How do you die? - article help

RelentlessRolento

RelentlessRolento

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I'm going to be working on an article for www.clubskill.com in the next few weeks or so and wanted to cover the subject of dying in video games. I'm mainly going for thoughts, ideas, and impact behind the Game Over screen and main character/enemy death animations. What impact do they have, what is a good/bad death, etc... talk about whatever you want.

some games that come to mind:

Super Mario Bros - the "hop in the air then fall since I'm no longer alive" death set the standard for most 2d gaming deaths (sonic the hedghog did the same exact thing).

Metal Slug - probably the first 2d game to really put alot of animation into character deaths

Metal Gear Solid series - the game over screen was always very dramatic and amazingly well integrated into plot sometimes.

etc....
 
I liked the dying scenes in the Resident Evils where you watch yourself continually get mutilated. Also, the "You Died" thing always made me laugh.
 
Haunting Ground. Whenever Fiona, the main character gets taken down by a stalker, there are HEAVY rape/mutilation overtones. After getting taken down by a stalker named Deblitas(spelling?), you hear him grunting, fabrick ripping, then him exclaiming in surprise, and some wet, fleshy noises. Another stalker nets you a sound of fabric ripping and the phrase "Oh, my" said in a lecherous manner. Good stuff. Damn good stuff. Oh, and it has the RE4 death too, where failing a puzzle or something makes Fiona die in a horible way.
 
the death in the nes and snes mario games are hilarious...he does that little thing where his shoulders are all shrugged up to his head and just pops up and goes back down under the screen hahaha....greatest death animation ever!
 
I always liked the deaths in Clock Tower. Nothing like getting chopped up by a big pair or scissors. Or, in General Chaos, when you burn a soldier with a flamethrower, and his burnt body just disintegrates into a pile of ashes.
 
I liked killing people in Postal 2.

First, you drizzle a line of gas along the ground-preferably around a crowd.

Next you throw a match onto said path. The people panic and run through the fire and then spend 4 minutes running into eachother lighting everyone on fire.

Occasionally, they run into you and you have to quickly take your penis out and pee up into the air and onto yourself to extinquish yourself.

Then you take a cat and shove a shotgun up its ass to silently kill the people that didn't burn to death.

Yes, you really do all of that. :lol:
 
[quote name='Kayden']I liked killing people in Postal 2.

First, you drizzle a line of gas along the ground-preferably around a crowd.

Next you throw a match onto said path. The people panic and run through the fire and then spend 4 minutes running into eachother lighting everyone on fire.

Occasionally, they run into you and you have to quickly take your penis out and pee up into the air and onto yourself to extinquish yourself.

Then you take a cat and shove a shotgun up its ass to silently kill the people that didn't burn to death.

Yes, you really do all of that. :lol:[/quote]

damn...i really wanna play it now :lol:
 
Mortal Kombat 1 in the arcades-- crazy. I know people who got nightmares from it. we were around 11 or 12 and that kind of violence wasn't common to see anywhere, except in Faces of Death vids. Most movies pan the camera away and didn't show the guy hitting the pavement or the chainsaw cutting through Scarface's friend etc.

But MK bared it all. To see it in public for the first time felt...seedy...like you should go repent or something. The fact that it used the most realistic graphics to date made it that much more impactful.

then we learned all the fatalities and completely desensitized ourselves to it :lol:
other games came along and tried to be super violent, but none had the same impact.


I did cringe at RE4 when Leon would get his head cut off by the chainsaw-- it's just sooooooooo visceral.

other than that, the death screen is something I notice the first few times, then try to skip through as quickly as possible.
 
Zelda II:
gameover0gz.gif

need a midi file with the laughing though
 
[quote name='swetooth9']damn...i really wanna play it now :lol:[/quote]

Gary Coleman with an uzi- Check.
Peeing in people's faces makes them vomit- Check.
Taser people til they're a smoking corpse- Check.
Developer supported nude patch- Check.
 
[quote name='Apossum']
I did cringe at RE4 when Leon would get his head cut off by the chainsaw-- it's just sooooooooo visceral.[/quote]

You actually died playing that game? :shame: :lol:

I loved shooting people in the shin and then suplexing them so their heads explode.
 
[quote name='Kayden']You actually died playing that game? :shame: :lol:

I loved shooting people in the shin and then suplexing them so their heads explode.[/QUOTE]


I mean...someone told me about the chainsaw...that's the ticket :lol:

agreed about the suplex-- I was so happy when I discovered it towards the end. the sound effect of the splatting head is so nasty.
 
I have always enjoyed the game over screens in the Metal Gear Solid games. "Stop fooling around. Snake? SNAKE!!!

Star Fox 64 - When your Arwing crashes and explodes, either Peppy, Falco, or Slippy will go "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!", or when you’re in the last level in Venom Fox will go "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Goldeneye 007 - When you die, blood falls down from the screen just like in the 007 movies, and you'll see Bond die in 3 different angles.

Space Quest IV - There are many ways to die in Space Quest IV and some of the game over screens are pretty funny especially this one for example...

speared33nu.gif
 
:lol: I love the space quest games.

This urinal has 4 holes... handy for those with four units, or four people with singles.
 
Oh yeah; Fallout 2. Melting people with a plasma rifle, blowing off chunks of torso with a rifle, or perforating their bodieswith a submachine gun was awesome. Especially the wet-meat sounds the bodies made.
 
[quote name='Foolman']Does the "Time Paradox" game over count?[/QUOTE]

I kind of noted that in the OP.

Just as a pointer, I'm not only looking for memorable or good deaths, but also the whole idea of death behind games. Why do they have to happen? Why do gamers not like experiencing them always? not those exact type of questions, but something in that vein... just say whatever is on your mind about the subject since I'm not trying to be too specific with the subject. Good stuff so far though. thx.
 
We can't forget about Rampage, where instead of dying, you mutated back into a human and walked off the game screen naked. Funny and humiliating!!! (not to mention your "friends" always trying to eat you)

also, be sure to mention online games, the little "hover" around your corpse after you die, which allows your killer to taunt in one of the most humiliating (because it wasn't planned by developers) ways possible: the Teabag


and a good icon/title picture for the article would have to be the death from GTA, where you get the sky-view of the corpse with "WASTED" on screen. Its something everyone knows, but honestly very few people point out (i always found it cool at least)
 
Deaths seemed similar in DMC3 and Ninja Gaiden to me...in both, it seems like my character would die in the middle of a group of enemies, but I could almost feel myself trying to will him to get back up. So...yeah. Hard games take a lot out of you when you die, sometimes.

Or something.
 
[quote name='javeryh']The Pac-man death is the greatest of all time.[/QUOTE]seriously yo!!!!

I mean, look at the irony of it,

the guy goes around eating everything,

but in his death, he eats himself!!

live by the sword and die by the sword!

an eye for an eye!

recognize it yo
 
YOU! Stop thinking and speaking!

[quote name='JEKKI']seriously yo!!!!

I mean, look at the irony of it,

the guy goes around eating everything,

but in his death, he eats himself!!

live by the sword and die by the sword!

an eye for an eye!

recognize it yo[/quote]
 
I thought the death in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was cool. You just evaporate into a bloody mess.

Also Cyberball where you would actually start to smoke when you were injured and then BOOM...Spare Parts!
 
I've always liked the Mega Man death sequence of just blasting apart into circular ring of frustration.

Swan diving Lara Croft off a high cliff into some rocks was always a fun way to die as well. The crunching sound and the little "welp" she lets out when her body bends in all kinds of strange directions is a thing of genius.

This is a fun little topic. I'm sure I'll think of some more of my favorites as it goes along (the above just stick out in my mind because I'm currently playing games from those series).
 
ok..........
just from reading the title of the thread alone, I was expecting CAGs to discuss the ideal way to commit suicide or the ideal way to die (in real life).

Good thing I'm wrong. Otherwise, you guys would be freaky.
 
[quote name='wbc1228']ok..........
just from reading the title of the thread alone, I was expecting CAGs to discuss the ideal way to commit suicide or the ideal way to die (in real life).

Good thing I'm wrong. Otherwise, you guys would be freaky.[/QUOTE]

That reminds me that when I was little and playing Zelda I'd always yell out "Okay, just let me kill myself real quick" whenever my mom told me it was time to stop playing. My older sister always got a kick out of that one and I never really understood why until I was older.
 
My favorite that I can think of is the RE4 deaths, but specifically the one where the chainsaw-wielding maniac cuts you from right shoulder to left hip and you watch as your own head and shoulders are removed and you keep walking a little bit. Fantastic. I'd actually let myself be killed by those chainsaw guys whenever I saw them because it was so great. My girlfriend at the time nearly passed out when she saw.
 
Blue screen of death whenever you died "playing" windows

Seriously, I always wondered why if you died at a particular point before you unlocked the ultimate weapon the bad guy needed, and which only your character could unlock, you wouldn't get a game over screen, but instead get the closing credits or some other reward.
I mean, in some games (especially rpgs), your death before a later betrayal actually would save the world.
 
Another comes to mind is one of the many death sequences of Dirk the Daring in Dragon's Lair or Dexter in Space Ace. Classic!
 
Frogger had a great death animation too - you got flattened (plus that horrible sound) and then your splattered body turns into a skull and crossbones as if you didn't already know you were dead...
 
The end of X-men Legends was kinda disturbing.

If you die in the last boss fight, there will be a cutscene that shows planet earth getting destroyed.

BTW, this is the first time I used the Spoiler tags. I hope it works...
 
Ninja Gaiden Arcade and Final Fight 1. NG had a buzzsaw(?) coming down on Ryu as the timer ticked down, while FF has a stick of dynamite next to the character.

Incredible Crisis, you have a breakdown and scream, comeplete with steam shooting out of ears! Prince of Persia, although not detailed, had good kills. Fall on spikes, cut with 2 saws, fall to your death.

Death in videogames always varies in length. It'd be unreasonable to have a 5 second death animation in Contra. It depends on the content. Classic adventure games are great for long deaths, since some of the time are humorous, you can enjoy the game even more.
 
[quote name='Kayden']I liked killing people in Postal 2.

First, you drizzle a line of gas along the ground-preferably around a crowd.

Next you throw a match onto said path. The people panic and run through the fire and then spend 4 minutes running into eachother lighting everyone on fire.

Occasionally, they run into you and you have to quickly take your penis out and pee up into the air and onto yourself to extinquish yourself.

Then you take a cat and shove a shotgun up its ass to silently kill the people that didn't burn to death.

Yes, you really do all of that. :lol:[/QUOTE]

Eh.. all of it's true except the cat/shotgun, you can only do a cat/rifle combo.

Ever played soccer on there? Knock off someone's head, set it on fire then kick it around.. it'll catch others on fire.
 
[quote name='Scorch']Eh.. all of it's true except the cat/shotgun, you can only do a cat/rifle combo.

Ever played soccer on there? Knock off someone's head, set it on fire then kick it around.. it'll catch others on fire.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure it works on the shotguy too, but I'm not going to reinstall it to check.
 
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, those fatalities were the best. Everyone unique in its own way.
EDIT: Also gotta agree with Blind the Thief the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time one was good to.
 
[quote name='Greetard']When the moon kills everything in Majora's mask after your three days are up.[/QUOTE]

Oh, good one!


I always liked dying in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, just because he always went, "No no no, that's not what happened."
 
The bad ending of Chrono Trigger (my favorite game) has always bothered me.

If you die when you are fighting Lavos (final boss), you see a cutscene of the earth being (practically) destoryed by Lavos' all powerful flame thingies >_>; and the noise he makes. It still urks me today :cold:
 
The getting cut in half by the giant chopping blades death in the original Prince of Persia always disturbed me...I never could get past the part where you have to get through about 5 in a row before a door closes (I think this was more of a mental obstacle than anything).

And I think the deaths in killer7 are interesting...a brief flash of the disembodied head's mouth opening and then what appears to be blood splatter in the shape of a Japanese character. And then you have to go and get the little bloody paper bag as Garcian...I haven't died as Garcian, so I'm sort of curious what happens in that situation.

Also, I think the deaths in Half Life 2 (in multiplayer) are interesting. Especially when rockets are involved...nothing like rag-doll physics. And I was very impressed the first time I shot someone with the crossbow and they got pinned to the wall.
 
In Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (though I think it's true of all the games in the series) when you lose/die, I always loved how you would fly up in the air in slow motion, hit the ground, then the game would speed up all of a sudden. The best part of it though, were the "voice echoes" (that would faint away) each character made when they would die/lose.

My favorite one was when you died/lost as Fei Long, he would be like "WAHHH wahh wahh wahh!!" in somewhat of a Bruce Lee voice. Another funny one was (I forget who though) "OOO AWWW ooo awww ooo aww!!":lol:

I always thought these death animations were horrible but classic at the same time.
 
[quote name='Ma12kez']In Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (though I think it's true of all the games in the series) when you lose/die, I always loved how you would fly up in the air in slow motion, hit the ground, then the game would speed up all of a sudden. The best part of it though, were the "voice echoes" (that would faint away) each character made when they would die/lose.

My favorite one was when you died/lost as Fei Long, he would be like "WAHHH wahh wahh wahh!!" in somewhat of a Bruce Lee voice. Another funny one was (I forget who though) "OOO AWWW ooo awww ooo aww!!":lol:

I always thought these death animations were horrible but classic at the same time.
[/QUOTE]

those were some personal favorites of mine as well... it was horrible and great at the same time.
 
Not really death animations but the endings to Twisted Metal Black for each character was awesome. And in fact, I think the people died about half the time anyway.
 
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