Running Out of Stamina
Trapped inside an old, decrepit house; the only source of light is a dimly lit old-fashioned oil lamp. There are loud, inhuman sounds coming from the basement, you make your way to the front of the house to escape this madness when suddenly, a large eldrich monstrosity emerges from the cellar. It is time to run. You make a break for the door and run outside, the monster giving chase. The car parked outside is the only thing that can save you, all you have to do is reach it before it is too late. As you keep running, breathing becomes difficult, legs start to cramp up, and you begin to slow down. The car is not far away, but slowing down has allowed the creature to catch up, it impales you with one of its strange and sharp appendages.
It’s odd how in horror games, there is an abundance of video game deaths that are quite satisfying or cool looking, but one of the most common ones is also one of the weakest. Running out of stamina when getting chased by something that is trying to kill you removes a bit of the immersion from playing a video game. It seems like all playable characters are serious chain smokers who have asthma and have never done cardio at the gym once in their lives. Even the most out of shape person in the world would be able to run at his or her top speed for more than six seconds, but Sebastian Castellanos can only do it for five. You would imagine that adrenaline would kick in at some point.
This type of death isn’t exclusive to the horror genre. Imagine being invaded in Dark souls and mismanaging your stamina with ill-advised rolls and lousy attacks, only to be killed due to being unable to block or dodge in time. Or climbing a mountain to get a great view in Breath of the Wild only to see Link tumble all the way down in what appears to be a long and painful death. These video game deaths are straight embarrassing for anyone that has run on a treadmill at least once.
