That's one way to style a main menu...
An early Tactical Shooter using the Marathon 2 engine that came out for PC and Apple Macintosh in 1997. Though obscure today, the game was one of the first first person shooters that took place in a realistic modern military-based environment and was likely the first to have the player command a fire team of NPCs.The game pits the player as a USMC Force Recon sergeant leading a fire team of U.S. Marines to deal with terrorist threats. Today the game is an example of abandonware and can be downloaded from several sites.
Of particular note is that the creator of Damage Incorporated, Richard Rouse, was also the project head and writer of the cancelled Rainbow Six Patriots, a video game which would have had a very similar premise.
Not to be confused with Damage Control, a Marvel Comics company that repairs damage caused by superhero battles.
The game features examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: Many of the firearms in game are capable of firing incendiary, armor piercing, explosive, and even acidic ammunition.
- Artificial Stupidity: Your teammates will often fail to keep their trigger fingers in check if you or another teammate will come between their sights and an enemy.
- Artistic License – Military: Unfortunately, and to be expected in a game developed before the internet was commonly used for research, this shows up plenty of times in regards to the US Marine Corps and in weaponry. The developers as much as said they were just going along with the general expectation of the things instead of going for accuracy. For example:
- The term "Soldier" is used interchangeably with Marine.
- The "M9 handgun" is actually a Beretta 92SB, an older model than the Beretta 92FS that was used as the M9.
- The M16A2 in game appears to actually be an M16A1 according to the in-hand sprites and its full auto trigger group. Also, while it has an M203 attached that can be used as Secondary Fire (and which is visible on those wielded by Minute Militia enemies), the M203 isn't actually visible on the player's weapon.
- The MP5 in game is supposedly an MP5N/MP5A3 and looks like one when on the ground or in the hands of anyone except for you, much the same as the M16A2. Then it turns into a hybrid between an MP5SD (the shape of the handguard) and a MP5K (the length of the barrel and the attached vertical foregrip). The rear sights are all wrong, too, completely missing the famous rotating drum in favor of just the wings to the sides.
- The SMAW rocket launcher in game has a tremendous amount of recoil, even though due to their design shoulder-fired rockets like it have no recoil.
- The hand grenade used in game, the Mk2, is a WWII-era grenade that was phased out of US military service back in the 1960s. By the time of the game's release and setting, the US military had switched to the M67 grenade.
- The combat knife is identified as an "SA80 bayonet", i.e. the L3A1 designed for the L85 assault rifle, a British weapon that has never been used by the USMC or any other branch of the US military for that matter. That said, the sprite doesn't look anything like the L3A1 bayonet, which has a noticeably larger grip with a hollow opening through it and the blade offset to one side, so that it can fit over the L85's flash hider while still letting it fire; the in-game sprite more closely resembles the M11 knife, a variant of the typical American M9 bayonet used for explosive ordnance disposal.
- Badass Bookworm: Vidiot is sort of an example of the "nerd" type; he's a squeaky voiced geek who loves to play video games, but he's also a trained Marine Rifleman who can put the hurt on your foes as well as anyone else.
- Badass Preacher: Preacher.
- Bomb Disposal: The whole point of the second and fifth chapters.
- Crazy Survivalist: The Militias of Nebraska.
- Do Not Run with a Gun: Averted with the Marines in game; they can fire when moving, same as you can.
- Face–Heel Turn: On the third campaign, do not bring Carnage with you. He will become outraged at the mission and turn on you and the rest of the fireteam.
- Dual Wielding: Possible with the M9 pistols, the MP5N submachine guns, and shotguns. Also done by a few enemies in game.
- Exploding Barrels: Plenty of exploding objects in game such as propane tanks, powder barrels, and even artillery shells.
- Glass Cannon: The Minute Militia enemies. Weak defense, but carry powerful weaponry.
- Gratuitous French: Frank, a Cajun Marine, often uses French phrases and words peppered in with English.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Banzai, a US Marine of Japanese ancestry, occasionally throws out phrases and insults in Japanese.
- Heroic BSoD: Can happen to some Marines. Do not bring Preacher along on any missions which involve the Seekers of Desu; due to the clash between Preacher's and the Seekers' religious belief he'll eventually go Ax-Crazy, disregard the player's orders, and try to kill all of the Seekers - which will almost always result in his death. Johansen can become battle fatigued if brought along on missions too often.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Named after US military operations in the 20th century, with higher difficulties corresponding to longer conflicts: Grenada (lasted four days, Very Easy), Desert Storm (lasted six months, Easy), Korea (lasted three years, Normal), World War II (lasted six years, Hard), and Vietnam (lasted twenty years in some form, Very Hard).
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Implied with Vidiot; his dossier says that he blew through the training exercises for Damage Incorporated with the highest scores anyone had seen.
- Kill It with Fire: The flamethrower and any weapon that can use incendiary ammunition.
- The Klan: The White Paladins are described as "like the Klan, only more militant", being a Right-Wing Militia Fanatic group dedicated to creating a white ethnostate.
- Mighty Glacier: The Better Tomorrow Shocktroopers and the Robotank enemies.
- One Bullet Clips: Subverted, you can reload mid-magazine in this game but any rounds in a partially spent magazine will be lost.
- One-Man Army: Subverted. You will die brutally if you attempt to go the later missions without help from your fireteam.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Oh God, the White Paladins. The in-game briefing describes them as being "like the Klu Klux Klan, only more militant."
- Putting on the Reich: Definitely the Graziano-Fellini Ltd. Guards and A Better Tomorrow, who all wear uniforms reminiscent of those worn by the SS or other fascist organizations during WWII. The White Paladins are stated to be neo-Nazi like in the briefing, although they just seem to be The Klan on steroids in game save for a swastika-shaped topiary in one of their strongholds.
- Shout-Out: Plenty, mainly to Vietnam/USMC-themed war movies such as Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, and Heartbreak Ridge, as well as to heavy metal songs and bands, especially Metal's lines. The title of the game comes from a Metallica song. Vidiot is fond of spouting references to video games.
- Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: Most of the domestic enemies in game fall under this. Subverted in the second mission of the third campaign, where said militia fanatics will not attack the player and will allow him to complete his mission unhindered.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The result for letting hostages die or breaking the rules of engagement.
