Favorite fourth wall breaking moment in video games

[Michael Brunson]

Okay what are your favorite moments in all of video games that break the fourth wall. I will add one stipulation. No Metal Gear Solid Moments. Metal Gear Solid breaks the fourth wall multiple times a game.

That being said my favorite is in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines When you talk to Rosa and have here read your fortune. One of the lines of dialogue is "whether or not you win the game matters not... it's if you bought it" Nice way to subtly chastise pirates.

 

[EHKOS]

I like the part in Postal 2 when Dude says "Hey, Not my fault, book the kid with the keyboard"

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I can't really think of anything except that part in Assassin's Creed 2. You know the one.

Also, Bloodlines is freaking awesome, especially as a Malkavian with the TV. And the stop sign.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

Batman Arkham Asylum's Scarecrow sequences are my favourite. They're trippy, fun and I hadn't seen anything like them before outside the realms of comic books.

 

[AntiFate]

the several parts in brutal legend where Eddie gets freaked out and puts on a wide eyed stare and looks at the screen...

 

[Cridhe]

Batman Arkham Asylum's Scarecrow sequences are my favourite. They're trippy, fun and I hadn't seen anything like them before outside the realms of comic books.

Dude... I have GOT to play this game. Your statement makes it officially official.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Half of the random encounters in Fallout 2 are worthy of a mention here. Examples include finding a crashed Enterprise shuttle with the corpses of several ensigns around the crash site, a ravine guarded by the Bridgekeeper (and yes, to pass you must answer me these questions three), and an encounter with five guys in power armour who identify themselves as Arthur and his knights on a quest for the Holy Hand Grenade (give them a plasma grenade to complete their quest and get a bunch of stuff in return).

But the prize for best encounter goes to the Inn of Broken Dreams that can be found in the wasteland. Inside are old characters from Fallout 1, including Dogmeat and Ian (4th wall breaking because they die in 1). But best of all are the two female characters by the bar, both exact copies of the female character from 1 except brunette and red-head instead of blonde - both bitching between themselves about how "that straw-haired hussy only got her big break because she slept with the lead programmer"!

And New Vegas advises you to only take the Wild Wasteland trait if you want your Fallout game to be wackier than usual. Pffft, ***** please. Fallout was always wacky, Bethesda just sucked all the fun out it with 3.

 

[Phishfood]

Got to give props to monkey island for this one, with guybrush storing a ladder in his pants then commenting on it.

 

[Scabadus]

That being said my favorite is in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines When you talk to Rosa and have here read your fortune. One of the lines of dialogue is "whether or not you win the game matters not... it's if you bought it" Nice way to subtly chastise pirates.

Huh, I never looked at it that before. I knew I was reading it wrong somehow, but I always took it to mean, "haha! We have your money know, we don't care if you enjoy the ending!" Bloodlines did not do breaking the fourth wall well...

There are some easter eggs in Morrowind and Oblivion (especially M'Aiq the Liar) that are pretty funny. Especially his line in Morrowind about finding dragons very high up in the map.... with a very long fall below you.

 

[thePyro_13]

Sam and Max season three, when one of the characters comments on how they worked the season title into the plot.

 

[vehystrix]

Conker live and reloaded tutorial.
The game is filled with 4th wall breaks, but the best one for me was when the gargoyle on the bridge says that the developers switched around the tutorial a bit to make the player think the rest of the game would also be different.

 

[rmb1983]

I will add one stipulation. No Metal Gear Solid Moments.

Damn you.

I can't really think of anything except that part in Assassin's Creed 2. You know the one.

Get out of my head.

That one in particular is really the only one that stands out, off the top of my head. Thankfully, it's also perfectly delivered, and while it makes you chuckle, doesn't really break the immersion.

I've seen quite a few over the years, but that one's definitely my #1.

 

[varulfic]

 

[SyphonX]

Fourth wall only works when the game itself is capable of pulling you in, and making you forget you're playing a game. This is rare. Metal Gear Solid is one of the few I remember doing this within any realm of astonishment. Only the first game. It was too much the first game, and the other entries in the series just started taking the piss, (Or however you Brits say that).

It only works when you've played it in it's era, though. Can't think of anything else at the moment.

(I know I broke the rules of the thread. Did I.. did I break the fourth wall ? Is this real life?)

 

[dvd_72]

One of the Jack and Daxter games. I think it was 3.

"This isn't a game", prompting Jack and Daxter to look at the player.

 

[Cheesus333]

In some of the Pokémon games, you can meet a few of the people on the development team. In the game world.

They will talk, to your character, about the game that they made, that they are in. I really don't know how that's supposed to work but Goddamnit I love it.

Also in Pokémon, there's a Bird-type called Noctowl. In HeartGold & SoulSilver, it'll play a little animation when sent into battle where it turns its head briefly to the screen, then back. Probably not an intentional one, but given that Noctowl is actually a Psychic Pokémon, I do feel like it's looking right at me. Which is brilliant, I love Scary Joe.

 

[Anachronism]

There was one moment in Baldur's Gate II that I really liked. One of your potential companions is a halfling who wants to be a paladin, but under 2nd Edition rules they can't be. She's discussing this with another of your party members, who suggests that maybe, one day, halflings will be able to be paladins. To this, the halfling responds:

Come now, it's not as if the gods are going to revamp the halflings and bring out a "3rd Edition" any time soon, is it?

Half of the random encounters in Fallout 2 are worthy of a mention here. Examples include finding a crashed Enterprise shuttle with the corpses of several ensigns around the crash site, a ravine guarded by the Bridgekeeper (and yes, to pass you must answer me these questions three), and an encounter with five guys in power armour who identify themselves as Arthur and his knights on a quest for the Holy Hand Grenade (give them a plasma grenade to complete their quest and get a bunch of stuff in return).

But the prize for best encounter goes to the Inn of Broken Dreams that can be found in the wasteland. Inside are old characters from Fallout 1, including Dogmeat and Ian (4th wall breaking because they die in 1). But best of all are the two female characters by the bar, both exact copies of the female character from 1 except brunette and red-head instead of blonde - both bitching between themselves about how "that straw-haired hussy only got her big break because she slept with the lead programmer"!

Er... there's a difference between breaking the fourth wall and making a pop culture reference. Yes, that last one about the lead programmer breaks the fourth wall, but I fail to see how jokes about Star Trek and Monty Python count.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Er... there's a difference between breaking the fourth wall and making a pop culture reference. Yes, that last one about the lead programmer breaks the fourth wall, but I fail to see how jokes about Star Trek and Monty Python count.

Really all a fourth wall break is is something in a game that breaks immersion and makes the player realise that they are playing a game. Yes, the most common of these are moments when a sprite turns to the screen and shouts "YOU'RE PLAYING A GAME!", but subtle references to out-of-game content can still have the same effect.

 

[LavaLampBamboo]

Deadpool in MvC3. Hell, Deadpool in ANY game. But it's so great in MvC3 when he bludgeons his opponent to death with the Special Bar. Or just steps forward and says "THIS IS A TAUNT!" when you press taunt =D

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Probably the bit in Jak III where our heroes glance at the screen after being told that "This is not a game".

Also, there's a Z-Skit from Tales of Symphonia where Lloyd mentions a "Quick-Jump" option (used to get through dungeons). Some of the other characters ask him about it, and he quickly retracts his statement.