History ShownTheirWork / VideoGames

* TraumaTeamUnderTheKnife has the GUILT diseases being based very real and VERY [[NightmareFuel frightening]] diseases not well known by the average joe. Also it subverts the idea of using a Defibrillator to get a pulse during the first game (which is a HUGE nono in reviving a person's heart)

** [[http://art-eater.com/2012/02/a-buddhists-guide-to-asuras-wrath-part-2-weapons-the-bishops-staff-and-hungry-ghosts/ The Second]] and [[http://art-eater.com/2012/03/a-buddhists-guide-to-asuras-wrath-part-3-weapons-the-vajra/ The third]] parts get even more specific.

* On the subject of Pripyat, the ''{{STALKER}}: Shadow of Chernobyl'' team definitely did the research (including several trips to the exclusion zone). Overlay the map of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from the game and the real one from Google Earth, for instance. Also, Pripyat is * almost* dead on. Other locations (Agroprom, for instance) are uncanny. Seeing photographs of the building that Agroprom is based on is chilling. Even the faded mural on a side wall is the same as in game

*** The artwork by Atlus' master designer and prolific series artist Kazuma Kaneko makes it even more delightful, giving ''every'' single monster its own spin while retaining a deep and clear understanding of ''who'' they are supposed to be. Even when ''ShinMegamiTensei'' games choose to derive its characters from popular culture, such as the [[GhostRider Hell Biker]], or [[AliceInWonderland Alice]], they're treated with care and attention to detail.

* The 90's Windows game ''OdellDownUnder'' has surprisingly detailed information on a number of aquatic species found in the Great Barrier Reef. Every time you start a game or a new round in a game there's an info screen which gives you details about the fish you're playing as. The whole point of the game, in fact, is to keep your fish alive by having it eat what it actually eats, avoid predators, and get cleaned by cleaner fish. The sharks didn't always need cleaner fish however, thanks to the remoras that live on sharks and eat their parasites. There was even an in-game fish encyclopedia on the title screen that gave detail on other lifeforms you couldn't play as like plankton and algae.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'': Valve did extensive period research to accurately recreate the look and feel of the 50's, 70's, and 80's-era Aperture Laboratories facilities deep beneath the modern Enrichment Center. They also initially located the facility in a real abandoned salt mine in Cleveland, Ohio, although the game itself mysteriously {{retcon}}s this to be in Michigan. But the ultimate example is found in the FinalBoss battle, where it is an important detail (that very nearly fell victim to RealityIsUnrealistic) that the portal gun's "shots" travel at the speed of light. [[spoiler:Question: What's 1.4 seconds away at the speed of light? Answer: The Moon.]] Also, [[MundaneMadeAwesome the amount of experimentation and research they put into deducing that smooth jazz is in fact the funniest type of music]].

* THQ are huge wrestling fans and they put in a staggering amount of work to get the storylines and angles as accurate as possible. ''No Mercy'' faithfully recreated the [=McMahon=]\Helmsley era, Smackdown! had accurate depictions of everything from the draft to Booker T and Golddust, and Smackdown vs Raw? Well, the Legends Tour begins with [[EvilForeigner Mohammed Hassan]] being detained at the airport, then goes on to make digs at the MontrealScrewjob, a recreation of the legendary Hell in a Cell with Mankind and TheUndertaker, StoneColdSteveAustin playing to the crowd, the list goes on.

* The original ''{{Age of Empires}}'' allowed you to click on any unit, piece of rock, shrub etc - then expand into an encyclopediac background history of said unit/rock/shrub. From a longboat to an elm tree, every item was meticulously mapped out in depth.
** Similarly, its successor ''Age of Mythology'' has a massive encyclopaedia dedicated to the mythological creatures. Right down to listing not just the names of the original Valkyries, but ''what each name meant''.

* THQ are huge wrestling fans and they put in a staggering amount of work to get the storylines and angles as accurate as possible. ''No mercy'' faithfully recreated the [=McMahon=]\Helmsley era, Smackdown! had accurate depictions of everything from the draft to Booker T and Golddust, and Smackdown vs Raw? Well, the Legends Tour begins with [[EvilForeigner Mohammed Hassan]] being detained at the airport, then goes on to make digs at the MontrealScrewjob, a recreation of the legendary Hell in a Cell with Mankind and TheUndertaker, StoneColdSteveAustin playing to the crowd, the list goes on.

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' has ''reams'' of encyclopedic info on how everything in the Mass Effect universe works, and it makes a fairly clear distinction between what's supposed to be realistic and where the AppliedPhlebotinum in the form of the eponymous mass effect comes in. There's far more to read than you'll ever have to to successfully finish the game.
** It must be said that some of it is just very good {{Handwaving}}, though. For example, the titular "mass effect" caused by element zero is more or less impossible, at least with our current understanding of physics. On the other hand, a lot of thought clearly went into the ramifications of such a substance, and its effects are consistent in-universe.

** The ''GoldenSun'' series in general is ''very'' good at geography and history. Many of the {{WackyWaysideTribe}}s and villages are FantasyCounterpartCulture versions of real historical places and cultures, right down to architecture and, if you looked at the stoves/ovens, [[FoodPorn local cuisine]].

** ZUN also knows a bit about spiders. Yamame Kurodani's design and behavior seem to be based on Japanese orb weavers, genus ''Argiope'', which are [[WasActuallyFriendly actually quite docile, outgoing, and harmless to humans despite their scary appearance and often vivid coloring]].

* The two ''{{Buffy}}'' games on {{XBOX}}, the first in particular, are very accurate in capturing the look, feel, and humor of the series. Numerous references,{{CallBack}}s, and {{CallForward}}s are used, as are most of the voice actors.

* In [[{{Halo}} Halo 3]], there is a cutscene near the end of the level "The Ark," where 343 Guilty Spark mentions how they are "2[[superscript:18]] light-years from the galactic core" (of the Milky Way). This adds up 262,144 light-years. The Milky Way is only 100,000 light-years in diameter. Nerds rejoiced.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'''s summon sequences include several notable corrections to the... erm... [[SadlyMythtaken liberties they'd taken]] with the first two games' summons, though most are still [[SadlyMythtaken quite inaccurate]].

* At times, ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'' takes a little time out to justify some 'RealityIsUnrealistic' moments (which, in a game that is very much a WidgetSeries, is saying something), such as explaining that there are types of [[SavePoint frog]] that ''can'' survive in desert climates, or that [[MoleMiner mole tunnels]] actually can be incredibly complex in real life (even [[AntiPoopSocking encouraging the player]] to go and mole-watching sometime).

* Shogun 2: TotalWar uses a woodblock printing art style all over the place. Creative Assembly had their artists study traditional techniques for over a year to get it right.
* The two {{Buffy}} games on XBOX, the first in particular, are very accurate in capturing the look, feel and humor of the series. Numerous references and Call Backs\Call Forwards are used, as are most of the voice actors.
** Two of the KimPossible games for the Game Boy Advance; ''Drakken's Demise'' and especially ''Team Possible,'' play almost as lost episodes of the series. It starts with the same type of zany plot the show is famous for (a plot to steal Kim's photo album to lead her into a trap set by Monkey Fist, then the album taken by the Senors to a night club in space) and it goes uphill from there.
* Westwood's [[DuneII Dune]] [[EmperorBattleForDune Games]] depart heavily from the Duniverse with regards to storyline, factions and characterisation. That said, the dialogue in particular is so chock full of tiny references and nods to the books that one gets the feeling that with all the liberties taken, the makers still knew the books by heart.
** They also managed to replicate DavidLynch's style to a tee during cutscenes.
* CyberConnect2 and AsurasWrath, most definitely: [[http://art-eater.com/2012/01/a-buddhists-guide-to-asuras-wrath/ This page]] describes the extensive amounts of Buddhist symbolism in the game, and inspirations for its visuals. Just for example, the way the Demigods are injured is made to resemble the damage done to old Buddhist gilt lacquer statues.

** The series also generally averts SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying, [[RuleOfCool design details aside.]] As given information is accurate and the series draws upon a somewhat wider range of species than most media (an anomalocaris-like biped, A eurypterid, crinoids, Archelon etc.).

** Less annoyingly, the military tends to get a realistic presentation in the games, though it goes back and forth. Solid/Naked Snake's [[RuleOfCool CQC]] is completely ridiculous, but it's pleasing to watch the normal soldiers move and act as whole squads, with the squad leader even giving them hand signals. In ''[[MetalGearSolid4 Guns of the Patriots]],'' the advantages conferred by the SOP system are logical extensions of basic teamwork and squad tactics instead of magical {{gamebreaker}}s, to the point where experienced veterans, or even well-trained newbies ''without'' SOP can defeat less experienced combatants who are using it.

** They tend to show their work on most of the other mythology as well. In addition to the demon/persona designs mentioned above, they sometimes work it into the plot; for instance, one sidequest in ''StrangeJourney'' involves [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariti Hariti]] getting a hankering for [[EatsBabies babies]] and requesting that you find a pomegranate to keep her cravings in check, since she's sworn off them.

** Cappadocia, as we see it rendered in ''AssassinsCreedRevelations'' is also particularly impressive.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'': Valve did extensive period research to accurately recreate the look and feel of the 50's, 70's, and 80's-era Aperture Laboratories facilities deep beneath the modern Enrichment Center. They also initially located the facility in a real abandoned salt mine in Cleveland, Ohio, although the game itself mysteriously {{retcon}}s this to be in Michigan. But the ultimate example is found in the FinalBoss battle, where it is an important detail (that very nearly fell victim to RealityIsUnrealistic) that the portal gun's "shots" travel at the speed of light. [[spoiler:Question: What's 1.4 seconds away at the speed of light? Answer: The Moon.]] Also, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome the amount of experimentation and research they put into deducing that smooth jazz is in fact the funniest type of music]].

*** The accuracy is also prevalent in how the different meanings are portrayed differently in both 3 and 4, but still being accurate. Even further, ''Persona 3 Portible''[='=]s female route (that some would dismiss as fanservice) still sticks to the representations of the arcana in the new social links. Notably, it gives a new and deeper meaning for the Fortune ([[spoiler:Ryoji Mochizuki]]), Moon ([[spoiler:Shinjiro Aragaki]]) and Strength (Koromaru) Arcana.

** And the main ''ShinMegamiTensei'' series uses a fair bit of actual Gnostic mythology. As much as the setting's FantasyKitchenSink allows them to.

*** Despite what the games would have you belive at first glance, the entire universe is well thought out, such as with the workings of all weapons, in the novels. In fact, I cannot think of one thing in the fiction that is technically not possible.

** The Pripyat mission actually shows either a rather glaring DidNotDoTheResearch, or possibly relied on the {{Rule of Cool}} to permit reorganizing the city. In the mission, you rappel out of the back of the hotel, run down some streets, down some alleys, through some buildings, through some coutyards, through some more buildings, and out through the pool on the way to the iconic ferris wheel. In the real Pripyat you can remove every step after rappelling out of the back of the hotel... Because you're there. Okay, you have a short little walk across the park, maybe a hundred yards, top. Ironically, their effort to show their work by including every landmark made it ''less'' accurate.
** Actually it is pretty accurate; when you fly away in the helicopter at the end of the mission, you pass right by the burning hotel building, which is very close to the ferris wheel. The reason you have to go through all the buildings and courtyards is because there's stuff in the way and you're trying to lose the hordes of Russian mercenaries trying to kill you, so you have to take the detour.

* [[http://art-eater.com/2012/02/a-buddhists-guide-to-asuras-wrath-part-2-weapons-the-bishops-staff-and-hungry-ghosts/ The Second]] and [[http://art-eater.com/2012/03/a-buddhists-guide-to-asuras-wrath-part-3-weapons-the-vajra/ The third]] parts get even more specific.

** They also managed to replicate DavidLynch's style to a tee during cutscenes.

* Westwood's DuneII and EmperorBattleForDune had lots of liberties taken with regards to the Duniverse, be it the story, characterisation or the factions. That said, all the games are also chock full of tiny references, nods and pointers to the books. One gets the sense that for the liberties taken, the makers were still very much informed about Dune.

** Two of the KimPossible games for the Game Boy Advance; ''Drakken's Demise'' and especially ''Team Possible,'' play almost as lost episodes of the series. It starts with the same type of zany plot the show is famous for (a plot to steal Kim's photo album to lead her into a trap set by Monkey Fist, then the album taken by the Senors to a night club in space) and it goes uphill from there.

* For ''LANoire'', Team Bondi and Rockstar used over [[BeyondTheImpossible 180,000 photographs]] to map out and detail 1947 Los Angeles.