal feel of the strikes.

How about if you do a slash you automatically choose between many types of slashes. With low skill, you're a tad slow at it. If NPC outrolls you he perform the matching evasive move, counterattack, or block. If you outroll the NPC when he attacks, similar rules apply, and whatever you choose to do matches his attack.

lol'd right there.

The most important thing for me in melee combat is seeing blocks that actually block the strike. If I'm blocking with my sword then my character should position the block based on the attack. If there's more than one attacker then it should detect who I am prioritising and direct the cinematic elements to that fight.

One thing id like to see is a smarter attacking ai.
Exp....in fonv , a npc in ragged cloth and a butter knife attacking me in fullpower armor,,,,come on whats he going to do with that.

Jedi Knight/Outcast

I actually love the combat in Daggerfall. You use the mouse to swing the sword. Kind of like a WII controller. You move to mouse to the left and the sword would slash to the left. Move the mouse to the right, and the sword would slash ro the right. You could thrust, swing upward, downward, and in circles. I wish they would have used it in MW and Oblivion.

I would like to see blunt weapons like maces and such have a small increase in knockout and knockdown potential.(also crippling if its in.)

10 or 5% increase in the probability of a knockout, knock down, or (cripple).