Every genre in the gaming world has its fair share of tropes, passed down from generation to generation, gradually becoming engrained into development to the point where players can no longer point out its inclusion. Being one of the oldest genres in gaming, the action-adventure genre is full to the brim with development tropes, covering everything from the types of weapons available to level design philosophies to how the game's AI should behave. And by far one of the most prevalent tropes in the open-world action-adventure genre is the 'I fought the law and the law won' trope.
The action-adventure genre is still one of the most popular in gaming, and it has been since the very dawn of the medium back in the late 1970s. Over the years, several subgenres have sprouted out from the action-adventure genre, each based on an incredibly influential game. The Metroidvania, the survival horror, and the Grand Theft Auto clone are all popular subgenres, with the latter being home to the notorious 'I fought the law and the law won' trope.
The 'I Fought the Law and the Law Won' Gaming Trope Explained
The 'I fought the law and the law won' gaming trope is present in just about any and every open-world game that involves police of any kind. While this is often real-world police in patrol cars with standard-issue weaponry, this can also include a range of fantasy or Sci-Fi lawmen, such as castle guards or an intergalactic space force. This trope is used to describe that phenomenon in open-world games where the police are just a tad overpowered, being able to vastly outnumber and outgun the player, forcing them to have to retreat from a fight.
The 'I fought the law and the law won' gaming trope is often controlled and measured with a Wanted Level. When players continue to commit violent or criminal acts, their Wanted Level will increase. At a certain point, the law will begin hunting the player, and if the player continues to increase that Wanted Level, often by fighting back, the law's strength only increases until the player is overwhelmed. This trope can often cross over with the 'Shoplift and die' trope, which sees the law descend on the player for even the smallest illegal action.
The Best Examples of the 'I Fought the Law and the Law Won' Trope in Gaming
The best example of the 'I fought the law and the law won' trope is, most obviously, the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Baked into the very DNA of the franchise, with the entire series originally being based on a bug that saw the police erratically crash into players, Grand Theft Auto's police are notorious for their over-the-top reactions to the player's crimes. GTA's Wanted Level is clearly indicated by a set of flashing stars, and hitting the maximum sees the military rain down hell on the player, ensuring that they can't make it out alive.
Being one of the most influential games of all time, GTA has also spawned countless clones over the years, with just about all of them using some form of the 'I fought the law and the law' trope. Saints Row, Sleeping Dogs, and even The Godfather are all GTA clones that essentially copy its use of the trope entirely, with the police chasing the player down if they commit criminal acts. Even family-friendly clones like Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Ultimate Spider-Man follow the same trend, with the law hunting players down if they destroy too much of the city.
While the 'I fought the law and the law won' trope can be found in the vast majority of open-world action games, it's occasionally subverted in some subtle ways. The Assassin's Creed franchise, for instance, has a more forgiving approach to this trope, with Assassin's Creed 2 letting players either escape their law pursuers or defeat them in combat.