Variant 1: What if air assassinations were carried out dependable on the player’s characteristics?
Let’s say there is an overweight character the player is controlling. If that character was to be set up on a ledge and had to take out the enemy underneath him, he can execute this is different ways depending on the player’s controls. Let’s have it so that the player must jump and kill the enemy themselves, similar to Dishonored. If the player does it correctly and presses the kill button in time, then the player will react faster after killing the enemy and feel more rewarding. If the player does not press the kill button on time after jumping off the ledge, then the player’s overweight character will knock out the enemy in a comedic way, squishing and flattening him, but will have a slower reaction time (he will have to get up slowly). So that way, if the player has an enemy directly below themselves and they press the jump button, they are guaranteed to knock out the enemy. Depending on if the player presses the kill button on time will affect the aftermath of the air assassination. If the player does not land on top of an enemy, and hits the ground (absorbing lot of fall damage) then they will also have a slower reaction and will have to get up slowly. This variant of an air assassination is more character-based, allowing for more interesting gameplay.
Variant 2: Instead of just button presses to indicate an air assassination, how about letting the player feel like they are truly implementing the takedown?
This would only work with a platform that has a console controller. The player will press a button to lock onto their acquired target, and then bring the controller upwards physically. Finally, using however much strength, they slam their controller down resulting in an air assassination that depends on the speed, and how hard the player pulls down the controller. If the player pulls down the controller quickly, it will cause more power towards the enemy they want to knock out. If it was a slower and pathetic strike, it will not affect the enemy as much physically, maybe the player can land on the shoulders of the enemy and try to twist their neck or stab them in the face. From what I’ve had in mind, the player would like to feel as if they are the Invincible Hulk yelling “HULK SMASH” with both fists ready to destroy what is underneath them. This concept of an air assassination can feel empowering for the player and exciting when they realize that it was their real strength that took down the enemy instead of the game doing it for them.
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