BIGsheep – We’ve spoken about emotion before, the way games can make you really care or empathise about a story, a person, or even just a lowly Companion Cube. But what about those raw emotions that are linked to horror: fear, terror, anxiety? When was the last time a game made you want to turn on the lights, reach for your teddy and check that the Origami Killer wasn’t hiding behind your fridge.
Manuel – In general they don’t ever really scare me as much as a decent film can, but I did have a few jumps playing through the Marine campaign of Aliens v Predator recently. Although I’m putting that down to it being late at night, wearing headphones and being extremely tired at the time. It’s the psychological games like Silent Hill and Siren: Blood Curse that do set me on edge though. I prefer unsettling design and audio to straight-up shock tactics any day.
Having said that, the one moment that immediately springs to mind is the ‘dentist’ scene from the original Bioshock. Emerging through the smoke and turning round to see that character in your face was brilliantly choreographed. I defy anybody not to set their heart racing if they have no prior knowledge of that coming.
Pogo – Majikel and I have been playing back through Silent Hill 2 recently to try and show my better half how truly scary games can be. As expected the graphics look dated and the controls are just as unresponsive as they ever were; but it’s the audio that stands out. The build-up of music when nothing happens had the controller shaking in my hands. Majikel was saying how the audio engineers brought in psychologists to advise them on sounds which just don’t agree with the human brain; it’s horrible. To be honest just thinking about it gives me the jitters. Not cool.
BIGsheep – Have you played others in the Silent Hill series? Do they keep that level of horror up or did they ease off as time went on?
Pogo – I have, yes. I think as Manny said above, psychological horror has become truly eerie compared to the “oh, dark corner – argh, zombie!” format. Silent Hill 3 moved toward a more action style which didn’t really sit as nicely.
Silent Hill 4 was a slow burner, but once you got your head around it it was a fantastic concept. It gave you a room. The room was your safe haven, and you’d have to venture round various areas of Silent Hill by first going through a giant hole in the wall. The thing that really twisted it was the further you got into the game, the more weird things would start happening within the room upon your return. Almost like you were infecting it with each journey back. It had some terrifying moments since it soon didn’t allow your mind any time to relax. Once the parameters of the safe room started to become corrupt, it can truly mess with you. Everything you’d learnt off every horror game beforehand was becoming twisted and evil. I think it’s once you can really create breakthrough changes to the genre like this, things get truly scary.
The latest one, Homecoming, was a little off the mark. It followed more of a styling of the film which wasn’t too bad as a videogame movie, but it didn’t have that same eerie feel. It was a western team developing it and they just seemed to lose the spirit which made the series full of genuine fear.
BIGsheep – That tenuously links to possibly the most terrifying game I’ve ever played, the original Fatal Frame on the Gamecube. Playing a young woman, you entered an old Japanese house in search of your brother but finding only the camera he had taken with him. Trapped, you find the house haunted by restless spirits which you can only see them through your sibling’s camera.
No matter how good or bad you think the premise it was quite terrifying, primarily because of the audio. Or rather the distinct lack of it. I remember wandering down the corridors of a dilapidated Japanese mansion, peering in to the darkness with only the sound of my footsteps filling the void. There was no reassuring orchestral score, or even a quick burst of strings hinting at the approach of the next scare. When the silence went on for too long I found myself almost whimpering and occasionally just shouting at the telly and the game to just show me the next ghost so I could fill my trousers and get it over with.
Pogo – In a similar vein, Dead Space was a more recent hit which just sucked me in. Again the sound direction was fantastic, as your explored the derelict space station; you’re in an environment which is not natural so you’re already weary of sounds and events. Coupled with the twisted and deformed shapes of the monsters out to kill you, it’s truly freaky!
Fatal Frame gave me nightmares.
Manuel – I’d agree with the Dead Space recommendations, that thing is still the audio highlight of this generation for me. They loaded it with ambient noise to set the nerves jangling and used surround with a finesse that few other games have managed.
BIGsheep – Do you play games in optimum conditions? Turning the lights out, strapping a pair of headphones to your ears and blocking out everything but that which is playing out in front of you?
Pogo – I am a sucker for the punishment. I love to wait until everyone’s asleep, turn off all the lights and plug in those headphones. I think the experience just becomes something else when it totally encapsulates all of your senses. No distractions or lights to make you feel better.
BIGsheep – I tried that with the Resident Evil remake on the Gamecube. Staring at a small portable TV in darkness, headphones glued to your head I usually find is fine for the first few scares. As the night draws on, though, and tiredness and weary eyes add their own ingredients to the mix I usually find I have one scare to many and can’t play again until morning.
Pogo – Do you ever get that feeling when you’ve just hit a save point and save the game? It makes you feel invulnerable for about five minutes. You think, “it’s ok! I saved about two rooms ago so it doesn’t matter if I die.” But then you get further and further into the game. Further from that save point and those jitters just creep straight back in.
BIGsheep – I think that’s a different kind of horror, but, yes. Quick saves in some games have almost neutered that insecurity and made for some bland experiences, but well placed check points are an art in themselves. There are many games when relief has washed over me in waves once the “Checkpoint reached…” dialogue pops up.
But that could just be passage of play in general. Playing through Heavy Rain there are several sections where my heart was in my mouth, praying for the current QTE to be the last so I can get my character out of his current predicament alive. If rumours are true, and I have yet to experience it myself, if one of them die then that’s it; they make no further appearances. It may not be horror in its purest sense but I’m fighting to keep them alive for all I’m worth.
Manuel – I’m only up to the first one of those situations, but the tension that mounted was fantastic. The game does a fantastic job of leading you to a point in which you have to make a snap decision – there is precious little of the ‘pause and reflect’ so commonplace elsewhere. And yeah, it’s tense and scary as a result. Also tremendously difficult to discuss without spoiling unfortunately!
Pogo – My own personal most terrifying event must have been whilst playing Resident Evil 4 on the gamecube. I was playing with a friend, when we got to some really twisted and scary part of the game. All of a sudden, the room started shaking! Not the game room- the real room! I think I almost had a heart attack. For those first few seconds, your mind is still in the game. I couldn’t compute what was going on in the real world and just ended up in some super panic. It was a little earthquake we had a few years back and was probably the worst timing for something like that, like- ever!
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I make my living as a programmer at a British games developer. In my spare time I try and spread myself between writing, gaming, drumming, goalkeeping, rolling dice and keeping my hair blue. Somewhere around that my wife fits in.
Disclaimer: the views expressed are my own and do not neccessarily reflect those of my employer. "
3 Comments
I also found some choice moments in PC’s Doom3 that made me feel bicycle clip time was underway. Although I agree with manny that sound is a huge part it’s also worth noting art dept. Stuff too, anyone notice the Ishimura in dead space looks like a ribcage? There are slot of subtle ‘wrongs’ art wise in the best of these games
Fatal Frame/Project Zero is, for my money, the scariest video game of all time. So scary in fact that I’ve never finished it, it was just too much. And that’s why it’s also brilliant.
And I’m with Pogo. Turn off all the lights and plug in the headphones. I had a few brown trouser moments playing Doom 3 in that enviroment.
I’m not much of a horror gamer (scaredy cat am I)…..I agree with you all on the fatal frame/project zero, I only played the demo but thought the idea was different enough to make me want to give it a go. The fear of not knowing what is around you untill you bring that camera up to your viewpoint, and the useless feeling of not really having a sturdy weapon you can bash things with makes the game intense.
The one game that had me on edge the entire time was the first Condemned, very realistic looking graphics (for the time anyway) brilliantly twisted story with the voice acting of Greg Grunberg carring you through.
I loved the fact that the enemys would race past in the corners of your view, making you suspicious and wondering when and where they were going to pop out at you! (which they managed to do everytime) Also the way that you fought with them, the screen moving with every hit engrossed me even more.