Begin with a Fakeout Scene (Faking Out the Player)

Begin with a "Fakeout Scene" (Faking Out the Player)

Our hero, Gavin (the character you'll play once gameplay begins), kayaks on a small river. He gets a call on his cell phone from his controller in the CIA, warning him about Hobson's element manipulation. Gavin's controller warns him that he (Gavin) is in particular danger because he once injured Hobson in a firefight and killed Hobson's best friend and right-hand man. Hobson might want revenge.

Suddenly, a torrent of water comes rushing down the river toward Gavin! It's all he can do to stay alive as the racing river threatens to smash him against the rocks.

Just as quickly as the flood had swept upon him, the water abruptly recedes. Once again Gavin finds himself on a placid little stream. He's confused.

CUT TO: Further up the river, two firemen finish tightening down a fire hydrant that had erupted.

The preceding is a Fakeout Scene, because we fake out the gamer to think one thing is happening (that Hobson is controlling the water), when it's really something else (a broken hydrant). Fakeout Scenes often have a comic quality to them once they're over and the viewer sees the fakeout.

However, a Fakeout Scene doesn't need to be comic. The film Total Recall begins with Arnold Schwarzenegger dying on Mars but then he wakes up, and both he and we, the audience, realize he was dreaming.