Bizarre size screw-ups in games

Killzone 2
There are so many first-person shooters out there where it looks like you're controlling a midget with a gun strapped to his face. But still, this is a bit odd. Look at this promo artwork with Sev at the front and Natko on the right.

Sev's an imposing figure, no? But here's the game, looking through Sev's eyes. No, we weren't crouching, and yes this is on level ground:


Above: "Quit pointing that gun at me, Sev." "Sorry dad."

Natko is supposed to be three inches taller than Sev. But going by that screenshot and the constant chest-staring, Sev's much shorter:

Far Cry 2
Killzone isn't the only recent FPS to feature a vertically-challenged lead character. Take Far Cry 2, for example. This is an odd one, as most of the time the perspective seems just fine. But then you get to the weapon shop and encounter this door...

Looks innocent enough, doesn't it? But note how low that handle is. Things get even stranger when you walk up to it:

The doorhandle's as big as a stop-cock compared to your hand and gun. And look at the lock. Doesn't it feel as though you're a tiny man hovering in space? Let's take a look inside.

That handle's incredibly low. But now we've got a proper eyeline on a level floor, we cansee how tall we really are...

Looks like they hired a child to do a man's job.

And finally... Super Mario Bros

Shall we compare that to Bob Hoskins' Mario from the movie?

At least you get bigger if you eat it. Makes sense really.

12 Feb, 2009


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Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.