Game cliches you've seen entirely too much of

[Bad^Hat]

Pretty much self-explanatory.

I had a bunch more in mind earlier, I'll post more as I remember em...


# "Duels" between friends, or friendly rivals, wherein if you win, you stop fighting, and act completely amicably towards one another. However, if they win, they f*cking KILL YOU. :frown: (see: Ninja Gaiden, one of the Tenchu games)

# Non-speaking main characters in games where speech is pretty much vital to the story. (see: Chrono Trigger, a plethora of other JRPGs)

# "Training" missions where you are quite clearly killing the shit out of everything, despite the insistence of your commander. (see: World in Conflict, many many other RTS and FPS)

 

[Jintor]

"Bottomless Pits" can seriously go **** themselves. I am really glad we got out of that, although it still happens occasionally...

"Fake Difficulty" is pretty bitchy. God damn cheating PCs.

"Take Your Time" I find stupid, especially when you're supposed to be saving the world or whatever but you loiter around and do side-quests forever if you feel like it...

Hell, everything here.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VideogameTropes

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

"Bottomless Pits" can seriously go **** themselves. I am really glad we got out of that, although it still happens occasionally...

"Fake Difficulty" is pretty bitchy. God damn cheating PCs.

"Take Your Time" I find stupid, especially when you're supposed to be saving the world or whatever but you loiter around and do side-quests forever if you feel like it...

Hell, everything here.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VideogameTropes

That link will keep me busy for days, thanks! Thread worth entering for that link alone. :E

 

[Barnz]

Crates, barrels, etc.

Does anyone remember Old Man Murray's "Start-To-Crate" rating system?

Old Man Murray's writers devised the tongue-in-cheek "Start-To-Crate Rating System", an "objective" way of determining the quality of a game by simply determining the time an average player must play until seeing a crate.

-

From "run, don't walk" page:

In Little Big Adventure 1 (a.k.a Relentless), the character would get hurt when running in a wall. This was supposed to avoid this kind of behaviour, but it was so unpopular that it was removed in the next game.

 

[AmishSlayer]

That site is pretty funny, except I really like when RPGs and games do this:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionCommands

 

[Gray Fox]

I hate those DDR mini games in games like RE4, GoW, New Tombraider etc.

The only thing I did like was the minotaur thing in GoW, but that wasn't really a game, because the commands were always the same, it was more of a combo helper, plus it fitted in with what you were doing, especially when you have to press the button a lot to overcome them to stab the bastards.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Water that is not-swimmable, but rather = death. :angry:

 

[TCfromBN]

Water that is not-swimmable, but rather = death. :angry:

I agree 100% on that one.

 

[Fishlore]

Health Packs and shield/armor regenerators.

Carrying around ten weapons and all the ammo plus grenades and a flashlight yet it's all invisible and it doesn't even slow you down.

 

[xcellerate]

yea the cheating AI sucks.

I remember in GT4, if you hit the computer you got a 5 second penalty, AND if the computer HIT YOU, then YOU still got a 5 second penalty and they can speed off.

So basically the computer has every reason in the world TO hit you, and you have to avoid touching them at all costs while still trying to make your way to first place. The computer didn't even TRY and move out of your way, in fact on one of the rallye maps you start on the outside to the first left hand corner, so the computer goes right to make the turn and bumps into you and you get penalized, so you have to start out slow and then cut in early to pass. It was really gay.

 

[knut]

Carrying around ten weapons and all the ammo plus grenades and a flashlight yet it's all invisible and it doesn't even slow you down.

QFT. Halo 3 has pulled this off well by being able to see the weapons you are carrying, and a resonable amount, too. (two weapons, a selection of grenades). That said, I'm sure a fair few other games might of, I just can't remember. I know the COD games do, I think? Perhaps not in actually showcasing the weapons, but in carrying a fair amount.

EDIT: Explosive crates next to key enemy positions. Seriously, who the **** puts barrels of propane next to machine gun nests? Fusion coils from Halo, red barrels from Half-Life 2, standard barrels from Goldeneye... get out.

 

[Docm30]

Water that is not-swimmable, but rather = death. :angry:

In the majority of games, you are generally wearing some sort of armour and/or carrying shit-loads of weapons and ammunition, thence making swimming impossible.

 

[Stigmata]

But if you can already carry ten enormous weapons with fifteen full clips for each and a dozen grenades, and can still manage to climb ladders at 50mph and run at full speed for minutes on end without getting tired...

 

[MGpet]

the "i have have amnesia and know nothing about my past" start, and all its variations.

 

[Steel.Inferno]

I've tired of the captured and then have your weapon inventory cleared out for a level or two.

In max payne it was lame because you could not get another sawed-off shotgun iirc.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Which reminds me, the last time I played Okami I got to a point where you see one of your friends facing imminent doom through a crystal ball dealie and the game enters that whole "rush to save them!" mode with frantic music and enemies popping up all around you for no reason. Instead, I backtracked, saved the game and haven't touched it again for a couple of months...

I wonder if she's doing okay >_>

 

[Jintor]

They're dead, Bad^Hat. Bad^Hat, they're dead. Everybody's dead Bad^Hat. Bad^Hat everybody's dead. Dead everybody's Bad^hat. Everybody's Bad^hat dead. Dead Bad^hat Everybody's. Everybody's dead Bad^Hat.

Uh, moving on.

 

[ríomhaire]

Crates, explosive barrels, bottomless pits, warehouses, lava and TCiACBS, ie, the computer is a cheating bastard syndrome.

 

[giant384]

Halo

that is all

 

[lePobz]

End of level baddies ... like ... they just hang around waiting for you to arrive so they can deliver a smackdown.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Halo

that is all

[/annoyed]

Bottomless pits, insta-death water, any key tapping sequences (not so much overplayed, but just bad overall).

 

[-Psy-]

In the majority of games, you are generally wearing some sort of armour and/or carrying shit-loads of weapons and ammunition, thence making swimming impossible.

Not in GTA 3/VC though.

 

[Sheepo]

Water that is not-swimmable, but rather = death. :angry:

The greatest flaw of Mercenaries. Hope they fix it in Merc. 2.

 

[Asus]

I modded my GTA3 and VC so the car and I would respawn on land near where I flew into the water.
Just 1 number changed per car in the handle txt file. PC ftw

 

[giant384]

[/annoyed]

so you saying that every halo game is something new to you??

find that hard to believe

 

[watermonster]

- Lava, underground levels with lava where you have your skin melting off your face while standing right next (but not on) the lava streams.

- Obligatory underwater section/level. The controls are just too poorly designed to properly navigate in water; your breath means you can only stay under for a limited amount of time.

 

[lun4tic]

Give me 'Off-Topic' for 500, Alex.

Zombies, dinosaurs, aliens, time travel, and jet-packs.

What are... game cliches I haven't seen entirely enough of?

That is correct. Build this man a pyramid!

 

[Flyingdebris]

infinitely respawning bad guys with you having limited resources

highly trained soldiers being complete utter cannon fodder

dual pistols, pistols being more accurate or powerful than assault rifles, or just behaving stupidly overpowered.

the obligatory point in almost every FPS where all yours guns are taken away. Only a problem in games where you carry 10 guns, which in and of itself is a crappy cliche. But i am an ammo hoarder and i don't like losing my hard earned colletion.

shotguns having ridiculously stupid spread, like doom 3's 22 degree firing cone on its shotgun. Its a shotgun, not a claymore.

 

[Wanted Bob]

so you saying that every halo game is something new to you??

find that hard to believe

No, not at all. Just the fact that by saying "Halo" then not backing it up, you seem to be claiming IMO that everything in Halo is cliched. Mind you, there are indeed cliches in the game, but definately not everything.

 

[AmishSlayer]

+1 for the infinitely respawning bad guys and the obligatory trigger you must cross to make said spawning stop. I like to sit back and snipe. I can't even remember the number of times I've hit this problem where I only would've had to step forward across some stupid invisible boundary that would suddenly make the battle winnable.

 

[giant384]

No, not at all. Just the fact that by saying "Halo" then not backing it up, you seem to be claiming IMO that everything in Halo is cliched. Mind you, there are indeed cliches in the game, but definately not everything.

explain wasnt isnt cliche in it then

 

[Wanted Bob]

explain wasnt isnt cliche in it then

Lets not derail the thread too much.

But off the top of my head I think of (Im mostly thinking of Halo 3 right now):

- Gravity Hammer
- Wraiths (yes, its a tank, but it acts more like mobile artillary)
- Forge (have the modders be part of an actual game)

These are things I have never seen in another game before. As I said before, of course it has cliches, just not everything is a cliche.

 

[giant384]

Lets not derail the thread too much.

But off the top of my head I think of (Im mostly thinking of Halo 3 right now):

- Gravity Hammer
- Wraiths (yes, its a tank, but it acts more like mobile artillary)
- Forge (have the modders be part of an actual game)

These are things I have never seen in another game before. As I said before, of course it has cliches, just not everything is a cliche.

it isnt derailing the thread....its about cliches

also i disagree with the forge feature. well for console its not but for a game in general its nothing new. time splitters games have this also.

 

[Wanted Bob]

it isnt derailing the thread....its about cliches

also i disagree with the forge feature. well for console its not but for a game in general its nothing new. time splitters games have this also.

Just making sure it wasnt...

Also, isnt a cliche something that has been used many times over? Because one game doesnt count as a cliche.

 

[bam23]

The one cliche that I hate the most is respawning baddies.

 

[kupocake]

Globehopping, ie. The tendency for games to jump from one locale to another just to fit in every environmental cliche into the narrative, with no regard to representing a somewhat consistent experience. Whilst once acceptable (say, in the early 90s when blue hedgehogs were commonplace), it gets my back up in modern games.

Two such games spring instantly to mind: Halo, which crams all the Sonic cliches into one place only narrowly omitting the 'quirky bouncerific pinball machine zone' and Unreal 2 which basically just tried its best to become Halo and failed on the level that Halo could never be mistaken for being even a tenth as utterly crap.

 

[Bad^Hat]

it isnt derailing the thread....its about cliches

So name some then. List some things in Halo that annoy you and are overdone, that's what the thread is for. Otherwise, yeah, you are derailing by not staying on topic. Besides which, anyone who's been in these forums for more than a week should know that just mentioning Halo is as good as an insta-derail.

Couple more:

# Bad AI pathing. This can make even the best of games frustrating to no end. See: Half-Life's scientists/barneys, Half-Life 2's resistence members. Company of Heroes' armor. :angry:

# Convoluted narratives. The only thing worse than a weak story is one that's explained aaaaall too much. See: Metal Gear Solid, Okami (great game but you can't help feeling like the NPCs think they're talking to Lassie).

Edit - For example:

They're dead, Bad^Hat. Bad^Hat, they're dead. Everybody's dead Bad^Hat. Bad^Hat everybody's dead. Dead everybody's Bad^hat. Everybody's Bad^hat dead. Dead Bad^hat Everybody's. Everybody's dead Bad^Hat.

Uh, moving on.

 

[giant384]

where the enemies walk is not a cliche.

also everything is halo is basically a cliche.

1.fight big baddie aliens
2.super sci-fi weapons that arent a big deal
3.fighting behind a sheild and having rechargeable health.
4. the gameplay hasnt changed one bit since the first game
5 there is nothing new that any other game hasnt done before.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Yeah, I meant tropes, or whatever. Used the wrong word I guess, but you get the idea.

 

[Jintor]

where the enemies walk is not a cliche.

also everything is halo is basically a cliche.

1.fight big baddie aliens
2.super sci-fi weapons that arent a big deal
3.fighting behind a sheild and having rechargeable health.
4. the gameplay hasnt changed one bit since the first game
5 there is nothing new that any other game hasnt done before.

If there's ANYTHING that annoyed me about Halo, besides the god-damned lack of a flashlight for the Arbiter and the sucky flashlight that MC had, it's the FREAKING REPETATIVE LEVEL DESIGN. FREAKING REPEDATIVE LEVEL DESIGN. Yes, I know i misspelt repedative. Damnit. I did it again.

Anyway, half of Halo 1 was the other half backwards, and half of the levels in Halo one were the same room texture repeated over and over and over and over...

It's not really a game cliche though to have repeating backgrounds. Well, it is - City of Heroes and Villains had every building look pretty much the same, if it was the same kind of building (Office, Industrial, Warehouse, whatever). But most other games avoid this pretty well.