BA2 Animation - Secondary Action

Good Example - Resistance: Fall of Man

In Resistance, the enemies you encounter react dynamically to your actions, with many events being performed all at once thanks to the many processors present in the PlayStation’s CELL processor. The Chimera realistically dive out of the way of incoming explosives. When your character throws a grenade into a group of Chimera, they will instinctively dive away from it, trying to escape the blast by hitting the ground. The way in which they do this is fast, agile-like and is animated to a good standard.

Chimera Hybrid

Bad Example - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman Arkham Asylum is an overall fantastic game. One of the best parts of the game is the awesome combat sequences. Unfortunately small thing that stands out is the poor secondary action when the bad guys are knocked out. When the player has just delivered the final blow, to the last enemy in a room, the camera quickly zooms in, to capture the moment of impact. This is all done well, apart from when the last enemy becomes unconscious. He will reach up with both arms, bent at the elbow, and seem to ‘clasp’ his head in agony. His fists simply both remain parallel to his temples, as he falls over. The fact that the camera actively tries to highlight this action only makes it worse.