# Game cliche -- mid-game loss of all your weapons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167 "2007-03-08T21:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/61 "2007-03-09T22:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=Jayrot] One of the earliest I can remember is **Goldeneye** for the N64 [library/archives level] [/QUOTE] Yeah, that and the Svernaya level, you start in a cell and have to beat the crap out of the guard before he shoots you with his rifle. But you don’t have to use a gun for a lot of the level, simply; look into the drain beside the cell and use your magnetised watch to pick up some throwing knives from the drain [QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] _Duke Nukem 3D_ (1996) beats any of those. I don’t have a copy handy to verify this, but early on (around the completion of level 3 or 4), a level ends with the player being captured and starting the next level weaponless and sitting in an “electric chair” of sorts [/QUOTE] Allow me to verify the scenario if not the level 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/62 "2007-03-09T22:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=MonkeyMule] No the **REALLY** idiotic part is when you run out into the hallway so they can see you, then dart back into the room. Man its just beyond stupid. I just stood in next to the doorway swinging the bag and every last one of the dude just ran into it. I mean If you saw a baseball bat swinging in a doorway and about 10 blugened bloody bodies laying on the floor underneath it, would you step right up and take a few whacks to the noggin? Stupid game sprites [/QUOTE] Even more ridiculous is that the alpha-male mercenaries in Far Cry keep yelling “I’M COMIN’ FOR YA!” and “YOUR ASS IS GRASS!” in the same cocky tone even after you’ve slaughtered approximately 25,000 of their comrades. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/63 "2007-03-09T23:21:15Z")
[QUOTE=muldoonthief] You use the 1 or 2 rope arrows you can scrounge to get across from the top of the stairwell (right after you exit the conservatory) to the cave high in the wall across from you with 2 ratmen in it. It’s full of arrows, flashbombs, and some other stuff. And don’t forget to search every pool of water for water arrows, and every fire for fire arrows. And yes, my ancient username is based on that game. [/quote] Thanks for the tips… I’ll have to dig that one out and try again. > [@](#): > > Hijack: I met one of the Thief developers a few weeks ago. He works in the same building I do, and was wearing a “Looking Glass Studios” jacket. My second or third brush with greatness. Is he the guy who designed the locust-spitter monsters? If he is, please kick him in the junk for me. ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/64 "2007-03-09T23:51:26Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Even more ridiculous is that the alpha-male mercenaries in Far Cry keep yelling “I’M COMIN’ FOR YA!” and “YOUR ASS IS GRASS!” in the same cocky tone even after you’ve slaughtered approximately 25,000 of their comrades. [/QUOTE] But that gets balanced with a few “YOU! In the shirt!” taunts. Comedy gold! I remember that weaponless Far Cry section - it was to teach you that the Trigens wouldn’t/couldn’t go into water. So if you ran into the creek you could take a breather before you made the last mad dash to the downed chopper with the chainguns. To mix things up, how about a game that didn’t do this? I finished **Tron 2.0** and I don’t remember getting stripped of my weapons in that game (unless you count the light-cycle races). Man, I should fire that game up again… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/65 "2007-03-10T00:29:38Z")
OK, how about Aliens vs. Predator 2? It wasn’t that you lost weapons exactly, just that there were three campaigns, marine, alien, and predator. But the weird feeling playing the alien xenomorph never quite went away because you COULDN’T PICK UP ANYTHING. No weapons, no ammo, no card keys, nothing. All you could do was eat people’s heads/tear up their bodies to regenerate health. Crawling on ceilings and switching between IR and regular vision and even the total lack of ranged weapons was easy to get used to, but lack of items to pick up just threw me off. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/66 "2007-03-10T05:47:38Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] Thank god, it’s…another Marathon fan! 😃 7 [/QUOTE] Oh, he’s not the only one. I kind of prefer Halo myself (blasphemy, I know, but the aliens in Halo feel like they have more personality, imo\*, and that means a lot to me), but I was a Marathon fan back in the day. Used to spend time reading all sorts of fan theories on the significance of this or that and how all the little obscure easter eggs tied into the greater message or some ridiculous nonsense. Ah, memories. _well, okay, **the Covenant** have more personality. I really wish the Flood would just dry up and die; the horrifying swarm of biological parasite aliens concept is so overdone in sci-fi anymore (the Bugs from Starship Troopers, Aliens from Alien, Tyrannid from Warhammer 40K, Zerg from Starcraft…) that I just think it’s boring as hell. The levels in the first game with them were fun when you first go through it, but after that it’s just painful. Not even the Gravemind (Audrey 2_\*, is that you?) in Halo 2 could redeem them in my mind. \*\*that’s a _Little Shop of Horrors_ reference, though I doubt I really need to explain that for anyone here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/67 "2007-03-10T05:55:19Z")
Not to rant, but this popped in my mind after I posted, and I took to long writing it to edit it into my previous post, apparently. Anyway, continuing my rant about why I prefer the Covenant side of the Halo series to the whole Flood plot thread: The concept of a civil war between competing factions in an aien society over religious matters is a much more interesting plot to take on, especially with the possible implications of humanity being connected to the Forerunners (343 Guilty Spark’s assumptions of humans as the forerunner’s representative in Halo, the Ark which controls the Forerunners last resort being on earth, the recurring theme in the books and side-stories of humans having an almost instinctual understanding of how to operate forerunner control panels and the sense of familiarity they experience looking at forerunner written language despite not knowing it, need I go on?), which would seriously change the relationship between **us** and **them**. ---
**Author:** ![Yag\_Rannavach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/858c86/32.png) [@Yag\_Rannavach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yag_Rannavach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/68 "2007-03-10T08:32:03Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] Thank god, it’s…another Marathon fan! 😃 7 [/QUOTE] And a [third](http://source.bungie.org/). I was going to mention marathon 2 and infinity, but I see I’m too late. (well, infinity if you count the second level…) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/69 "2007-03-10T09:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=pilot141] To mix things up, how about a game that didn’t do this? I finished **Tron 2.0** and I don’t remember getting stripped of my weapons in that game (unless you count the light-cycle races). Man, I should fire that game up again… [/QUOTE] RTS count? In most games you end a level with a huge army and then lose it all when you go into action in the next, even when you’re basically invading next door a la C&C (one exception being the base you go back to in Red Alert, it uses the base you built up the first time round.) But, in Homeworld, whatever ships you finish a level with you enter the next with, so you can build a big fleet that keeps getting bigger and bigger throughout the game. Also, in Cannon Fodder, if you were good enough to keep your men alive, they went up in rank through the levels until their demise. I don’t remember though whether rank affected their performance any. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/70 "2007-03-10T09:47:27Z")
My favorite thing to do in Homeworld was to capture as many enemy ships as possible. There was one level that had a hyperspace dampener or somesuch guarded by 112 ion frigates. I stole all of them. 😃 I even took a [screenshot](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/sturmhauke/wall-o-ionfrigates.jpg). A few of the frigates in the lower right corner were built by me, but the rest used to be in formation around the station in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/71 "2007-03-10T15:44:53Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] There was one level that had a hyperspace dampener or somesuch guarded by 112 ion frigates. I stole all of them. 😃 I even took a [screenshot](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/sturmhauke/wall-o-ionfrigates.jpg) [/QUOTE] :eek: It was a pretty good tactic, but I never had a haul like that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/72 "2007-03-11T03:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Is he the guy who designed the locust-spitter monsters? If he is, please kick him in the junk for me. [/QUOTE] I don’t think so - he said he did resource management. If I see him again I’ll ask. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate if I filled a sock with nickels and hit him in the head? IIRC, bugbeasts are blackjackable. I think you may be able to do the arrow to the back of the neck trick as well. They’re really sensitive though, so you pretty much have to sneak in a room while they aren’t there, wait for them to show up, then blackjack or rain arrows down on them. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/73 "2007-03-11T05:01:19Z")
Ratchet & Clank Size Matters. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/74 "2007-03-11T05:15:00Z")
That old FPS called Heretic. Because it was based on the Doom engine, of course the players then would attempt to use the Doom Cheat codes. But if you entered one you would be punished with… yep, you guessed. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/75 "2007-03-11T07:56:13Z")
In a similar spirit, in _Might & Magic VI_, destroying the reactor brings you into a battle with the Kreegan Queen minus all of your power-ups and protective spells (although you still have all your weapons and gear). Similarly in _Might & Magic VII_, you have to use underwater suits to get you to the _Lincoln_, which means you must enter the ship minus any spells and with all your gear stowed away right down to the last ring and amulet. On the other hand, the game system allows you to go turn-based and put it all back on the moment you’re through the airlock, which rather reduces the impact of this disadvantage. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/76 "2007-03-11T14:53:28Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] In a similar spirit, in _Might & Magic VI_, destroying the reactor brings you into a battle with the Kreegan Queen minus all of your power-ups and protective spells (although you still have all your weapons and gear). Similarly in _Might & Magic VII_, you have to use underwater suits to get you to the _Lincoln_, which means you must enter the ship minus any spells and with all your gear stowed away right down to the last ring and amulet. On the other hand, the game system allows you to go turn-based and put it all back on the moment you’re through the airlock, which rather reduces the impact of this disadvantage. [/QUOTE] . . . ? Airlocks, the Lincoln? I never played past M&M V, but dayum. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/77 "2007-03-11T16:16:14Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] Thank god, it’s…another Marathon fan! 😃 7 [/QUOTE] They’re everywhere! [sub](Frog blast the vent core!)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/78 "2007-03-11T22:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Similarly in _Might & Magic VII_, you have to use underwater suits to get you to the _Lincoln_ [/QUOTE] I seem to remember the Lincoln looked like a Battlestar from the original show. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/79 "2007-03-11T22:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] _Duke Nukem 3D_ (1996) beats any of those. I don’t have a copy handy to verify this, but early on (around the completion of level 3 or 4), a level ends with the player being captured and starting the next level weaponless and sitting in an “electric chair” of sorts. If you stand still, your health will gradually drop to zero. Moving allows you to explore the execution chamber, find an unlocked door, escape, punch a witness alien to death and go on to quickly rebuild your personal arsenal. [/QUOTE] Level 4, I believe. That sucked because I almost always had a good cache of weapons going at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167/80 "2007-03-11T23:01:33Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] Not to rant, but this popped in my mind after I posted, and I took to long writing it to edit it into my previous post, apparently. Anyway, continuing my rant about why I prefer the Covenant side of the Halo series to the whole Flood plot thread: The concept of a civil war between competing factions in an aien society over religious matters is a much more interesting plot to take on, especially with the possible implications of humanity being connected to the Forerunners (343 Guilty Spark’s assumptions of humans as the forerunner’s representative in Halo, the Ark which controls the Forerunners last resort being on earth, the recurring theme in the books and side-stories of humans having an almost instinctual understanding of how to operate forerunner control panels and the sense of familiarity they experience looking at forerunner written language despite not knowing it, need I go on?), which would seriously change the relationship between **us** and **them**. [/QUOTE] Does that all add up to me beating the snot out of a shit ton of aliens again? If it is, I’m completely down with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-cliche-mid-game-loss-of-all-your-weapons/395167.md?page=5)