Shadowgrounds: Difference between revisions

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It is the year 2096. The place is a [[Terraform|terraformed]] Ganymede, site of the small but successfully colony of New Atlantis and a highly secure military facility. You are Wesley Tyler, former security officer who now works as [[The Engineer|a mechanic]] at the local repair station following a major accident at the plant he used to work at. He's hard at work one night fixing a truck, but after a mysterious power outage, Tyler takes his two technician friends to the nearby power facility. [[Red Shirt|Two dead technicians later,]] Tyler's landed himself in a full-on [[Alien Invasion]].

 

A sequel, ''Shadowgrounds: Survivor'', was released in 2007 and tells the story of several other people [[Gaiden Game|trying to survive the same invasion:]] IGTO [[Space Marine]] Luke Giffords, Pest-control worker Bruno [[Lampshade Hanging|Lastmann]], and [[Elites Are More Glamorous|IGTO Special Forces]] [[Friendly Sniper|Sniper]] Isabel Larose. As the name might suggest, it added a [[Endless Game|Survival Mode to the proceedings.]]

 

* [[Action Girl]]: The Corporal you rescue early on.

* [[A Space Marine Is You]]: For the most part. Played completely straight in ''Survivor'' with Luke, who is in fact a [[Space Marine]].

* [[Alien Invasion]]

* [[Antimatter]]: {{spoiler|"Gifted" to us by the aliens, [[Neglectful Precursors|who did not at the time realize the danger it posed.]]}}

* [[Bald of Awesome]]: Bruno.

* [[Cat Scare]]: Happens to a scientist who thinks the aliens are breaking into his secured lab, when it's only his hamster.

* [[Computer Virus]]: A virus was uploaded to the [[ISE Rcom]] systems, and gets purged by rebooting the mainframe.

* [[Deadly Gas]]: The [[Grenade Launcher]]'s [[Secondary Fire]] shoots a gas grenade. Bruno can throw gas grenades.

* [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]]: [[Boss Fight|The bosses.]]

* [[Deflector Shields]]: On some enemies, though they really just act like more health.

* [[Do Not Drop Your Weapon]]: Played straight with humans, and justified with enemy weapons being surgically attached.

* [[Energy Weapon]]: The Laser Rifle, as well as the [[Lightning Gun]].

* [[Evolving Weapon]]: Collect [[Randomly Drops|randomly-dropped]] "Upgrade parts" to buy upgrades for weapons. Each weapon has unique upgrades, but one of them is always a [[Secondary Fire]].

* [[Freak Lab Accident]]: In the first story's background, where Tyler takes the blame since he was on the security team.

* [[Game Level]]

* [[Gameplay and Story Integration]]: Isabel mentions that she counts her kills to help keep calm. When playing as her, there's a counter ''tracking her kills.'' She even says "Don't interrupt me, I'm counting!" when first radioed by McTiernan.

* [[Gang Up on the Human]]: Usually aliens attack you, but sometimes get distracted by turrets or allied troops. [[Red Shirt|Not for long, though.]]

* [[Gatling Good]]: The minigun is devastating, but makes you move ''very'' [[Awesome but Impractical|slowly while in use.]] [[Impossibly Cool Weapon|On the other hand, it can be deployed as a]] [[Sentry Gun]]. It's also Bruno's best weapon, and unlike Tyler, [[Lightning Bruiser|he isn't slowed by it at all.]]

* [[Harder Than Hard]]: Two additional [[Difficulty Levels]] if you complete the game. This only justs [[Numerical Hard|health]], and doesn't affect other parameters.

* [[Husky Russkie]]: Bruno, from the sound of it. Also possibly a [[Cool Old Guy]], given that he's 49.

* [[Level Editor]]

* [[Loading Screen]]

* [[Mini-Mecha]]: Tyler fights some, Isabel gets to drive one. All of them mount twin [[Gatling Good|gatling guns,]] Isabel's gets a [[Grenade Launcher]] for good measure. If you choose Luke or Bruno for the final levels they also get a crack at it.

* [[Multi Mook Melee]]: Though not on the scale of, say, [[Alien Shooter]]. These often take the place of [[Boss Fight|Boss Fights]] in ''Survivor.''

* [[Musical Spoiler]]: Heavy metal is always a sign that a battle is about to start. This is fine, except for one part, where what would be a harrowing battle with [[Invisibility Cloak|invisible Scytheworms]] is given away by the pounding music that strikes up as soon as you walk in, before.

* [[Notice This]]: Pickups are always framed by highly visible green brackets.

* [[Non-Action Guy]]: The scientists.

* [[Nuke'Em]]: Described as a "functional equivalent." The alternate fire of the Rocket Launcher spews all four rockets in one go, coupled with a uranium core. Makes a sizable boom.

* [[One Bullet Clips]]: literal with the Railgun before its ammunition upgrade. Averted only for a few weapons.

* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: {{spoiler|The hostilities were a last resort, but attempts at non-hostile communication were perceived as such. When the protagonists aren't hampered by the attacks, they resort to an extremely detailed explanation.}}

* [[The Paralyzer]]: The Pulse Rifle's [[Secondary Fire]] acts like a [[Static Stun Gun]]. It's largely useless as it's painfully short ranged and only affects weaker enemies. Luke's pistol uses this, while his pulse rifle gains a much more useful underbarrel [[Grenade Launcher]]. Isabel can throw stun grenades, which are much more useful.

* [[RPG Elements]]: In ''Survivor''. Earn [[Experience Points]], [[Level Up]], spend the resulting skillpoints on increased health, [[Critical Hit|critical hits,]] etc.

* [[Saving the World]]: Obviously this is what you're trying to do, {{spoiler|but so are the aliens! See [[Twist Ending]] below.}}

* [[Secondary Fire]]: Each weapon has one, [[Evolving Weapon|as an upgrade.]]

* [[Sentry Gun]]: Tyler uses [[Aliens|a few small deployable ones in the first game to protect an outpost from incoming aliens.]] Bruno gets to operate a huge one with a [[Gatling Good|Gatling gun]] and [[Grenade Launcher]].

* [[Short-Range Shotgun]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]], it has full range like other bullet weapons, but could still miss by being aimed short (via free camera mode)

* [[Sniper Rifle]]: The [[Magnetic Weapons|Railgun]] functions as one, with the added benefit of penetrating multiple targets. It can be upgraded to have [[Pinball Projectile|rebounding shots.]]

* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: Rampant.

* [[Take Your Time]]

* [[Ten-Second Flashlight]]: Which scares off the weak bug enemies and reveals the cloaked Scytheworms. [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''Survivor.''

* [[Twist Ending]]: {{spoiler|The aliens were trying to ''save'' us from their antimatter ''gift.'' They only resorted to deploying bio-engineered troops when we ignored their warnings. [[Humans Are Warriors|When that failed too,]] their only remaining option was to beg us not to activate the anti-matter bomb. It worked. [[Aliens Are Bastards|Still, nice job killing almost an entire colony, aliens.]]}}

* [[Universal Poison]]: Isabel's pistol can be upgraded to inflict this, dealing damage over time.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: ''Survivor's'' characters have a much more limited arsenal then Tyler, but each set is suited to that character's appearance and battles. Luke is a marine, therefore he primarily uses the pulse rifle. Bruno's apparently just an exterminator ([[Big Creepy-Crawlies|regardless of the size of the bugs in question]]) but wears fuel canisters around his belt and his nickname is "Napalm", so: [[Fire-Breathing Weapon|Flamethrower.]] Isabel primarily uses the Railgun.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Survival Horror]]

[[Category:Video Game]]