Hack and slash or hack and slay can refer to either a genre of video game or a type of gameplay (which is featured in the genre as well), consisting primarily of close combat with edged weapons. The term originated in paper and pencil game role-playing games and transferred from there to video games. Cover of the Hack/Slash Volume 2 TPB, Death by Sequel. Hack/Slash is a series of comic books published by Devils Due Productions that has also been adapted into a stage play and as feature film. ... Devils Due Publishing company logo. ... Paper and pencil games are games that can be played solely with pencil and paper. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... “Computer and video games” redirects here. ...

When used in reference to video role-playing games, hack and slash refers to action sequences that happen in real time, as opposed to the traditional turn-based sequences. A hack and slash RPG is a video role-playing game that relies heavily on this type of gameplay, and is covered at action role-playing game. This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... An Action-RPG, or action role-playing game is a type of computer and console role-playing game which requires quick action or reflexes from the player. ...

As a genre of its own, hack and slash is a type of action game. These games share many features with beat 'em ups, set apart mainly by fighting style (edged weapons with a focus on killing) and setting (often medieval or fantasy). Modern examples of the genre include the Dynasty Warriors games. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... ... The Logo of Shin Sangokumusou 5 (Dynasty Warriors 6) Dynasty Warriors ( 真・三國無双:Shin Sangokumusou in Japan; literally meaning True - Unrivaled Three Kingdoms) is a series of video games created by Koei based loosely around the Romance of the Three Kingdoms epic, and is a spinoff series of another Koei game Romance...

Pen and paper

The term is most often applied in a derogatory manner implying that the game consists solely of meaningless violence of this type, with no other plot or significant goal. It is sometimes punned as "roll-playing" (a reference to the dice-rolling used in most role-playing game systems for determining combat) to contrast it with "role-playing", playing for plot and character development (in all its senses). Nevertheless, the "hack and slash" genre remains popular in role-playing games and in video games. Combat-centred games such as Dungeons & Dragons are often dismissed as hack and slash by fans of other games, though role-playing is generally possible. Computer role-playing games are also subject to such dismissals; see criticisms of computer role-playing games. In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Experience points (often abbreviated as exp, ep or xp) are a representation of a characters advancement and improvement in skills in role-playing games and computer role-playing games. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In GNS Theory, "hack and slash" style is mostly associated with the "Gamist" behavior category, due to its necessary reliance on numerous point values and dice rolling to simulate battles. The GNS Theory, as originally developed by Ron Edwards, holds that participants in role-playing games make decisions which can be divided into three categories: // Gamist decisions concern competition and challenge Narrativist decisions concern story and theme Simulationist decisions concern experience and celebration of source material Strictly, GNS theory is... The GNS Theory, as originally developed by Ron Edwards, holds that participants in role-playing games make decisions which can be divided into three categories: // Gamist decisions concern competition and challenge Narrativist decisions concern story and theme Simulationist decisions concern experience and celebration of source material Strictly, GNS theory is...

While the term is usually derogatory, there is a role-playing game called Hack-n-Slash in an apparent reference to this style of role-playing.

As a genre

Like beat 'em ups, hack and slash games feature waves of enemies that are most often underpowered in comparison to the player character. Gameplay takes place over numerous levels, many ending in a boss fight. If multiple players are involved, gameplay is usually cooperative. ... Flag Ship from the video game Gorf In video games, a boss (sometimes called a guardian) is a particularly large or difficult computer-controlled character that must be defeated at the end of a segment of a game, whether it be for a level, an episode, or the very end...

However, unlike beat 'em ups, hack and slash games focus on combat with edged weapons. Beat 'em ups do often feature weapons, but these are usually found during gameplay, and are most often blunt weapons. This is the primary difference which leads to many other differences. Due to the nature of the fighting, the focus in a hack and slash game is to kill opponents, whereas beat 'em ups tend to focus on incapacitation (much like versus fighting games). This also leads to certain types of settings: those where battling and killing with swords is plausible. Hack and slash games are often staged in historic times (in which mêlée weapons were the primary form of combat), or fantasy-themed worlds. Screenshot of The King of Fighters XI (2005, SNK Playmore). ... A mêlée weapon is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ...

Games can also have a more modern setting, as long as the mêlée weapons are favored over modern weapons. For example, Dante (of Devil May Cry) has guns at his disposal, but use of mêlée weapons is often preferable, as his mêlée weapons are imbued with demonic powers.^[1] Even the scoring system in Devil May Cry favors close combat attacks to guns.

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Crowd combat

Due to the increased range over beat 'em ups (as well as the disregard for opponents lives), this genre lends itself easily to the idea of "crowd combat". These are games where the player fights huge numbers of enemies at the same time (hence the "crowd"), often on a battlefield. An example of this type of game would be Resident Evil 4 where a player could kill over 900 enemies in a single completion. Smash TV is one of the first crowd control games, where players would have to run endlessly around a small arena, dodging huge amounts of enemies while gunnning them down. Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as biohazard 4 ), is a third-person shooter published and developed by Capcom. ...

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Role-playing video games

The earliest hack and slash video games (such as Golden Axe) often had no RPG elements. As games progressed it became more common for games to have combinations of action and RPG elements. Hack and slash easily transfers to role-playing video games, like any action-based genre of video games (for example, Deus Ex is a well-known first-person shooter RPG). However, unlike other action genres, hack and slash has its roots in "pen and paper" RPGs, and many early hack and slash games were based in D&D-like worlds. For this reason, hack and slash is often the format of choice for action RPGs, leading to some blurring of the lines between hack and slash and hack and slash RPG. Golden Axe is a side-scrolling arcade slash em up game released in 1989 by Sega. ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... This article is about the video game. ... Maze War, one of the two candidates for the first FPS. This article is about the video game genre. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation). ... An Action-RPG, or action role-playing game is a type of computer and console role-playing game which requires quick action or reflexes from the player. ...

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See also

• Dungeon crawl
• Powergaming
• Beat 'em up
• Action role-playing game
• List of hack and slash (action) games