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Playing With Evil: The Horror of Gaming

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    Playing With Evil: The Horror of Gaming

    For the past four years one of the recurring threads in the Movies section has been an October long tour through major horror franchises, I feel like next year will be the last gasp for air from the shallow grave for that thread but it feels like the only right thing to do in this time when the light draws dim and the moon rises over the black silhoutte of the tree line is to take a similar journey through the long history of notable horror gaming titles...

    So, come with us, as we journey through the creaking door of gamings past and present...






    Game 01 - Siren
    Launched on the PlayStation 2, Keiichiro Toyama wrote the game after completing the original Silent Hill. The game sees players control several characters across different time periods but all trapped within a small village that has been taken over by deadly undead figures. Remade for PlayStation 3 five years later, the game was loved by fans for its story and sense of dread thanks to the vulnerability that the characters faced compared to more combat driven rival franchises.






    How does Siren rank on the Horror Scale?

    #2
    Game 02 - Resident Evil VII
    The seventh mainline Resident Evil shook up the gameplay for the second time in the franchises history by switching to a first person perspective. The move was a bold gamble for a franchise that had successfully moved to third person over the shoulder gameplay and despite middling critical reactions, had scored strong sales from that switch with recent games. The move worked however, players flocked to the more intimate sense of dread as you creeped around the rundown locations, hunted by a smaller but more deadly set of threats.






    Where did the Revamp of the Series Land with You?

    Comment


      #3
      Siren was terrifying. I couldn’t finish it.

      RE7 was terrifying. I couldn’t finish it.

      Comment


        #4
        With Siren I only tried the PS3 version but really struggled with how it's mostly clunky stealth. With Resident Evil, VII and VIII feel more like spin-offs than sequels. The perspective change does an amazing job of driving up tension but the back end of VII suffers hard when it tries to merge into something more generically Resi. Village was kind meh, better mechanically but weaker in tone. I find the remakes much more interesting.

        Comment


          #5
          I played the VR mode of Resi VII.
          fuse enjoyed watching me suffer as I streamed it on Twitch.

          Fave bit was where the evil dad was chasing me in the garage, but he got stuck on the car, so could calm down and take him out at my own pace.

          It's amazing and should probably finish it and spooky season is a good time to head back to the... mansion.

          Comment


            #6
            I've never played Siren but would really like to. I'd need to dig out my PS2 or PS3 though.

            Resi VII, I absolutely loved...right up until that final third. The entire segment in the Bayou mansion - which is the bulk of the game - is really well done and I loved how it combined familiar Resi elements with a new feel to the gameplay. I also felt it was very effective in terms of scariness. The Baker family are also markedly different to the more melodramatic, J-drama stylle of characters in prior games, such as the Ashford family, while retaining the gothic feel to them that fits so well with rest of Resi.

            It's just a shame they felt the need to include that long, boring section where you clonk around a dark boat at the end. It really didn't add anything and it was pretty obvious that it was padding. If it was dramatically shorter it would have been okay, I think.

            Comment


              #7
              I`m fairly sure it was in Siren or the remake. There was a section where you were exploring some corridors and there was this constant breathing that sounded like it was following you, kept looking and nothing there. This went on for a while and then tailed off, I turned around and got an almighty jump scare as an enemy was behind me.

              I think some pee came out!

              Comment


                #8
                Game 03 - Gregory's Horror Show
                Based on an animated Japanese show, Capcom's game saw players take on the role of a guest as he explores the hotel capturing souls via spying on guests and using their information to work out how to claim the spirits. The more souls the player captures, the more stealth becomes a necessity as the guests turn against you. The game became a fan favourite but has remained locked to the PS2.






                A Willing Guest or Pure Horror?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yes, brilliant game, shame I sold it. Damn thing’s worth like £80 now. ❤️‍🩹

                  Comment


                    #10
                    That's nothing, I saw a copy of Kirby's Air Ride in CEX at the weekend selling for £210


                    Game 04 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
                    Gamecube was a great system for delivering Nintendo games that would go on to recieve no sequels and one of the more notable examples was Silicon Knights third person horror title that attempted to play tricks on the player in MGS style using its patented sanity effects. Players took on several roles across multiple time periods as the plot unfolded, the game followed many of its ilk and went on to have a following of its own whilst attempts to make a spiritual sequel failed and Nintendo has never revived the game in any form.



                    Eternally Great?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post
                      That's nothing, I saw a copy of Kirby's Air Ride in CEX at the weekend selling for £210


                      Game 04 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
                      Gamecube was a great system for delivering Nintendo games that would go on to recieve no sequels and one of the more notable examples was Silicon Knights third person horror title that attempted to play tricks on the player in MGS style using its patented sanity effects. Players took on several roles across multiple time periods as the plot unfolded, the game followed many of its ilk and went on to have a following of its own whilst attempts to make a spiritual sequel failed and Nintendo has never revived the game in any form.



                      Eternally Great?
                      True.

                      And another class game, about time I replayed it I think.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        On the irrelevant topic of CeX / retro prices.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Game 05 - Silent Hill
                          Released on the PS1, the original entry side stepped Resident Evils static backgrounds approach to present its town in full 3D. Thanks in part to the limitations of the hardware, heavy fogging was utilised to mask graphical limits and to set tone, a tool so effective that it became a definining characteristic of the franchise moving forward. The game has players take on the role of Harry Mason as he explores the town in search of his daughter, meeting other stranded souls and various nightmarish creatures as he makes his way towards one of multiple endings. The game, along with Resi, was one of the most defining of the genre from that generation.



                          Do These Hills Have Eyes for You?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
                            I played the VR mode of Resi VII.
                            fuse enjoyed watching me suffer as I streamed it on Twitch.
                            Similarly I had friends watching me do the same - it's the brown trouser circle of life!

                            Played Silent Hill through one weekend as a friend rented it, and honestly can remember so little of it. At the time I definitely thought of it as Resi's inferior, but I've a feeling the psychological angle in it has probably aged better.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Game 06 - Dino Crisis
                              One of the less horror focused entries on the list, Capcom's Resident Evil-a-like saw Dino's replace Zombies and offered fans an alternative that has maintained a cult audience to this day despite Capcom's refusal to revisit the franchise.




                              Dino fuelled survival horror, uh... finds a way?

                              Comment

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