The Best of Both Worlds: A Case for Action-Adventure Games

Like books, stage productions, and movies before them, video games can be classified under several distinct genres and sub-genres. While it might be more challenging to compartmentalize video games -- in the last few generations video games have synthesized and transcended many genres -- it's still possible to determine which genre a game represents. But not all genres are created equal. Some produce a far more impressive amount of great games than others. And the one genre that has produced the greatest number of all-time great video game titles is also, maybe naturally, the most amorphous: action-adventure.

The genre itself is almost as old as the video game industry. Most game historians point to Adventure (1979) for Atari 2600 as the first game to blend action and adventure elements into a coherent whole, but it wasn't until The Legend of Zelda (1986) that the genre became part of the collective imagination of video game players. More on that later.

First, some definitions. Every publication, blogger, and historian has his or her own definition of action adventure. What follows is the the definition according to Don't Blame the Controller. An action-adventure game is, unsurprisingly, a game that features a roughly equal combination of action and adventure elements, i.e., a game with elements borrowed from adventure games -- story, dialogue, inventory management, exploration, and puzzle-solving -- and elements borrowed from action games, including physical challenges like running, swimming, climbing, fighting, and fleeing, all of which occur in real time.

It's a very general designation, and it encapsulates many different games from many different eras. But not every title that shares some action-adventure components qualifies as an action-adventure game. Take Halo, for example. Rich in story, plot, and dialogue and heavy with action set-pieces, Halo could possible fall into the action-adventure genre. But the game is primarily oriented around action. Players in Halo are tasked with running, driving, shooting, and flying, but almost never asked to backtrack, explore, or solve puzzles. So it's an action game, or, more specifically, a shooter. Now for another example, Metroid Prime, which shares many qualities with Halo, including a first-person perspective and an epic science fiction storyline. Unlike Halo, however, Metroid Prime is split evenly between fast-paced real-time action -- shooting, rolling, grappling, etc. -- and more slower-paced exploration, data collection, puzzle-solving, and item retrieval. In Metroid Prime, players travel forward and backward across the game world, defeating enemies, locating power-ups, scouring ruins, and unlocking doors. In Halo, conversely, players move more or less in a straight line, blasting anything that moves. Therefore, Metroid Prime is an action adventure game; Halo is an action game.

Halo revolutionized the shooter genre.

These examples are not meant to devalue action games in general or Halo in particular -- Halo, after all, is ranked higher than Metroid Prime and 99 percent of all other action-adventure games on this site -- but rather included simply to articulate the difference between action and action-adventure.

So why is action-adventure so good? What is it about the sub-genre that produces such excellent video game experiences? Put simply, it's the combination of mental, emotional, and physical challenges. In action-adventure games, players, and, by extension, their avatars, must study their surroundings, participate in a story, solve brain-teasers, communicate with non-playable characters (all hallmarks of adventure games), and they must also complete timed challenges, fight enemies in real time, and survive all sorts of environmental hazards and obstacles (hallmarks of action games). It requires brainpower, and logic, and swift reflexes, and strong hand-eye coordination. In other words, it's the best of both worlds.

The original Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda, which in many ways invented the modern non-linear action-adventure game, is the best example of this perfect union of mental and physical challenges, all wrapped up in a captivating narrative. Although every Zelda game features different items and places, and includes a unique hook, e.g., a 72-hour timeline, the basic formula has remained consistent since the 1986 original. In the Zelda series, focused around a hero and a damsel in distress, players explore a vast land of dungeons, forests, mountains, lakes, and cities, solving puzzles, besting enemies, collecting equipment, money, and trinkets along the way. The details -- the sword and sorcery story, the dungeons, the rupees -- are immaterial. What's important are the pillars of the series: a story to make you care; interesting places and people to make you involved; inaccessible places to make you curious; items to make you organize; puzzles to make you think; physical challenges to make you sweat. These are what makes the series great; these are what make the action-adventure genre great.

As with all genres, it takes a dedicated and talented development team to make an action-adventure game great. Simply writing into a game the basic elements of action-adventure games will not, obviously, make it worth playing. But there is something about action-adventure, something especially interesting, challenging, and, ultimately, rewarding about the sub-genre. Something that satisfies the imagination, the intellect, and the animal instinct in all of us.