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A game that uses a mixture of 2D & 3D techniques. Commonly used to describe the use of either 3D graphics restricted to a 2D perceptive, or 2D graphics used to fake the appearance of a 3D perceptive.
Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
Running at 60 FPS is standard for arcade & PC games, but hardware restrictions of consoles often force developers to aim for lower framerates in order to preserve visual detail or allow greater scale. 3D console games hitting 60 FPS are thus uncommon, though the trend of re-releasing games on newer hardware has technically resulted in more 3D console games hitting 60 FPS.
An AI companion is a computer-controlled ally who follows and aids you through your adventures or who requires your protection. The AI companion's survival is often essential to game and story progression.
The game detects a player's achievement progress and shows some form of progress indicator on-screen.
Achievements are extra challenges added into video games that sometimes carry a point value or unlock bonus material, and are sometimes solely for bragging rights.
The ability to fling oneself around an environment gracefully. Wall-running, jumping, massive drops, climbing, and other physical activities are what acrobatics is all about.
Games that feature stages in which the player is forced to continually progress, chased by a relentless and lethal threat that covers the entire height/width of the screen.
Extraterrestrials appear in many video games in a variety of styles. Sometimes they're evil, sometimes they're benevolent, and sometimes they're very similar to humans.
Games that feature more than one style of Game Over screen. Alternate Game Over screens are often used when the player loses in specific ways.
Animals and Creatures that serve to populate levels and give the world life. Usually passive and may try to avoid or runaway from the player, But some may become hostile to the player once attacked/provoked. Some may not be able to be interacted with at all either being in the background/foreground or too far away.
An often used plot device where the main character wakes up and has lost all their memories. The game usually centers around getting your memory back or uncovering the events that lead to your confusion.
This concept occurs in many RPGs and Sci-Fi games. The Ancient Advanced Civilization Technology is often a giant weapon (Halo Rings, Giant of Babil, etc.) that becomes a major plot focus in the stories of these games.
In some games, usually RPGs, they have a boss of the game to be a angel or appearance of an angelic-like being.
Games that have animals (except humans) as the main character. The character must be playable.
Anthropomorphism is the concept of an object, concept or character that has human qualities or traits, such as speech, a level of intelligence similar or higher than a human's and self consciousness. "Anthro" means "of human" and related to the concept of humanity.
A protagonist who lacks some or all of the qualities traditionally seen as heroic.
Antlions are predatory larvae that design "sand pit traps" in order to capture prey.
A burrowing nocturnal mammal covered with thick plates.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, commonly refers to the programmed behaviors of NPCs in a game, whether it's the fact that a soldier takes cover behind a wall in Gears of War, or that townspeople cheer upon your arrival to their village in Fable.
Artificial Life is a video game concept in which beings or creatures are put into the same environment that player is in. Depending on how the player interacts with these virtual creatures (who are programmed with emotions, wants, and needs) and the world around him/her, the Artificial Life will reflect that through their behavior.
Some games don't feature a traditional co-op mode that makes the players equal partners, but allows a second player to participate in the game to assist player one albeit with significantly different gameplay mechanics.
A mode in which a game will play a gameplay demonstration video as a means to entice players into playing the game.
Levels that progress forward by themselves at a fixed rate.
A deadly flow of snow down a mountainside.
Avatar Awards are items or clothing that are unlocked for Xbox Live avatars by completing certain tasks within the game.
Games that integrate support for Xbox Live Avatars.
Backtracking is the act of navigating through previously explored areas, usually for the purpose of progressing in an objective-based adventure game. Players who are lost may also backtrack to reorient themselves.
Baditude is being "edgy" in an obviously forced or fake manner. Games with baditude often feature excessive swearing, gratuitous violence, and content meant to shock or offend.
Badniks are the enemies which Sonic the Hedgehog fights in nearly every game. Although deadly, they are actually innocent animals imprisoned by Eggman within robotic shells.
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