History Main / SubsystemDamage

** Actually, aiming for limbs CAN be useful, at lest in Front Mission 3, as if you destroy several of them, enemy soldiers will sometimes surrender, allowing you to capture their machine. You can then either sell it, let one of your characters use it or split it into parts which can then be equipped on your other machines.
*** In Front Mission 4, you can often stop snipers and Bazooka Mechs by destroying the arm holding the gun, and those Arms have significantly less health than bodies do. Destroying the other arm reduces the mechs accuracy.

* In ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'', battleships are divided into three components: Hull, Weapons and Squadrons. Attacking them not only inflicts damage to the battleship itself, but also causes heat buildup in that system. When the heat reaches a critical threshold, the system shuts down until an officer can repair it.

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekBridgeCommander'' has this in abundance. Damage depends on where you hit and how strong you set your weapons, you can target everything down to individual torpedo tubes and phaser arrays, subsystems can be disabled but reparable or completely destroyed, doing so affects the ships's performance (an especially effective tactic is to knock out the enemy's sensor array as that renders them unable to target you and return fire), and the 3D models show realistic battle damaged, to the point where you can punch holes all the way through or lop off engine nacelles. Destroying the warp core/Power plant kills a ship/station outright even if they are probably over 50% percent integrity

* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' (a roguelike), individual subsystems can be damaged or destroyed, disabling the relevant function until repaired. These are separate from hull damage, making it entirely possible for a fully functional ship to be destroyed.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', on the other hand, ''does'' track damage to body parts, though there are no adverse effects until they have been entirely crippled. Crippled arms decrease accuracy, crippled legs decrease running speed, [[InterfaceScrew a crippled head causes a concussion halo effect]], and a crippled torso amplifies all subsequent damage. They can simply be healed with stimpacks (which your average player tends to stockpile, but your average NPC doesn't) or by [[TraumaInn sleeping in any bed.]] This becomes a life saver when fighting Deathclaws, giant lizards with machete-sized claws, as you can cripple their legs with ease by using the Dart Gun to slow them down to a crawl. Weapon targeting in [=VATS=] is also still a viable strategy, as well as shooting missiles and grenades ''as they are thrown towards you''.

** The [[ContestedSequel highly contested]] ThirdPersonShooter ReBoot actually retains this system, albeit simplified. Destroyed parts reveal their (inexplicably indestructible) skeletal frame and any attached weapons take a massive hit to their performance. Destroyed legs cause Wanzers to sort of waddle around at a snail's pace unless they use their boosters. On the plus side, deliberately shooting a part is now fully possible (and recommended, especially with the BulletTime mechanic)- meaning that skills that used to improve chances of hitting certain body parts have been removed or altered and every enemy now fights until its torso (and hence the entire machine) is destroyed.

* Also a long-time staple of vehicular combat in the original ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' system. Any hit that at least scratches a vehicle's armor is followed by a roll on a damage table, with effects including stuff like temporary or permanent immobilization, destroyed weapons, the vehicle getting wrecked, or the vehicle blowing up in a spectacular fashion. That last one is of course the most effective result as it often kills most of the passengers if the target was an APC, and the explosion can also damage other models in close proximity. Vehicles continue to function [[CaptainObvious unless they suffered one of the "destroyed" results]], but of course their effectiveness diminishes with every hit, especially with every weapon lost. Superheavy vehicles like [[HumongousMecha Titans]] have special damage tables that can potentially result in the mechanical monstrosity's plasma reactor going critical. The ensuing blast can easily wipe out half the battlefield, which (since most Titans are walking artillery platforms that attack from far, ''far'' away) tends to [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard hit their own side the hardest]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Reign}}'', ''TabletopGame/WildTalents'', and other games using the One Roll Engine have separate hit locations for head, torso, each arm, and each leg. Any one of them getting filled up with lethal damage has bad effects for that part, but [[CaptainObvious of course when it happens to your torso or head it kills you]]. It's easy to make monsters with different kinds of hit locations representing unusual anatomy.

* ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'': In keeping with its theme of "painfully detailed awfulness," ''FATAL'' allows you to [[YouFailBiologyForever stab a man in his Fallopian tubes]] without damaging the surrounding organs or skin.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' have locational targeting for both robots and living things (for example: The head, eyes, torso, arms, groin, and legs on anthropoids.) Accuracy, damage, and critical hits are affected by which body part is attacked, but the health of individual body parts aren't tracked. Attacking some extremities will result in an injury (limp, blindness, etc.) which can't be healed without the services of a surgeon.
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', on the other hand, ''does'' track damage to body parts, though there are no adverse effects until they have been entirely crippled. Crippled arms decrease accuracy, crippled legs decrease running speed, [[InterfaceScrew a crippled head causes a concussion halo effect]], and a crippled torso amplifies all subsequent damage. They can simply be healed with stimpacks (which your average player tends to stockpile, but your average NPC doesn't) or by [[TraumaInn sleeping in any bed.]] This becomes a life saver when fighting Deathclaws, giant lizards with machete-sized claws, as you can cripple their legs with ease by using the Dart Gun to slow them down to a crawl.

** Limb damage in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' mostly works as in ''3'', but crippled limbs are always [[AfterCombatRecovery restored to 1 HP after combat]]. Although item health has been removed for most weapons and armor, PoweredArmor still has item health for each of its 6 individual armor segments: the helmet, the torso, and the 4 limbs. If any of the parts drops below a certain amount of health, the HeadsUpDisplay will show that particular part in red instead of orange, and if they drop to 0, they break and must be repaired at a Power Armor Bench, offering no benefit but still adding weight to your inventory.

** Limb damage in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' mostly works as in ''3'', but crippled limbs are always [[AfterCombatRecovery restored to 1 HP after combat]]. Although item health has been removed for most weapons and armor, PoweredArmor still has item health for each of its 6 individual armor segments: the helmet, the torso, and the 4 limbs. If any of the parts drops below a certain amount of health, the HeadsUpDisplay will show that particular part in red instead of orange.

* In VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX, every non-humanoid enemy has at least one additional appendage with its own HP seperate from the enemy's main HP bar where you can lock-on to and destroy, which can stop an enemy from using certain Arts and can drop a useful item for crafting. Also, certain skills can either increase the damage done to appendages or negate appendage damage for direct damage. But be warned, ''this can also happen to you'' if you are in your own [[HumongousMecha Skell]], taking out your own arts until you can repair it after the battle is over.

* In the first ''KingdomHearts'' game, one type of {{Mook}} that would appear comes in the form of a flying pirate ship commandeered by a [[TheHeartless Heartless]]. While attacking it normally plays the CriticalExistenceFailure trope straight, its cannons, mast and back propellors can also be targeted and destroyed, impacting on its performance. It will sometimes even shake violently, leaving it open to attack while the pilot employs PercussiveMaintenance.

* ''Jagged Alliance 2'' links hits to certain body parts to stat penalties; getting hit in the arm will cost Dexterity, Agility is lost by getting hit in the legs and headshots cost Wisdom... unless they're powerful enough to overcome whatever helmet the target is wearing, in which case they're almost invariably a OneHitKill, or if you're very lucky a OneHitKO that requires lots of in-game time and resources to patch up. Incidentally, the stat penalties are applied for ''each individual pellet'' when using a shotgun loaded with buckshot, and the v1.13 mod added flechette rounds that are basically the same, but more. Shotguns might not be able to reliably ''kill'' the EliteMooks who start turning up in later stages,but they can sure sign 'em up for the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy.

* VideoGame/WorldOfWarships has both Subsystem Damage and Main/CriticalExistenceFailure in the same game. A ship's steering, engines, and individual main gun turrets can be temporarily disabled. Turrets, torpedo mounts, and anti-air mounts can all be permanently destroyed, as well. The ship can be lit on fire in four different places, and also flood. However, (except for fire and flooding) all of these things do not necessarily affect the ship's hit point total. The ship only sinks once its HP reach zero.

** {{Zombies}} explicitly used a HitPoint system, to prevent them from being NighInvulnerable. This was a placeholder until Toady One implemented a system for attacks to gradually "pulp" flesh into tissue that even a zombie can't use.
*** Pulping has been implemented, making blunt weapons essential for defending a fort where attacks by the undead are expected. The goal is to mangle a body part so bad it can't be reanimated, and not separate the parts for individual reanimation (It's frightening when you cut off a zombie's arm and then you continue the fight a bit, only to be attacked from behind by the arm you cut off). Of course, the same applies to non-organic materials and parts made from them; pounding on a Bronze Colossus' head will eventually make it collapse into scrap, ending its rampage.

* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} 3'' has this to some extent, on vehicles equipped with Reactive Armour: Each side has its own plate of Reactive Armour that can be disabled after one hit from an Anti-Tank weapon, need to be repaired separately from other plates of armour and the vehicle's general health and multiple can be maintaned even if the vehicle is Disabled or destroyed.

** ''[[VideoGame/{{Homeworld}} Homeworld: Cataclysm]]'' Had the Mothership's improvements destroyable. Loosing them would reduce the player's ArbitraryHeadcountLimit, prevent firing the superweapon, and/or prevent building larger ships. Although they were not specifically targetable and could only be destroyed by having weapons fire hit them from the right angle.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireAtWar'': In the space combat portion, most capital ships and space stations have targetable subsystems for almost any system: each individual weapon, shield generator, engine, and hangar. In fact, the only way to destroy a ship is to destroy all subsystems. The ships show realistic damage when subsystems are blown up. Normally, ships have to take down shields first before targetting subsystems, but torpedoes and mass drivers easily pass through shields.

* ''VideoGame/TreasurePlanetBattleAtProcyon'' allows various parts of the ship to be targetted for the purpose of damaging or destroying. Destroyting sails, engines and rudders can cripple mobility, where as destroying sections of the hull can disable weapon banks.

* In ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'', each ship bigger than a fighter/bomber has subsystems that can be targetted with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]] or fighters. As a rule, lasers don't do much damage to DeflectorShields or the hull with a few exceptions. These subsystems include engines (primary and secondary), power plants, FTL drives, shields, and weapons. Alternatively, the hull can be damaged with MagneticWeapons and missiles sufficiently for the ship to be considered lost, starting the evacuation of the crew.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Starlancer}}'', targetting subsystems on capital ships is necessary to successfully destroy them. The affected parts of the ship actually blow up, deforming the ship.
** The sequel ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' allows you to ''target'' subsystems on capital ships , but you can't actually destroy them. The fact that you can target them probably means they planned to add this functionality at some point but decided not to. Of course, this would make killing battleships even easier than it already is for a single fighter. In the campaign, you single-handedly wipe out a good chunk of the Rheinland fleet. However, things look different when it comes to fighters. Most fighters have wings, and most of these wings tend to have weapon hardpoints. All mounted weapons have individual life bars themselves, and once a fighter loses its shields, incoming fire not only damages armor and hull but also has a nasty habit of blowing your guns off your ship, or wreck your wings. Very rarely you might end up with no weapons at all, but that won't matter much since by that point you're one sneeze away from destruction anyway. Destroyed wings and damaged weapons can be repaired for credits at any ship merchant, but destroyed weapons are irrevocably lost, which sucks supremely if said weapon was a [[InfinityPlusOneSword unique Class 10 artifact gun]].

* In ''VideoGame/MonsterLab'', monsters are killed if they sustain too much damage to their torso, while destroying arms, legs and head impair their fighting (and fleeing for legs). Though if they loose everything ''except'' the torso, they also die.

* As part of ''VideoGame/RimWorld'''s trademark ultra-detailed micromanagement, each individual character, robot, and wild squirrel has a list of body parts that can be injured causing various effects, each of which the game will keep painstaking track of. This system is so detailed as to include the individual ''scars'' that a character has aquired in their life, and has stat debuffs for each one.

* ''Battlefleet Gothic'': The game's critical hit system is a form of this. While a Cruiser still blows up after eight arbitrary damage points, critical hits give you a chance to knock out weapons batteries, cripple engines, disable shields, or simply do horrific extra damage as bulkheads collapse and hull plating shreds in the heat of battle.