   Rage Mode
  Recently, I've been seeing a lot of AAA games trying to implement the feature "rage mode" into their games.  Such as, MK vs DC, God of War and Tekken 6.  There are most likely others I can't think of.  Anybody else taking note of this?  I think the basic concept for this mode is one of being invincible or near it, for a short period of time.  Although, I'm sure the way it's used from title to title varies.Has this type of feature been present in older games or is it something relatively new?  I can't recall if some old hack and slash games had this mode. Anyways, does it actually add depth to gameplay or is it something that wasn't necessary to use during the design process and is more about flash than substance or what?  Do you think we will be seeing more games using it with the word rage attached to it?  I personally do.  Just like quick-time events which seem to have come up everywhere.   
  Re:I don't know whether it is the oldest example, but PacMan has 'rage mode'. Its gameplay property is to change the pace of the gameplay and to give the player an experience of power regardless whether the player ultimately wins or loses. It also exists in shooters, platformers, etc. Are you talking about something else?   ;Quote:Original post by SwordmasterAnyways, does it actually add depth to gameplay or is it something that wasn't necessary to use during the design process and is more about flash than substance or what?"The Suffering" is effectively built around "rage mode". You can download it for free.;  I believe the game that served as the inspiration for this concept is Devil May Cry, where it's called Devil Trigger (as the protagonist is semi-demonic. DMC may have gotten the idea from elsewhere, but it was the game that popularized it. As for whether or not it adds anything to the game, it really depends on the game and how the mode is implemented. For example, in Devil May Cry 1, your most powerful combat techniques are unavailable unless you're in devil trigger, but you're far from defenseless without it (and, conversely, far from invulnerable with it). Refilling your trigger meter was fairly straightforward, so most combats became a matter of saving up your trigger until you had a good opening, then letting loose with as many powerful techniques as you could in a short timespan. The trigger is "built into" combat, in other words, and you're expected to use it extensively.In Devil May Cry 3, though, practically no techniques are "locked" behind devil trigger, and the ones that are aren't particularly impressive. In fact, you're generally best off using your devil trigger meter not for devil trigger, but to set off an explosive short-range attack, which isn't very flashy but is very powerful. Devil trigger's still easy to refill, but it's only really used for one thing, so it's less interesting. In God of War (1, can't remember what it's like in 2), your rage mode charges very slowly, which means you have relatively few opportunities to use it -- and if you do use it, you face the prospect of not having it available again for quite some time. This makes players more hesitant to take advantage of it -- it falls into the "too awesome to use" category. If you do use it, it'll tend to really turn the tide of battle, but typically you'll only resort to it when you've already failed a battle several times. In general, I favor abilities that you use frequently over ones that you use rarely. Thus, tightly integrating your "super-mode" into normal gameplay is, in my opinion, a good thing. Of course, to prevent marginalizing non-super-mode, you have to make super-mode less super than it could be for a game where you can't use it very often, but in general I'd say the tradeoff is worthwhile.   ;  A previous iteration of this design seems to have come from fighting games. The earliest one I can think of was TMNT Tournament Fighters that had a power bar that filled up as you made attacks against your opponent, eventually allowing you to unleash a super move. The idea has been in other fighters, notably the Street Fighter series. Street Fighter Alpha 3 as one of its fighting styles(Y I believe) had you enter into a rage mode where all your skills and normal attacks hit multiple times until the bar depleted. Killer Instinct 2/Gold used a "rage bar" that was sectioned off into units and certain super linkers(skills that allowed you to continue a combo change with high damage) and super finishers(preformed at the end of a combo) used a certain amount of units from the bar. Final Fantasy 9 used it for their limit breakers. When the limit bar filled up the character had access to new skills or other such things and and part of the bar depleted with each skill use.   ;  Yes, Edge Damodred makes a good point. In fighting games, they invented this so that if the player was getting his butt kicked, it would give them a chance to get back on their feet. One example is in KOF 2002If you're low on health, there is a "Desperation move" you can pull off. This will put alot of damage on your enemy and bring you back in the game. Another example is Street Fighter 4 with it's "Revenge Bar". If you are damaged alot and you feel as if you're going to die, you can plan an attack with that well enough so that you can get back into the game.   ;  Rage Mode has been with us in games for a long time. However, it has not always been called "Rage Mode". Usually it has been called "Powerups".These are Collectable items, Button presses (or other inputs), Timed events, or many other such triggering methods, but they all do the same thing: Give the player a significant power boost for a short time.The purpose of this is to enable the player to have a rise in the dramatic feel of a game. Even though they are hugely powerful (or even invincible) the short time period that this exists for puts a pressure on the player. It also give the game variation, which can break up what would normally be a monotonous grind of mobs (or other massed weak enemies).It can also be used as a balance feature. In easy mode, you can give more of these Powerups/Rage Modes, make it easier to trigger, or make it last longer (or all - and more - of these).So, rage mode (or whatever you call it) is about adding dramatic depth to a game, more than gameplay depth.   ;  Not sure if it helps, but an example of combining rage mode with teamwork/multiplayer is the ubercharge in Team Fortress 2.   