Theory: Horror games elicit emotion
· Look at mechanics that can be used elsewhere to make emotion other than fear.
· What makes horror games scary?
Common Traits of Scare
· Vulnerable protagonist
o Could be ordinary or inferior
o Antagonists make short work of characters
o Characters feel "real"
· Information does not make sense
o Clues surround imagination space
§ Clues come through narrative
o Misinformation leads to twists in plot
o Culture shock leads to preconceived notions of how things work that don't work
· Level Design
o Pattern of decent
§ Once dropping down, can't return (e.g. holes)
o Recursion - passing through the same place, but the place changes through time
§ Recursion is not used much in Western games (more linear)
· Cinematography / sound design
o Control how the player sees the world
§ Cameras build tension and force shock
§ See "Fatal Frame 2"
o Sounds build tension and leaves clues to the world
§ Sound may be more important than the visuals (see "Silent Hill" "Dead Sapce")
· Difficulty
o Common to all horror games
o Running out of consumables (ammo, health, saves)
UBER TRAIT: LOSS OF CONTROL
· A horror game is scary if it makes you feel you are not in control
· Instill no confidence to resolve the current situation
o Vulnerable protagonists - you can't go in and protect the character
o Confusion - you don't feel grounded in a concrete set of rules
o Descent - removing you from a place that is safe; narrowing of options
o Recursion - understanding a place then having that place change removes confidence
o Cinema - no single character is known as the protagonists until the end
§ e.g. Alien
o Difficulty - unique to games
§ Makes or breaks a good horror games
· The body reacts to sex and aggression identically
· Stimulus - perception:
o To stimulus to general autonomic arousal to particular emotion experienced to interpretation
o To context to particular emotion experienced to interpretation
· A hard game gives stimulus to increase personal physical state w/o context
§ Scary monsters, places, etc. can be mislabeled as fear because of difficulty
GAMES THAT FAIL
· Dead Space
- not a lot of descent and recursion
- protagonist is a "bad ass"
- difficulty is not inherent
+ sound and cinema
· Alan Wake
- strong protagonist (the gun)
- not put under pressure
+ lots of negative space
· Dream 2
- only one spot to go to
- no physical elevation change
- flat journey
- confusing story for being a confusing story
- lack of clues forming a negative space
- fights are not hard
· Clocktower 3
- character cannot easily die
- very little difficulty
- bosses have nothing to do with the game
- story is nonsensical
+ vulnerable protagonist
+ plenty of recursion
· Call of Cthulhu
- core mechanics are broken
- cannot select things due to camera
+ early game is hard
SUPER TERRIBLE
· X-Files
- squandered license
- did not tie together aspects of copied horror games
+ fixed cameras
+ limited inventory
· Cold Fear
- mechanics are broken
- ammo loss halts progress
- saves are random and not on demand
+ structured plot
· Obscure 2
- characters are unbelievable
- offensive game script
+ good art and cinema
+ innovative 2 player mode
· The Ring
- WHATEVER THEY DO HERE IS BAD
- ONE OF THE WORST GAMES EVER
Play These:
· Silent Hill Shattered Memories
· Siren
· Hellnight
Answers to Questions
· Play with a friend to overcome too much fear and increase fun output when gaming.
· Pick a game that works for you if you find it hard to play horror games.
o e.g. don't pick zombies if you're super scared of zombies
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