Dead Space Wants To Scare You 195
Kotaku recently ran a story questioning whether the survival-horror genre still exists, and how Dead Space may or may not fit into it. With reviews for the game starting to come in, Ars Technica reports that the game is, indeed, both scary and good. Gamespy wrote up a Dead Space survival guide, and Gamasutra has a lengthy interview with the game's senior producer. In the production of the game, the developers studied things like car wrecks and war scenes to increase the level of realism. They also want the game's sounds to terrify players, including appropriately timed silence. The launch trailer is also available, though it does contain spoilers.
Maybe it's me (Score:5, Insightful)
I haven't gotten the chills from a game since Doom2. Thinking back, I wonder if now I would get the same feeling. I guess part of it's realism, but as/more important is the immersion. I've not been able to turn up the volume, shit the door and leave the real world in a while.
Another important thing in scaring someone is that there has to be some negative outcome that they are genuinely concerned about. A game can look as creepy as Hell, and the sound can be spot on. But, if I am not afraid to die, to lose something I've worked for, I'll just think it's cool.
Give me that tension. Make losing my character be a significant loss. Then, those dark rooms, eerie creeks and nervous silences just might make a bit uncomfortable.
Problems.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Gore doesn't scare me but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Problems.... (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem in making a good survival horror game is that people just aren't scared anymore. We are used to movies with blood everywhere and body parts flying in every direction. Mix that in with the current technology of load times and lag and a survival horror game just isn't going to work. Granted, you can make a fairly good and creepy game, but the tactics that worked in the past aren't going to work today.
But that isn't scary, just nasty... Some of the scariest movies of my life had little or no gore. Now that have traded dread for surprise and shock. I wild love to have some good old fashioned Dread back. This might be it. I just hope the DRM is not the scary part of the game!
Re:Problems.... (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem in making a good survival horror game is that people just aren't scared anymore.
The problem is that we're tired of producers confusing "scaring" us with "startling" us. How many times did something jump out of the dark at you in Doom 3? Don't you remember playing 95% of the game switching between your gun and your flashlight and constantly entering rooms backwards because you knew the monster was going to come out of a hidden door behind you? That's not scary, it's just annoying as hell.
You look at recent horror films like The Ring (setting aside that it wasn't a very good movie). That movie was scary as crap, and the director did it by actually scaring you.
fff (Score:5, Insightful)
Silent Hill 2 ... its weakness was that it sprawled thematically, leaving many loose ends, unanswered questions, unclear conclusions and unrelated elements.
That was not a weakness, it was one of its main strengths! The ambiguity of the story makes the viewer think and wonder about just what was it that was seen. And it does so in a masterful way, provoking interesting thoughts and interpretations on the part of the viewer. Not to mention that uncertainty is a key element of suspense and fear.
On a side note, this kind of attitude of wanting everything spoon-fed and explained is very lazy and too typical of people who just want to sit in front of a box to be entertained for a set amount of time. That's entirely different to wanting a piece of art that lingers in the mind long after experienced.
Re:Problems.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly. What made "F.E.A.R." great at this wasn't the "startle" moments, or the gore, but scenes that created an air of foreboding. For instance, you walk down a dark hallway and see a vague shape jump around the corner. Go around the corner, and there's nothing there. *That* is what creates the feeling of impending doom, not the fifteenth iteration of "turn lights off, open up closet behind player containing monsters".
I stopped playing Doom 3 when I realized that I had developed an instinctual tick of turning around and firing every time the lights went out.
Re:Maybe it's me (Score:4, Insightful)
Unreal.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember fighting those green spider things in the dark by throwing flares around and lighting up little areas?
Let's not confuse that with "suddenly make a loud noise in a quiet bit".
Meh. (Score:2, Insightful)
I liked this game better when it was called Doom 3.
At least then the graphics were cutting edge, instead of 3-4 years out of date.
Not that graphics are the end all, be all of a game. But this game has the same plot as every doom (and doom clone) ever made.
Re:Problems.... (Score:3, Insightful)
.
H.P. Lovecraft at his best could chill you to the bone with nothing more explicit than an overwhelming sense of age and power:
That the closer you came to the heart of things, the more likely you were to go utterly and irretrievably mad.
Hitchcock, working in another genre, always knew that the fuse hits the audience harder than the bang - which, in the end, is just another special effect.
The shower scene in Psycho works because the audience is as keyed up and helpless in his hands as the girl.
Re:Problems.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I have to say that the Silent Hill games are WONDERFUL for this. Look at the first game (i believe, *may* be 2). As you're entering town, you see just a streak of blood on the road. That's *it*. I remember seeing that, thinking "shit."
Silent Hill games are, honestly, some of the best in the genre. Also, Fatal Frame games are good. Freaky as fuck.
Re:Maybe it's me (Score:4, Insightful)
That was the one thing I didn't like about Bioshock. There wasn't any penalty for getting your character killed. Otherwise it was a very creepy/scary game. That removed a lot of the potential tension.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Lovecraft (Score:4, Insightful)
but scenes that created an air of foreboding. For instance, you walk down a dark hallway and see a vague shape jump around the corner. Go around the corner, and there's nothing there. *That* is what creates the feeling of impending doom
You are spot on. Horror is foreboding, knowing that something bad is going to happen, just not knowing exactly how or when.
I'll make a reference to H.P.Lovecraft. Arguably the most famous horror author, and basically all his stories starts with telling you how awful everything went in the end. Then he starts describing exactly how it happened and why it couldn't be avoided.
Re:Maybe it's me (Score:3, Insightful)
The thing about Doom is we felt alone. There were no computers to read dialog, no diary's, no nothing. It was you, a weapon, and a shit load of monsters. The feeling of being a world by yourself gives you a sense of helplessness, even though you knew you could beat blast the monsters away, if you got caught with no ammo, no one was there to save you.
I agree with the second part, but disagree with the first part. Some games get scarier when you know more about the story.
Watch this little game [youtube.com]. Project Firestart is over 20 years old and it still scares the crap out of me.
And what to say about the Silent Hill games? Having to kill your best buddy to survive, the possibility of you actually being insane, etc. How about this: You're trapped trying to get a door open, and there's a key on the other side. You crawl to try to get it, and guess what? A spoiled little brat comes out and kicks it away! Or when you're trapped with all those things hanging in the celing, and the girl is on the other side. You yell, bang at the door and scream. Get me out of here! But guess what, she locked you inside. I'll never forget the frustration, anger and fear I felt at that time. It's one thing going to face the boss on your own account and by your own will. But this feeling of helplessness...
It's not just the monsters. It's the psychology of the games. When designed well (or ill, to be precise), they can give you nightmares for weeks.
It's not about stopping piracy (Score:2, Insightful)
It's about killing the resale market. You can get pirate copies for PC & 360 regardless of any protection they put on. I don't know about PS3 but I expect it will be forthcoming.
Re:Maybe it's me (Score:3, Insightful)
As for you wanting to be tense and afraid to loose something you worked for, all I can say is this; A lot of people are like that, but it makes absolutely no since what-so-ever. Life is stressful, life is tense, life is challenging, so why in the hell would I want to "Play" a game that has those same factors?
Because in real life, if the axe murderer in the corner jumps out of the shadows and takes a swipe at you, no amount of health packets is gonna save you.
Incidentally, the whole "why would you want to do this escapist activity when it also exists in some fashion in real life" is a very played out argument that completely misses the point of escapism and why people enjoy it. Just thought you'd like to know.