Cover System

Revision as of 05:23, 14 June 2010 by Chimpso (talk | contribs) (→‎Different types of cover: Removed opinion.)
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Niko from GTAIV using cover to hide from cops and have a clear vantage point.

The Cover System is a feature that has debuted in the first 3D game, Grand Theft Auto III and has been immensely expanded in Grand Theft Auto IV, and it's DLC. In GTA IV the first appearance of proper cover tactics is that of the Gears of War series.

Cover is basically what the name suggests; it is a way to remain partially concealed and shoot if necessary from the the source of cover. Some examples of cover may be a door, under a window, a pillar, a vehicle, or a crate.

Some players are hoping for a better cover system, as even the current generation of the GTA Series has some cover flaws. For example, in GTA IV, the game will allow the player to take cover facing the enemy and could even do this by accident, wasting some health that could have otherwise been banked.

Description

GTA III - GTA VCS
Various forms of cover in GTA Vice City; behind cardboard boxes, a bench, and a car.

In GTA III there could be no such use of proper cover. The player is only limited to hiding behind a car, or structure of some sort, and attacking enemies with the lower half of the protagonist's body behind the hood of the car, but not all. In GTA VC however a new feature that contributed to the system is crouching. With this the player had more advantages than what they would have had before. Ideal places for crouching would be behind a low wall, a bench, oil drums, or a car. When crouching the player didn't expose that much of their body to threats. But it is only the most useful in the PC version of the game. The reason being is that a third-person view was present instead of just the First person view. With the third-person view, the player could strategically position themselves in a way that would benefit them. With the first-person view, the player, most of the time would just aim at the object they are hiding behind, so they would have to stand up and attack others, while raising the risk of begin shot. But if on a rooftop the building can provide sufficient cover and you can attack more precisely as crouching reduces recoil of the weapon in hand.

GTA San Andreas

In GTA: San Andreas, the cover system was still not present however improvising for one is much easier than previous games. For example, with the revamped physics system, you can use gun bullets to shoot doors open and for a few seconds before it closes by itself again, you can shoot the visible enemies and back away/close the door while reloading. Some players uses cover-roll-cover system as this technique is very useful and it will be easy to kill any enemy without receiving any damage. The player could also perform stealth kills with a knife. There is also a minor feature in some missions that involve cover. This is whenever the player is in the dark, the small centered player blip will turn blue instead of white.

GTA IV

By pressing a button, the Protagonist will hide behind the nearest available cover, with a great number of animations for each way he enters cover (such as crouching behind a car, rolling to reach a cover faster, and even sliding on his knees).

Behind cover, the player can do several things depending on what the cover is. Behind a vehicle, the player can strafe left and right in cover and shoot once he is taking cover behind a part of the car that is not much higher than he is (e.g. trunk, hood...). If you are taking cover behind a vehicle stopped by a red light in Star Junction-esque traffic, the vehicle can start moving and any body parts that were under the car or holding onto the car will get squished and/or hurt.

Different types of cover

Blind Aim

Blind aim is when the player is hiding behind something (either crouching or standing) and they fire their weapon while at the edge of that cover. While it is more effective with protecting one-selves blind aim is less accurate as the reticule increases in size faster than with standard aim. With blind aim enemies mainly can only shoot at the player's arm. The only weapons that maintain effectiveness is explosives (e.g. molotovs, grenades, and the rocket launcher). Shooting accurately can be sometimes annoying, though. If you are at the middle of a row of boxes and are trying to shoot, sometimes the game forces you to shoot from the edges of the boxes.

Strafing

Strafing is a method that allows the player to move behind objects while remaining in cover. While strafing the player is limited to a small amount of space. The player is also limited to strafing either left or right.

In multiplayer, using cover can save your life in many occasions. Since the players are real, the opponent will try to sneak up on you and shoot you from all directions if possible. Using cover, you can counteract that motion.