Fear of the Dark
Since it’s the season of fright (that would be Halloween, not the elections, although…) I picked up F.E.A.R. the other day in an effort to creepify my computer gaming experience. About the scariest thing about it is how much I’ll have to spend on a new video card to have the visuals all cranked up. Sure, they did a nice job in the audio department (and personally a creepy audio experience is often times better than a visual experience) but it’s really hard to take a horror game seriously when you’re a bad-ass super soldier armed to the teeth with automatic weapons. It’s a shame someone doesn’t make a first person survival-horror game where you’re just a regular ol’ joe who has to make it through the game with just your wits and a Mag-lite. One of the keys to inducing terror is to instill a feeling of helplessness, which is sorta impossible when you have a Tac-III vest on and can spew out 100 rounds per minute from your piece.
Just as in the movies far too often games that are supposed to be scary confuse gore with horror. Atmosphere goes a long, long way. The best examples would be the first two Thief games, or the System Shock games. Sure, Thief may not be the most visually arresting game, especially in today’s realm, but you’d be hard pressed to find a game that did horror better. Sneaking into the undead infested church, playing only at night in a dark room, that’s the stuff that sends shivers up and down your spine. Thief and its sequel both positively reeked of an atmosphere that hasn’t been touched in computer games. Call of Cthuluh: Dark Corners of the Earth actually does a decent job, but I don’t know, Thief still burns the brightest for me.
Maybe I’ll dig up Thief and step back into that fright-filled steampunk world again while waiting to dish out candy…
-Scott
PS: On the subject of horror I have to say the flick Slither was a pleasant surprise. I liked the fact that what happened at the end, with the item that was telegraphed early in the movie, actually didn’t solve the problem (trying to avoid spoiling it, those of you who’ve seen it know what I’m talking about). Although once again it seems like the propane industry is a huge backer of horror movies…
What kind of video card is required for this game? I am going to have to get a new computer since this old laptop of mine has absolutely no real graphics capabilities.
Final Fantasy Fan,
Max
Comment by Final Fantasy — 11/28/2006 @ 1:30 am
i think the first alone in the dark and resident evil party also did a good job on creating horror-atmosphere. i won’t go and talk about the graphics though ;>
Comment by Andreas — 12/12/2006 @ 2:07 pm