History Main / ActionCommands

* The Wii version of ''GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' combines this with a SimonSaysMiniGame when you have a ghost in your Capture Stream. To wit: At certain points, an arrow will flash in one of four directions, and you have to swing the Wiimote in that direction to "wrangle slam" the offending beastie.

* Donkey Kong's [[LimitBreak Final Smash]] in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'', Konga Beat, gives a high damage/range bonus for pressing "a" with the beat.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{WWE}} SmackDown vs. Raw 2010]]'' and ''[[[[VideoGame/{{WWE}} 2011]]'', during the Royal Rumble match, if you throw an opponent into the turnbuckle, then grapple, it's a minigame like this. And if you get thrown into the turnbuckle, then get grappled, it becomes [[PressXtoNotDie Press X to Not be Eliminated]].

* All but averted in ''{{Uncharted}} 2: Among Thieves''. While they do appear (mostly as finishing moves), more often than not the player is in complete control of Drake as craziness unfolds all around him. The team at Naughty Dog stated that one of their major goals with the game was to move past this trope and give the player more control over situations that are normally handled by cutscenes. This makes the already amazing experience that much better.

* In ''TheForceUnleashed'', after damaging an [[HumongousMecha AT-ST]] or Rancor enough, Galen can perform a flashy and elaborate multi-step fatality to finish them off. Said action commands are required during boss fights after draining the boss's health to zero.

* ''CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' features guard dogs that will happily run up to you and knock you down. If one gets hold of you, you have one chance to execute a strangely timed button press to snap the doggie's neck before he worries your throat out.

** ''Call of Duty 3'' was the first ''CallOfDuty'' game which has action command. In the game, you end up fighting Germans in hand-to-hand combat and they have rifles or knives to attack you with, and you must press on R1 and L1 buttons many times at the same time once they cling on you in order to take their rifles from them and riflebutt them to death. One time, you have to use the action command in order to pull out the pin of a grenade a German soldier had and push him inside a building before it explodes.

* Creator/{{Epyx}}'s "Dunjonquest" series of games, starting with ''VideoGame/TempleOfApshai,'' featured a system like this. The games used a quasi-real time system; players press keys to perform actions, and monsters move and take turns on their own pace. If the player remains idle, the monsters keep advancing.

** The Overpower is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in PvP case against a rogue. Overpower cannot be dodged, parried or blocked and is activated by a dodge. Rogue relies on dodges, especially one of their talent tree skills which makes them dodge all attacks. That is the butter for warrior's bread called Overpower, especially if you have an additional talent that makes Overpower always do critical hits. A thoughtless rogue is toast against a warrior. It becomes like the button smashing variation of Action Commands.

* In {{Mercenaries}} and its sequel, action commands pop up when you try to hijack most military vehicles. (Jeeps and civilian vehicles can be taken without a fight.)

Not to be confused with {{Combos}}. Action Commands have a limited-time period to be activated, and they're usually no more than a few button presses and/or joystick rotations, as opposed to a longer string (though a game can require several ActionCommands to be performed in a row). Also can be different from the ContextSensitiveButton, depending on the game: in some cases, the Action Command's essential function never differs, and it's primarily used in combat situations. In other cases, there are many possible actions in many various situations, but only so many buttons on the controller, of course. This is especially noticeable if one particular sequence of actions is ''[[DamnYouMuscleMemory not]]'' executed with the same sequence of button presses every time.

In {{RPG}}s, executing ActionCommands while striking the enemy may result in greater damage than usual, or successfully triggering an action command when the enemy strikes may trigger a defensive maneuver that reduces the damage received (or evades the attack altogether). It also serves as a way to keep players more engaged in the game: Rather than just clicking through the menu commands repetitively, players can receive a bonus for paying attention to the actual gameplay that results.

ActionCommands that occur during otherwise non-interactive {{Cutscene}}s, as a means of subverting or averting CutscenePowerToTheMax and/or CutsceneIncompetence, are known as PressXToNotDie.

The UrExample is the arcade game ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'', where players controlled Dirk the Daring in his quest ''solely'' by performing well-timed ActionCommands guided by on-screen cues.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', where Kratos can use action commands to perform a "fatality" move on an enemy, resulting in recovery items for his [[LifeMeter life]] and/or [[ManaMeter magic meters]] -- and a brutal, visceral, and deeply-satisfying end to the foe in question. While for {{Mooks}} the finishing move is optional, they are ''required'' on bosses, which allows the game to turn each boss's demise into a VideogameSetpiece. In short, the game uses ActionCommands well, and arguably [[TropeCodifier re-popularized the entire concept]].

* ActionCommands make an appearance in ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'', a fan-made parody of console {{Role Playing Game}}s.
* In ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'', ActionCommands are apparently the entire basis of dungeon crawling. They're used for everything from dodging arrows to untrapping treasure chests to throwing rocks.

* The XBOX360 RPG ''LostOdyssey'' has an ActionCommand for every melee attack launched, due to the game using a system of rings that confer various attack bonuses(almost all of which can be [[ItemCrafting made by the player]] with the [[LevelGrinding right materials collected from the right monsters...]]), and requires the player to pull the right trigger while the character attacking approaches the enemy, with how much a large contracting ring overlaps with a smaller, stationary ring determining how well the bonus is applied. A word appears on the screen to signify how well the player timed it: 'Bad' means none of the bonus is applied, 'Good' means a moderate bonus is applied, and 'Perfect' means all of the bonus is applied.

* The arcade game ''DragonsLair'', its sequel, ''Time Warp'', and its SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/SpaceAce'' were nothing ''but'' ActionCommands. They essentially ran a Don Bluth animated movie, and [[PressXToNotDie if you didn't execute the right command, you would die]]. Even if you were just trying to dodge a mother-in-law throwing pots and pans at you.

** The Overpower is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in PvP case against a rogue. Overpower cannot be dodged, parried or blocked and is activated by a dodge. Rogue relies on dodges, especially one of their talent tree skills which makes them dodge all attacks. That is the butter for warrior's bread called Overpower, especially if you have an additional talent that makes Overpower always do critical hits. A thoughtless rogue is toast against a warrior. It becomes like the button smashing variation of ActionCommands.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' also uses it. Mostly to throw stuff at helicoptors, steal tanks, and keep SuperSoldiers from smashing your head into the pavement for the umpteenth time. [[spoiler:You also get to use ActionCommands to take on the final boss, by jumping on it while it's stunned and pounding its skull in. Very fun.]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII2'' had two types of Action Commands:

** ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy XIII-2}}'' had two types of Action Commands:

* ''VideoGame/{{Super Mario RPG}}'', where players could use "Timed Hits" to increase attack or defense power. But then, [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits you probably already knew that]].
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' and most of the later ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' sequels (''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor The Thousand-Year Door]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar Sticker Star]]'', but not ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''), which borrowed heavily from ''VideoGame/{{Super Mario RPG}}'' in the idea of action commands, and then ran with it.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and most of its sequels (''The Thousand-Year Door'' and ''Sticker Star''), which borrowed heavily from ''VideoGame/{{Super Mario RPG}}'' in the idea of action commands, and then ran with it.
** ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', a similar series on the handhelds, takes this to extremes, where the success of attacks is solely determined by your ability to use action commands (rather than them just being a way to power up the attack) and every enemy attack in the game can be dodged/blocked/countered with a properly timed action command.

* VideoGame/{{Metroid}}: [[MetroidOtherM Other M]] turns your standard movement with the D-Pad into a [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll flashy dodge roll]], instant [[ChargedAttack beam charge]], and near-perfect aim at an enemy if you move 'just' before their attack strikes you. In at least one case, it becomes a [[PressXToNotDie quick-time event]], allowing Samus to dodge an enemy in a fashion most would not expect to be interactive. Part of what makes them so intuitive is that the action itself provides the input on what button needs to be pressed, without needing to show the button on-screen (as in the page image).

* ''SonicSpinball'' has one if you fall onto the platform located under the drain of the first "table" of the first level. First the display will tell you to jump to get back on the flippers before a robot chomps you. If that fails, Sonic will struggle to keep the robot's mouth open and the display will just say "the buttons!" - [[ButtonMashing mash]] them enough and you'll escape.

->''"Cutting edge development tools, state of the art graphics and technology, the ability to present pretty much '''[[BoldInflation anything]]''' on a screen, and what do games designers keep coming up with? '''Simon fekking says'''."''
-->-- '''Phillip Jackson''', author of ''Webcomic/SequentialArt''

* In ''ResistanceFallOfMan'', the player must shake the controller to escape from any nasty monsters that happen to latch on to the protagonist.

[[caption-width-right:350:When "PressXToNotDie" goes horribly wrong.]]

** In a unique twist to the formula, [[spoiler: the TrueFinalBoss of the story DLC pack Part IV: Nirvana, Chakravartin, has Counter Action commands in the last phase of his fight. As he keeps getting beat down, it becomes an inverted version of a HopelessBossFight, as most of the ''boss's'' action commands start to fail automatically. And it is [[MomentOfAwesome awesome as hell.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', where Kratos can use action commands to perform a "fatality" move on an enemy, resulting in recovery items for his [[LifeMeter life]] and/or [[ManaMeter magic meters]] -- not to mention a brutal, visceral, and deeply-satisfying end to the foe in question. While for {{Mooks}} the finishing move is optional, they are ''required'' on bosses, which allows the game to turn each boss's demise into a VideogameSetpiece. In short, the game uses ActionCommands well, and arguably [[TropeCodifier re-popularized the entire concept]].

* In the original Assassin's Creed, a similar non-gameplay system occurs during scripted sequences; Hitting a button when the Animus's screen does a variety of camera shifts, and even allows targets to give their final soliloquy as if undamaged. The result is surreal, but expressive, as the mark's speeches are long and emotive, losing effect when given by a reclining figure unable to support his own head. (Not even mentioning their unnaturally clear vocal acuity considering the hole in their necks.)

* ''{{Dubloon}}'' features battle items, which are basically short-timed minigames where you score points {{for massive damage}}. Also, every boss has at least one attack which can be completely blocked with your mouse.

* ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'' has Action Commands for all twenty-two of the game's [[LimitBreak EX-Bursts]], each one unique though sometimes heroes and villains from the same game will have similarly styled ones. (Squall and Ultimecia, for example, both utilize the Trigger command described above, only difference being that Ultimecia uses the O button instead of R.) There are also miniature Action Command sequences integrated into some of the aerial battle segments. Doing this well can result in literally kicking your opponent from one side of the battlefield to the other and possibly back again.

* ''NoMoreHeroes'' uses this to the point where you're not totally sure where it begins and where it ends. The most common one is the FinishingMove, which shows an arrow in a direction you must swing the Wii remote to kill an enemy. There's also the various wrestling moves, which also use onscreen prompts, a SuperMode that causes a OneHitKill when the right button is pressed, and a "Weapon clash" that happens when you and an enemy attack at the same time, which requires you to spin the controller around to get out of it. Also blends into PressXToNotDie in certain boss fights, where you need to shake the Wiimote, nunchuk, or rapidly press the A button to get out of various traps.