History VideoGame / Shadowgrounds

* OrcusOnHisThrone: [[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.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Attempts by the aliens to warn humans about the danger of AntiMatter technology were interpreted as threats.]]

* EnergyWeapon: The Laser Rifle, as well as the LightningGun.

* FrickinLaserBeams: One of the available weapons is a laser rifle. It fires distinct bolts of energy which are significantly slower than bullets. Unless you use the alternate firing mode.

* BenevolentPrecursors: Played with. On one hand [[spoiler: the aliens spread the knowledge of anti-matter throughout the universe to help other races.]] However, this was before [[spoiler: their research into anti-matter destroyed their homeworld and the majority of the alien race.]] To prevent this from happening again [[spoiler: the aliens are willing to wage war on lower races before they can destroy entire systems in their use of anti-matter.]]

* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: All over the place.
* InterfaceSpoiler: The load game screen shows how many missions there are.

* GatlinGood: Acts as Bruno's best weapon, and unlike Tyler from the previous game, [[LightningBruiser he isn't slowed by it at all.]]

''Shadowgrounds'' is [[TopDownView Top-Down]] ShootEmUp developed by Frozenbyte software (creators of VideoGame/{{Trine}}) and originally released in November of 2005 in Finland and Germany, making its way to the rest of Europe and North America in the ensuing months. It became available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in May of 2006.

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!! This game provides examples of:

* ASpaceMarineIsYou: For the most part. Played completely straight in ''Survivor'' with Luke, who is in fact a SpaceMarine.

* ArtificialStupidity: If Brutes lose sight of the player for more than a few seconds, they'll fall back into their normal patrol route. It's a very handy way to eliminate them one at a time with Railgun shots to the back, then retreating when the other Brutes come looking for revenge.

* BaldOfAwesome: Bruno.

* BulletTime: Isabel's Special Attack. It's called "Killing Spree" and keeps a running tally of how many kills you make for the twelve seconds it stays on.

* ColossusClimb: Luke's special attack. Time freezes while he takes down Brutes using this method and a pistol.

* DeadlyGas: The GrenadeLauncher's SecondaryFire shoots a gas grenade. Bruno can throw gas grenades.

* DifficultButAwesome: In the first game, Tyler's Paralyzing taser from the Plasma Rifle upgrade. It has a very small range and reach but will paralyze all but bosses, even '''Shielded Brutes''', excelling in taking care of enemies which generally comes in small numbers. With good aim one can take care of the toughest enemies only with the taser and a pistol.

* EnemyDetectingRadar: Functions as a motion tracker. You always have it in the first game, but must buy it with skillpoints in ''Survivor.''

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: 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=].

* GatlingGood: The minigun is devastating, but makes you move ''very'' [[AwesomeButImpractical slowly while in use.]] [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon On the other hand, it can be deployed as a]] SentryGun. It's also Bruno's best weapon, and unlike Tyler, [[LightningBruiser he isn't slowed by it at all.]]

* HuskyRusskie: Bruno, from the sound of it. Also possibly a CoolOldGuy, given that he's 49.
* IAteWhat: In ''Survivor'', Bruno takes a swig of his flamethrower's fuel. [[{{Squick}} It's also implied that he starts eating the aliens when he runs out of food.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: In ''Survivor'', inexplicably.
* MiniMecha: Tyler fights some, Isabel gets to drive one. All of them mount twin [[GatlingGood gatling guns,]] Isabel's gets a GrenadeLauncher for good measure. If you choose Luke or Bruno for the final levels they also get a crack at it.
* MultiMookMelee: Though not on the scale of, say, VideoGame/AlienShooter. These often take the place of [[BossFight Boss Fights]] in ''Survivor.''

* OneBulletClips: literal with the Railgun before its ammunition upgrade. Averted only for a few weapons.

* TheParalyzer:
** The Pulse Rifle's SecondaryFire acts like a StaticStunGun.
** In ''Survivor'' Luke's pistol uses this, while his pulse rifle gains a much more useful underbarrel GrenadeLauncher.
** Isabel can throw stun grenades.

* RPGElements: In ''Survivor''. Earn ExperiencePoints, LevelUp, spend the resulting skillpoints on increased health, [[CriticalHit critical hits,]] etc.

* SentryGun: Tyler uses [[Film/{{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 [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and GrenadeLauncher.
* SoleSurvivor: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Survivor]]'' is all about this.
* ShoutOut: Many to ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', most obviously the assault rifle being called a "Pulse Rifle" and looking a lot like one, too. There's also a big one to Film/IndependenceDay in the form of [[spoiler: A small alien ship being researched by humans for a lengthy period of time and then being used to infiltrate a mothership.]]

* TenSecondFlashlight: Which scares off the weak bug enemies and reveals the cloaked Scytheworms. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Survivor.''

* WeaponOfChoice: ''Survivor's'' characters have a much more limited arsenal than Tyler's, 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 ([[BigCreepyCrawlies regardless of the size of the bugs in question]]) but wears fuel canisters around his belt and his nickname is "Napalm", so: [[FireBreathingWeapon Flamethrower.]] Isabel primarily uses the Railgun.
* StandardStatusEffects: The pistol's SecondaryFire is a low-damage shot that slows enemies. Isabel's pistol can be upgrade to do this with every shot, with no damage reduction.

%%* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity
%%* TakeYourTime

* GenreSavvy: Tyler is a subtle example. After a few levels, he seems to take his OneManArmy status for granted, and by the endgame he fully expects to be sent in alone against overwhelming odds.

* DeflectorShields: On some enemies, though they really just act like more health.

* FrickinLaserBeams: One of the available weapons is a laser rifle. It fires distinct bolts of energy which are significantly slower than bullets.

* HarderThanHard: Two additional DifficultyLevels if you complete the game. This only justs [[NumericalHard health]], and doesn't affect other parameters.

''Shadowgrounds'' is [[TopDownView Top-Down]] ShootEmUp developed by Frozenbyte software (creators of VideoGame/{{Trine}}) and originally released in November of 2005 in Finland and Germany, making it's way to the rest of Europe and North America in the ensuing months. It became available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in May of 2006.

This game provides examples of:

* AlienInvasion

* EverybodysDeadDave

* GameLevel

* ItsUpToYou

* KleptomaniacHero
* LevelEditor
* LoadingScreen

* LostForever: If you miss one of the more powerful weapons (either by choice or accident), you don't get a future chance to grab it.

* Variations of {{Overheating}} can be removed for two weapons.

* TheParalyzer: The Pulse Rifle's SecondaryFire acts like a StaticStunGun.
** In ''Survivor'' Luke's pistol uses this, while his pulse rifle gains a much more useful underbarrel GrenadeLauncher. Isabel can throw stun grenades, which are much more useful.

* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: Rampant.
* TakeYourTime

* TwistEnding: [[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. [[HumansAreWarriors When that failed too,]] their only remaining option was to beg us not to activate the anti-matter bomb. It worked. [[AliensAreBastards Still, nice job killing almost an entire colony, aliens.]]]]

* XMeetsY: Check out the page image. It's really more like ''VideoGame/AlienBreed'' meets[[{{Metaphorgotten}} ... well,]] [[FollowTheLeader it's a lot like]] ''Alien Breed''.

''Shadowgrounds'' is [[TopDownView Top-Down]] ShootEmUp developed by Frozenbyte software (creators of VideoGame/{{Trine}}) and originally released in November of 2005 in Finland and Germany, making it's way to the rest of Europe and North America in the ensuing months. It became available on {{Steam}} in May of 2006.

* MultiMookMelee: Though not on the scale of, say, AlienShooter. These often take the place of [[BossFight Boss Fights]] in ''Survivor.''

* SniperRifle: The [[MagneticWeapons Railgun]] functions as one, with the added benefit of [[penetrating multiple targets.]] It can be upgraded to have [[PinballProjectile rebounding shots.]]

* WeaponOfChoice: ''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 ([[BigCreepyCrawlies regardless of the size of the bugs in question]]) but wears fuel canisters around his belt and his nickname is "Napalm", so: [[FireBreathingWeapon Flamethrower.]] Isabel primarily uses the Railgun.

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* DifficultButAwesome: Tyler's Paralyzing Tazer from the Plasma Rifle upgrade. It has a very small range and reach but will paralyze all but bosses, even '''Shielded Brutes''', excelling in taking care of enemies which generally comes in small numbers. With good aim one can take care of the toughest enemies only with the taser and a pistol.

* ComputerVirus: A virus was uploaded to the ISERcom systems, and gets purged by rebooting the mainframe.

* DifficultyButAwesome: Tyler's Paralyzing Tazer from the Plasma Rifle upgrade. It has a very small range and reach but will paralyze all but bosses, even '''Shielded Brutes''', excelling in taking care of enemies which generally comes in small numbers. With good aim one can take care of the toughest enemies only with the taser and a pistol.

* TheParalyzer: The Pulse Rifle's SecondaryFire acts like a StaticStunGun. 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 GrenadeLauncher. Isabel can throw stun grenades, which are much more useful.

* StandardFPSGuns: Pistol, [[{{Aliens}} Pulse Rifle,]] Shotgun, GrenadeLauncher, [[FireBreathingWeapon Flamethrower]], [[GatlingGood minigun,]] [[StuffBlowingUp Rocket Launcher]], [[MagneticWeapons Railgun,]] [[EnergyWeapon Laser Rifle,]] LightningGun.

* SentryGun: 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 [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and GrenadeLauncher.

* ShoutOut: Many to {{Aliens}}, most obviously the assault rifle being called a "Pulse Rifle" and looking a lot like one, too. There's also a big one to Film/IndependenceDay in the form of [[spoiler: A small alien ship being researched by humans for a lengthy period of time and then being used to infiltrate a mothership.]]

* AlwaysNight: Apparently, [[DidNotDoTheResearch Jupiter's light is insufficient.]]

''Shadowgrounds'' is [[TopDownView Top-Down]] ShootEmUp developed by Frozenbyte software (creators of VideoGame/{{Trine}}) and originally released in November of 2005 in Finland and Germany, making it's way to the rest of Europe and North America in the ensuing months. It became available on {{Steam}} in May of 2006.

This game provides examples of:

* AlwaysNight: Apparently, [[DidNotDoTheResearch Jupiter's light is insufficient.]]
* ApocalypseHow: Class X-2. The [[spoiler:second]] occurrence was stopped at the last minute.

* BulletTime: Isabel's Special Attack. It's called "Killing Spree" and keeps a running tally of how many kills you make for the twelve seconds it stays on.

* CheckPoint: If killed, you return a safer location within the level.
* ColossusClimb: Luke's special attack. Time freezes while he takes down Brutes using this method and a pistol.

* CutsceneDrop: Only a few inches.
* DeadlyGas: The {{Grenade Launcher}}'s SecondaryFire shoots a gas grenade. Bruno can throw gas grenades.

* GameplayAllyImmortality: During {{Escort Mission}}s, making them, well, [[AvertedTrope not really]] {{Escort Mission}}s. In a pinch, you can use you invincible allies as impenetrable shields.

* GenreSavvy: Tyler is a subtle example. After a few levels, he seems to take his OneManArmy status for granted, and by the endgame he fully expects to be sent in alone against overwhelming odds.

* [=~It's Up To You~=]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: In ''Survivor'', inexplicably.
* LostForever: If you miss one of the more powerful weapons (either by choice or accident), you don't get a future chance to grab it.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: The shotgun's assault fire. Two or three shells takes care of most basic enemies. Assault fire blasts all twelve rounds in the magazine off in quick succession.

* Variations of {{Overheating}} can be removed for two weapons.
* OneWorldOrder: The Earth government, called [[FunWithAcronyms IGTO.]]

* TheScapegoat: Since Tyler was a security guard when the lab explosion happened, he was demoted to technician.

* ShoutOut: Many to {{Aliens}}, most obviously the assault rifle being called a "Pulse Rifle" and looking a lot like one, too. There's also a big one to IndependenceDay in the form of [[spoiler: A small alien ship being researched by humans for a lengthy period of time and then being used to infiltrate a mothership.]]

* StandardFPSGuns: Pistol, [[{{Aliens}} Pulse Rifle,]] Shotgun, GrenadeLauncher, [[FireBreathingWeapon Flamethrower]], [[GatlingGood minigun,]] [[StuffBlowingUp Rocket Launcher]], [[MagneticWeapons Railgun,]] [[EnergyWeapon Laser Rifle,]] LightningGun.

* UnwinnableByMistake: A door won't open later if you spawn at the wrong checkpoint. WordOfGod recommends using the console, but the worst result for purists is to restart the level.

<<|SurvivalHorror|>>

* XMeetsY: Check out the page image. It's really more like AlienBreed meets[[{{Metaphorgotten}} ... well,]] [[FollowTheLeader it's a lot like]] AlienBreed.