Twas Horrorshow

I was browsing a forum the other day when someone posed the question: “Are you too scared to play horror games?”

This is a topic very close to my heart - the excellent, but flawed survival horror genre. Don't get me wrong, I love the genre with every ounce of my being, but in spite of it “working”... I've yet to actually feel scared by a game. Certainly not scared enough that I would stop playing once a threat or scare had been introduced.

I envy those in that situation - and if you're one of those people I envy you.

I'm jealous of the personal level of immersion that you get when witnessing the same horrors and experiences I too am exposed to.

I'm jealous that you feel playing the game unaccompanied acts as is its own hurdle other than the challenge of the game itself.

Conversely, I am a sucker for cheap scares. Whenever a quiet section is followed by something sudden, I'll be scared to buggery. I become immersed enough that, even if the game cannot truly frighten me, it can still catch me off guard. 

The problem is that it's cheap, low-effort and not as sophisticated at digging into whatever fears I may have - it's more a shock. The same effect can be achieved while walking with an iPod (or other branded portable music contraption) and blindly stumbling around a corner into an old lady. The content of the scare is irrelevant, it's just a shock to the senses – the video game equivalent of this can be found in Resident Evil when the zombie dogs jumped through the mansion windows.

The problem is that this fear isn't deep enough – just the surface cheap scares. I have witnessed potential deep fear in the Silent Hill series. Fear which can not only be used multiple times in different ways, but can linger in the player's mind post the game experience. I understand it, appreciate it, but it still doesn't quite get to me. Maybe it makes me feel uncomfortable, but that’s stretching it.

I think my problem is that I'm desensitised, I know this, because it hasn’t always been the case.

I remember back to when I was an innocent eight-year-old, I was too scared to watch Bram Stoker's Dracula. Games weren’t really addressing the genre en masse at the time, and they were my primary form of entertainment. Movies, on the other hand, had already gone through splatter films and video nasties, with torture porn and a wave of sanitised remakes still to come.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this and refuse to condemn violent video games…

There’s also someone throwing up in the street outside of my window…

Basically, now I’m older and thoroughly desensitised, the only fear games reliably produce in me comes from the death of my character, the loss of my progress and the prospect of replaying part of the game.

Yes, the survival part of survival horror, something I believe games touch on but don't fully exploit.

Almost every game relies on survival as a means to challenge the player - which is fine, especially in horror games. The problem is with empowerment. Games empower the player far too soon. Resident Evil 4 is guilty of this.

The feeling I got whilst playing Resident Evil 4 was one of helplessness – I had the fear that my acts of desperation were perhaps insufficient to stop my Spanish attackers... I refer to the opening village/church segment – one of my favourite gaming moments to date (the closest video games have come to that Romero zombie survival fantasy).

Unfortunately, this relatively open-ended struggle was short-lived. As the game became more directed and the player became increasingly more powerful, desperate survival gradually gave way to more conventional action. 

Somebody is still vomiting in the street - I might get out of bed to close the window if I hear another strained yelp.

Where was I?

Basically I love the genre. I just don't think it's fulfilling its potential. Back when I hit the age of 13 and became invincible to as many horrors that films could throw at me, games attempted to bowl a couple of scare balls my way, but nothing fazed me. The Internet made its way into my home and with it images of true horror and other unpleasantness. Perhaps desensitisation is to blame. Or perhaps horror games simply haven’t found the particular weakness they need to exploit.

Regardless, I'm waiting for the film or game that gets under my skin.

It will happen one day.

I'm sure of it.

I am but a man... a Wheelman!

It has been a while! Nobody told me that a job in the games industry would leave so little time for fun and bloggery, but at least I’m happy.

I’ve settled nicely into my position at Midway and am finding the people around me great in and out of work. This is excellent, because I sometimes feel as though I live in the studio more than I do at home. Truth be told, my flat is purely a place for me to sleep and shower. I don’t even eat there. For those counting, I’ve eaten in my flat a total of 16 times in 12 months.

At some stage, depending on my situation after shipping Wheelman, I’m planning to move somewhere much nicer on my own. My current flatmates are great (certainly compared with a certain individual I lived with a few months ago), but I feel as though I need my own space.

I recently stepped back and looked at the number of hours I’ve been putting into Wheelman. On one hand, I’m shocked. On the other, I’m pleased.

A year ago, working even half an hour of overtime wasn’t in my vocabulary. Now I occasionally find myself working close to twice my core hours. That sounds fairly horrifying written down, but nobody is forcing me to do it. I’m putting in the time because I genuinely want to be there, working on the game.

Anyway! There have been a lot of good previews and responses to Wheelman from events such as E3 and Midway Gamers Day. I’m pretty happy about that, and I hope the reviews eventually strike a similar tone.

Last-minute note alert! Consolevania has started once more, and this time they’re going all Web 2.0. Check here for details!

And, as a final note, I have started a Twitter!