slob
Junior Member
Gay Anime Man
THE THROB OF THE ENGINE FEELS GOOD DOESN'T IT
Posts: 94
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Post by slob on Jul 1, 2010 18:30:26 GMT -5
baby don't hurt me no moreeeee
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Sweet Bro
Junior Member
useless piece of shit
where MAKING THIS HAPEN
Posts: 70
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Post by Sweet Bro on Jul 2, 2010 9:33:00 GMT -5
I've actually heard a lot of criticism about Eternal Darkness. People have said it resorts to "cheap parlor" tricks to force a scare out of the player, without actually doing anything scary, and I think this brings up a good point about the entire horror industry. Many games are guilty of this. For example, Dead Space's many pop-out horrors, Silent Hill 1's locker scene, Condemned's...locker scene and many others. All of these games are from completely time periods, with very different game styles. While I find this lazy and simple abuse of a game's atmosphere, it tends to be a staple in many seemingly respectable horror games, which should really change.
I found the mannequins to be much more unnerving than some half dead mother fucker. I even learned about the mannequins before I actually played the game, and they were still freaky as shit. The constant feeling of pressure and helplessness given by Silent Hill after being chased by those fucking bird shits and going back into a room you thought you cleared but your radio is still freaking out, does have its charm, however shocker scenes have absolutely no charm. And with Dead Space, what really stuck to me, the only part I felt was actually scary, was during scene where I was given two options, I could exit right out the front door, or I could go down a long hallway for an audio log or some money or some shit and come right back, of course being the completionist I begrudgingly went down and got the shinies and came back, only to have my fears come true and having to fight a small wave of enemies. Being forced to make a decision like that, actively weighing the gains and the losses really shouldn't have a place in a horror game in my opinion, but I suppose it works well in a 'survival'-horror game. Yet that doesn't exclude the fact that being punished by fighting enemies actually devalues the enemies and eventually, fighting them harbors no feelings of terror or tension, but just ends up being another baddie, and another obstacle that you will have to climb because that's how the game works. That's why I like the idea that combat should be out of desperation, not out of necessity.
I suppose that's what made Yume Nikki so widely acclaimed is the fact that it does not use conventional means to convey horror, in almost all ways it is a wholly surreal game, abandoning conventional ways of combat and having no real GOAL presented throughout the game, you didn't have to kill a single thing the entire game to 'beat' it. It's pure atmosphere throughout, and while I was not particularly shaken by it, I still respect its breaking of the mold. However, even Yume Nikki is not safe from the whole shock horror thing. Uboa?... Uboa? Really? I can't actually believe anyone jumped out of their seats, terrified when the image of Uboa popped up. When I first saw the image, like on /x/ or something just lurking around, I thought it was pretty weird looking, there might even be a cool story behind it, and I was severely disappointed to find out its origin. Maybe it's a joke that has gone far over my head? I don't know, seems silly to me.
But back to what I was saying, shit I can't even remember what I was saying. I think horror games should make it a priority to avoid shockers as a whole because it just comes of as lazy...especially if it wears on and becomes overused used and eventually routine. That and prioritizing in preserving the terror that enemies can convey, without taking advantage of that. Enemies should be a mystical and frightening thing, and the moment they are bested in combat, the whole feeling of mystery and horror is lost. They are mortal, just like you and I, they can be killed. The worst thing you can do is have to player connect to the enemy on that plane, unless it's a psychological horror game, then that's what you really want to do, making the player question his own actions it brilliant in that case. The BEST thing you can do is create an atmosphere that really sucks you into the game, refusing to let you go, and have the environment complimenting it whether that be through enemies or sights and sounds or whatever, making the horror come directly from the game, not from knee-jerk reactions.
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