Ever since the first computer games began featuring a vague
semblance of art instead of just text, game designers have been
striving to come up with the best death scenes1. Now the technology
is there, and games are living up to the challenge. Some categories
haven't done all they could. Simulations (with the exception of
Gametek's Road Warrior) generally prefer to showing the vehicle
blowing up to lots of cool dead bodies. RPGs have never done
well in this area. The best is really something like Dungeonmaster,
where killing a purple worm turns it into bite-sized pieces for your eating enjoyment.
Now for those categories where the competition is stiff (ha, ha)2:
Strategy Game
Honorable Mention: Westwood's Command and Conquer. Two things: (1) the way
the GDI forces run around when a flame-thrower catches them and (2) the pool
of blood left after an infantryman has been run over (plus that lovely squish sound.)
Winner (and shameless self-promotion): New World's Hammer of the Gods.
Even kids love the way trolls splat their enemies and the way fire and
ice spells completely destroy their targets.
Graphic (or Film) Adventure
Honorable Mention (and shameless self-promotion3): Viacom's
Dracula Unleashed. If you mess up, there's hangings and dead
bodies galore. Same as real life.
Winner: Sierra's4 Phantasmagoria. Pretty much the only
reason to buy this game was to see the heroine's head get split
open. Hope you like it. You're probably going to see that
scene over and over again.
Third Person Shooter
Honorable Mention: id's Quake (the next version of Doom.) Bodies
blow apart and heads go bouncing. Set the gravity for moon-like
conditions and heads fly real good. Plus you got to love the
leg-breaking sound that follows you jumping out a window.
Winner: 3D Realms' Duke Nukem 3D5. You know it's good when
eyeballs and spinal cords coming flying at you. 'Course just the
fact that it has pipe bombs is a good reason to play.
Overall Winner
Duke Nukem 3D. There's a reason Duke says "Damn"6 when he
uses that RPG just right. And you leave bloody footprints
when you walk over a corpse!
1 Or at least Andrew's company has. 2 You know . . . as in dead . . . ha, ha. 3 Did we mention that Andrew is a game designer? Just checking. 4 Fuck Sierra! D. Gates (of Police Quest and the L.A. Riots) is a PIG! 5 Everyone in Andrew's office plays this game incessantly on
the clock (they are game designers; this is work.) 6 The copy on Andrew's computer is customized to
incessantly screech "HE TRIED TO TOUCH MY WIENER" in the dulcet
tones of Butthead from Bevis and Butthead.
By Andrew Greenberg
1 Or at least Andrew's company has.