Enemy Chatter: Difference between revisions

Sometimes, to show that the enemies aren't ''just'' mindless [[NPC|NPCs]]s whose sole purpose is to provide a [[Everything Trying to Kill You|threat to the player]], the developers may throw in some dialogue here and there if the enemies can speak the same language as the hero. This can either be the dialog equivalent of a [[Random Encounters|Random Encounter]], in which they mindlessly babble from a handful of pre-selected phrases (i.e. "Did you see anything?"), or entire [[Scripted Sequence|scripted sequences]] with full-blown dialog between two or more enemies.

They're ''still'' mindless [[NPC|NPCs]]s whose sole purpose is to provide a threat to the player, but [[Mauve Shirt|now they have personality]], and the player may feel sorry about killing them (well, depending on circumstances, the dialogue might just as well establish the NPCs as being major [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es or even [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]s, anyway). [[Retirony]] may also be used to further hammer the point home.

* ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' featured some of the first in-game speech, when its [[World War Two]] German soldiers would shout at the player to stop in German. By the time ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' was released, they were ready to include some standard-issue [['''Enemy Chatter]]'''... but now it was all in English!

* ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Star Wars Dark Forces: Jedi Knight]]'' and its sequels, ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'', featured mooks making either funny, humanizing, or disturbing small talk before you murdered them. (Quoth a Stormtrooper in Darth Vader's fortress: "I hope ''I'' never see a lightsaber ..." right before Kyle Katarn rushes past the player -- aplayer—a different character in this installment -- andinstallment—and hacks them to bits.)

* All of the English-speaking enemies (and their victims!) in the MMORPG ''[[City of Heroes]]'' have surprisingly extensive (and amusing!) repertoires of dialogue -- repertoiresdialogue—repertoires that get larger and more varied with each major update of the game (and which have recently started to include some [[Lampshade Hanging]] and [[No Fourth Wall]] comments about the setting).

* Subversion: In the PC game ''Vivisector: Beast Inside'', only some versions of the human enemies and the Black and White Wolf Overbrutes have some form of distinguishable [['''Enemy Chatter]]'''; the rest can only growl and make other animal noises. This is, for the most part, explained away as the animalistic enemies not being taught human speech by their creator, with the exception of the [[Hum Animal]] leader Lion.

* ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' had an interesting variation on the trope--thetrope—the [[Player Character]], an alien, is psychic and needs to absorb psychic energy to be recharge, much of the [['''Enemy Chatter]]''' is in fact the hidden ''thoughts'' of the various humans (many of which reveal hidden sexual predilections, deep-seated stupidity and numerous pop culture [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]]) that the player encounters. The standard kind of chatter can also be heard as well. And scanning an agent's mind in the first game might have him wondering why does Silhouette give him the shitty jobs, then says that maybe he hit on her at a party, then scratches the thought because no one is supposed to know that Silhouette is a chick.

* The ''[[Ace Combat]]'' series loves this; apparently everyone on the battlefield uses the same radio frequency. You can hear allied air and ground forces, enemy air and ground forces, and sometimes even ''civilians''. They often respond to the player's actions -- foractions—for example, an enemy who you have locked on to will start to panic, enemies you've shot down will cry mayday or report that they're ejecting. Enemies that must survive for plotline reasons can still be shot down -- anddown—and their radio chatter will inform you that they're returning to base with a severely damaged aircraft (not to mention that they're ''pissed'' at you, and yelling at their friends to shoot you down). In later missions, both enemies and allies will react to your reputation. Flying air support over a ground battle, troops on both sides will recognize your plane's insignia and celebrate or despair.

* One of the more disturbing elements of the ''[[Call of Duty]]'' series is that the enemy is always speaking in foreign languages, but you can ''tell'' that they're actually conversing in that language, which makes it feel all the more like you're fighting [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s. It gets real disturbing when you start hearing them calling out each other's ''names'', and realize they're using the same basic chatter as your allies.

* One of the oldest examples would have to be ''Ys II'', where red-headed hero Adol can acquire a spell that transforms him into a cute little monster, allowing him to pass unharmed through the enemy ranks - and allowing him to talk to every single monster in the game like they were a regular NPC, thus revealing that even the freakiest-looking among them are mild-mannered [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s who are scared and upset at the 'red-haired demon' running around slaughtering their friends, workmates and family members.

** It being ''Deus Ex'', you can also read their email, diaries and memos. One particularly jarring example comes in the first (optional) MJ12 facility under New York: an email to all employees discusses details about the upcoming company picnic. You can return there when you next visit New York--ifYork—if you infiltrated it first time around without harming the "employees", you run into the MJ12 cleanup team that dumped the original inhabitants' bodies into the sewers. [[Anvilicious]]!

* One of the most irritating parts of the otherwise outstanding ''[[Spider-Man]] 2: [[The Movie]]'' game was the very small amount of soundbites provided to both the titular hero and the [[NPC|NPCs]]s and villains he encounters. They got very old, very fast. Doubly annoying given how long the game takes to complete...

* One of the few high points of the [[The Problem with Licensed Games|largely disappointing]] ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' games was the highly amusing [['''Enemy Chatter]]''' in one sequence of the first game, with Fire Nation soldiers swapping recipes and debating what birthday presents to buy their kids.

** That's a standard audio cue from the AI indicating that it's detected the player (or theoretically an NPC) who's sneaking near them. Though only a handful of NPCs actually use stealth in the game, and even then it's thematic, not actual gameplay. Gets rather ridiculous when it is said by a blind monk-- thatmonk—that monk must ''really'' be getting into the ale then.

* ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' has the enemies giving clues as to what they're doing and their alert level--onlevel—on the other hand, at higher difficulty levels, they speak in their native language: Korean.

* ''[[Iji]]'' has the protagonist reading computer logbooks written by enemies that function more like [['''Enemy Chatter]]''' than an [[Apocalyptic Log]].

* Enemy ships in the ''[[X (video game)|X-Universe]]'' series will broadcast for help when they're taking damage, yell that their shields are down to their allies, and taunt you -- evenyou—even if they're about to die.