History Main / VideoGameCrueltyPunishment

[[VGCats http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vgc_chickenlink.jpg]]
[[caption-width:200:Dear sweet [[LegendOfZelda Triforce]], ''the chickens!'']]

* In [[AssassinsCreed Assassin's Creed]], if you repeatedly kill innocent civilians, your "Synchronization Meter" (health bar) with start to go down.
** And if that's not enough penalty, killing more than three in a small timeframe will automatically give you a game over, so rampages are impossible even with high health.
** The sequel doesn't make you lose synchronization, but insteads sticks with the "kill three and you lose" rule.
*** However, there is a timer between each civvie death, meaning that if you wait long enough after killing two, you can kill another two without getting the NonStandardGameOver. ThisTroper twigged onto this while taking the most direct route to solve the horrifying Troubadour infestation Renaissance Italy seems plagued with.
** Wait till you finish the whole story, then hehe, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential have fun making body piles!]]

*** This was an incredibly vicious example. To be as brief as I can: at the time, the only way to get the uppermost PVP gear was to grind literally weeks upon weeks upon weeks of Battlegrounds in order to make your Rank (and new gear could only be purchased upon attaining a specific Rank, with newer and better gear at each subsequent and higher rank) - the lower ranks could be easily achieved one per week, but once you got to the point where you were actually able to buy the really good gear, it could often take multiple weeks to gain a single rank. Thus, the top three ranks - with their ultimate, top-end gear - were a culmination of '''months''' of effort '''and''' being among the top 5 'honor' gainers of your faction. A herculean effort to begin with... and then we come to the Dishonorable Kills, or [=DKs=]. [=DKs=] didn't just sap your honor, no. They sapped your '''overall progress''' at a tune of 2% per DK. This translates to each civilian at high Rank costing you as much as a '''week's worth of effort.''' Making matters worse was that if you were in a party ''or a raid'' with someone as they killed a civilian - '''even if you were nowhere near the civilian in question''' - you would ''also'' be saddled with that DK and subsequent blow to your progress. This Troper was hilariously fucked out of the ultimate rank when some random schmuck in a raid he was in killed ''three'' Civilians at once, costing him '''a full month of progress.''' This Troper ''does not miss'' Dishonorable Kills. At all. In any way.

** Additionally, in this one and the sequel, getting caught pickpocketing, killing {{NPC}}s, or summoning something that kills {{NPC}}s activates a toned-down version of Everything Trying to Kill You... this troper supposes it could be called Every {{NPC}} Trying To Kill You.

** Also, stealing from the store in ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' causes all the {{NPC}}s to refer to you as THIEF for the rest of the game. Plus the shopkeeper zaps you to death if you're dumb enough to go back into the store.

*** There is some punishment that this player found out after getting the achievement. The first day of release, player goes to get the turkey achievement. Afterward, sees that all enemies are hostile and is delighted since being a hunter with a gorilla that means easy grinding XP on the normally neutral mob packs. Get to an area with a quest NPC that is a dryad and does not offer quests as they are neutral. As well all the other normally friendly/green dryads become attackable NPCs. Was really annoying first time through and took the player a little while to figure out what happened.

** A lesser example involves NPCs. Kill someone to buy their house at a lower price, and you'll end up making less money than if you just bought it fair and square.

At least, that's how it usually is. Sometimes a game will allow you to be cruel, but will make sure that you get your comeuppance for doing so. Were you laughing gleefully while chaingunning your [[RedshirtArmy fellow soldiers]]? You probably won't be when the rest of them [[TheDogBitesBack turn against you]] and fill you with bullets. Were you butchering unarmed scientists who were [[PunchClockVillain just doing their jobs?]] You may have been amused, but [[JamesBond MI6]] wasn't - [[NonstandardGameOver mission failed]]. Did you stab that passing InnocentBystander to death? Turns out he had critical information, and now [[UnWinnable you can't finish the game]].

** "[[strike:Somewhat utilized]]"... NO! UTILIZED TO THE EXTREME!!

** Likewise, if you go on a major killing spree in ''MGS4'', you collapse to the ground and throw up from the gore. All while the villain's mocking voice echoes in your head.

* In ''TheGodfather'' game, getting your Heat up too high by killing too many civilians, policemen or security guards would instantly negate the temporary immunity from police attention that you could bribe a DirtyCop into giving. Kill enough gangsters from one Family and you could max your Vendetta, starting a MobWar. Abuse a shopkeeper or racket boss too much and they would fight back, so you couldn't get them to switch to the Corleone side for a while. If you kill one of your shopkeepers or racket bosses, you would lose the income from them for a while.

** Wait till you finish the whole story, then hehe, [[[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential have fun making body piles!]]

** Wait till you finish the whole story, then hehe, [[videogamecrueltypotential have fun making a pile of body in any city!]]

** FreeSpace 2 actually makes a ''mission'' out of this. While undercover, you're instructed to shoot down a civilian transport. If you do, your superiors will acknowledge that you did it to maintain cover, and comment that it was an admirable sacrifice. [[NonStandardGameOver But you'll still be executed for violating BETAC.]]

* In Novalogic's F-22 games, there is usually a mission where you are part of the force escorting Air Force One. Normally, when you acquire a target, its designated enemies only. When you highlight your friendlies with your radar, they don't mind. However, even HIGHLIGHT, let alone shoot at Air Force One, and all 30+ escort planes will shoot your ass down - in addition to any friendly SAMs around.

** In the german version, this is all you can do. [[spoiler: Shooting the civilians nets you an instant game over, as well.]]