Line #35 VideoGame/Damnation


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Damnation_3512.png]]
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3	''Damnation'' is a SteamPunk-flavored ThirdPersonShooter with strong [[PlatformGame platforming elements]] developed by Blue Omega Entertainment and published by Creator/{{Codemasters}} in 2009 for [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], Platform/Xbox360 and Platform/PlayStation3.
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5	It's an [[AlternateHistory alternate early 20th century]] where UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar has dragged on for decades, and steam engines rule the day. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive A powerful businessman, Lord Prescott]], whose company, [[MegaCorp Prescott Standard Industries]], [[ArmsDealer supplies deadly weapons]] to [[WarForFunAndProfit both sides]], has decided that he would like to TakeOverTheWorld. To that end, his armies begin a campaign of conquest across the western US.
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7	The player takes the role of rugged frontiersman [[TheHero Hamilton Rourke,]] whose [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits small band of resistance fighters]], the Peacemakers, are attempting to stop Prescott from [[{{Pun}} steamrolling]] the country.
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9	While primarily a ThirdPersonShooter, the game featured frequent [[PlatformGame jumping and climbing segments]] similar to ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'', including [[HighAltitudeBattle gun-fighting while suspended possibly several hundred feet in the air.]] The levels were ''massive'', to the point where most of the game was spent simply getting from one place to another, while fighting, climbing and [[CoolBike riding high speed steam-bikes.]]
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11	[[RuleOfCool Despite looking and seeming very cool,]] the actual game fell flat, and garnered mostly negative reviews. ''Damnation's'' failure forced its development studio, Blue Omega, [[CreatorKiller to shut down a month after the game's release]].
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13	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Unrelated to]] the 2017 Creator/USANetwork series [[Series/{{Damnation}} of the same name.]]
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15	!!Tropes that appear in ''Damnation''
16	* AbnormalAmmo: Why fire bullets when you can fire ''[[NailEm railroad]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice spikes?]]''
17	* AlternateHistory: Specifically, an early 20th century where UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar drags on, and combustion engines never took off- instead, steam powers everything.
18	* ArtificialStupidity: The enemy A.I. is quite limited considering the game was released in 2009. Enemies mostly stay in one place and occasionally strafe left and right a bit and make minor use of cover. Enemies ''can'' do traversal moves such as leaping from one roof to another, or sliding down a pole or zipline, but these moves are fairly scripted and generally only occur under very specific circumstances.
19	* AxCrazy: Commander Selena is quite the psycho. Her lover Jack initially thinks her use of Serum is responsible, but it's most likely she's just an asshole.
20	* BloodKnight: Happens to anyone who becomes infected with the "Serum"
21	* BottomlessPitRescueService: Dying from gunfire forces you back to the nearest checkpoint, but falling into a pit respawns you on the spot near where you fell from.
22	* {{BFG}}: The Automan Cannon, a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolving]] launcher that fires [[StuffBlowingUp nitroglycerin-tipped rockets.]]
23	* CoolAirship: The ''Corsair'', a small, maneuverable craft with dual envelopes and six maneuvering propellers. It serves as the Peacemakers' home and headquarters. Comes complete with a set of [[CoolPlane steam gliders.]]
24	* CoolBike: The steam motorcycles (and tricycle) that the crew ride, which among other things are capable of reaching speeds of about 160 MPH and driving sideways on walls.
25	* DefectorFromDecadence: Professor Charles Winslow, formerly of Prescott Standard Industries. The last straw was converting Automen for military use- he'd intended them to help reconstruction efforts. He designed a lot of other tech including the bikes, the ''Corsair'', and Autorevolvers.
26	* DepravedBisexual: Commander Selena, Chairman Prescott's TheDragon, is Prescott's lover and also keeps Winslow's daughter Jack around as a sex toy.
27	* FunWithAcronyms: PSI for Prescott Standard Industries. Those who know their steam might recognize that it also stands for Pounds per Square Inch.
28	* DividedStatesOfAmerica: The game takes place in an alternate history setting in which the civil war dragged on for decades, during which the Union and Confederacy split into additional sub-factions including the Coalition and Federation, as well as a number of neutral independent city-states like Terra Verde. [=PSI=] moves to take over the entire country once everyone else is weakened from all the fighting.
29	* HandCannon: The multi-chamber revolver probably counts, but there's the Golden Eagle: a double-barreled, .729 caliber hand-shotgun. And not a SawedOffShotgun, either- a shotgun in the shape of a HandCannon. The Vorpal Mechanical Repeater is an even better example, being what looks like a flaregun that instagibs anyone hit by the shot (of course, it's only unlockable with a cheat code).
30	* HistoricalInJoke: During the OpeningNarration, a newspaper that primarily displays that PSI is now the exclusive weapons supplier also reads "Inventors Edison, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]] charged with sedition"
31	* KillerRobot: "Automen", coal-fired, steel-armored walking tanks that come armed with [[{{BFG}} repeating cannons,]] that apparently have miniaturized Babbage engines for brains. At one point, the heroes make use of a damaged one to clear some rubble, opening the way forward.
32	* LaResistance: Rourke and his allies.
33	* MagicalNativeAmerican: Native Americans in this setting can use magic, which is accepted matter-of-factly by everyone else as just a normal part of daily life. [[spoiler: This serves as an early hint of the Revenant's true identity when they use healing magic to bring Commander Selena back to life after your first boss fight against her.]]
34	* MoreDakka: This game has not one but two steam-powered automatics: The Revenant Gun delivers high damage, while the PSI machine gun has a blistering fire rate. The latter even has ''two'' separate pressure canisters, one to power the firing mechanism and another for the magazine feed.
35	* OneWordTitle
36	* OutsideRide: The trikes have rear rollcages that double as handlebars, allowing your AI buddies to provide you with cover fire.
37	* PsychoSerum: The "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Serum]]", which grants the user increased strength. It also tends to make them rather AxCrazy.
38	* RevolversAreJustBetter: Especially when they have ''[[MoreDakka four cylinders.]]'' And are semi-automatic, besides.
39	* SniperRifle: The Dark Seraph Rifle. Steam-powered. ''[[RuleOfCool Yes.]]''
40	* SteamPunk: Though DarkerAndEdgier. WordOfGod is they dropped the "whimsical surface decoration" typical of the genre and designed weapons and machines built to withstand a brutal frontier world. Damn near ''everything'' runs on steam, including many of the guns.
41	* {{Stripperiffic}}: Yakecan has one of the [[http://i.imgur.com/GJ6BTNe.jpg least practical outfits]] in video game history. Unsurprisingly, she showed up in a lot of "girls of gaming" articles in 2008/2009. Her brother [[WalkingShirtlessScene wears even less]], but this is due to his BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins outfit. Jack and Commander Selena also have fairly risque outfits, but which are at least consistent with Wild West burlesque style.
42	* TitleDrop: [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar "From the lawless chaos,]] [[MegaCorp a new power arose,]] [[OpeningNarration and spread across the land, leading us all...]] into [[TitleDrop Damnation.]]"

Context VideoGame / Damnation