I have found an article that talks of 10 different game mechanics that could be incorporated in Horror games to make them appear more frightening. These have been used in some recent games such as Amnesia: Dark Descent, but the article notes that these are not commonly used.
In my opinion, Normality isn't completely necessary. Having an unknown situation or place that is un-relatable can create worry, and a sense of not belonging which can scare some people. People feel safer in places they will recognise, whether it is dark and broken or not.
1) Normality
In most games the player usually starts out in some strange and not very normal situation. In Amnesia, the story takes place in early 19th century and has the protagonist waking up in gothic castle. Not something very easy to relate to. Other games see the player have some secret agent trap in a spooky town/village, etc. All of these are very abnormal situations, and something few of us will ever find ourselves in.
2) Long Build-Up
Most games want to kick off the action as soon as possible. Even games with a drawn-out introduction, like Silent Hill 2, introduce the horror elements very early on.
The problem is that sustaining a really high level of terror is only possible in shorter bursts, and the more the audience has to contrast to, the greater the peaks intensity will feel.
3) Doubt
Many of the best horror stories raise the question of whether a phenomena really exists. Is the protagonist really seeing ghosts, or is it all in her mind?
Solving this is no easy feat, but I think a first step is to embrace the previous two entries in this list: normality and a long build-up. If the player relates to the game as "real life" and gets enough time to establish this idea, then she will eventually start to compare any features of the virtual world with the real.
4) Minimal Combat
The worst thing about combat is that it makes the player focus on all the wrong things, and makes them miss many of the subtle cues that are so important to an effective atmosphere. It also establishes a core game system that makes the player so much more comfortable in the game's world. And comfort is not something we want when our goal is to induce intense feelings of terror.
5) No Enemies
By this I do not mean that there should be no threats to the player lurking about. What I mean is that we need to stop thinking of any creatures that we put into the game as "enemies." The word "enemy" makes us think about war and physical conflict, which is really not the focus in a horror game.
6) Open World
By this I do not mean that horror games should strive to be GTA-like sandbox experiences, but simply that they should allow more freedom of movement. Most horror games set up a very strict path for the player to follow even if they have, like Silent Hill, a large world to explore.
Instead, I think future horror games should allow for the player to skip certain areas and to go about in the world in a free way. This increases the player's feeling of being in a real world, increasing any emotions associated with it.
7) Agency
Horror games are so effective because they can make the player feel as though they are there when the horror happens. Other media, especially in the horror genre, have to try really hard to accomplish this, but for games it comes almost automatically. It is then a waste that many horror games does not take advantage of this properly and destroy the sense of agency in all kind of ways.
8) Reflection
The video game medium tops all others in giving its consumer a sense of responsibility. If something caused by the protagonist happens on the screen, the player has been part of that. This opens up for the game to be able to reflect itself upon the player and to make players think about themselves while playing.
Games have tried to do this in the past, but I do not think it has come very far yet. So-called moral choices are very common in games, but are hampered by being obvious predefined selections (choose A, B or C) and by being connected to the game dynamics (making the choice more about what is best for the player stats wise).
9) Implications
What really brings some horror home is when it has implications in real life. This can be something like the fear of TV sets that Ring manages to achieve, or the bleak and disturbing universe that Lovecraft's stories paint.
Elements like these are almost entirely missing from video games, and again it ties into other entries on the list. Normality is probably the most important, and if we are able to achieve that, it will be much easier to tie elements of the game into everyday life.
10) Human Interaction
The final entry will also be the hardest one: to bring human drama into the game's actions.
Most horror in other media does not have the phenomena/situation per se as its focus, but instead its effect on people. The Exorcist is a great example of this, and so is The Shining. However, in video games the main actions still revolve around inanimate objects or brainless foes. By typing the player's player's actions directly to other people, the horror gets so much more personal and intense.
Sourced from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/169476/10_ways_horror_games_need_to_evolve.php
No comments:
Post a Comment