Things you probably didn’t think about while playing these games…

We’ve had our mindless button smashers and we’ve had our space operas but just how often do we stop and think whether it actually all makes sense? Just what is it all about? There used to be a time in gaming when the most absurd concept soared like an eagle. Let’s take a peek at some of our favourite games of past years…

[LightofDarkness]

Well, I can certainly explain DooM. You're part of the first squad to react to the crisis, of which there weren't many, because nobody imagined aliens or demons truly existed before this and the military are only really there to keep the peace. That is, there wasn't a strong military presence to begin with. Furthermore, they're on a moon orbiting Mars. This game's universe seems to view space travel in a more realistic sense, so sending reinforcements from Earth would take months, and from Mars it could be a day or more before they can scramble together even an investigatory party. The events on Phobos take place over a few hours, by which time the protagonist is transported to Deimos, which has been hijacked and sent to Hell through a dimensional rift, thus being far beyond the reach of anyone else.

And it's pretty obvious through the story that not every marine is as hardy and superhuman as the Doom Guy, as they are often slaughtered without difficulty in the background stories. Doom Guy's just a one in 7 billion bad-ass.

And that guy could be your co-op partner, if you so wish.

[R3d3ux]

Usually I don't reply to comments but; good stuff there, nice explanation =)

[segamon]

very good analysis, nicely written too.

[Somebody]

Wasn't it hinted (I read it somewhere) that the Doom Guy might be the descendant of the Robo-Hitler killing soldier in Castle Wolfenstein? Might explain his hardiness and superhuman ability.

[Larry L]

Exactly. I was going to point out some of that stuff, but you summed it up pretty nicely.

All the other bad-ass Marines were all the other players in the world, who you could play with or against online. But even those players really weren't the only soldiers.

The basic grunt, shotgun guy and chain gun guy were clearly all human soldiers who were "posessed" durring battle. Remember, there were dead bodies all over these levels before you even stepped foot on Phobos. Not just humans either, there were imp bodies lying around as well.

And off the subject of DOOM, the author was pretty far off on Mortal Kombat as well. A Realm had to lose TEN Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row for another Realm to be allowed to invade, not 3. Earth Realm had lost 9 in a row leading up to the first MK game. And it's perfectly logical in terms of the MK Universe.....those are the rules the Elder Gods set so Demi-Gods or mad despots couldn't just go from Realm to Realm taking control of them all without those Realms having a fighting chance. The MK3 Earth Realm Invasion was Shao Kahn blatantly breaking those rules, and (in ways I forget) protecting himself from The Elder God's wrath with the magic released through the ressurection of Sindel.

Ahhhhhh, geek facts. Gotta love 'em.

[OpenGL]

Yeah I agree with this, especially as there are bodies of fellow marines throughout Doom to suggest that you aren't supposed to be the only one. Also the Atari Jaguar version of Doom released in 1994 supported co-op via the JagLink with two consoles and two copies of the game.

[MadMen]

Very cool article

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

I'm pretty sure this guy just read that Cracked article from a few months ago...and decided to publish it under his own name.

[R3d3ux]

Donkey Kong does indeed appear on the Cracked article. Maybe that's why I credited Steve Blair for his observations on the game?

Your accusation of plagiarism is an insult to both me and all the users of N4G.

All content undergoes a rigorous screening process before being accepted on N4G. If it's plagiarized it's not approved and not published. Simple. In fact such an article would promptly be reported prior to publishing and would never make it this far. See how it works?

=)

[Larry L]

Well, to be fair, there are MANY articles posted on N4G that imo are plagarising other website's work. How many articles come up on here just in the PS3 section alone, that take quotes garnered from PlayStation Blog interviews and developer replies as the basis of their stories while giving not actual credit for the info to the PSBlog? It's quite a few. As a daily PSBlog visitor, multiple time a week I seen an article on here and think "they just stole that from the PSBlog", and often times the Blog isn't credited.

Now, you gave credit to Cracked for that bit anyway, so there's no issue. But don't think n4g's "screening process" is any kind of bullet proofing against plagarism.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

What about the Pokemon and Doom parts? They did that, too.

[pixelsword]

"All content undergoes a rigorous screening process before being accepted on N4G. If it's plagiarized it's not approved and not published."

Ah, no.

While I agree that you have enough original content to call yours distinct, there are plenty of publishers that have been ripped-off. Tor Davis probably gets plagiarized more than anyone.

[claud3]

Very nice article. Its cool all them things you miss

[MasterD919]

I had no idea that the invading MK characters were aliens to begin with. I just thought they were supernatural beings or some kind of alternate universe beings...interesting nonetheless.

And the Pokemon paragraph made me chuckle a bit considering I never realized how depressing the subject matter is. It is essentially the Hunger Games for pets/animals.

Edit: I never even noticed the 2nd guy on the Doom cover! Wow. Seriously, where is that 2nd guy?

[KrimsonKody]

Most of the MK characters were from different planets/dimensions/realms, which made them "alien-like" to earthlings.
& some of their races operated as, what humans would call, aliens.
Like Baraka's race, for example. There are tons of Barakas.

[t0mmyb0y]

Haah I had to google the Doom cover too. Never noticed him running up lol

[claud3]

Same here... I never paid attention to the story of all the MK games, just wanted to fight :)

[Pillsbury1]

I thought it was a different realm like a universe in MK? My childhood has been raped with the Pokemon realization : /

[TheSanchezDavid]

Some interesting ideas and food for thought, but the article was so poorly written that I couldn't even be bothered to do anything more than skim through it.

[Jason_Tanner]

The author of the article is an idiot concerning the Mortal Kombat explanation. It’s not about *aliens* wanting to win a tournament 10 times, if they had their way they would just invade. In the MK universe it’s the Elder Gods who have set the 10 time victory rule. And they aren't *aliens*, seriously this guy has not friggin clue. Maybe the author should actually try playing the games first next time so he actually knows what the hell he's talking about.

[PurpHerbison]

I really hate to come in here and be one of those guys... I really do. But this article wasn't very good. You could of added any other assortment of 5 games and typed up why things didn't make sense in contrast to the real world... but wait... Isn't that why we play video games? For an experience we can't get in the real world? I do appreciate you taking the time to write this as I hope you appreciated me taking the time to read it.

[Limit760]

The author has the English skills of a 12 year old. Ouch.
"(because when you’re 10 you should gtfo of your parents house) into the wilderness to capture 100′s of animals "

[Soldierone]

Beyond the Doom thing I think I disagree with Mortal Kombat as well. The reason being that it's permission to invade a realm as they are weak and can't defend themselves. You do it without winning the tournament, and the realm will get protection from everyone else and you will fail. Don't see why that's a bad thing. It's out there, but still grounded because of that.

Also Pokemon, its fake made up animals, and the ones you don't use don't sit in a box. They get sent to the Poke Center where they are taken care of.