[Clovis]

First post

I saw a thread below titled "Adventure Games where you can't die", and couldn't help but post this. I think that person simply wanted to avoid violence, but I would really like to play a game made in the last 5 years that had lots of fun death scenes like King's Quest, or especially Space Quest.

I don't know about you, but killing Roger Wilco was half the fun of Space Quest! When Roger entered a scene with lava, the first thing I did was walk him right into it. We'll see if that bit of space junk will work as a pole vault later. Strange pod like things hanging under a rock? Go say "hi," Roger! Pod Chow! Ha, hilarious!

GameSpot still likes to give points to new adventure games for not allowing death, but, come on, aren't there any AGs with fun death scenes anymore??

[BerserkerTails]

Agreed. I love adventure game deaths. The sierra games were great because they normally had elaborate animations for deaths, which were often hilarious, especially in the Space Quest series.

One notable adventure game that would not be as fantastic were it not for the deaths would be King's Quest VI. There were many deaths in the game and everytime you died, you were treated to a 20-second scene of a ghost Alexander entering the underworld. Anyone who's played through the game knows the death scene well. Yet later in the game Alexander must journey to the underworld while still alive, and there is a puzzle on the exact scene you see while dying involving you sneaking into the underworld without a so called "death ticket". Its great that after months of being frustrated at seeing that scene, you are now seeing it as a non-frustrating and integral part of the game. Classic.

Plus, I always thought the threat of death made adventure games more chilling. A good example is The Pandora Directive, in which there is a sequence where an alien entity chases Tex Murphy around Area 51. Every once and a while when the alien is near (he is invisible so you can't see it), Tex will stop and mutter "The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up". Chilling stuff, which wouldn't be near as terrifying if you knew that you couldn't die.

As much as I love the Lucasarts games, I hated the non-death responses. For example in the Monkey Island games, I was always trying to get Gybrush to do stupid/deadly things, and everytime I'd get a response akin to "I'm not doing that." or "That's look dangerous, better not". Much less humourous than the Space Quest games, which would allow you to do said stupid things, and then usually the narrator would make fun of either you or Roger for doing that action.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Originally Posted by BerserkerTails

As much as I love the Lucasarts games, I hated the non-death responses. For example in the Monkey Island games, I was always trying to get Gybrush to do stupid/deadly things, and everytime I'd get a response akin to "I'm not doing that." or "That's look dangerous, better not". Much less humourous than the Space Quest games, which would allow you to do said stupid things, and then usually the narrator would make fun of either you or Roger for doing that action.

Any humor lost by not having deaths is more than made up for by the death scene on the Monkey Island cliff where a message saying that you've died comes up, then Guybrush flies back up and says "Rubber Tree". That cracked me up.

[Kazmajik]

I know it's not a new game, but The Colonel's Bequest has some excellent death sequences. A few come to mind involving a chandelier, a suit of armor, a bell-tower, a closet, a shower, the swamp. All great fun! Just remember: Save Early, Save Often

More recent games with death scenes? Hmm. I really can't think of too many. The Black Mirror had a few, but they weren't especially clever. I think NiBiRu also had some, but I can't remember them. Barrow Hill has at least one. I remember it made me laugh, but I don't think it was intentional.

[Melanie68]

I'm pretty sure you can die in Legend of Kyrandia. I've only played the first. I don't know if they're humorous (I can't remember).

Also, in Black Mirror, the first time I accidentally killed Samuel, I laughed because it took me by surprise.

[LadyLinda]

All the Nancy Drew games have a scenario where you can die.

The one game I enjoyed all the death scenes was in The Quivering.

[Kazmajik]

Broken Sword 3 has numerous places where you can die as a result of not pushing the correct arrow, a la Tomb Raider. Fortunately you are returned to right before the sequence starts that fatal decision so you can do it right.

[fajerkaos]

Zack and Wiki (for the Wii) have deaths me'think. But I assume that they are more frustrating then funny... might be wrong though.

[buddi]

They weren't funny, but Indigo Prophecy had the best death/failures of any game I have played recently. In keeping with the cinematic style, each dead end point had its own little cut scene that tailored the brand of death or failure to the specific incident. You could then replay that chapter and try for a different result.

[Atlantis]

well the obvious ones to mention here are Ben Croshaw's games, 5 days a stranger, and 7 days a skeptic.
And possibly Trilby's notes (I dont know, I didnt finish it I got so freaked out lol.)
6 days a sacrifice doesnt let you die, rather you wake up, (which was nice for me, having finally completed a croshaw game cus I didnt die every two seconds) My click reflexes suck, basically. Lol So yeah, those above three are chocabloc with nice little gory death abilities. xD

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by BerserkerTails

As much as I love the Lucasarts games, I hated the non-death responses. For example in the Monkey Island games, I was always trying to get Gybrush to do stupid/deadly things, and everytime I'd get a response akin to "I'm not doing that." or "That's look dangerous, better not". Much less humourous than the Space Quest games, which would allow you to do said stupid things, and then usually the narrator would make fun of either you or Roger for doing that action.

I couldn't agree more with your point. The "I'm not doing that" is the worst response you can possibly get in an AG.

[Clovis]

The problem, I think, is that there aren't a lot of "cartoon" AGs anymore. Seeing the lead in Syberia die wouldn't really be entertaining. Besides Sam and Max, I can't think of too many adventure games that would benefit from them. There are also a significant lack of funny games, and death scenes go well in funny games.

[Ariel Type]

Eric the Unready and Zork: Grand Inquisitor had some of the best death scenes described in text.

[Codeguru]

Fun death scenes would be comedy. All Sierra quest series games were comedy no matter how you died so I wouldn't even count that. What I take it to mean is games where the suspense is meant to terrify, things pop up out of nowhere not just to kill you but to scare the unholy crap out of you. I myself cannot enjoy getting into a game's storyline only to bump into one of those "BOO" scenes every so often and have my heart skip a beat, that's what rollercoasters are for :p...

Codeguru

[QFG]

I agree that death scenes both raise the stakes, and add another level of humor to a cleverly designed game. +1!

[michael1123]

Originally Posted by Clovis

The problem, I think, is that there aren't a lot of "cartoon" AGs anymore. Seeing the lead in Syberia die wouldn't really be entertaining. Besides Sam and Max, I can't think of too many adventure games that would benefit from them. There are also a significant lack of funny games, and death scenes go well in funny games.

They don't necessarily just work well in comedic games. I'm replaying Gabriel Knight 1 for the first time in a few years and the death scenes are done real well in that.

I agree they wouldn't work in a game like Syberia, but that's because the character is not suppose to be in serious danger (in the first game at least, never played the second). In most games there is suppose to be a much larger threat of danger.

[Clovis]

I like death scenes best when there is NO sense of danger. If you play a Sierra game, and there is, for instance, a road. You know not just to walk onto it. But you do anyway, just to see what happens when the chracter (prolly Sonny Liston in this case) gets ran over. It's funny 'cause it's pointless. It's like an adventure game non-sequitor. Maybe Adult Swim will make an adventure game, and it will be filled to the brim with stuff like that. Are there any jokes on AS that aren't non-sequitors?

Besides comedy, death scense obviously also make sense in horror.

Oh, and the scariest part I've played in a game is when that giant bug chases you in the latest episode of of Half-Life 2. I could almost feel it's claws on my back as I dove into another tunnel. It made throwing random junk at it so much fun later!

[Tobriand]

Prisoner of Ice had numerous death scenes, though they were rarely funny.

Beneath a Steel Sky had a couple, some of which were quite good - getting turned to dust by the police scanner if you were foolish enough to try again after it fails on you was a good one.

Anything by Sierra, of course (except Ecoquest and maybe Pepper's adventures in time). Some good death moments, but then, some which are a bit harsh (the dog in Hugo's House of Horrors required fast reactions, a little unfair, and of course, the darn scorpion in any Sierra game with a desert).

[Atlantis]

Originally Posted by Tobriand

Beneath a Steel Sky had a couple, some of which were quite good - getting turned to dust by the police scanner if you were foolish enough to try again after it fails on you was a good one.

And the um.. creature, in the wall, lol!

[Jadefalcon]

Two of the Microprose adventures, Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender and Dragonsphere had bits you could die in them.