Real Talk By: EC

Action heroes have been kicking behinds and breaking bones long before the era of video games sprung to life, and it was those action heroes that heavily influenced the badass-ary of today’s iconic video game heroes. Anyone can run around with a gun and unload a full clip into a guy to end his life, but it takes a special finesse and heightened reflexes to fight in Close Quarters Combat, so here we have the top 5 Combat Counters in Gaming:

5. Dante – Devil May Cry Series

This Demon uses all sorts of different methods to make his enemies cry uncle. When fighting off waves of baddies his main goal doesn’t seem to be killing them, its to look cool while doing it. When chaining combos together, you get rankings on the corner of your screen that change depending on how long you can hold the combo without taking damage, the ranking ranges from Dope, Crazy, Blast, Alright, Sweet, SShowtime, and SSStylish being the highest rank.

4. Leon & Ada – Resident Evil 4

The Resident Evil series used to be more about survival-horror and puzzles, but in 2005 Resident Evil 4 shook things up with its more Action based horror game mechanics, instead of the slow-paced game play of its predecessors.  Leon and Ada’s reunion in Resident Evil 4 is exactly how I think two highly trained agents greet each other in the morning.

3. Naked Snake/Big Boss & Solid Snake – Metal Gear Solid Series

I tried not to show favoritism, since I sometimes have an unhealthy obsession with the Metal Gear series, but I think Big Boss and his carbon copy are in the right spot here on this list. In the MGS Universe, Big Boss is said to be the one who perfected the art of CQC along with his mentor The Boss. He of course passes on his ability to disable his enemies with quick fists, to his clone Solid Snake.

2. Batman – Arkham City

Bad guys shake in fear when they see the shadow of the famous cape and cowl donned by the legendary Batman. This costumed crusader has bashed more heads than Cobblepot has penguins. With his quick reflexes and skills in a variety of fisty-cuffs, Batman takes down his foes with ease.

1. Ezio – Assassin’s Creed 2

In Ezio’s youth, his quick thinking gets him out of most problems, but as he gets older, his fighting skills are refined and his reflexes are tuned to the area around him for some major ass kicking. Taking on an army of soldiers in his prime probably would have been nothing to him, but in his old age he gets distracted by an image of his ancestor and gets caught, but the fact he could still fight his way up to the enemy fortress alone at that age is just epic in itself.

Honorable Mention: Nathan Drake – Uncharted Series

I couldn’t include Nate in my top five due to the fact that I’ve only played Uncharted 1, and about half of Uncharted 2, so i don’t think I have a full understanding of his badass skills. Ido know he can hold his own in a fight so he deserves to be on this list anyway.

Those were my Top Five Combat Counters in Video Games; I had to try not to show favoritism towards any specific characters, as stated before, but all of this is my unbiased opinion, from the collection of games I’ve played. Feel free to leave a comment stating your favorite CQC BA’s, or maybe some that you think deserve honorable mentions.

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