Kicking them while they're down IS VIGILANCE!
Justine: This asshole town! We truck hundreds of safety alarms over here for them, free, and they won't even take them? We're going to remind them why safety is important.
Marcy: Like in Harville?
Justine: ...Yes. You remember self defence training?
Marcy: Like in Harville?
Justine: ...Yes. You remember self defence training?
Two young women are promoting safety on college campuses by handing out personal alarms. Unfortunately, when they first arrive, the college students don't want any. How to solve this problem? Why, show them just how dangerous the park can be at night ... personally. FEAR IS VIGILANCE!
Fear is Vigilance is a minimalist Beat 'em Up originally created for Ludum Dare
(a 48-hour game creation competition) by randomnine. The current version of the game can be found here.
Tropes
- Achievement System: Implemented here as merit badges.
- Action Girl: Justine and Marcy clearly make great use of their self-defense training and win plenty of fights over the course of the game.
- Catchphrase: "FEAR IS VIGILANCE!"
- Cosmetic Award: The various Merit Badges. They don't unlock anything, and they function more or less as achivements.
- Cruelty Is the Only Option: You are not going to give away many personal alarms until you start beating people up.
- Diegetic Interface: The level select for Arcade Mode is represented as destinations on a Bramin GPS, complete with a little road map in the background.
- Endless Game: The arcade mode.
- Graphics-Induced Super-Deformed
- Les Yay: At the end, after all is accomplished, the two girls share a quiet moment, say each others' names, and stare at each other longingly, about to kiss... until Justine declares that she's not gay.
- Incompatible Orientation: Alluded to in the narration of the finale.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: There's a Merit Badge for doing this to a character who is already unconscious.
- Mook Chivalry: Thoroughly averted. The students have no qualms about ganging up on you, and getting beaten up by multiple students at once is a great way to lose a lot of health.
- Monster Protection Racket: Judging by initial results, the students didn't actually need the alerts before you came along.
- Palette Swap: There are only three different character designs: male, female, and Marcy in disguise. All other variation is by changing the color scheme.
- Protection Racket: Marcy and Justine react to low acceptance of personal alarms by showing what would happen if nobody would accept. Four consecutive night-time attacks encourages everyone to get an alarm or to donate.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The skating rink arcade level naturally features slippery ice; the game seems to be lampshading this, given that the description for it simply reads "ICE LEVEL". Luckily, the ice slips your enemies too.
- Theme Music Power-Up: Paint it Black plays when Marcy starts beating people up.
- There Are No Police: Instead, the college students themselves try to beat you up.
- Timed Mission: There are 30-40 seconds in the daytime to ask people to get personal alarms (or to donate).
- Unblockable Attack: There are two attacks — a fast punch and a slow body-slam. The latter breaks through blocking.
- Unlockable Content: The arcade mode in which you play as Justine. It gives you four levels: a night level similar to the campaign, a day level where hiding is impossible, an ice with attendant ice physics, and a dance floor with plenty of people around to gang up on you.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Marcy and Justine. They want to give their fellow students personal alarms so they can be more safe, but the main way they go about it is beating people up in order to create demand for alarms.
- Wrap Around: Justified, it's leaving the park and re-entering from the other side. It's also one way to shake off persuers.
