Possessing a Meat Shield does not make a player invulnerable. When a player uses a character as a Meat Shield, the player is limited to using only a pistol (such as the Snub Pistol, Boltok Pistol and the Gorgon Pistol), and cannot perform rolls or use cover. If a player is used as a Meat Shield, his/her character is considered dead and the player is sent to the spawn screen to spectate.
Players can use Meat Shields in both Campaign and Multiplayer. In order for a player to take a character as a Meat Shield, the player must press the 'A' or the 'X' button depending on if it's GoW2 or GoW3 when over an enemy character who is down but not out dead characters cannot be taken as Meat Shields. Using characters as shields is a new gameplay mechanic introduced in Gears of War 2. The Meat Shield is a slang term, coined by game developer Epic Games, for using an enemy character (either a player or a Non-Player Character) as a shield from enemy fire.