You are the player character - the hero, the legend, the victorious warrior - here to save the realms or stop the aliens or win the war. Everything is going your way and then suddenly... oops... Natalya walked in front of your bullets in Goldeneye and you failed your mission. Or you're playing Skyrim and that stupid "talk/steal" button is the same and suddenly you aggro'd a guard and kill him in defense. Or you think your charming conversation skills are winning you friends in Mass Effect, but, oops, you said the wrong thing, and now poor Wrex is dead.
Sometimes you kill an NPC and you really didn't mean to do so. What were some memorable moments you did so, and how did you react? If it was a character you liked, did you reload a save? Maybe the game autosaves all your choices so, whoops, Jessica is dead this go-around in Until Dawn, tough luck. Maybe you just weren't paying attention and you created a time paradox in Metal Gear Solid 3? So many games have ways to accidentally screw things up and leave some poor bystander or NPC caught in the crossfire.
Honestly, the most memorable one for me was perennial classic Spec Ops: The Line, for making me question my own humanity and making me feel like an actual monster.
(I still can't believe this game ever got made...)
I like to think I'm a nice guy in real life, and I play games typically trying to help people and do the right thing. Spec Ops... messed with me. There's some scenes that are 100% mandatory and you can't get around them that shocked players, but that's not the scenes that got ME. There were several moments, but for me it was one particular, almost cruelly unremarkable moment...
(not even a weekend binge of Mario Galaxy was able to make me feel clean again)
No game has EVER given me that kind of feeling before. While that might be an extreme case, sometimes accidental NPC deaths can be hysterical ("yes, that's the way Oblivion's Biggest Fan would have wanted to go") or open up really dramatic new story avenues ("welcome to the Assassin's Guild...").
What are some of your most memorable accidental NPC slayings? I'm sure there's no shortage of them.
Sometimes you kill an NPC and you really didn't mean to do so. What were some memorable moments you did so, and how did you react? If it was a character you liked, did you reload a save? Maybe the game autosaves all your choices so, whoops, Jessica is dead this go-around in Until Dawn, tough luck. Maybe you just weren't paying attention and you created a time paradox in Metal Gear Solid 3? So many games have ways to accidentally screw things up and leave some poor bystander or NPC caught in the crossfire.
Honestly, the most memorable one for me was perennial classic Spec Ops: The Line, for making me question my own humanity and making me feel like an actual monster.
(I still can't believe this game ever got made...)
I like to think I'm a nice guy in real life, and I play games typically trying to help people and do the right thing. Spec Ops... messed with me. There's some scenes that are 100% mandatory and you can't get around them that shocked players, but that's not the scenes that got ME. There were several moments, but for me it was one particular, almost cruelly unremarkable moment...
It was in the first quarter of the game. Nothing truly terrible had happened yet. I was fighting off soldiers and the battle had migrated to a marketplace. The lights are off and the dust has kicked up and it's getting hard to see. There are enemies everywhere, popping out of the shadows and dropping in behind me. My trigger finger is getting itchy as every dark corner feels like it has someone waiting for me to walk by for them to get the drop on me. As I move through the level, nerves tense, a figure jumps out from behind a corner and my reflexes kick in, hitting them with an expertly placed headshot with instinctive precision.
A scared civilian woman falls dead at my feet.
It's not a cutscene. It's not scripted. It's not mandatory. In the chaos and confusion, I murdered an innocent refugee who was only trying to flee from the shootout. The game doesn't pause for me to soak it in. Bullets are still flying by my ears. Enemy soldiers are still trying to kill me. I get in cover... next to her body on the ground, fighting back. My teammates didn't see me do it. Nobody will ever know I did it. But... I know. And there is no one else to blame. I didn't mean to... but there she is, eyes open and body still, as I fight my way out of the market. I move out of that area and press on, leaving her behind as I advance through the market. But for the entire rest of the game, she was in my mind. I couldn't actually ever leave her fully behind. I had no penalties for killing her, no repercussions, no loss of support or skill. But... that's not what I meant to do. What have I DONE?!
A scared civilian woman falls dead at my feet.
It's not a cutscene. It's not scripted. It's not mandatory. In the chaos and confusion, I murdered an innocent refugee who was only trying to flee from the shootout. The game doesn't pause for me to soak it in. Bullets are still flying by my ears. Enemy soldiers are still trying to kill me. I get in cover... next to her body on the ground, fighting back. My teammates didn't see me do it. Nobody will ever know I did it. But... I know. And there is no one else to blame. I didn't mean to... but there she is, eyes open and body still, as I fight my way out of the market. I move out of that area and press on, leaving her behind as I advance through the market. But for the entire rest of the game, she was in my mind. I couldn't actually ever leave her fully behind. I had no penalties for killing her, no repercussions, no loss of support or skill. But... that's not what I meant to do. What have I DONE?!
(not even a weekend binge of Mario Galaxy was able to make me feel clean again)
No game has EVER given me that kind of feeling before. While that might be an extreme case, sometimes accidental NPC deaths can be hysterical ("yes, that's the way Oblivion's Biggest Fan would have wanted to go") or open up really dramatic new story avenues ("welcome to the Assassin's Guild...").
What are some of your most memorable accidental NPC slayings? I'm sure there's no shortage of them.
