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Elevator levels
NickTheNewbie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
One of the staples of game design is sticking a player in an elevator that they cannot escape from, and having them endure the onslaught of enemies as they ride to their destination. Sometimes the elevator can stop to let enemies on (but off course not let you off), the enemies may leap down from above, or sometimes the enemies will just materialize out of thin air! What do you guys think of this game mechanic? List all the elevator levels (or sections) you can think of, and name your most/least favorite.
NickTheNewbie on
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Also, I think you're looking for 'on rails' if you're trying to find a more recognized nomenclature.
I believe there is also one in the Die Hard arcade game. That game was so awesome.
Skip to halfway through
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ3Syf4fEYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EX0u4bA4dg
I've always found them fun, though a lot of it has to do with being able to keep some situational awareness. Halo's got the motion detector so you always have some warning where the bad guys are. When it's a game where shit is just flying at you from all over, you're low on ammo, and you keep getting broadsided? Yeah screw that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TYQapZ3_ZM&feature=related
Just so damn intense as you claw through about 50 enemies, Axel continiously screaming "BAAARE KNAAACK-AALLL!!! BAAARE KNAAACK-AALLL!!! BAAARE KNAAACK-AALLL!!! HEEEYYYAAAAAAKKK!!!! BAAARE KNAAACK-AALLL!!!"
Damn I love SOR2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Uzlmwun2o&feature=related
I'm 33 years old, and I have never seen an elevator that does anything other than move straight up and down.
Have you ever worked in an Evil mastermind's underground giant-killer-robot production facility?
Dead Space did the elevator thing perfectly. You know the bit right at the beginning?
Or Willy Wonka's chocolate factory?
Or used an escalator?
except it's less an elevator and more an elevating harem full of sandmonsters.
it was the hardest part of the game, I think, but man did I feel good when I got to the top after having to reload a bunch.
Going into non-action games, Chrono Trigger had one. I think it actually worked decently since it was a shift from the normal way battles worked. Having upbeat battle music playing during the sequence (as opposed to the usual stop exploration music, enter battle music, win battle, victory pose, switch to exploration music) along with being stuck there made it feel like a connected sequence.
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Mass effect.
Portal.
Also, mostly recently came across the Elevator Effect in Deadly Premonition. The instant the thing started moving instead of flashing forward to right floor, I groaned.
Honestly, an attack in an elevator in ME would have been genius. You'd get in expecing just a long, boring ride to mask a loading screen and suddenly geth rain down on your head. Total mind fuck.
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They "fixed" this in MHX.
I don't think Dead Space had any in the little elevators, which was a substantial missed opportunity.
Metroid.
That was sort of the point. Mentally, you're expecting it because you know, it's an elevator. So everytime so step into one You're always tensed up, ready for action. Then the elevator stops and step out and breathe a sigh of relief..... until the fucker drops down behind you in the hallway.
Also, the bit at the beginning, whilst not an attack still scared the shit out of me.
But yeah, who doesn't put their back to a wall and aim their gun at the door in an elevator?
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Terminator 2 made me fear spears from above more than anything in the door.
well-used is an opinion.
(though to be honest I don't mind the halovators that much.)
I'm jumbling up the contaminated zones and they all mush together into one flood-filled blob of hatred, but I believe halo 2 and 3 both had horizontal-type "elevator" stages. halo 2 had a vertical one as well, and a very brief diagonal lift. I can't recall any in Halo (1).
Watching Freeman's Mind I was reminded of a similar diagonal lift in half-Life, and playing RE5 with a buddy last week he died a lot on a now-typical spiraling elevator.
I seem to recall more elevator action at the end of 007 Everything or Nothing, though that might have just been rappelling down a shaft.
Elevators provide an interesting set piece opportunity for designers- even if your game isn't really on rails as such a moving platform on rails can be a nice twist, regardless of what shape it comes in or what direction it goes. Another dynamic I've seen fairly often in the action/FPS/beat-em-up worlds is calling an elevator only to have it open and be full of enemies. You can also use elevators as mystical portals to other areas/worlds, either using them as loading screens or as conveniently placed places for reinforcements to show up, be they day-saving allies or oh-shit-i-tripped-the-alarm-here-they-come guards.
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It's not that Streets of Rage 2 has the best elevators (baseball stadium, Mr. X's stronghold, both inside and out). It's that Streets of Rage 2 is a badass fucking game so anything it has in it, even if bad, is excused. Streets of Rage 3 had elevators too.
Fuck, I should play those games again. Especially part one, I haven't played it since we had Sega Channel.