Thursday 20 September 2012

Coolest Video Game Move - The Shootdodge

Max Payne 3 has probably the coolest move in a Video Game. What is it? It's Shootdodge. 

The Shootdodge move has been around since the first Max Payne game. It's Max Payne's signature move where he dives through the air in slow motion shooting enemies while also avoiding their gun fire. This move along with bullet time would have been very familiar with Max Payne fans through the years. 

In Max Payne 3, you will need to gain adrenaline which will enable to use either Shootdodge or Bullet Time. The more adrenaline you have in your bar, the longer you will be able to enable these sweet moves.

In the single player campaign mode, try using Shootdodge in a fire-fight with the AI opponents. With enough adrenaline and with some practise, you should be able to take out 2 or 3 enemies before you hit the ground. Or you can dive out of cover and surprise them. Get caught without cover? Shootdodge into cover! There are so many ways to use this awesome move. 

Find shootdodging impressive? Now try it in Multiplayer. This is where the Shootdodge rules! Killing AI opponents is great but nothing beats taking down multiple real-life opponents with a carefully timed shootdodge. The options are endless. I'll list down some of my favourite shootdodge moves.

1. Now you see me, now you don't
You see a few enemies together. Run out from cover.Your opponents see you and start to aim their sights at you. Be quick and use the Shootdodge to kill 1 or 2 while diving into the next cover.   Get up, reload and quickly hide behind your new cover. They thought you were an easy kill but you just killed them and are waiting behind cover for your next target.

2. Roll and Jump.
I don't usually plan this, most of the time I'm forced into it to survive. Of course, I just act as if I had all planned out. You're running out in the open when suddenly 2 rivals appear. Kill 1 quickly and roll while reloading. You are probably taking some heavy fire from the 2nd guy. As soon as you are done rolling, shootdodge to the side and take out the 2nd. Surprise, surprise... you just turned the tables on them. 

3. Run if you can
Do this successfully and you can get a couple of kills. Need a bit of luck though. Usually used when there are a group of enemies cuddled together. Usually when capturing a checkpoint. Get a grenade ready and run out of cover. Throw the grenade into the middle of the group and hit the Shootdodge button immediately. Fire away and hope you survive. You will be under extremely heavy fire since you are targeting a group. Good thing is if you threw your grenade accurately, you will get a couple of kills even if you die. Best to do it when you have some allies taking the attention off you. Once I successfully killed 5 using this move. Awesome eh?!
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Of course, the Shootdodge isn't a super imbalanced move that makes you all-powerful. You have to use it right. While diving in the air, you have an advantage, but as soon as you hit the ground, you are like a sitting duck just waiting to be killed.

You need enough adrenaline. This is the fuel for the move. The more you have, the longer your dive which is very Essential if you want an advantage in a fire-fight. Without it, you will look like a duck that tried to fly but miserably failed. (I don't know why I keep referring to ducks today.) To rub salt in your wound, you probably just got killed after that. Of course, adrenaline is also needed for your burst moves so keep an eye on that meter before you try Shootdodging.

Check your surroundings. You can have all the adrenaline in the world but if there is a stone wall in your dive path, you crash. Nothing's more frustrating than hitting Shootdodge and then hitting an obstacle. Your move ends there and probably so does your life. Worse if you hit some stairs and start tumbling down while getting shot at.

What goes up must come down. As mentioned earlier, while you are diving, time slows down for the enemy and you have the advantage. Once your move ends, you land on the floor. This is when you are the most vulnerable. There might be more enemies behind you, to your left, to your right, up, down, just re-spawned, just appeared out of cover( yea you get the drift.) So get up and run into cover after your Shootdodge move.

So yea, there's my lengthy post about awesome (or not so awesome) the Shootdodge move from Max Payne 3 is. Do share your Shootdodge stories and how you use them below. If you found this article useful, do share with your friends. Or if you want to test your Shootdodge skills against me, do add me on PSN (Jengoboy).

Like this article? Read this and other Max Payne 3 stories here