History Main / AlwaysClose

[[folder: Action-Adventure]]

[[folder: First-Person Shooter]]

* The 1983 Creator/{{Atari}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''VideoGame/MajorHavoc'' is possibly the UrExample. It starts as a ShootEmUp where the titular Major Havoc must defeat the ships defending space stations, then in a side-scrolling platform stage, sabotage the station's reactor and escape before it exploded. No matter how much time is left, the station will always explode as Major Havoc's ship blasts off.

[[folder: Real-Time Strategy]]

[[folder: Role-Playing Game]]

* Played oddly in ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''. When Pyramid Head chases James and Maria down a hallway, James has to run into an elevator to escape. Because Pyramid Head moves rather slowly, James himself is not in any real danger, but Maria moves much slower, and if Pyramid Head kills her, it's game over. In order to avoid this, you have to bolt down the hallway, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic completely leaving Maria in the dust]]. When you get to the elevator, a cutscene is triggered that shows Maria running at full speed towards the elevator, with the doors closing just as she approaches, looking like she'll just barely make it through. [[spoiler: She actually doesn't, and is killed by Pyramid Head.]]

[[folder: Third-Person Shooter]]

[[folder: Rhythm Game]]
* ''[[Videogame/TheIdolmaster2 The iDOLM@STER 2]]'' - How the guests appear for special Quintet performances. After the third time this happen the Producer should know better by then, instead of having his idols almost freak out every single time.

[[folder: Non-Video Game Examples]]

** In the finale of ''VideoGame/SplinterCellPandoraTomorrow'', [[spoiler:Fisher has to disarm a smallpox bomb in an airport before the time runs out. Afterwards he asks how much time was left on the bomb. The response?]]

* Exception: In ''VideoGame/ZorkGrandInquisitor'', an improvised bomb does not explode when placed in a locker; it actually waits until the end of the countdown. (You do get inexplicably transported to the site of the explosion if within sight of it, though.)
** However, a cutscene says Antharia Jack has 3 hours before he gets Totemized; whether you destroy the dam five minutes or five hours after the cutscene, it still has the Totemizer shutting down seconds before Jack steps in.

* The 1983 Creator/{{Atari}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Major Havoc'' is possibly the UrExample. It starts as a ShootEmUp where the titular Major Havoc must defeat the ships defending space stations, then in a side-scrolling platform stage, sabotage the station's reactor and escape before it exploded. No matter how much time is left, the station will always explode as Major Havoc's ship blasts off.

-->-- ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}''

* ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 4'' has a mission where Dante has to escape from a building that is about to self destruct, and no matter how much time is left on the countdown, the cutscene that follows always shows it crumbling within a few seconds of Dante walking out of it, which may justify it as he is taking his time once he finds the exit.

* In CounterStrike Condition Zero Deleted Scenes, in the mission "Secret War" the Commander demands that you give him the detonator for the remote bombs, and instructs you to leave the facility, as the remote bombs will be out of range when the detonator is a safe distance from the (in this case) nuclear explosion that will follow. Therefore, SomeoneHasToDie, and that someone is the commander. You get in the back of the truck that you took to the facility, and the explosion follows you as you leave and as a result, you barely make it out.

* The 1983 Creator/{{Atari}} ArcadeGame ''Major Havoc'' is possibly the UrExample. It starts as a ShootEmUp where the titular Major Havoc must defeat the ships defending space stations, then in a side-scrolling platform stage, sabotage the station's reactor and escape before it exploded. No matter how much time is left, the station will always explode as Major Havoc's ship blasts off.

* The Metroid level in the Adventure mode of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Melee'', although it's difficult to make it with more than a few seconds left anyway.
** Note that they never ''show'' you actually escaping the planet, just it exploding, then panning over to Pop Star for the next stage. Also, the game actually gives you a bonus for waiting until the last second.

** In the finale of ''VideoGame/SplinterCellPandoraTomorrow'', Fisher has to disarm a smallpox bomb in an airport before the time runs out. Afterwards he asks how much time was left on the bomb. The response?
-->''You don't wanna know.''

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', one quest late in the game, "The Defense of Bruma", has you going through a HUGE Oblivion Gate -- on a timer -- to close it before a giant siege engine can make its way out and destroy the town of Bruma. No matter how quickly you close the gate, you'll always see the siege engine fall apart just as it gets out of the gate when you are whisked back to Tamriel.
** Slightly subverted, in that, the number of surviving characters depends upon how fast you close the gate (but also on the amount of allies you bring). AnyoneCanDie. If Martin dies however, the game will end, and you'll have to re-load.
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. In one scene the player character has to enter a derelict house and rescue a child before a timer expires. Another character is ''holding'' up the structure of the building; the timer is how long his strength will hold out. When he sees you emerge, child in tow, there's no more reason for him to exert himself. So he jumps away, collapsing the building right then regardless of how long is left on the timer.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' in the Griffith Park level. You're trapped in the park with a very angry werewolf and a forest fire. You have a choice between running around for four minutes until the next car arrives to escape on, and tricking the werewolf into getting crushed in a large set of doors. If you kill the werewolf, the car shows up immediately afterwards, no matter how much time was left on the clock when you did it.

[[folder: Non-Video Game Example]]

* Inverted in ''VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' in the Griffith Park level. You're trapped in the park with a very angry werewolf and a forest fire. You have a choice between running around for four minutes until the next car arrives to escape on, and tricking the werewolf into getting crushed in a large set of doors. If you kill the werewolf, the car shows up immediately afterwards, no matter how much time was left on the clock when you did it.

->'''Master Chief''': "How much time was left?"\\
'''Cortana''': "You don't wanna know."

** Also, on the highest difficulty of ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'', it's nigh impossible to get out with more than fifteen seconds left.
** Possibly justified in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', where you could say that your ship's computer refuses to re-dock until it sees the final boss out of the way.
*** FridgeBrilliance: Why doesn't your ship just shoot the boss, then? [[spoiler: It's being piloted by cute and cuddly yet highly intelligent creatures who may have just enough knowledge to pilot the ship.]] [[labelnote:More spoilers]]There is the matter of your ship's sentient computer, though.[[/labelnote]]

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', though without a visible timer. You're told that you had destroyed the Weighted Companion Cube in a record short time, no matter how long you delay and dawdle around in the level.
** [[FridgeBrilliance That's because no one has ever destroyed a Weighted Companion Cube before.]]
*** Actually, the implication is that after being told to do so, other test subjects took much longer to come to grips with the fact that they had to euthanize their faithful Companion Cube. [[PlayerPunch Well done.]]
** Played straight in VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}, though, after you make it out of the old laboratories.

Obviously, this is done because the developers want to show the building explode for dramatic effect, yet there isn't really any reason for your guys to stick around as the timer counts down. Furthermore, creating an alternate cutscene in which the building doesn't explode would require additional time and money, and might be perceived as not worth it if a large number of players aren't going to see it. Hence, StoryOverwrite.

* Parodied in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'': The SelfDestructMechanism is activated, and a computer voice counts down to the failure. When she skips a number, Dark Helmet angrily demands to know what happened to said number. The reply is a chipper: "Just kidding!"

** ''Modern Warfare 2'' averts this in the "Loose Ends" mission, where the choppers don't arrive until after the cutscene at the end is playing. [[spoiler:[[CavalryBetrayal Not that it helps.]]]]
** ''Modern Warfare 3'' has a variant with a sandstorm, where you're given a timer on how close it is to reaching you and completely denying air extraction, only for your helicopter to get shot down before it can pick you up, at which point the sandstorm immediately engulfs the area anyway.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters 3'', a supervillain has tied Harry Tippers' love interest to some train tracks, after getting to the front of the train it appears that the train stopped just in front of her [[spoiler:but the camera zooms out showing a good distance between the two, prompting him to proclaim "Ha ha, not even close".]]

* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''. You can TakeYourTime in the first level, but when you stop the bomb, Master Chief asks Cortana how long was left. Her reply: "You don't want to know." [[spoiler:For those curious, it was about seven seconds.]]
** Happens twice in the same game, when at the end, Tartarus activates Installation 05. The player must "quickly" defeat Tartarus so that the Index can be removed to cancel the firing sequence. No matter how much time it takes, or how many friendly [[WeHaveReserves mooks]] die, when the Index is removed, the Halo is shown on the verge of firing but apparently fails due to lack of charging time.

Obviously, this is done because the developers want to show the building explode for dramatic effect, yet there isn't really any reason for your guys to stick around as the timer counts down. Hence, StoryOverwrite.

** The C3 explosives in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''. Even with the player forced to waste about half of that timer on mandatory cutscenes, it's still possible for multiple minutes to be left on them after escaping the hangar. They'll blow up a couple seconds after you've gotten out of the hangar all the same.

->'''Master Chief''': "How much time was left?"
->'''Cortana''': "You don't wanna know."

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' has a mission where Dante has to escape from a building that is about to self destruct, and no matter how much time is left on the countdown, the cutscene that follows always shows it crumbling within a few seconds of Dante walking out of it, which may justify it as he is taking his time once he finds the exit.

* Subverted in FreedomForce. Apparently, disarming a nuclear bomb isn't very fast.
** In one level of ''FreedomForce'', the player must get Minuteman to an atomic bomb to disarm it. However, whether the player arrives 5 seconds or two minutes before it's set to detonate, the cutscene will show him disarming it with only seconds to spare.

** One of the special features in the special edition of MGS 2 [[RetCon ret-conned]] this. Nastasha Romanenko's book, "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses" is unlocked by reading the reviews of it. Once you get to the actual book, it's explained that Richard Ames, who had been sitting with Nastasha the whole time and was the one who [[strike: convinced]] forced her to help out in the first place, aborted the bombing run because "they" [[spoiler: (the Patriots)]] didn't like it. He then proceeds to [[spoiler: arrange Jim Houseman's death, explaining that the cover story will be that Houseman had gone insane and ordered the airstrike as a last desperate effort, then committed suicide. And he ''tells him this''.]] Kind of makes it hard to feel any sympathy for him when he [[spoiler: dies in the game]]. Of course, since the after credits conversation in the last game revealed that [[spoiler: George Sears, the President, aka Solidus, the BigBad of MGS 2, was behind the Shadow Moses Incident in the first place, there needed to be an explanation as to why the bombing raid was called off, since the first game said he did it. Of course, it was Campbell who relayed this information to the player.]]
** However, on some difficulties [[spoiler:Revolver Ocelot]] will plant a timebomb in your inventory. The bomb explodes as soon as you throw it away.

* Exception: In ''ZorkGrandInquisitor'', an improvised bomb does not explode when placed in a locker; it actually waits until the end of the countdown. (You do get inexplicably transported to the site of the explosion if within sight of it, though.)
** However, though a cutscene says Antharia Jack has 3 hours before he gets Totemized; whether you destroy the dam five minutes or five hours after the cutscene, it still has the Totemizer shutting down seconds before Jack steps in.

* The Metroid level in the Adventure mode of Super Smash Brothers Melee, although its difficult to make it with more than a few seconds left, so the explosion might make sense.
** Even if you have 40 seconds left, it still explodes the instant you're out of there.
*** Note that they never ''show'' you actually escaping the planet, just it exploding, then panning over to Pop Star for the next stage. Also, the game actually gives you a bonus for waiting until the last second.

** ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' also has it in reverse: a quirk of the game mechanics let you escape up to two seconds ''after'' the timer has run out, as the screen is [[FadeToWhite Fading To White]]. You're already inside the fireball, but the movie still shows you as getting out ahead of it.

* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''. You can TakeYourTime in the first level, but when you stop the bomb, Master Chief asks Cortana how long was left. Her reply: "You don't want to know."

** Also used in [[GaidenGame ''Crisis Zone'']], where no matter how long it takes to defeat the BigBad, you always manage to shut down the nuclear reactor just in time. Interestingly, the control room still explodes

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters 3'', a supervillain has tied Harry Tippers' love interest to some train tracks, after getting to the front of the train it appears that the train stopped just in front of her [[spoiler:but the camera zooms out showing a good distance between the 2, prompting him to proclaim "Ha ha, not even close" ]]
* Kyle Katarn has to get off of the big ship in ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight]]'' before it blows, but the gravity is on the fritz. Every time he reaches a certain checkpoint, Jan's voice in his communicator encourages him to hurry his little heiney up, but it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get him there.

* A particularly silly variation on this happens in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. In one stage Sonic has to race up a walkway to grab a rocket before it fires. Not only is there a visible countdown timer on the screen, but a voice is actually counting down until launch. If you get to the handle early enough, you end up with the countdown going something like, "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4- ''Sonic grabs handle'' Fire!"
** There are two handgrips on the rocket. Good luck reaching the higher one with more then half a second remaining on the clock. The timer sequence more or less sounds right if you manage to get there before it leaves without you...

* After you defeated one of the bosses in ''VideoGame/TheThing'' (the video game sequel to the film), there's a bomb countdown and you need to run back to the elevator. The thing is, even if you arrived at the elevator with 30 seconds left, the bomb will explode, killing your teammate in the process.

* In the finale of ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCell Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow]]'', Fisher has to disarm a smallpox bomb in an airport before the time runs out. Afterwards he asks how much time was left on the bomb. The response? ''"You don't wanna know."''
** In the first game, the fourth mission starts with Fisher infiltrating the CIA headquarters. His intended entryway is a stopped ventilation fan, which starts up again either about two minutes after the mission starts, or when Fisher gets past it, whichever comes first.

Obviously, this is done because the developers want to show the building explode for dramatic effect, yet there isn't really any reason for your guys to stick around as the timer counts down. Hence, StoryOverwrite.[[note]]Plus this is because the cutscene after the playable segment was going to play out one way regardless of what you as a player did, so GameplayAndStorySegregation has a role in this as well.[[/note]]

* Subverted in PathwaysIntoDarkness, if you get out of the dungeon just before the bomb goes off, you get an ending where you don't clear the explosion.