Now that electronic gaming has cemented itself as a staple form of modern entertainment, a lot of games these days have many of the same tricks up their sleeve that their predecessors did 1, 2, maybe even 3 console generations ago. No matter how innovative a game, there seems to always be one of those cliche's built into the game at some point.

So my picks for the most overdone videogame cliche's are:

1. The standard issue "rail-shooting" level (i.e. your character rides in the passenger seat/backseat/roof/truckbed of a moving vehicle that is driven by an AI partner, while your character shoots enemy AI targets along the pre-destined route. These sequences also include sitting in the gunners seat of an aircraft, boat, tank, spaceship, or anything else where your character remains pretty much stationary and shoots, while the game moves itself) Of course, this wouldn't be a "cliche" if the entire game is a rail shooter:cool2:

2. The "escort" mission (i.e. your character must succesfuly oversee a friendly NPC, or a group of NPC's, from point A to point B without them dying)

3. The ubiquitous "Subway level." It seems like 8 out of 10 games that have been released in the past 20 years have a level set in a subway somewhere...from the original NES streetfighter "Renegade" to 2005's "Condemned: criminal origins" for the 360, all the way to the most recent "Ninja Gaiden"

What are your votes, SG?

1. The Bro-Hero: Huge dude all about kickin some ass, with his squad, screaming stupid shit and swearing alot (ala Gears/Killzone/ Bad Company)

2. Female supporting role, with unnaturally large breasts.

3. The underwater level... I hate the underwater level...

The whole RPG thing where a young kid wakes up with no memory and must kill everything he sees to find out who he is.

The whole RPG thing where a young kid wakes up with no memory and must kill everything he sees to find out who he is.
That, Angsty 18-year olds that sound like 2-year olds in english and the space marine jig. How many times do you need Aliens invading Earth?
Just gets old.
and lastly, the girls with huge tits that are your "support" character.

3. The underwater level... I hate the underwater level...

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! :lol: most def! I can practically hear the underwater music from the original Super Mario Bros! Remember the underwater level from Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of time?? When that temple floods and you gotta swim through it? uhhh...so sucky. (but, that was a great game nonetheless!)

i hate the 'we must make our hero look hard so well give him a skinhead' cliche

JRPGs and their obligatory ridiculously spiky-haired hero.

The underwater level, god yes. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance has one of the most painful underwater levels. If I'm the Silver Surfer, Herald of Galactus, Harbinger of Woe, I do NOT want to be doing the godd@mn breast stroke for 40 minutes dodging seaweed and blasting stupid fish-people.

Breasts so large they have their own gravitational pull is way overdone, I agree. I'll still take them over underwater levels, though.

Overall, tough guy bad-@$$ soldier protagonists are a dime a dozen, and so incredibly boring. I don't want to be bumping Lancers with other beefy tough guys as Marcus Fenix; it's old hat. I like the underdog.

In pretty much every WWII game this will happen. Your going towards a beach in a landing craft. Someone gets shot by the machine gunners on the beach. For whatever reason you don't make it to the shore. You will lay in the water and watch your buddies die only to be pulled out by your screaming commanding officer.

Can't we just have a successful beach landing for once? Lol

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! :lol: most def! I can practically hear the underwater music from the original Super Mario Bros! Remember the underwater level from Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of time?? When that temple floods and you gotta swim through it? uhhh...so sucky. (but, that was a great game nonetheless!)

I hate the under water levels in crash bandicoot, they are so annoying :lol:

cliches

's is possessive.

s is plural

i know the underwater level sucks but holds no candle to the ice level.

A defeated rat will drop 2 gold pieces

and what about "..."? hmm... what's up with that?

In pretty much every WWII game this will happen. Your going towards a beach in a landing craft. Someone gets shot by the machine gunners on the beach. For whatever reason you don't make it to the shore. You will lay in the water and watch your buddies die only to be pulled out by your screaming commanding officer.

Can't we just have a successful beach landing for once? Lol

Ah, yes. MeggaMan points out a brilliant cliche (is that correct, Pillowfort:tongue:) I think that in every WWII game there is a "beach storming" level--from Normandy to Peleilu. I think that WWII games are pretty much a playable cliche from start to finish now that there's been at least two games made about every major battle (how many times have we taken part in "operation market garden?") Next time I have to storm a beach in a game set before 1948, I'm gonna make damn sure my character brings a towel, sunblock, a cooler of cold ones, and a bag of Dorito's... My character can work on his tan while his NPC pals progress the action into the next level--which hopefully won't be Operation Market Garden!

Aliens invading Earth/whatever you're on. You get a gun, you have to kill them.

1) A protagonist that can't swim
2) Ubiquitous exploding barrels
3) Copious health pickups before boss fights
4) Invisible walls.

1)
2) Ubiquitous exploding barrels

Brilliant. Exploding barrels has got to be the most obvious cliche, now that you mention it. Dangit, why didn't I think of that!? How come in 14 posts, none of us thought of exploding barrels!?

Heres another cliche I just thought of: HUMONGOUS SIZED BOSSES!!! Of course it's the level boss..it HUGE!!

Oh yeah and here's one specifically for "street racing" games..ALL the characters, (including yours) are metro-sexual, yet overly macho tools.

Where they pull a Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and create a game with a completely grim tone, heavy metal tracks, a hero who just says "rraaaaarrrrggghhh!", and makes it completely focusing on action. It's sort of going off topic here, but that game would have been so much better if it wasn't part of the Prince of Persia series, instead of taking a game with its success due primarily to its amazingly rich and exotic atmosphere, and interesting characters, and trying to make it a typical harcore action game. If it had no ties to the Prince of Persia series, it wouldn't have the expectations of the first laid on it, and so it wouldn't be compared to that.

Where they pull a Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and create a game with a completely grim tone, heavy metal tracks, a hero who just says "rraaaaarrrrggghhh!", and makes it completely focusing on action. It's sort of going off topic here, but that game would have been so much better if it wasn't part of the Prince of Persia series, instead of taking a game with its success due primarily to its amazingly rich and exotic atmosphere, and interesting characters, and trying to make it a typical harcore action game. If it had no ties to the Prince of Persia series, it wouldn't have the expectations of the first laid on it, and so it wouldn't be compared to that.

In the industry, it's known as the inevitably darker sequel.:wink2:

quick time events.

The overcompliated quests/puzzles :mad:

The overcompliated quests/puzzles :mad:

but isn't that what makes some games good?

annoying side characters that look up to your player controlled main character and you are supposed to mentor.

When you have an easy task like take out the enemies in this room and advance, then the ceiling collapses in front of the door, so you have to take a detour, then there's a locked door, go find the key. Bioshock was the game that I got the most pissed off with for that.

Also, when you shoot a bird and it drops a hand grenade or when you kill an enemy and all his money, ammo, and weapons pour out onto the ground.

EDIT: F*CKING EXPLOSIVE BARRELS IN THE MIDDLE OF CITIES OR ON BOATS!

EDIT: F*CKING EXPLOSIVE BARRELS IN THE MIDDLE OF CITIES OR ON BOATS!

My favorite usage was in Uncharted caves that supposedly hadn't seen people in 700 years... If that was the case, how the F#ck did dozens of red barrels get down there???!!!:angry:

My favorite usage was in Uncharted caves that supposedly hadn't seen people in 700 years... If that was the case, how the F#ck did dozens of red barrels get down there???!!!:angry:

It was almost funny how overused they were in Uncharted that was rediculous.

Healthpacks lying in ridiculous places, what the hell are healthpacks btw? Why haven't they actually been invented?!

People who ramble on before there about to kill you and end up getting shot at the last minute.

When a gun is held to someones head at the end of an epic battle, why do they always uncock the gun when it's pointed at someone, why not go into a battle with an uncocked gun?

Exploding barrels positioned in ridiculous places, e.g. on a wooden bridge
next to enemies on Half Life 2.

And enemies that progressively become more difficult. If your a bad guy trying to take over the world and you arch enemy is trying to stop you, don't use your weakest units first, throw everything at him immediately until he dies!

The mandatory side character with no development that always seems to get kidnapped/killed/turns evil.

Invincible doors that your character can not get past despite just killing a BBEG (Big bad evil guy) and leveling a city. You have all these amazing weapons, yet you can't get past a simple door because you don't have the god damn key. Forget shooting the lock or slicing it with a sword or just blowing up the god damn thing, you have to go and grab a key so you can open a door that you could easily have opened without the key.

Sonic Games. No the content within a Sonic game, just Sonic games in general.

Sonic Games. No the content within a Sonic game, just Sonic games in general.

Yeah super fast blue hedgehogs are such clichés in gaming, everywhere I turn I see blue hedgehogs in games now.

Seriously gtfo of my games hedgehogs.

Pads on the floor which open doors on the other side of the level.
swimming in the sequel
death to humanity

Items you conveniently get, just before you have to use them.

Like in LoZ, why don't the bosses just hide their one weakness in the same room with them, or just swallow it.

Also, when you fight the final boss early in the game and they spare you. God that happens a lot.

sandbox games.

Items you conveniently get, just before you have to use them.

Like in every James Bond film. :grin:

Like in every James Bond film. :grin:

and how about in every bond film they capture him, and its like "I could just shoot him, but I'm going to lock him in a room and leave him alone."

JUST POP THAT MOTHER FATHER

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Mini-games yet.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Mini-games yet.

Might as well say "Cliche? Moving a virtual character around on the screen. I mean, seriously. Everyone does that!"

My pet peeve is making you run back and forth between areas for certain quests. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is the biggest one I can think of at the moment. You have to go across 5 areas, retrieve an object, and go back. Then, you have to take someone back to the farthest area of the location...and back again. Repeat.

Sports games which never seem to get any better than the previous year.
GH and RB allways releasing new instruments.
How unrealistic games that claim to be realistic are...take NFS Carbon for example...you dont race other drivers for territory then they leave peacefully!