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I found the term "run’n’gun" in an article about video games. What does it mean in that context?

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I'm not a gamer, but my son is. Most of the video games he plays contain characters with guns trying to shoot other characters with guns or characters who are constantly running from one side of the screen to the other trying to avoid being crushed or blown up by dropping or floating or flying bombs, boulders, bricks, and other baddies. – Bill Franke Oct 19 '12 at 11:27
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You might want to try looking this up in a dictionary or two, and editing your question to add what you find (or more likely, don't find). Otherwise, you risk downvotes for "does not show any research effort". – Marthaª Oct 19 '12 at 13:26
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another popular term is "COD", which refers to the popular game Call of Duty, where "run'n'gun" is the main style of game play. You'll often see gaming rules that read "No COD allowed". Meaning to play slowly and carefully. – Mathew Foscarini Oct 19 '12 at 14:34
While your following Martha's advice (which I hope you'll do), I hope you'll also either provide a link to the article, or an excerpt of the paragraph where you found the phrase (or both). You've hinted at the context, but more specific info would be helpful. – J.R. Oct 19 '12 at 16:09

1 Answer

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Exactly what the name implies, the opposite of sniping, sneaking or camping. Shooting while running — remaining in motion to be a harder target, confusing opponents by brash (suicidal?) tactic, spraying bullets while in motion.

Many games introduce accuracy penalties (on top of naturally increased difficulty) for this tactic, encouraging stopping, aiming precisely and using terrain for cover, while in others it's essential, as immobile targets become overly easy to hit. This is frequently where "dynamism" of a gameplay comes from — classic Quake 3 Arena would have you killed within seconds if you stop, while in Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl "run and gun" is bound to get you killed as you run into a hard-to-see anomaly or get swarmed by enemies, while sniping, stealth and careful dodging is the way.

An official use would be in Fallout: New Vegas perk:

The Run 'n Gun perk reduces accuracy penalties with one-handed ranged weapons (Guns or Energy Weapons) while walking or running.

You should also note a specific, related term kiting, denoting running backwards while shooting a chasing opponent (who is only equipped with a melee or short range weapon). It's a common necessity in many games and requires a good knowledge of the layout of the game, as you don't see where you're going.

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