History Main / QuickMelee

* VideoGame/Signalis has Stun Rods that the player can quickly use with a button if equipped and trying to shoot an enemy that's too close will have Elster shove them back with her weapon, doing no damage but briefly stunning them.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterDarkMirror'' and ''[[VideoGame/SyphonFilterLogansShadow Logan's Shadow]]'' has the player character do this when the enemy is right in your face, or perform the move every single time you sneak up to an enemy from behind.

** In the ''Road To Rome'' expansion pack for the original ''Battlefield 1942'', the engineer had a bayonet, which when selected, would be used when the player hit the right mouse button, rather than the typical "zoom" feature their rifle would normally have.
** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'' has it very similar to Call of Duty's "quick knife", albeit a bit slower. It's very useful for breaking weaker walls without wasting explosives.

* ''VideoGame/PlanetSide 2'' features a quick-slash melee button - pressing it will cause you to slash with a knife then re-equip your gun, in the space of a second. Two slashes can kill any player aside from [[PoweredArmor MAX suits]] and Heavy Assaults with shields. Speaking of MAX suits, they can perform a swipe with [[PowerFist one arm]], with the same result. Averted in the first game, where the knife was a separate weapon which did pathetic damage unless its obnoxiously loud powered mode ([[ChainsawGood chainsaw]]/magnetic cutting/plasma cutting) was activated - making it largely a [[CherryTapping humiliation weapon]]

** In ''Max Payne 2'', both characters have a "secondary weapon" button, offering the player a choice of throwing grenades, Molotov cocktails or simply striking enemies with the butt of their gun.
** In ''Max Payne 3'', pressing the trigger button at close range will cause the player to melee an enemy, giving them a few seconds of BulletTime to follow it up with a shot to the face.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter: Dark Mirror'' & ''Logan's Shadow'' has the player character do this when the enemy is right in your face, or perform the move every single time you sneak up to an enemy from behind.

* In ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'', pressing X/Square when holding a gun will cause Wei to smack an enemy with it.

* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine'': Titus needs to switch to his melee weapon against most enemies. Against the puniest enemies like gretchin and rebel humans, he just backhands them and they explode in a shower of gore (and heals Titus).

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' keeps separate melee weapons (a combat knife like in ''Black Ops II'', a pair of boxing gloves given in a free update, and other stuff like a crowbar available through supply drops), but makes them secondary weapons that have to be unlocked and equipped rather than being given to you for unequipping a gun. Quick melee otherwise goes back to the original game's system, where you bash people's faces in with the stock of your gun, and also makes that less powerful when hitting opponents from the front - it takes two swipes with your gun to kill someone at full health, while a separate melee weapon is still an instant kill. Later games continue using this system, with knives only available in [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies mode]] in ''Black Ops'' games, if you wear specific sets of armor that [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration actually have a knife equipped]] in the campaign of ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]'', and as a separate secondary weapon in every game from the 2019 ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Modern Warfare]]'' reboot on.

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' allows a player to forgo a primary or a secondary weapon and replace it with a separately-equipped knife like in the old days; this obviously hampers your ability to shoot people, but in return you can sprint for a slightly-longer distance to get in range, your movement speed is faster while holding the knife, your knife slashes are faster, they don't result in your character loudly grunting, ''and'' they regain the slight lunge they had before ''[=MW3=]''. The ''Black Ops'' games also have the Ballistic Knife, which can fire its blade out for one-hit kills at longer ranges (assuming you can compensate for the [[NoArcInArchery gravity-affected]] PainfullySlowProjectile) but is otherwise a separate melee weapon much like the Combat Knife - your character even holds his normal knife in his left hand while using the ballistic one in his right, and like the later Combat Knife gets noticeably faster melee with it.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' keeps separate melee weapons (a combat knife like in ''Black Ops II'', a pair of boxing gloves given in a free update, and other stuff like a crowbar available through supply drops), but makes them secondary weapons that have to be unlocked and equipped rather than being given to you for unequipping a gun. Quick melee otherwise goes back to the original game's system, where you bash people's faces in with the stock of your gun, and also makes that less powerful when hitting opponents from the front - it takes two swipes with your gun to kill someone at full health, while a separate melee weapon is still an instant kill. Later games continue using this system, with knives only available in [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies mode]] in ''Black Ops'' games, if you wear specific sets of armor that [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration actually have a knife equipped]] in the campaign of ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]'', and in some execution animations in the 2019 ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Modern Warfare]]'' reboot.

* ''Videogame/{{ULTRAKILL}}:'' You have a dedicated quick Punch button, though you ''can'' swap out the arm you're using for it with a different button. Rather than an emergency weapon your Melee slot is a ''very'' important part of your arsenal: The Feedbacker arm you start with is the game's main Parrying weapon (and parrying is ''fundamental'' if you don't want to die, especially since the Feedbacker heals you when you parry with it), and the Knuckleblaster you get from [[MirrorBoss V2]] is much more damaging and can be used for an enormous Melee explosion with lots of knockback.

** In ''Overwatch 2'', Zenyatta is given a passive trait that makes his quick melee knock back the opponent.

* All characters in ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' will automatically stab instead of shooting if the enemy is too close. Unless that enemy is a vehicle.
** Same goes for ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'', a similarly styled game.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' does this with the knife, a good thing since said knife is decently strong in this game and there's too many {{mook}}s around for you to be wasting ammo. It also had the "Action Command" system: if you stunned an enemy with a shot to the face or dropped them to their knees, a prompt would appear allowing you to perform a different move depending on the enemy type - starting out with roundhouse kicks to the face that are about as powerful as a bullet from a rifle for the standard Ganados, then moving onto a [[WrestlerInAllOfUs suplex]] for the Zealots that generally instantly smashes their head.

* Melee combat in ''VideoGame/{{Wet}}'' is realized this way. Basically, Rubi's default weapons are her guns, but she can pull out her katana and slash the enemy in front in a single motion, which is triggered with a controller button.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter: Dark Mirror'' & ''Logan's Shadow'' has the player character do this when the enemy is right in your face, or perform the move every single time you sneak up to an enemy from behind.

* Shows up in all three ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games. The [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 first]] simply has you whack your target with your gun if you press the fire button while you're at melee range. ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect2 2]]'' adds a dedicated melee button. ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect3 3]]'' slightly changes it up - tap the melee button for a quick pistolwhip/buttstroke, or hold down the button to unleash a powerful hit from your BladeBelowTheShoulder, or a [[MindOverMatter biotic]]-enhanced punch for an Adept or Vanguard.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', melee weapons can perform quick slashes at almost any time. The melee pulls out almost instantly and can be used to perform successive attacks, though after releasing the attack button there is a pause as the melee is holstered. Manually holstering your rifle and pulling out the melee allows for stronger attacks and combos. This was changed with an update; now, pressing the melee button instantly switches to the melee weapon as well as attacking, allowing you to perform full combos, and pressing the fire or aim buttons will likewise instantly switch back to your gun.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock''
** Averted in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', which was made before quick melee was common (coming out three months before ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'') and features a wrench as a distinct weapon to use in close quarters.
** ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' has Subject Delta use his gun or the drill as a melee weapon, whacking enemies with it when using the melee attack; each gun has a quasi-unique animation to it.
** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' starts you off with the Sky-Hook, and despite your left hand being needed throughout the game to use Vigors and two-handed weapons, pressing "V" at any time will allow you to pull it out of nowhere, unless you're on a skyline (since that's the primary purpose of the sky-hook).

* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' gives you a trusty pickaxe for excavating the terrain, be it to navigate around or to mine valuable minerals. In a pinch, it also works as this, accessible no matter the weapon you have out.
* The oldest known example of such a key is ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', where Duke could kick with his left foot on the press of a button. As the kick does not stun most enemies, and being near enough to use it makes it impossible to dodge attacks, it's mostly used for breaking vent covers. Unpatched versions (including the shareware) had a bug that allowed both this key and the normal melee weapon (Duke's right foot) to be used at the same time, resulting in Duke presumably running around doing [[ThatRussianSquatDance Hopak]].
* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' allows you to perform a damaging PistolWhip on any enemy within range. Pressing the melee button near a stunned enemy triggers a [[FinishingMove Glory Kill]]. ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' replaces the pistol-whipping animation with a punch-though it's also far less powerful, until you unlock [[MegatonPunch Blood Punch]], which [[LudicrousGibs causes demons to explode]] once charged up.
** ''VideoGame/BrutalDoom'' has a button for kicking enemies like the ''Duke Nukem'' example above. If you've picked up a Berserk Pack, kicking a low-level enemy will send them flying backward with enough force to splatter them on the nearest wall or other object.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'': Players can do a shove with their firearms or whatever they're holding to push back zombies in close range, or even kill them [[BackStab on a shove from behind]] or after enough whacks. [[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 The sequel]] introduced dedicated melee weapons with far more power that require passing up on handguns.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': With a press of a single button, whatever weapon the player is holding will be used as a club. Damage output depends on the weapon used.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warface}}'': The player can use their firearm as a club.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'': Before the ''Modern Warfare'' series, the player would use the butt of a gun to hit an enemy.
** ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'' use this and are arguably the ones who [[TropeCodifier caused the trend of the second version, or "quick knife" in recent shooters.]] The first ''Modern Warfare'' brought it to the scene; ''World at War'' added the bayonet, which gave the user a longer melee range; ''Modern Warfare 2'' slowed the knife speed but brought in both the tactical knife attachment for handguns, which allowed quicker melee, and the Commando perk, which gave players a longer melee range (and was arguably a GameBreaker). ''3'' dropped Commando and removed the "lunge" from knifing, but kept the tactical knife.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' allows a player to forgo a primary or a secondary weapon and replace it with a separately-equipped knife like in the old days; this obviously hampers your ability to shoot people, but in return you can sprint for a slightly-longer distance to get in range, your movement speed is faster while holding the knife, your knife slashes are faster, they don't result in your character loudly grunting, ''and'' they regain the slight lunge they had before ''[=MW3=]''. The ''Black Ops'' games also have the Ballistic Knife, which can fire its blade out for one-hit kills at longer ranges (assuming you can compensate for the [[NoArcInArchery gravity-affected]] PainfullySlowProjectile) but is otherwise a separate melee weapon much like the Combat Knife - your character even holds his normal knife in his left hand while using the ballistic one in his right, and like the later Combat Knife gets noticeably faster melee with it.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' keeps separate melee weapons (a combat knife like in ''Black Ops II'', a pair of boxing gloves given in a free update, and other stuff like a crowbar available through supply drops), but makes them secondary weapons that have to be unlocked and equipped rather than being given to you for unequipping a gun. Quick melee otherwise goes back to the original game's system, where you bash people's faces in with the stock of your gun, and also makes that less powerful when hitting opponents from the front - it takes two swipes with your gun to kill someone at full health, while a separate melee weapon is still an instant kill. Later games continue using this system, with knives only available in [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies mode]] in ''Black Ops'' games, if you wear specific sets of armor that [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration actually have a knife equipped]] in the campaign of ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]'', and in some execution animations in the 2019 ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Modern Warfare]]'' reboot.
* The 2010 version of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' had a quick knife for the US side, and a quick ''axe'' for the [=OpFor=] side.

* ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'': Exactly like ''Call of Duty'''s knife.
* ''VideoGame/ShatteredHorizon'' has a Quick Pickaxe. Early versions of the game had a retractable bayonet on the assault rifle.
* ''VideoGame/{{Singularity}}'' has the quick-knife in the first part of the game. After the player receives the [[MacGuffin TMD]], it's replaced with the Impulse attack, a burst of energy that knocks enemies down at mid-range and [[LudicrousGibs dismembers them]] at close range.
* ''VideoGame/Metro2033'': Some weapons could be used as melee weapons, such as the shotgun. If the gun had a bayonet on it, the player would stab with the bayonet instead.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'': If you're using the default rifle (regardless of attachment), pressing the appropriate button will make you use a retractable wrist blade. Otherwise, you just hit the enemy with the gun, which is slower and weaker than the wrist blade.
* ''VideoGame/RedOrchestra'': You can bash enemies with your gun with the press of a button. Some classes also come with either an attachable bayonet or a gun that always has a bayonet.
* ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}'' has the quick gun-melee variation. The GaidenGame ''Burning Skies'' replaces it with a touch-activated quick fire-axe.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' has a quick kick. [[VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein 2009}} The 2009 sequel]] replaces it with a more traditional gun-bash attack, and two weapons, the [=Kar98=] and Tesla Gun, have a bayonet or equivalent upgrade that turns melee attacks into a OneHitKill. ''[[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder The New Order]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheOldBlood The Old Blood]]'' feature the more traditional quick-knife (or quick-pipe, in ''The Old Blood''), though you can still select the knife as a separate weapon, and if you're far enough away from an enemy the quick-melee button will instead [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throw a knife at him]] if you have any extra knives.
* ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'' also does the first variation, though notably combined with more useful kicks used by crouching or jumping when pressing the button, or, in the first game, the ability to put your guns away entirely and engage in GoodOldFisticuffs. The third game replaced gun-bashing with a genre-standard knife, though the kicks are still available and some enemies Fettel can possess in a few levels also get other dedicated melee weapons like crowbars.
* ''Day of Defeat'': The original game allowed players to hit others with the butt of their gun. ''Source'' does away with this, but adds in a punch feature that players can perform when using an SMG.

* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'' has a button to beat an enemy with the butt of your rifle, though it only inflicts a small amount of damage and some staggering. You do have an instant-kill knife, but you have to manually equip it.
** The third game adds the "Brutal Melee" mechanic, which is triggered by a ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''-style {{Action Command|s}}, that consists of the player performing a random insta-kill attack, ranging from a NeckSnap to [[EyeScream jabbing their thumbs into the enemy's eyes]].

* A variation in ''VideoGame/{{Brink}}''. If you have a two handed weapon out, like a rifle, your character will attack with the butt of it. However, if you have a one handed weapon out, like a pistol, you will attack with a knife. Knives do more damage, but don't stun, which two handed melees do.
* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' and ''[[VideoGame/PostalIII III]]'' have, like ''Duke Nukem 3D'', a quick-kick button in addition to regular dedicated melee weapons. Also like ''Duke 3D'', its extremely low range and power make it more useful for quickly opening doors, [[GrenadeHotPotato kicking grenades away]], or just generally [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential messing around with people]] than for killing them. The ''Paradise Lost'' expansion for the second game adds one more use: [[GroinAttack kicking people in the nuts]] to stun them for a second.
* ''VideoGame/PlanetSide 2'' features a quick-slash melee button - pressing it will cause you to slash with a knife then re-equip your gun, in the space of a second. Two slashes can kill any player aside from [[PoweredArmor MAX suits]] and Heavy Assaults with shields. Speaking of MAX suits, they can perform a swipe with [[PowerFist one arm]], with the same result. Averted in the first game, where the knife was a separate weapon which did pathetic damage unless its obnoxiously loud powered mode ([[ChainsawGood chainsaw]]/magnetic cutting/plasma cutting) was activated - making it largely a [[CherryTapping humiliation weapon]]
* ''VideoGame/DayOfInfamy'' has both a separate bayonet and a quick-melee button to smash people with your gun's stock, with the bayonet being faster and slightly more powerful. It's also possible to attach the bayonet to your rifle, which sacrifices the ability to use it as a separate weapon, but extends the range of quick melee and makes it even more powerful, including the ability to charge up a stab while sprinting for an instant kill.

* ''VideoGame/Ashes2063'' has the boot knife, a melee attack faster than switching to the {{crowbar|Combatant}} or [[ThisIsADrill pile bunker]], although weaker than both. In earlier versions you couldn't use it with the [[SniperRifle junker musket]], as the knife's bind was the same as the scope's.

* ''VIdeoGame/CrueltySquad'' gives you a melee kick that attacks an enemy with so much force that BlownAcrossTheRoom doesn't even describe it.

* ''VideoGame/Ashes2063'' has the boot knife, a melee attack faster than switching to the {{crowbar|Combatant}} or [[ThisIsADrill pile bunker]], although weaker than both. You cannot use it with only the [[SniperRifle junker musket]], as the knife's bind is the same as the scope's.

** In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2'', both characters have a "secondary weapon" button, offering the player a choice of throwing grenades, Molotov cocktails or simply striking enemies with the butt of their gun.
** In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'', pressing the trigger button at close range will cause the player to melee an enemy, giving them a few seconds of BulletTime to follow it up with a shot to the face.

** The sequel took the kick attack [[UpToEleven further]] by allowing sliding kick tackles and flying kick tackles, also serving as the best way to side-step shield-bearing foes.