History Main / ForebodingArchitecture

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at one point in EnslavedOdysseyToTheWest. The power cell the characters are looking for is in the middle of a big boss-type arena with health and ammo littered all around and they're rightly suspicious of it. Then the boss charges in.

* The combat system of ''{{Anachronox}}'' requires that most battles take place in large, squarish, completely empty regions of floor which stand out against the generally narrow hallways, making these plazas as foreboding as the space monsters invariably hanging out in the middle of them. Subverted in one area, with a tentacled monster waiting for you in just such a plaza. Turns out he's a vegetarian, and he just wants to swap recipes.

* Although ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}: Deadly Shadows'' is pretty much completely filled with foreboding architecture (and music) I think we all knew, as soon as we started Robbing the Cradle, that this was going to be unpleasant. (Though we could not have anticipated how scary it really was.)

* Monsters ''love'' to crash through windows in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series. In RE 2, when you are forced to enter the suspect-side of a one-way mirrored interrogation room, everyone knew what was coming next. When Capcom released the Gamecube Remake of ''Resident Evil'', one of the more effective scares was triggering the zombie dogs to crash through the windows much later in the game, when people had become complacent.

* ''{{Minecraft}}'' has this for its dungeons. Do you see a wall of cobblestone or moss cobblestone within a cave? That's a dungeon with a spawner ready to spit out monsters when you approach it.

* The ''{{Metroid}} Prime'' series (hell, possibly the ''whole'' series) has the hint referenced above.

* ''UnchartedDrakesFortune''. You know there're going to be baddies up ahead if you encounter conveniently placed objects that serve as cover, usually low stone walls or crates.

* Several bosses in ''LaMulana'' can be found in dead-ends with unique-looking architecture that seem pretty useless...that is until you've fulfilled some [[GuideDangIt obscure]] requirements and have at least one Ankh Jewel, at which point an Ankh will appear in that room and the music will change.

* In the game [[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R]], if you see a small room with no lights, be sure that there will be a replica assassin (an invisible melee enemy) inside, waiting on a corner on the ceiling. be carefull with the elevators, too.

* In the game [[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R]], if you see a small room whit no lights, be sure that there will be a replica assassin (an invisible melee enemy) inside, waiting on a corner on the ceiling. be carefull whit the elevators, too.

* Similarly, the ''{{Castlevania}}'' series actually has the doors leading to boss fights look and act entirely differently from doors anywhere else.

* In {{Blood}}, if it's ground, prepare for zombies climbing out of it. If it's a gargoyle statue, prepare for it [[MistakenForGranite coming to life]]. If it's a small hole or a passageway too low for you to fit even when crouching, prepare for rats, spiders or, worse, Hell Hands to emerge from it. If it's water, there will be Bone Eels and Gill Beasts. If it's dark, prepare for phantasms. If it's neither of the above, Cultists and Fanatics are waiting for you.

* Although ''{{Thief}}: Deadly Shadows'' is pretty much completely filled with foreboding architecture (and music) I think we all knew, as soon as we started Robbing the Cradle, that this was going to be unpleasant. (Though we could not have anticipated how scary it really was.)

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands'' and ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' are full of this; wander in to a ramshackle of scrap metal with skulls everywhere? Bandits are about to start pouring out.

* In the ''{{Half-Life}}'' series, if you're in a dark enclosed space, there is usually going to be a headcrab. If it's dark space with a high ceiling, it's going to be a barnacle. And if you're in water, there will be either those killer shrimps or a swimming dinosaur.
** In the sequel, with such a focus on their physics engine, big fights can be pre-empted by masses of saws, exploding barrels and cinderblocks.

* In ''TheDarkSpire'', the appearance of the surrounding area will drastically change a few steps before the Final Boss assuming you're using the Modern display mode.

** The same applies to most cover-based games, such as ''GearsOfWar'' and ''MassEffect''- contrary to what most players will be used to, if you're in a wide open arena you're probably safe. If you see lots of waist-high obstructions, expect trouble.

* You are playing ''MassEffect 2''. You have just walked through a winding hallway and are about to enter a very large room with plenty of chest-high walls. What do you do? If your answer isn't send your squad to hiding position and start hitting any preparatory powers before taking a storm-speed dash for the closest wall, you've not been playing for very long.

* In the ''{{Half-Life}}'' series, if you're in a dark enclosed space, there is usually going to be a headcrab. If it isn't that, it's a barnacle. And if you're in water, there will be either those killer shrimps or a swimming dinosaur.

* In the ''{{Half-Life}}'' series, if you're in a dark enclosed space, there is usually going to be a headcrab. If it isn't that, it's a barnacle. And if you're in water, there will be either those killer shrimps or a [[NightmareFuel swimming dinosaur]].

* Played with in ''Left4Dead''. The enemies are randomized, so you're basically hoping and praying that a Tank doesn't show up when you're in a tight area, or a Charger when you're on a high area with no guard railings.

* In the ''{{Half-Life}}'' series, if you're in a dark enclosed space, there is usually going to be a headcrab. If it isn't that, it's a barnacle. And if you're in water, there will be either those killer shrimps or a [[NightmareFuel swimming dinosaur]].
** In the sequel, with such a focus on their physics engine, big fights can be pre-empted by masses of saws, exploding barrels and cinderblocks.
** According to the commentary for Episode One, beta testers will occasionly recognise the signs of a headcrab nest (dark, small room, no windows, hey what's that in the corner...) and be so pre-emptively frightened that they'll simply stand outside and use all their ammo to incinerate the room, instead of entering and killing the crab with one shot.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', dark areas usually mean that the Spectre demon will show up, as it is hard to see. Large open spaces practically mean arenas with humongous demonic armies teleporting in. Long hallways mean quickly opening monster compartments behind the walls. Large lifts (preferably with a pillar in the center) mean it's going to be a slow/long and ''painful'' way down as monsters shoot you from alcoves, or get up close and personal by teleporting in. And these are but a few...
* In ''TimeStalkers'' if there's a wide open room on the map you'd better believe that it's the last dungeon level boss fight.
* The [[BonusDungeon Chrysler Building]] in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve''. All of the building is made up of narrow hallways, but when you approach a large room and the music suddenly stops, you know a boss is right there.
* Generally, this trope is rarer in Role Playing Games, where boss fights are often telegraphed by [[BossBanter lengthy]] [[TalkingIsAFreeAction conversation]] and battles take place in a [[AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield pocket dimension]]. But in BaldursGate, one room on the third floor of a dungeon seems suspiciously large. The player slowly creeps into this too-wide and too-tall cave, anticipation mounting, when, all of a sudden, [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever MASSIVE DRAGON]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere OUT OF NOWHERE]].
** Even better, other than the Shadow Dragon, every dragon's lair in 2 and Throne of Bhaal has pretty much the exact same architecture: a long staircase from the upper-left/right of the map, leading down into a massive, dead-end hallway with pillars on the sides.
* In ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'' You can bet your supernatural arse that that a monster is going to jump out of a pool of gibs as soon as you get near it. Every. Single. Time.

* Monsters ''love'' to crash through windows in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series. In RE 2, when you are forced to enter the suspect-side of a one-way mirrored interrogation room, everyone knew what was coming next. When Capcom released the Gamecube Remake of ''Resident Evil'', one of the more effective scares was triggering the zombie dogs to crash through the windows much later in the game, when people had become complacent.
* Practically every narrow ledge in ''[[{{Banjo-Kazooie}} Banjo-Tooie]]'' requiring the Grip Grab to traverse will have a [[WallMaster Snapdragon]] leap out and attack you.
* In ''TheDarkSpire'', the appearance of the surrounding area will drastically change a few steps before the Final Boss assuming you're using the Modern display mode.
* The combat system of ''{{Anachronox}}'' requires that most battles take place in large, squarish, completely empty regions of floor which stand out against the generally narrow hallways, making these plazas as foreboding as the space monsters invariably hanging out in the middle of them. Subverted in one area, with a tentacled monster waiting for you in just such a plaza. Turns out he's a vegetarian, and he just wants to swap recipes.
* Although ''{{Thief}}: Deadly Shadows'' is pretty much completely filled with foreboding architecture (and music) I think we all knew, as soon as we started Robbing the Cradle, that this was going to be unpleasant. (Though we could not have anticipated how scary it really was.)
* Small alcoves in SeriousSam are usually a sign of an incoming marsh hopper wave.
** Wide, open space [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity with a few powerups in the middle?]] [[TheWarSequence Yeah, you're in trouble.]]
* You are playing ''MassEffect 2''. You have just walked through a winding hallway and are about to enter a very large room with plenty of chest-high walls. What do you do? If your answer isn't send your squad to hiding position and start hitting any preparatory powers before taking a storm-speed dash for the closest wall, you've not been playing for very long.
** Though it's subverted with the Collector Vessel mission. The ship is filled to the brim with conveniently-placed chest-high walls...but there are ''no enemies''. [[NothingIsScarier It's far creepier than it sounds]]. [[spoiler:The enemies don't come out until after you try to leave.]]
* The original ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' is the GRANDDADDY of of Foreboding Architecture... Between Hitler and other Nazi themed wall panels there was always a hideout or treasure trove nearby, or behind.

* Played with in ''Left4Dead''. The enemies are randomized, so you're basically hoping and praying that a Tank doesn't show up when you're in a tight area, or a Charger when you're on a high area with no guard railings.
* All of the Bowser levels from ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' end with green checkered stairs that get smashed away by meteorites before the boss battle against [[BigBad Bowser]].
** The original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' has Bowser's fire flying past you to show that you are almost near a (fake, or in the final level's case, real) Bowser at the end.

*** From ZeroPunctuation: "Another thing that characterizes the Gears of War universe is chest-high walls. The two opposing armies have both realized that chest-high walls are the key to victory. Every single battleground is littered with chest-high walls, everyone's bombs seem specifically designed to reduce buildings to chest-high walls, the Locusts have developed technology to make chest-high walls rise out of the ground, and if all else fails Mother Nature herself will step in and make rocks fall from the ceiling forming chest-high walls!"

* In ''TheElderScrolls'' series the type of a dungeon usually indicates which kind of enemies you will encounter, but not always. For example, dwemer ruins contain automatons, daedric ruins contain daedra, crypts/catacombs contain undead etc. Usually the more important a quest is the more likely this trope is averted.

** Even better, other than the Shadow Dragon, every dragon's lair in 2 and Throne of Bhaal has pretty much the exact same architecture: a large staircase from the upper-left/right of the map, leading down into a massive, long room.

* In the game [[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R]] if you see a small room whit no lights, there will be a replica assassin (an invisible melee enemy).