When you think of a shooting game, you generally think of the pull of the trigger and the blast of gunpowder as the bullet takes flight.
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Ready, Aim, FIRE!
However, when you empty that magazine, that’s when another vital mechanic comes into play. Reloading may seem like a pretty routine practice in shooting games, and a lot of times it is, but there are some games out there that prove that it doesn’t have to be.
Some games take this rather rudimentary mechanic and turn it into something more thoughtful, tactical, and fun.
However, it’s certainly not the norm, and these games can be hard to uncover without some help. So, if your metaphorical magazine is running low, allow me to hand you a new one and get you firing once again.
Let The Game Do It For You
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Reloading has generally always been a manual function, as games need to give players the agency to reload their magazine after firing one round, even if it is a stupid thing to do.
However, when it comes to the ugly duckling of the IO Interactive catalog, Kane and Lynch, the function of reloading is taken care of for you.
If you’re cowering behind cover or simply sitting idle for a while, the game will check the magazine count, and if it meets the ‘low ammo’ threshold, the game will reload your weapon, preparing you for the next inevitable firefight.
It’s a small feature, but one that means you won’t get caught with your pants down when you run into a firefight.
Authentic VR Reloading
When talking about interesting and realistic reloading mechanics, it would be criminal to not mentionthe world of VR, as VR Shooters are rife with stylish and tactile reloading mechanics.
However, if you’re looking for the game that leans into this uber-realism the most, you’ll want to check out Pavlov.
This is a multiplayer tactical shooter that really forces the player to communicate, play mindfully, and outwit the opposition. It’s a visceral showcase of the simple fact that war is hell. But it’s even more hellish if you don’t have your bullets locked and loaded.
This is why you’ll need to learn how your gun works, actively check your magazines, know where everything slots in, and know where all the essential doohickeys and pullies are.
Perhaps that’s not what they call them in the military, but hey, I’m no sergeant. But if you want to be, this is a good place to start.
8Metro Exodus
In Russia, Gun Reloads You
Metro Exodus
Keeping with the thread of realistic gun mechanics, we head to mother Russia, or more specifically, the subway tunnels below.
Metro Exodus is one of thefinest examples of a Eurojank game, and alongside its fellow brethren like STALKER and Tarkov, this game tasks the player with sitting down at a workbench and maintaining their gun, or you’ll find that thing jamming more than down on their luck musicians with nothing but free time.
Combine this with the game’s relentless survival mechanics, including a crank to charge your head torch and gas canisters to breathe on the surface, and you have a game that is much more than a mindless shoot-the-enemy FPS game. In Soviet Russia, gun reloads you.
7Enter The Gungeon
Calamatous Co-op Fun
Enter the Gungeon
This may be one that you love or hate depending on your love of realism vs convenience. However, if you’re playing a little pixel dungeon crawler like this one, then chances are that realism isn’t top of your priorities.
Enter the Gungeonis a dynamic co-op shooterwith lots of weapons to choose from, each with its own unique reload times. However, if you are quick of mind and exercise sleight of hand, you may game the system a little to get a one-up on tricky bosses.
In this game, if you reload, all your guns reload. So, if you want to risk it, you can have a quick-reload weapon and a more powerful, slow-reload weapon on your person and then liberally switch between the two. It sounds like cheating, and maybe it is, but I won’t tell if you don’t.
Oh, and as an added bonus, you have the Rad Gun that employs active reload mechanics, but we will get a little deeper into those in a little while.
Shoot Those Turrets!
I’m all for realistic mechanics, especially when it comes to reloading animations. However, even I will admit that Receiver is definitely an acquired taste that many will see as overkill.
In this game, where you must deal with the Mindkill, you have to go through the entire process of reloading, which would usually be handled by the press of one button.
You’ll need to manually eject you mag, holster your weapon, insert bullets, grab your weapon, insert your mag, and then cock your weapon, all in one swift and seamless motion. This essentially means you need to know the sequence like clockwork, or you’re as good as dead.
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This essentially means that players can’t blast through each room like a boomer shooter and forces you to make every bullet count and pick your moments to reload very carefully. As I said, many will find this tedious, but it’s definitely unique, if nothing else.
5Hotline Miami
No Reloading Is The New Reloading
Hotline Miami
It’s time for your certifiedwildcard entry, because as Hotline Miami fans will have screamed at their screen violently by now, this game has no reloading at all. But here’s the thing: that’s a design choice that works amazingly well for this high-octane shooter.
Every level of Hotline Miami is a self-contained challenge where you need to manage your bullets very carefully or, alternatively, become a master of improvisation.
So, not only does this decision to omit reloading force you to map out each level like a puzzle. It also presents a wonderful risk-and-reward scenario with each enemy you take down.
Would we appreciate some extra bullets in a pinch? Absolutely, but that would take away from the charm of this addictive indie hit. So count your bullets and make each one count.
4Hyper Light Drifter
Hack & Slash Is Mandatory
Hyper Light Drifter
Guns are a really powerful thing to have in your possession in most games. After all, if you bring a gun to a sword fight, you’d need to be a real buffoon to not walk away the victor.
Which was a conundrum that the Hyper Light Drifter team probably wrestled with for a long time. But thankfully, they came up with a solution that proved to be amazing in practice.
HLD balances the need for melee combat with the availability of the obviously safer and superior guns in your arsenal. You can only obtain ammo by hacking and slashing, forcing players to get up close and personal before they can step back and use their charged blasts to lay waste to the baddies before them.
It doesn’t sound revolutionary, but achieving this perfect blend of slashing and shooting is no easy task. But, as any HLD player will know, this game nails this balance, which is why this game hasearned a much-anticipated sequeland why it’s a series that has cemented its place as indie royalty.
3Gears of War
The OG Cover Shooter
Gears of War
There are quite a few games that I could have slotted into this list for their use of the well-known active reloading mechanic. But, in the end, I thought it would be terribly rude not to include the game that popularized this design choice.
Gears of War is the OG cover shooter, and one of the few Xbox exclusives that actually gave me FOMO as a PlayStation boy. It was such a good shooter that even the time spent not firing bullets felt rewarding, as you would have a timed input where you would need to ace.
If you managed this, you would get a damage boost with your reloaded rounds, and when pinned down by enemies, this could often be enough to get you out of a jam. It’s a staple of late 2000’s shooters, but Gears did it first, and did it well.
2Rollerdrome
A THPS-Inspired Bloodbath
Rollerdrome
What do you get when you cross an over-the-shoulder shooter with a THPS game? It sounds too good to be true, but the answer is none other than Rollerdrome, the incredibly fluid and stylish roller booting death match.
This title places you in the shoes of Kara Hassan, and your role is to enter an area on some rollerboots and use a variety of weapons to take out assassins, mechs, and more in an attempt to conquer the Rollerdrome in this strange dystopian world.
The whole game is a novel concept, but the reload mechanics really stand out, as players will need to perform tricks and combos to reload their weapons, essentially ensuring that you need to have style, accuracy and ruthlessness to stand a chance of survival.
It’s another high-score-chasing smash hit from Roll7, and sadly, most likely the last one we will ever see from the now-disbanded dev.
1Laika: Aged Through Blood
Do A Flip!
Laika: Aged Through Blood
Laika Aged Through Blood is a mature, gory, and difficult Metroidvania that pulls no punches. In this motorvania, you not only need to master the intricate,Trials Fusion-esque motorcycle mechanics,but you also have to master the art of bullet time to massacre enemies while riding your hog through this hellscape.
There are lots of eye-catching things about this game, like a tale of vengeance and an awesome soundtrack and art style. However, I found the reloading mechanics to be the standout feature here. Because in this game, if you want to reload, you have to do a flip.
Backflips equal bullets, it’s as simple as that. This means you’ll need to perform acrobatic feats just to have enough ammo to survive your next leap of faith. It’s a brilliant feature and is just one of many outstanding features of this killer Metroidvania.
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