Earth Day 5 Times Video Games Blew Up The Earth

Earth Day – 5 Times Video Games Blew Up The Earth

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Earth Day is a day meant for celebrating the planet we live on and promoting its preservation, but video games aren’t always kind to the Earth.

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Today is Earth Day, and all around the world people are showing their support for this beautiful planet. Taking steps to care for and preserve the Earth is hugely important, especially if humankind doesn’t want it to end up like it does in some video games. While the real Earth has been lucky enough to avoid complete and total destruction thus far, the parallel universe Earths that players find inside video games has not been so fortunate. The destruction of planets is a common trope in sci-fi and high powered fantasy media, but there are actually a surprisingly few number of games that take this trope and apply it to Earth itself.

There are any number of ways a planet could be destroyed. In sci-fi settings, this is often the result of a giant death beam like that of the Death Star’s in Star Wars. In fantasy games like Final Fantasy, some magic users are powerful enough to destroy entire planets with a single spell. When it comes to Earth, humanity’s main focus is on preserving ecosystems, combating climate change, and generally taking care of the planet. Some games even showcase what Earth might look like if these issues went too far. Below are five examples of this, but there are likely many more out there.

Saints Row 4 – Zinyak Destroys Earth

Saints Row 4 is a very odd game for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the way it starts off with the player’s character stopping a terrorist attack, becoming president of the United States, and then getting abducted by aliens all within the first hour. This time around, Earth’s destruction was caused by Zinyak, the leader of an alien race bent on the destruction of Earth. Zinyak threatens to destroy Earth several times and actually ends up going through with it relatively early on in the game.

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This scene in particular is rather surprising, as despite the generally goofy nature of Saints Row 4, it is handled in a very mature way. One moment, the Earth is there, and the next it is just gone. The characters react appropriately with shock and the moment drives the story forward in a unique way. Like the narrator says after it happens, “an act that was supposed to demoralize, galvanized.” The Saints now have a reason to fight against all the odds and do whatever it takes to destroy Zinyak and his empire. It was certainly a shocking moment in Saints Row history and it has left fans wondering what’s next for the franchise as even the Saints Row: Gat out of Hell didn’t fully answer that question.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot – Earth is Destroyed Twice

In a universe where people with the ability to destroy entire planets with ease seem to be around every corner, it’s honestly surprising that it took this long for the Earth to be destroyed. In the final moments of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s Buu Saga, Kid Buu generates a massive ball of energy and hurls it at Goku and Vegeta. Knowing they have no chance of stopping it, the two are forced to simply flee with Kibito Kai and Dende, leaving their friends and family behind on the doomed planet.

Unlike in Saints Row 4, there’s a glimmer of hope in the world of Dragon Ball. Assuming Goku and Vegeta can find a way to stop Buu once and for all, the Namekian Dragon Balls can be used to bring the Earth and all of its inhabitants back. Though this does eventually happen, the Earth is destroyed once again by Golden Frieza in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s DLC 2. This time, Whis uses his Angel abilities to reverse time and gives Goku a chance to stop it from happening.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 – Dr. Maxis Fires Missiles From The Moon

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is all about conspiracies and takes things pretty far. The Zombies mode is no different, and one of the DLC maps even takes players to the moon. As part of an elaborate, Easter-egg-like sidequest, players can work together with Dr. Maxis as he plans to fire three missiles at the Earth from the moon. Although it is believed that his true motivation for doing this is to sever the Earth’s connection with the Aether, the missiles end up being far more powerful and completely decimate the planet.

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What makes this one so chilling is that the player plays an active role in Earth’s destruction here. In most of the other examples, the Earth is destroyed by a villain that the player fails to stop, but here they are the one that pressed the red button so to speak. As they watch the missiles approach the Earth, disturbing music plays until they finally make contact. As the Earth explodes, there’s nothing but silence, and the player is left to contemplate what it is they’ve just done.

Honorable Mentions – Mortal Kombat 3 and Outriders

In Mortal Kombat 3, the player is able to destroy the Earth through the use of one of their fatalities. While these gruesome moves usually focus on mutilating the opponent in an over the top manner, Smoke Bot takes this to an all new level. After soundly defeating his opponent, Smoke Bot can activate his World Explosion fatality, dropping a ton of bombs onto the ground around the enemy. The screen zooms out to show the Earth floating through space before dramatically exploding. This one is by far the funniest on the list, and many fans would love to see it return as a Klassic Fatality in Mortal Kombat 11.

In Outriders, players don’t get to see the destruction of Earth, but they can read about it. Everyone on Enoch fled the Earth knowing that it was going to be destroyed soon, and the reasons why seem rather vague. Journal entries in the game point towards nuclear missile tests underground, global warming, or experimental technology that altered the Earth’s gravitational pull. Regardless of the cause, massive earthquakes ravaged the planet, sending even larger tsunamis into the mainlands and islands to devastate the population. The gradual nature of Earth’s destruction in Outriders is perhaps one of the scariest things about it.

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