Air Assassination: An Unacknowledged Game Mechanic

Assassin’s Creed (2007)

Air assassination, or a drop assassination, is game mechanic where the player dives off a high platform to land on top of an enemy located on a lower platform to instantly kill them. Although this would be a subdivision of the large mechanic of attacking, this mechanic  should be more acknowledged because it could have more unique aspects and experimentation to allow this to become a better, or a more independent mechanic in games.

This mechanic is seen in many stealth games. It is a sneaky tactic because the enemies are unaware that the player can come from above to kill them, allowing the player to feel empowering, sneaky and unpredictable; like a bad-ass ninja. Assassin’s Creed, Dishonored, and Thief are a few examples that use this mechanic as a tool to help the player through their stealth missions. Adventure games also implement this mechanic in a minor-fashion, such as the new Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. This mechanic is starting gain more attention which is why it is in almost every video game nowadays. But game developers should take advantage of this fascinating variant of killing an enemy, and let it become something better and dominant.