Have you ever cheesed when gaming? No, we're not talking about indulging in a plate of Stilton and crackers while you're going toe-to-toe with other players; we're talking about cheesing as a gameplay strategy.
Want to know what we're talking about? Then read onto find out.
What Does Cheesing in Gaming Mean?
Explaining cheesing in video games is quite simple and, in fact, we don't necessarily attribute the phenomenon solely to gaming. However, it has become a more prevalent term since the advent of computer and video games.
We use the term cheesing to describe a strategy that a player employs when playing video games, and we've all been guilty of it.
Cheesing describes a situation in which a player uses powerful strategies that are far too easy to use and almost impossible for your opponent—be they living or AI—to beat. These strategies often involve little or no skill, and they can be pretty irritating when you encounter them.
Some people consider cheesing as cheating, or, at the very least, playing unfairly. But what does cheesing look like?
Examples of Cheesing in Gaming
This writer has been guilty of cheesing in the past. It was how I beat Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign mode on Veteran difficulty; a ridiculously difficult feat, as the enemies become super-powered bullet sponges who seemingly never die, irrespective of how many caps you pop them with.
So how did I beat it? I just allowed my unkillable AI counterparts to take all the bullets and kill the semi-unstoppable foes during segments of the game where waves of enemies would have easily overpowered me. I just hid behind a crate while this went on, reserving my health for... less intense parts of the game.
And that is cheesing. I used no skill at all to overcome the hard parts of the game. I just hid like a big scaredy-cat.
Other examples of cheesing include selecting Blanka in Street Fighter II and just mashing the punch button to execute his Electric Thunder move, making the player almost untouchable. Same with Dhalsim and his stupidly long arms and legs.
Atari, funnily enough, attempted to combat this tactic in its game Primal Rage, which it released in 1994 in arcades across the world. Players who consistently repeated the same move to fill the combo meter would spot a chunk of cheese at the top-center of the screen, indicating they were cheesing, and the combo meter would reset.
Cheesing is possible in almost every game, though. Especially now that games feature a lot of AI and NPC characters who can perform some of your tasks for you.
Is Cheesing in Gaming Ever Acceptable?
If you're playing a competitive game, then cheesing probably isn't acceptable, really. It causes frustration for other players and doesn't exactly show of your insane gaming skills.
If you immediately run to a heavily armored vehicle in Warzone, then drive around in it for the entire match, other players are going to consider you a cheeser and probably grief you over the mic. It puts you at an unfair advantage and displays your total lack of skill.
However, if you're playing a solo campaign and you exploit a glitch or sit there hammering the same button over and over to deploy an overpowered strategy, you're not really harming anyone else or ruining their fun, so cheese away. You're only spoiling your own game by playing in the most boring way imaginable.
Are You Guilty of Cheesing?
Cheesing is a habit that your opponents will find annoying and probably unfair, but someone has to be at an advantage during a game or nobody would win.
It is just deemed more acceptable if that advantage is because of skill and not because you employ overpowered strategies.