Most clichéd video game themes and enemy types?

For themes I'd say WWII, medieval fantasy, modern warfare. For enemies it seems like zombies and terrorist, but what else? I ask this because the game I'm working on is something of a parody of the gaming industry and gaming trends and I'd like to include as many references to those things as I can, but I'm a little stuck for ideas at the moment. Feel free to add any other game clichés too.

Doesn't it depend on the genre? There aren't a ton of WW2 RPGs, and I don't think there are a lot of medieval FPSeses (although I think I can name a few).

how about a game that references games in games that reference games. that would be hilarious

I don't really care if things are cliche or not. If they can tell an interesting story or make an interesting game out of the most cliched plots going I couldn't care less.

@Video_Game_King: It doesn't matter how it's cliched as long as it is. I said themes and enemies because I don't want to make a parody about game mechanics, just the themes and enemies in them.

@doobie: Retro City Rampage?

@crusader8463: I completely agree, but I think you're missing my objective here.

@Video_Game_King said:

Doesn't it depend on the genre? There aren't a ton of WW2 RPGs, and I don't think there are a lot of medieval FPSeses (although I think I can name a few).

That would be awesome. Call of Duty: Feudal Warfare.

@IcyEyes: If you just want a list then Google Video Game Cliches and you get tons of lists. Here's one for RPG's.

@IcyEyes: Medieval fantasy RPGs are lousy with bandits. You can't walk down the road without being accosted by a handful of them. Go into that cave, bandits! Cross that bridge, holy shit there's some swarthy types in leathers trying to rob me of my swag! (i.e., bandits!)

Running left to right and jumping.

Enemies that run right at you and explode. Enemies named "_________-er's"

The big guys in shooters that dont use cover and soak up bullets

Endings with buttons that chooses between the different endings...

I don't really mind anything cliché as long as it's done well.

But @JackG100 said:

Endings with buttons that chooses between the different endings...

This is the wooooooorst!

Rats. Though I like the way Dishonored made them feel interesting.

The obligatory maimed face (scarred, burned, one-eyed, etc.) villain.

Dudes with shields in shooters, they might as well just make their shields of mattress padding since that's the only role they serve.

Even though I'm loving it X-Com is a cliche that goes beyond video games. Aliens that land on a planet with the intention of taking it over. How many times have we seen it? They even have little grey men with big heads. But fuck it. That game's great regardless.

palette swapping is pretty cliche

Spiders, I hate spiders and they are in waaaay too many RPG's.

@JacDG said:

Spiders, I hate spiders and they are in waaaay too many RPG's.

Yup, this is what I was going to say. Spiders are gross.

Rats/Wolfes and Orks, also Russians (especially Tom Clancy and "his" games LOOOVE them as enemies)and Nazis (and Nazis Zombies).

While not really an enemy type... exploding barrels. Motherfucking 'sploding barrels. Seriously. Somebody took the time to place barrels that explode in almost every single fucking game. And not just "explode with fire", no. They explode with electricity. With acid. With slag. They explode with explosions.

I've been playing Borderlands 2, yes. A lot, yes.

"true form" multi stage bosses. ie, kill the boss, BUT WAIT, that was only the small delicate form the boss chose to take for some unexplained reason. *boss morphs into bigger thing* If the game is particularly dumb, there may be 3+ stages of the same boss. And the boss will reappear later in the game, palette swapped with optional extra tentacles or whatever, because you didn't really kill it before, not really really.

While this is traditionally a Japanese game design trope, western devs are not immune to the impulse either.

Parodies of clichés really aren't any better than straight-faced clichés...

@mordukai said:

@Video_Game_King said:

Doesn't it depend on the genre? There aren't a ton of WW2 RPGs, and I don't think there are a lot of medieval FPSeses (although I think I can name a few).

That would be awesome. Call of Duty: Feudal Warfare.

Team Fortress has a medieval mode/map. Wish fulfilled!

@JasonR86 said:

Even though I'm loving it X-Com is a cliche that goes beyond video games. Aliens that land on a planet with the intention of taking it over. How many times have we seen it? They even have little grey men with big heads. But fuck it. That game's great regardless.

And this brings up the interesting point of intentional vs lazy cliche. XCOM celebrates it's cliche, and pulls it off wonderfully, capturing what made little grey men so damned creepy back in the days of their origin. I also think he's looking more for confined cliches within video games. Not a lot of games use little grey men, and weirdly enough even "aliens come to destroy a planet" is more of a movie cliche than a video game cliche. I could be wrong but that seems more applicable to his question.

Amnesia for the first part 
Rats for the second

Bats. They're everywhere. Even more of a nuisance in Pokemon.

@JacDG said:

Spiders, I hate spiders and they are in waaaay too many RPG's.

This too.

Overly diverse team-mates.

Just don't make Eat Lead.

Ghosts, Zombies, Ninjas, Skeletons, Demons, Aliens, Bats, Spiders, Bugbears, Gelatinous Cubes, Robots, Vampires, Thugs, Nazis, Witches, Mutants, Orcs, Orks, Parasites, Sharks, Dark version of yourself...

...and Thwomps.

@Icicle7x3 said:

Ghosts, Zombies, Ninjas, Skeletons, Demons, Aliens, Bats, Spiders, Bugbears, Gelatinous Cubes, Robots, Vampires, Thugs, Nazis, Witches, Mutants, Orcs, Orks, Parasites, Sharks, Dark version of yourself...

...and Thwomps.

Sweet Jesus. That's fantastic. Thanks.

@Icicle7x3 said:

Ghosts, Zombies, Ninjas, Skeletons, Demons, Aliens, Bats, Spiders, Bugbears, Gelatinous Cubes, Robots, Vampires, Thugs, Nazis, Witches, Mutants, Orcs, Orks, Parasites, Sharks, Dark version of yourself...

...and Thwomps.

Nazis win, Wolfenstein still the best to pull them off....if that is a compliment

Reluctant hero.

@PeasantAbuse: In the same vein, rats. Can name two games published by Bethesda that feature rats as low level enemies. (Dishonored and Skyrim.)

Dishonored as the biggest gaming cliche of all time: The Silent Protagonist.

Corvo Attano, Gordon Freeman, Jack & Delta from Bioshock, Doom Guy, The Dragonborn, The Vault Dweller, etc. I like (or love) all these games, but man I wish the dudes talked.

@mordukai said:

@Video_Game_King said:

Doesn't it depend on the genre? There aren't a ton of WW2 RPGs, and I don't think there are a lot of medieval FPSeses (although I think I can name a few).

That would be awesome. Call of Duty: Feudal Warfare.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare

I'm pretty tired of gender achetypes. The plodding male tank, the stealthy female assassin aka prototypical "glass cannon". Oh hey I noticed you have boobs, here's a sniper rifle. I never played it, but I think Dragon Age may have tried to buck this trend? And I'm all for racial diversity, but when each member of your team is represented by a different ethnicity, it comes off as fake and contrived.

Rats and spiders are pretty cliché.

Guys with guns are the worst

How did we get this far and no one mentioned Bullfight Boss?