Advancing Wall of Doom: Difference between revisions

* The Darke Domaine in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', once you're caught in it, you can't escape anymore.

* The episode "Starship Mine" of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' has the Enterprise in spacedock for routine cleaning by an energy ray that must sweep from stern to prow of the temporarily unpopulated ship over the next few hours. Needless to say, its nature as a very effective Advancing Wall of Doom becomes obvious when Picard is trapped aboard while playing cat and mouse with a group of arms smugglers.

** Also near the end of "Remember Me", where Dr. Crusher has to escape the steadily collapsing bubble reality she is trapped in.

* The Japanese [[Game Show]] ''[[Dasshutsu Game DERO]]'' has a game where a team of players are placed at the end of a corridor with an animatronic stone statue of a [[Super Mario Bros.|Chain Chomp]] [[Expy]] that slowly advances on them from behind, a giant button on the opposite end, and three panels blocking their path, one every 5 meters from the start. They have to solve word puzzles to make the panels move aside, in order to reach the button and hit it to win money. If the stone monster catches them, they fail and leave empty-handed.

* The ''[[Castlevania]]'' series has more than a few of these.

** First, in ''[[Castlevania Bloodlines]]'', there's one going down to keep up with draining water. No idea why, since there's no huge drop to kill you (unless you go too fast and discover your [[Super Drowning Skills]]). That's not the only one in the game, by the way; pretty much ''the entire second level'' features one.

* ''[[Tron 2.0]]'' also did this in one level, where you had to flee a "Reformat Wall", and got obliterated if it touched you.

* ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' has these a few times; the first two (one each in GoW1 and 2) are defeated by killing off the horde of [[Mook]]s that spawns on top of you, while the second is actually a time-based puzzle where you have to open a door.

* ''[[Gunstar Super Heroes]]'' has the File Crasher. If you get caught by it, it, um... erases your file. {{spoiler|Actually, it only ''claims'' it will erase your save file, and even then only in the original Japanese version.}}

* In the PC version of ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]: Breakin' Da Rules!'', one level has Timmy travel to the past and meet the younger-aged version of Vicky and Tootie's mom (named Nicky here), who romantically pursues him though the stage. The fact that she's the future mother of his nemesis and his [[Stalker with a Crush]] is one reason to keep away from her (the other being that you have to start the level over if she catches you).

* The original ''[[Splatterhouse]]'' has the player pursued by a creepy pulsing purple wall of... Something. You'll only see it if you dawdle significantly, though.

* In ''[[Streets of Rage]] 3'', Stage 3 has an Advancing Bulldozer Of Doom, which you must outrun while destroying concrete walls that are blocking your way. It can, however, be hit to knock it back a few meters. At the end of the section, {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Funny|the 'dozer slams into a support beam and a barrel falls from the ceiling, knocking the Mook out.]]}}

* The Pig King Statue in Lucas' first stage of ''[[Super Smash Bros.|The Subspace Emissary]]''. {{spoiler|Until [[Big Damn Heroes|Ness]] [[One-Hit Kill|one-shots it]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|with PK Flash]].}}

** The Norfair stage in the same game has advancing walls of lava; two move toward the center of the stage from either the left or right side (though they don't go any further and move back after a while), while the third start from behind the stage and move towards it. Only a few characters can effectively jump over it, so a small safe room appears to assist those who can't. Getting hit by any of them is not a good thing.

* There's one of these in the [[Star Wars]] stage in ''[[Soul Calibur]] IV'', but it never comes close to actually crushing you.

* In the first mission of ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'', the ship you are raiding is hit by enemy aircraft and begins to sink. You must run behind your teammates all the way to the helicopter. If you lag behind just a little, you'll be "killed" and forced to retry the mission. It's made even worse by the fact that the ship begins to list heavily to one side, so you're actually running diagonally. And in the end, {{spoiler|you need to jump over the side of the ship to reach the helicopter. Since this is very early in the game, you probably haven't gotten used to the correct "JUMP" button yet, so expect to die on the first try. In fact, the "[[Have a Nice Death]]" message actually says that "[[The Matrix|No one makes the first jump"]].}}

* In ''Condemned 2'', you have to outrun a rabid bear through a deserted hunting lodge. And when you finally do get a chance to kill it, it's in a [[One Buwwet Weft]] situation.

* ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' has the advancing wall of the Citadel at the end of the level Nova Prospekt, which crushes you against a non-moving wall unless you can quickly find a small opening through which you escape in the latter wall.

* In the MMORPG ''[[Maple Story]]'', there is a particularly annoying area where you have to navigate through a maze of platforms while keeping well out of the area of a moving pillar that logically shouldn't kill you with one touch. But it does.

* Some minigames in ''[[Mario Party]]'' use the collapsing-track version. They're races, and getting caught in the wall means you probably lost regardless.

* ''[[Aladdin (Capcom)|Aladdin]]'' and ''[[Aladdin (Virgin Games)|Aladdin]]'' each had a level in which Aladdin uses the [[Flying Carpet]] to escape the enormous wall of lava that is consuming the Cave of Wonders.

* Towards the end of the Sega Genesis version of ''[[Animaniacs]]'', the entire level begins to disintegrate behind you after you open a door at the beginning, forcing you to run for your life. One mistake in this part of the game spells curtains for the Warner siblings.

* ''[[Decap Attack]]'' features this in Stage 3-1 with a kind of weird totem pole thing which kills Chuck in a single hit. It can be surprisingly hard to escape from at times.

* This is ''[[Dino Run]]'''s entire concept. It manages to still be fun because:

* ''[[Drawn to Life]]: The Next Chapter'' has one in the aptly named Volcanic Eruption (Wilfre's Wasteland). Aptly named because the Advancing Wall of Doom is made of lava.

* In ''[[Dynamite Headdy]]'', the "Twin Freaks" boss is an insane AWOD. The screen scrolls at a set speed, but the boss ''doesn't''. On top of this, hitting various switches needed to make progress makes him faster and invincible.

* The Flash game [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/582472 Discount Mayonnaise] ([[Word Salad Title|yes, really]]) uses a [[Sand Worm]].

* In ''[[Braid]]'', the character (Tim) {{spoiler|has to outrun a flaming wall of doom in one of the final worlds of the game.}}

** Even weirder, (bigger spoiler) {{spoiler|since the whole level is actually playing in reverse of what "really" happened, the wall is actually ''The Future receding into the past.'' Cross the barrier between present and future and you enter the oblivion of what hasn't happened yet.}}

* ''[[Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure]]'' has a monster fish that chases you in one of the mid-game stages.

* A rare RTS example: ''[[StarCraft]] II: Wings of Liberty'' has the Supernova mission, where you need to build up your force and get the artifact before the supernova torches the planet with advancing firewall of doom.

* In ''[[Baroque]]'' one of the enemies that you face is [https://web.archive.org/web/20160313201808/http://www.atlus.com/baroque/ps2/ikei/ikei2/ikei16.htm Bubugel], a meta-being who has is literally a WALL WITH A FACE ON IT. Bubugel will rapidly close off the hallway leading to the next portal and turn it's back to you, making you think that it is a dead end. If that wasn't enough, his attacks involve rushing at you and...screaming.

* ''[[Exile]]'' and ''[[Avernum]]'' use [[Hellfire|Quickfire]] for a similar effect. Every time you take a turn in combat mode, or move one square outside combat, it enlarges one square in every direction that isn't blocked by walls. Once it's unleashed, you need to either get on the other side of a door (proper or hidden), or get out of the area ASAP. That said, you can survive it in the short term, as it does damage rather than killing immediately.

** ''One'' square? Try ''three'' to your ''one''. That's why you can't merely pace the stuff. Unless I'm recalling it wrongly?

** The Cryomancer has an attack that is nearly identical, though it also freezes the squares it affects.

* ''Abuse'' had a mining drill/bulldozer machine that tried to run you over. You could destroy it, but it had a ton of health.

* At least two stages in the various ''[[Metal Slug]]'' games feature a variant of this as Boss Battles. You have to not only stay ahead/above the screen filling menace but avoid its attacks and shoot back.

* In the original ''[[Metal Gear]]'' game for the ''MSX 2'', The player had to destroy a bulldozer in a small corridor that would advance towards them pretty quickly. If it touched them they would instantly die. However, the player could leave the room into the previous one if they failed to get a sufficient amount of hits in on time, but this would restore all of the bulldozer's health.

* ''[[Alone in the Dark]] 08'' has an advancing ''road'' of doom in the first major driving scene.

* ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' had an advancing drill down a narrow castle corridor. Of course, it made no sense to have it in the castle anyway.

* In ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]: [[Dark Corners of the Earth]]'', you must at one point escape an enraged shoggoth that fills the entire corridor behind you, shutting down bulkheads to slow its advance. Turning to see what it even looks like means almost certain death, but few people can resist the first time around.

* ''[[Gears of War]] 2'' is full of these in the level "Intestinal Fortitude," which is set {{spoiler|inside the Riftworm.}} The Gears are trying to find a way out and to kill [[The Dragon]]'s giant pet. At one point they have to avoid a "Debris Wall" or get crushed. Later in the level, while chainsawing {{spoiler|the Riftworm's cardiovascular arteries (or whatever they are)}}, you have to do it quickly and then escape the room before the rising water {{spoiler|actually blood}} drowns you.

* ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin'' had a map where you had to get at least one allied (uncontrollable) unit to an allied city which was on the other side of two Laser Walls. Behind you follows a whole army, who can deploy new units (you can't) and outnumbers you from the start. Your strongest unit is uncontrollable and works as a temporary wall (until it's destroyed).

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Course]]

[[Category:Doomed Tropes]]

[[Category:Video Game Settings]]

[[Category:This Index Is in The Way]]