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Realistic reactions to injuries in games

Xenon

Member
So last night I had a dream about playing a Call of Duty style FPS. The weird part was that all of the enemies I shot reacted more like human beings. They cried out in pain, called for their wives or mothers and said they didn't want to die. I was pretty freaked out when I woke up.

This got me thinking about how that was not present in most games. I remember the first Saints Row had civilians cry about injury but not your enemies.

Are there any games where the characters reaction to getting hurt was too real for you?

Does anyone think this should be added to games?

Would more realistic reactions from characters in games make you look for another path to achieve your goal instead of violence?


Would adding the realistic reaction desensitize kids to violence?

I am not sure I want to see it in a game unless it was more story driven and violence was not the only solution to problems you faced. (Typed from phone)
 
Battlefield 4 will have pretty realistic death animations from that one GIF I saw.

However sometimes I like unrealistic injuries.

tumblr_m2f8paIy0W1r1ivo0o1_500.gif
 
For some reason the first game I thought of was the darkness 2. I don't think they react realistically but they will beg for their lives at times if I remember right.
 
The only game I can think of that came close (for some people, I still wasn't bother by it) was some of the death animations in Red Orchestra 2. They had your character losing body parts since Red Orchestra 1 so that wasn't new, but in Red Orchestra 2 sometimes your character will do some depressing death animations that make it look like they're suffering.

I still wasn't bothered by it, just thought it was a cool detail. So maybe I'm long past being desensitized lol.

Edit: I thought there were animations too but all I can find are death moans for when characters die.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQijsMoNKbk
 
I remember seeing an old pc shooter that had realistic for the time death animations. Corpses would also respond appropriately to how you killed them. Shoot them in the head? Brains would spill out.
 
I don't think this is what you're after OP but my first thoughts were of Katawa Shoujo.

Dark Souls is pretty good in vocal reactions, if you begin attacking NPCs they think you've gone hollow. Others will beg you to leave without starting any trouble. Some comment when you die and most will have a few last words.
 
I liked how a lot of the time an enemy in Spec Ops: The Line fell to the ground, they weren't actually dead yet. You could either just leave them or kill them if you wished.
 
Max Payne 3

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Can't find a gif for it, but I remember being impressed by seeing a guy shot in the throat and grabbing it to unsuccessfully stop to blood pissing out.

Dead Space 2

If you fail the
eye
stuff....Yeesh. Don't know if the situation was realistic, but it was well detailed and not much was left to the imagination.

The Last of Us

Already mentioned more than once, but I'll throw another vote.
Joel's impalement was rough.
 
With the amount of people you kill in your average game it would be pretty disturbing. The game would be littered with people writhing around on the ground in pain crying and screaming. Would be messed up.
 
With the amount of people you kill in your average game it would be pretty disturbing. The game would be littered with people writhing around on the ground in pain crying and screaming. Would be messed up.

I think that would make it cool as long as it wasn't overdone. Some people just crumple up and die, others cry out, and others still try to kill you.
 
Max Payne 3

[IG]http://abload.de/img/maximumarmour4erpm3msio.gif[/IMG]

Can't find a gif for it, but I remember being impressed by seeing a guy shot in the throat and grabbing it to unsuccessfully stop to blood pissing out.

I'm gonna be so disappointed if GTA5's gunplay isn't just Max Payne 3's (minus all the diving around) in an open world. It seems like a perfect fit.
 
Would adding the realistic reaction desensitize kids to violence?

I am not sure I want to see it in a game unless it was more story driven and violence was not the only solution to problems you faced. (Typed from phone)

Oh yes it would
 
Counter Strike.

Shotgun blast to the back (survives due to armor) that does not propel the guy getting shot in force.

Then the guy who survived the shotgun turns 180 and head shots the guy with the shotgun

reason #1 why I hate Counter Strike
 
I remember in ACIII enemies will occasionally scoot or get on their knees and beg a lĂ  The Patriot. Grunts in Halo will also scream things like "He was my friend!" when you gun down baddies.
 
The thing that always bothered me is in some games is that they will beg for their lives, and if you don't kill them, they'll get back up and start shooting at you again. If they ran away I would be ok with it, but they never do.
 
Bushido Blade: get a limb cut, can't use it anymore. Get hit with a deep slash, you're dead.

Ninja Gaiden 2 360: somewhat close to what actual massive bladed weapon fights would look like with shitloads of blood and limbs flying everywhere.
 
Soldier of Fortune thread?

Yeah. One of the earliest notable examples. Seeing dudes' faces be blown apart was something else.

Red Dead Redemption was pretty good. Only thing that was annoying is that enemies never tried to surrender during a normal shootout, even they'd been shot in both feet and disarmed. No matter how many times you'd shoot a gun out of their hands, they'd keep trying to pick it back up.

Max Payne 3 has some of the most intricate enemy hit reactions, but only for short period of time after getting hit. They can get shot in the arm or leg and still use those limbs once they get back up which sucks
 
Right near the start of MGS4 there is a random soldier who got shot and just started screaming his head off. It really freaked me out even though it was another NPC guy who shot him.

That stuff in the OP about COD is exactly why I hate that franchise.
 
The thing that always bothered me is in some games is that they will beg for their lives, and if you don't kill them, they'll get back up and start shooting at you again. If they ran away I would be ok with it, but they never do.

Happens in TLoU. It's so stupid.
 
Oh yeah, to answer the OP, I think more believable enemy reactions to getting hurt would always be beneficial, though it'd need to be relative to each game's tone.

If a game is supposed to be a more light-hearted like Uncharted, then just having enemies hold where they got shot/limp/crawl would be enough. Having them beg for their lives but without any way to actually spare them would be out of place.

If a game is meant to be realistic, then they need to go all out with the reactions, but there should always be options available to the player (make them surrender, knockout, avoid, Etc.). If the playre is routinely forced to kill enemies with such graphic results, that would cheapen the the impact somewhat. The player should always feel as if it's their own fault
 
Is it wrong that I like the humourous reactions in Borderlands 2? My favourite death cry is the midget when you burn them that say "I smell delicious!".

>_>
 
Not a reaction but an animation.

My brother was trying out Deus Ex Human Revolution and just fooling around. He got a gang pissed off and they started chasing him, he started shooting and eventually was scarce on ammo so he ran and they followed. Went to a washroom in the mall, hid behind one of the stalls.

Went into cover and started blind firing with a revolver (or a pistol of some sort).

Managed to get a headshot (by blindfiring that powerful gun) on one of the gang members that was approaching slowly. The way the guy's head got blown back into the wall and bounced off, and the body fell limp and fell to the ground, it looked like something you would see in a movie like Collateral. Just improved the immersion in the game that much more.

But yeah, as for violence desensitizing kids. I've been playing violent games all my life, been playing realistic/semi-realistic violent games since I was 16 or so. If I see something real, it makes me sick. If I see the same thing in a game it doesn't. So I supposed desensitizing in relating to games does happen, but it doesn't apply for real-life stuff (in my experience anyways).
 
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