Sometimes, a game will introduce a mechanic that's so good that others take it and use it for their own titles. For instance, after the first Gears of War, third-person cover shooting became very popular for a while, and so many games started using open-world cities after Grand Theft Auto 3.

But not every great video game feature or mechanic starts a trend. Some games have introduced a few very clever ideas that other developers have not tried to copy for some reason. Here is a list of some that we thought would become industry standard.

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor - The Nemesis System

The Nemesis System is one of the most original features seen in a game for many years. How it works is that all the enemies you fight in Shadow of Morder are part of a hierarchy. So, standard grunts are at the bottom tier, while the most substantial foes are at the top. Yet, it doesn't stay this way. For example, if a low-level grunt is able to defeat you, it rises up the ranks. So, the hierarchy is continually changing.

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This adds an extra dimension to every battle, especially as the rogues you've faced remember you, which adds a bit of personality to otherwise standard enemies. This system seemed likely to become far more common when Shadow of Mordor was released, until Warner Bros. patented the mechanic, meaning no one else could use it.

Red Faction - Destructible Environments

Technically, destructible environments were a trend at one point, due in part to the Red Faction series. As a result, you started to see it in games like Battlefield: Bad Company and various other entries in that series. However, it was only a short trend. This is surprising since it really felt like destructible environments would have become commonplace by this point.

After all, being able to create holes in walls, as you can in the original Red Faction, is delightful. But it never caught on the way it should have. Technical restrictions likely played a part in this.

Left 4 Dead - The AI Director

When you play a campaign in Left 4 Dead, you're being monitored by the in-game AI. If you're doing really well and getting through things rather easily, then the game will start sending more zombies your way, including more special infected. This is to keep things challenging and rewarding.

Yet, it doesn't just step in when you're doing well. If you're taking too long or messing around too much and not progressing, the game will send hordes your way to get you moving. This is a unique type of dynamic difficulty that could work well in similar types of games.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Beat Low-Level Enemies Without Fighting

One of the most annoying things in an RPG is when you're very leveled up, and you still have to battle low-level goons. Yes, you win the fights easily, but these encounters seem like a waste of time. A few games have thought of ways to speed up the process by giving you the ability to win instantly.

The best version of this is in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, where you can just charge through low-level enemies and instantly receive your rewards for beating them. You don't even have to stop. The game just slows down a bit to show that you knocked someone out. It really should be a standard feature in RPGs.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Blade Mode

Metal Gear Rising is one of the most action-packed games of its generation. This is because the game has you control Raiden, a cyborg ninja with exceptional sword skills. Those skills are best on show when you're using blade mode. This mode allows you to slow down time and gives you the chance to manually slice through the enemy in whatever directions you desire.

It means you can land some really precise strikes and easily cut off limbs. Afro Samurai had a similar mechanic years earlier, but it was a lesser-known game, so it wasn't a surprise that it didn't start a trend. You'd have thought people would've copied the idea from Metal Gear Rising, though.

Mass Effect - Your Choices Have Consequences In The Sequels

The consequences of the decisions you make are usually felt within the same game. In Mass Effect, however, your save data would carry over between all three numbered entries. So, when playing the third game, you can lose characters because of choices you made two games ago.

While it isn't always perfectly implemented in Mass Effect, it's a cool mechanic as it gives your decisions even more weight. Some titles allow you to set up your universe by selecting the choices you made in previous games, yet they rarely come into play that much. Impactful choices carrying over between games have rarely been seen since Mass Effect.

Dead Space - Diegetic Health Bar

Video game HUDs can be hit-or-miss. Some look fantastic and give you all the information you need, while others clutter the screen and keep you from appreciating your surroundings. The developers of Dead Space found a way to reduce clutter by making your health bar part of your character's suit.

So, at all times, you can see what your health is at by looking at your character's back. More importantly, it fits in seamlessly and feels like a natural inclusion in the suit. While it isn't the only example of a diegetic health bar or HUD in gaming, the concept is still rare.

Resident Evil 2 - Zapping System

The original Resident Evil 2 contains four separate stories, spread between two characters. There are Leon A, Leon B, Claire A, and Claire B. To experience the full narrative, you have to play one character's A story and another's B story. In the process, you will notice they connect through what is called a Zapping System.

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This means that even though they're separate playthroughs, actions you take in the A story will impact the B story. For instance, there is one moment where you can turn on some gas in the A story to weaken certain enemies, but if you do, then on the B run, a certain boss will be more deadly. So, you can make things harder or easier for yourself. It's a neat gimmick to incentivize multiple playthroughs, so it's a shame that other games don't do it.

L.A. Noire - The Use Of Facial Tech

One of the main selling points of L.A. Noire was the realism of the in-game faces. At the time, they were so far beyond what other games were doing. But it wasn't just about how real they looked; it was about how that was used from a gameplay perspective.

As this is a detective game, you spend plenty of time talking to suspects and witnesses. And sometimes, you have to figure out whether they're lying to you. The only way to do this is by studying their facial expressions, which is where the facial tech really comes into play. This was an innovative concept that you'd have thought a few other games would've tried to do since.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Dynamic Weight And Muscle

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released all the way back in 2004. Yet, it has a mechanic that hasn't been seen in many games. That is dynamic weight and muscle gain. In this game, you can have the protagonist, CJ, visibly gain muscle by working out a lot, and gain weight by eating too much without burning it off.

This means you can physically alter your character's appearance in a natural and dynamic way. Since San Andreas was such a popular game, you would've thought that plenty of other developers would've added this mechanic to their games.

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