10 Tired Video Game Plots Everyone Is Sick Of Seeing
10. Marines Versus Aliens
The Combine have a lot to answer for. The faceless grunts of Half-Life 2 may be inspired by a particularly harrowing warehouse battle in the first game, but the alien Combine took terror to a new level. Their staccato radio chatter heavily implied that they were hunting you down with advanced teamwork and tactics, and gamers everywhere realised that humanoid enemies could be just as terrifying as big tentacle monsters, because it was easier to make them seem intelligent. In just a few years, the notion of an anonymous army spread like wildfire. Players couldnt walk down the street without bumping into a growly soldier, complete with a mask to protect him from Earths hostile atmosphere and they always were him, with females of the species being saved for imperious matriarchs or kinky gymnast assassins. But while Gordon Freeman may have been silent and somewhat vulnerable, many of these games pitched these alien armies against wise-cracking space marines. Muscles like coconuts, voices like gravel with a hangover and permanent stubble the player would join a band of grizzled mercenaries and swear their way through dozens of firefights to thwart the extra-terrestrial menace. Which begs the question: if humans are so good at killing aliens, how did things get this bad in the first place? To anyone playing games in the late 2000s, it seemed like we were doomed to an eternity of big shouty men mowing down acceptably-anonymous baddies. Fortunately, titles like Titanfall and Destiny have started reintroducing more imaginative enemies. Now we just need to give the space marines some shore leave - other characters would like a turn at shooting things, too.
