Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 The bad guy has given you the typical sadistic choice. Save the woman you love or a bus full of doctors. You only have time to save one! What do you choose? You've seen this kind of thing in lots of games, with or without the third choice. inFamous had the first two. Alpha Protocol occasionally had all three (I only saw the first two, but was told that Veteran allows a third sometime). Mask of the Betrayer could be looked at as a game built around the idea with the Soul Eater mechanic. Don't the first two seem kind of stupid in light of the third, though? Here's the thing I've never seen a game address, if you choose to save both groups, you run the risk of losing everything. They both might die. Given that games love doing the third choice and that people still have a love for the dark and edgy, why don't we see this idea of risking everything more often? "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atreides Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 What if she's a doctor on the bus? Spreading beauty with my katana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niten_Ryu Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Poll needs Chaotic Stupid Let's play Alpha Protocol My misadventures on youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwars Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I thought Alpha Protocol did it well since the Veteran options there are for, well... a special playthrough and those particular choices didn't affect things that much at any rate if I remember correctly. But generally speaking I prefer it if the third "ultimate" option is not present unless it has very special pre-requisites that you'd only fulfill by making sacrifices elsewhere. Listen to my home-made recordings (some original songs, some not): http://www.youtube.c...low=grid&view=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calax Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Honestly, I found the infamous choice to be overall meaningless. If you pick the girl, it's not the girl, it's a random female, and your love is actually one of the doctors strung up. If you pick the doctors, the girl is your love and STILL dies with the doctors. So basically they give you an ultimately meaningless choice as you can never win, and thus it feels like a horrible choice overall to everyone I've talked to. And understandibly the choice is rendered moot because of the fact that in order for the story to progress she HAS to die. Probably the best way to have done the third option was to set a timer that you had to climb up to one side, and then snipe the bomb or cutting mechanism that would kill the other side and make the timer fairly tight that you COULD do it, but you'd be down to 1 or 2 seconds by the time you finished. Victor of the 5 year fan fic competition! Kevin Butler will awesome your face off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) This needs more context and/or background. A few pages at least. Also, where's the option to do neither and put the moral blame on the villain? Plus, each option needs a long and tragic aftermath scenario, where no one is happy and/or someone possibly drinks themselves to death. Possible sequel confirmed? Edited October 7, 2010 by Purkake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 This needs more context and/or background. A few pages at least. Also, where's the option to do neither and put the moral blame on the villain? The actual purpose of the thread is in the spoiler. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 As for the spoiler part, it's because you aren't risking anything in a game, you either succeed or reload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoonDing Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 This is like that time Gwen Stacy died. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) That's not even trying. You can succeed and still fail. Like, you save the woman and the bus full of doctors, but it turns out that there was also a bus full of orphans and kittens set to explode near that farm everyone's parents tell them that the family dog was sent to when it got old. And you were never told about it, it was a secret fallback plan. IMAGINATION Edited October 7, 2010 by Tale "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Didn't you learn anything from Wargames? The only way to win is not to play. Plus the sadistic choice is way too overused and melodramatic anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 It is overused. Which means its due for a deconstruction, I should think. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Majek Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) That's too much lifelike. That doesn't belong in games. In games you get everything on the silver platter. :D What you don't get or see, does not exist. Edited October 7, 2010 by Majek 1.13 killed off Ja2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 It is overused. Which means its due for a deconstruction, I should think. Has been done, probably more than just in AP. In the end it comes down to being selfless/selfish anyway. There are better tropes to deconstruct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 How did AP deconstruct it? "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 If you chose Madison in the museum thing, she would ditch you because she can't bear the guilt of all the other people dying. Didn't try the other option, so I don't know if that had any special stuff attached to it. That's how I saw it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 If that's a deconstruction, it deconstructs the sadistic choice. It's not a deconstruction of take a third option, which is what I'm talking about. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Umm, ok. I guess deconstructing that would be ending up with neither or everyone still losing something important or possibly avoiding the choice through some clever machinations. The thing with no-win situations is that if you still win, it's unrealistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 The thing with no-win situations is that if you still win, it's unrealistic. Which would be the entire point of deconstructing the winning third option response to the no-win. Wrath of Khan did it well. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Which makes for a good short story or a sad movie, but not a very good game. Especially with everyone probably reloading their game after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrath of Dagon Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Why would anyone save a busful of doctors? The only thing worse would be saving a busful of lawyers. "Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calax Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Why would anyone save a busful of doctors? The only thing worse would be saving a busful of lawyers. Because they want to give you the black plague and watch you die slowly while everyone around you, who is infected, gets treatment and survives? Victor of the 5 year fan fic competition! Kevin Butler will awesome your face off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaftan Barlast Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Alpha protocol would have just done it A) Save the woman, and be a douchebag sexist B) Save the doctors, and be a sarcastic jerk about it (the ugly stupid kind of sarcasm, not the elegant sort) C) Save everyone, and be a complete and utter **** to everyone invovled afterwards. ...I hear Obsidian is working on a DLC for AP where you play Mike Thornton as a depressed middleaged man dying alone in a trailerpark because he got fired from every job he had and abandoned by everyone he ever knew because everyone hates his guts. DISCLAIMER: Do not take what I write seriously unless it is clearly and in no uncertain terms, declared by me to be meant in a serious and non-humoristic manner. If there is no clear indication, asume the post is written in jest. This notification is meant very seriously and its purpouse is to avoid misunderstandings and the consequences thereof. Furthermore; I can not be held accountable for anything I write on these forums since the idea of taking serious responsability for my unserious actions, is an oxymoron in itself. Important: as the following sentence contains many naughty words I warn you not to read it under any circumstances; botty, knickers, wee, erogenous zone, psychiatrist, clitoris, stockings, bosom, poetry reading, dentist, fellatio and the department of agriculture. "I suppose outright stupidity and complete lack of taste could also be considered points of view. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwars Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Then he gets a job driving the waaaaaambulance? Listen to my home-made recordings (some original songs, some not): http://www.youtube.c...low=grid&view=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoraptor Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I thought Alpha Protocol did it well since the Veteran options there are for, well... a special playthrough and those particular choices didn't affect things that much at any rate if I remember correctly. The technician background gets you the same option (for the choice at Brayko's, at least) so you could do it in your first playthrough. Though I'd guess most of the people here played recruit first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now