High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A cover system is how a video game lets a virtual avatar avoid dangers usually in a three-dimensional (and occasionally two-dimensional) world. This method is a digital adaptation of the real-life military tactic of taking cover to dodge enemy gunfire or explosives. Similar gameplay elements can be traced back to as early as 1986, in Rolling Thunder. Later games which refined the system include Bonanza Bros., Time Crisis, Metal Gear Solid, WinBack, Splinter Cell, Kill Switch, Gears of War, Uncharted and Vanquish.