Well, although I was feeling slightly uninspired, I quite like how this digitally-edited cyberpunk landscape painting turned out 🙂
As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
“Silent Streets” by C. A. Brown
Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time to compile a list of links to the ten best articles (plus a couple of honourable mentions) that I’ve posted here during the past month.
This month’s articles were bittersweet to write, since I decided to conclude the first “season” of my “Horror Videogames Series” that I’ve been writing for about six months or so. Don’t worry, I’m hoping to start a second “season” on the 12th January 2022 🙂 Expect a “preview” article tomorrow morning explaining more about this.
In the meantime, I’ll still be posting daily articles but they will mostly be about other stuff (eg: music, physical media nostalgia, horror movies etc...) – although there will be at least one or two horror game themed articles in between these two seasons.
The first “season” of my “Horror Videogames Series” was a hell of a lot of fun to write, although I noticed that it was running out of steam for a number of reasons. So, it seemed like taking a break from it and doing other stuff for a month or two was the best option. One interesting side-effect of writing this series is that next month’s articles definitely have more of a “critic”, “nerd” and/or “historian”-like style to them than the tutorials etc… I used to write more regularly before I started this series.
As for reviews, this month was better than I expected 🙂 I reviewed an awesome horror-themed “Doom II” WAD called “The City Of The Damned Apocalypse“, two classic rail shooter games – “Area 51” (1996) and “The House Of The Dead 2” (1998) – and also an amazing “Resident Evil” fan game called “Biohazard Uncomplete” (2021) too 🙂
Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂
Top Ten Articles – November 2021:
Honourable Mentions:
Although I was feeling a little uninspired, and this digitally-edited painting ended up being a little minimalist, I quite like how it turned out 🙂
As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
“Shelves” by C. A. Brown
Well, although this first “season” of my horror videogames series has come to a conclusion (the second should begin on the 12th January 2022. Stay tuned for other daily articles, including a couple of horror game-themed ones, in the meantime) – I thought that I’d offer a few tips about how to write about horror videogames, in case anyone else wants to write a similar series. Still, I’m astonished that the first “season” lasted for more than six months, given that it was a random idea I had whilst trying to solve some serious writer’s block.
1) Play what you can: Although fan Wikis and websites like Youtube can be invaluable research tools, they aren’t really a full substitute for actual hands-on experience with horror videogames.
One of the things that I tried to do at the height of writing this series was that I tried to play at least a small amount of one of these games every day. Yes, this was probably a bit much – and possibly explains the mild feelings of burnout that led to me concluding the first “season” and taking a bit of a break (the first warning sign was when I noticed myself abandoning another re-play of “Silent Hill 2” (2001) and going entire days without playing horror games). Still, actively playing these games almost every day was crucial to writing daily articles because it drastically increased my chances of spotting something interesting to talk about. It also helped me to feel connected to what I was writing about too.
But the important thing to remember here is to play what you can. There are lots of reasons why you might not be able to play every horror game you want to – system requirements, cost, availability/format, unease about online DRM etc.. and this is ok.
Regular readers of the series will probably know that there was a group of about 10-20 horror games that I talked about more than others – namely classic horror games I had left over from back in the day, ones I could buy second-hand without breaking the bank, indie horror games that I could buy DRM-free etc.. And whilst I tried to mention other horror games, since it would be impossible not to, I made a decision to focus more on the ones that I’d actually played because I could speak about them in more depth.
You won’t be able to play every horror game ever made. There are too many and it is too expensive. So, focus on playing what you can. It doesn’t make you any less of a fan or a critic. Even the best critics won’t have played literally everything. It isn’t a failing, just practical reality. Plus, there’s also something to be said for learning as you go along too. I mean, although I’d played horror games back in the day and occasionally in the years since then, I certainly wasn’t as experienced with them at the beginning of my article series as I am now.
But, yes, play what you can. This will result in higher-quality articles, but be aware that it can be a bit of a double-edged sword too. Although I splashed out on one thirty-quid PS2 horror game as a birthday present for myself, there were a lot of lesser-known older horror games I didn’t play because they were just comically expensive second-hand. This was probably a factor in why I needed to take a break from the topic after six months. Although it was great to revisit the classics I still had left over from my teenage years and also discover some new indie games too, there’s only a certain number of times you can re-play games within a relatively short amount of time before they start to feel less exciting than they once did.
2) Study other stuff first: Aside from being a fan of the genre since my early teens, one of the reasons why I was drawn to writing about horror videogames is because it is – relatively – uncharted territory. Yes, there are certainly other people writing about this topic and even whole Youtube channels dedicated to the genre, but it still seemed like a slightly overlooked topic for study and analysis when compared to a lot of other stuff.
However, this relative lack of mainstream study is a bit of a double-edged sword if you’re just starting out since there are fewer dedicated resources if you want to learn how to study these games. As such, I’d recommend learning how to study other types of media first. Write some film or novel reviews, watch/read other people reviewing a wide variety of things, watch or read critical essays other people have written. The goal here is to learn how to look at creative works in a more complex way. To be able to spot things like themes, structure, gameplay mechanics etc… and work out how and why they are being used.
And it is a transferable skill. For example – at least a couple of articles in this series came from spotting things that I knew about because I’ve been doing a lot of art practice over the past decade or so. I’m talking about things like how horror game designers used artistic elements like colour palettes, lighting, composition etc… in their games. So, yes, you’d be surprised at how transferable a lot of knowledge and skills can be.
Studying other stuff also helps to teach you one of the most important skills that a critic can have – namely comparing different things and trying to find connections and/or differences between them. This is a seriously important skill! The obvious horror genre example is probably all of the numerous differences between the “Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill” games. When you really look at both series, you’ll be genuinely surprised at just how different they are from each other in all sorts of subtle thematic, visual, gameplay etc… ways. And each series does this for important dramatic reasons rather than just “because it’s different”.
Studying something is at least slightly different to just enjoying it. Yes, it gives you a deeper appreciation of everything you look at but it means that there’s always a part at the back of your mind that is carefully analysing everything that you are looking at. You’ll still have a lot of fun though.
3) Take screenshots!: If you’ve reviewed other stuff then you probably already have this habit, but it’s a good one to keep. Even when I was re-playing games that I’d already reviewed, I’d notice myself taking the occasional screenshot – and this was more useful than I’d expected.
The more screenshots you have of a game, the easier it is to find examples to illustrate the points you are making in your articles. For example, there were at least a few times when extra screenshots from a second or third playthrough of a game were exactly what I needed for an example I was trying to give in an article.
So, take screenshots! Another benefit of this is that you’ll have a visual record of the games that you’ve played, which can not only help you to quickly refresh your memory but can also allow you to spot things that you might have missed when you were in the middle of playing a game. Going back to an earlier example, a lot of the art-based knowledge I was able to use in this series was at its most useful when I took the time to carefully look at static screenshots – as if studying a painting – without the distraction of active gameplay.
4) Specialise: Horror, like heavy metal music, is a much more varied and complex genre than many people think. There are multiple styles and sub-genres out there. And, whilst it is really useful to have some level of general knowledge about the genre as a whole, you’ll probably find that the best writing about it is the in-depth stuff. So, it is ok to specialise.
The important thing here is to know yourself and know your preferences. For example, I focused more heavily on survival horror games – both old-school fixed camera ones and, to a lesser extent, modern “run and hide” ones too. This is my favourite type of horror game, so it was something that I was a lot more enthusiastic about studying.
On the other hand, there are quite a few people on Youtube who specialise in just a single series of horror games or focus entirely on regularly playing modern “walking simulator” horror games. It’s all a matter of personal preference. But, whatever you choose, specialising – especially when backed up by general knowledge of the genre – can result in better and more interesting articles.
5) Have fun!: This isn’t school, college or university. You aren’t being graded on writing about horror videogames. It is meant to be fun. Enjoy it.
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Anyway, I hope that this was useful 🙂
To my delight, I was feeling inspired to make a heavy metal/horror digitally edited painting – however, due to being a in a rush, the painting didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped.
As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
“Metal Mutant” by C. A. Brown
Although this first “season” of my “Horror Videogames Series” will conclude at the end of the month (and I’m hoping to start the second “season” on about the 12th January – stay tuned for daily articles in the meantime…), I happened to stumble across this “Ink Ribbon” video about a “work in progress” demo version of a fan game called “Biohazard – Uncomplete (Version 1)” (2021). And, I just had to take a very quick look at it for myself. Here are my rambling first impressions after playing for about 15-20 minutes.
Surprisingly, despite being a modern 3D game made in Unity, the game actually ran on my computer’s Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics…. sort of. The framerate was about 5-10 FPS, it felt like I was playing the game in slow-motion and the motion blur effects seemed… a lot…. more pronounced than they probably should have been too. Still, it actually ran! On my computer! So, I have to praise the developer for this 🙂
Wow! There’s nothing pre-rendered about THIS! It’s fully 3D 🙂
As the title suggests, this is a fan game based on the original 1996 version of “Resident Evil”…. but with fully 3D environments and a first-person perspective.
I really love how this fan game actually preserves the visual style of the original game – even down to it’s GIF-like low colour depth and colour banding (although the banding seems slightly more pronounced here) . And, given how almost all efforts at “official” game preservation have centred on the – admittedly better – 2002 remake, it’s good to see someone keeping the memory and style of the original 1996 game alive too 🙂
Seriously, although the 2002 remake has graphics that are good enough to still hold up today, there’s something to be said for the quintessentially ’90s visual style of the original too.
Interestingly, the game sets itself up as a prequel, offering the player the chance to play as a member of Bravo team (namely Rebecca, Richard appears in a menu but isn’t selectable yet).
And, yes, from what I’ve seen of it, it is actually a prequel – since you can briefly catch a glimpse of Kenneth being chased by a zombie before a recreation of the iconic “first zombie” cutscene plays. Not only is the recreation based on the uncensored version of this cutscene, but Rebecca can also find a better weapon next to Kenneth’s mortal remains too.
Surprisingly, this moment is actually slightly scarier in first-person perspective. Especially since, in order to fight this zombie (and get Kenneth’s gun), you actually have to get really close to it.
One cool thing about this fan game is the fact that it keeps the “awkward” combat and suspenseful horror elements that the original game was known for.
Not only is Rebecca extremely vulnerable to damage but – whilst the knife can be used like an “ordinary” first-person shooter weapon (and, in a concession to fairness, is more powerful than in the original game) – the game still keeps the “stand still and aim” combat system of the original game for ranged weapons. You right-click to go into aiming mode and then left-click to fire. You cannot move whilst aiming. This helps to preserve the “survival horror” elements of the game and prevent it turning into a typical shooter game.
Seriously, it’s a small detail, but not being able to move whilst aiming is what makes “Resident Evil”… well… “Resident Evil” 🙂
Talking of the combat, another interesting detail is that – whilst fighting with the knife – there is a small chance of decapitating zombies. And, yes, this fan remake seems to be at least slightly gorier than the original 1996 game… but it still fits into the general “style” of the game.
Still, the switch to first-person perspective has some interesting effects. Because doors can be opened in real-time and there are no fixed cameras, the pacing and “feel” of the game completely changes.
It feels a lot faster and more “fluid” – which makes for compelling gameplay, albeit at the cost of the unique atmosphere and ultra-slow pacing of the original. Still, it is truly amazing to be able to walk around a fully 3D version of the Spencer Mansion – and I’m still astonished at how accurate all of the textures and the overall visual style of the game is.
This actually looks like something from the 1990s! And it’s in full 3D as well 🙂 This is amazing!
Interestingly, this fan game also seems to include a small amount of artistic licence too. Not only does the game begin outside the mansion, but there is also an additional scare involving the windows in a familiar location too. These changes are small, and they are clearly designed to work better with the first-person perspective too.
Of course, being a “work in progress” version, it isn’t complete. There are no ammo counters, and weapons get stuck in a reloading animation when empty. The inventory screen is still clearly unfinished. There is no saving system, no graphics/resolution settings, non-adjustable motion blur, no customisable controls (The controls are listed on the website in Spanish, but they’re fairly easy to work out if you’ve played FPS games. “Alt + F4” exits the game though) etc… But, for an early build of something seemingly made by just one person, this is still one hell of an impressive project 🙂
It would be unfair to give a game this early in development a review score, but – whilst there is still clearly some way to go – it’s an absolutely brilliant fan project 🙂 The original 1996 version of “Resident Evil” seems to have been relatively neglected in terms of “official” re-releases (there was one in 2006 for the Nintendo DS. And, although it’s easy to forget about, the 1997 “Director’s Cut” version of it appeared on the “PlayStation Classic” in 2018 too), so it’s cool to see an unofficial attempt at keeping this influential classic alive. Yes, the pacing and general “feel” of this fan game is different to the original, but it’s still really cool.
To my delight, I was feeling seriously inspired and ended up making this digitally-edited painting 🙂 If I remember rightly, it was originally meant to be a 1970s/80s-style “retro” painting, but quickly ended up including cyberpunk elements too 🙂
As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
“Mood Lighting” by C. A. Brown
Well, for this article in my series about horror videogames, I thought that I’d talk about how these games handle moral ambiguity. However, I should warn you that this article will contain PLOT SPOILERS for “Silent Hill 2” (2001), “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” (2010) and “Remothered: Tormented Fathers” (2018).
One of the best ways to make a horror game scary is to introduce an element of moral ambiguity to it. If the player has to do morally-questionable things, then this automatically introduces an element of unease and awkwardness to the experience. Even though it is a completely fictional single-player game that affects no-one else, such is the power of art that a player may genuinely feel some level of guilt over the evil actions of their character. This, by the way, is the best counter-argument against people who claim that horror games – and horror media in general – are a “bad influence” since they rely on the audience already having moral standards in order to evoke emotional reactions.
A surprising number of horror games use moral ambiguity. In fact, I’d argue that it is the main source of horror in “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines” (2004). Yes, this game includes several other forms of horror (eg: gory horror, monster horror, creepy characters, gothic horror, paranormal horror etc…) but the main reason why this game can be more unsettling than you might expect is because you are playing as a vampire. A vampire who has to obtain blood in one of several questionable ways.
Even the most “moral” ways of are kind of gross – involving either hunting rats in the sewers or buying it “under the counter” from a very creepy guy who works in a morgue. This game also occasionally gives the player moral decisions to make and messes with the player by sometimes making the “evil” one the easiest or most rewarding choice. This game may not immediately frighten you, but it’ll leave you feeling disturbed and disgusted with yourself after you’ve been playing for a while.
Of course, I can’t talk about moral ambiguity in horror games without talking about “Silent Hill 2” (2001) and “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” (2010). Both of these games tell stories where it is gradually revealed that the main character – the one you are playing as – is actually evil. The main character of “Silent Hill 2” is a murderer and the main character of “Amnesia” is both a murderer and a torturer. Both of these games handle this plot device incredibly well – giving the player enough time and characterisation to begin building up sympathy for the main character (and seeing their good qualities) before… gradually… revealing their evil past. Needless to say, both are harrowing games that will leave you feeling haunted for hours or days after you have played them.
But, often, horror games can be a little bit more subtle than this.
For example, “Remothered: Tormented Fathers” (2018) follows a character called Rosemary Reed who is searching for a missing child. Some earlier examples of moral ambiguity in the game – such as deception and house-breaking – can easily be seen as a “lesser of two evils” thing, given the detective novel-like premise. The main character is presented as being like a private investigator from an old crime novel. Yet, as the game progresses, she becomes a bit more complex. We learn that she is using a false identity (including pretending to be a doctor), that she used to belong to a strange religious order (just like one of the game’s villains) and that, before the events of the game, she bludgeoned someone into unconsciousness for unknown reasons.
None of this is ever fully explained to the player in the game, yet it certainly adds something. It makes the player question the motives of the character they are playing as. This moral ambiguity is further compounded by the fact that the actions of the game’s villains are shown to not be fully under their control. One of the villains is revealed to have had a seriously traumatic and messed-up past, creating an awkward feeling of sympathy for them. Likewise, there is a theme of mysterious medical and/or scientific experiments, which… could.. explain the bloodthirsty behaviour of the villains. If so, are they truly evil or just victims of someone else?
None of this is ever fully spelled out to the player and this is where moral ambiguity is at it’s best in horror games. The key word here is “ambiguity” – because the player can’t be entirely certain that they are playing as a “good” character, they will probably feel some level of unease. At the very least, the emotional tone of these games becomes a little bit gloomier and grimmer. This is why, for example, the “Resident Evil” games are often less scary than some other horror games – because there is a very clear “hero and villain” structure to these games.
Ironically, the very best examples of how moral ambiguity can shape the emotional tone of a game can be found outside of the horror genre. In the open-world crime game “Saints Row 2” (2008), you play as a vicious gangster who is in charge of a gang that does some seriously cruel things to rival criminals – often as revenge – throughout the course of the game. It’s a game that can feel seriously disturbing at times. And, even though the rival criminals also do cruel or sadistic things, this intense moral ambiguity – especially when contrasted with the “glamourous” elements of organised crime – really helps to ensure that this is NOT a “feel-good” game.
However, the later sequel “Saints Row IV” (2013) is one hell of a “feel-good” game 🙂 It’s a fun and empowering game that is an absolute joy to play. And a lot of this is because there is little to no moral ambiguity. You still play as a gang leader but – instead of fighting rival gangs – you are defending humanity against an invasion of monsters from outer space. Likewise, even “ordinary” criminal actions against human NPCs have a story-based context that heavily reduces the moral ambiguity you’d expect in a situation like this (but I’m not going to spoil it). Because there’s little to no moral ambiguity in this game, it is a seriously “feel-good” game.
So, yes, even when it isn’t being used for dramatic “YOU were the villain all along!” plot twists, moral ambiguity is an important element of many scary horror games because of the subtle effect that it has on the overall emotional tone of a game.
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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting 🙂
This is a digitally-edited gothic sci-fi painting that I made after a moment of inspiration.
As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
“Red Moon” by C. A. Brown
Well, for this article in my series about horror videogames, I thought that I’d talk about one problem with horror game sequels.
In any sequel, there is a tension between appealing to long-term fans of a series and doing something different. And this is especially an issue with horror game sequels, because they have the additional issue of scariness to worry about – which can put them into something of a “Catch-22” situation.
If a horror game sequel is too close to the first game, then fans will love it but it will also be familiar enough not to be as scary as the first game. After all, the fear of the unknown is one of the most central elements of what can make a horror game scary. It’s one reason why the early parts of a horror game can sometimes be the scariest – because the player doesn’t know what to expect. So, too many familiar elements can make a horror game sequel noticeably less scary for fans of the first game.
I’ve mentioned this before, but “The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters” (2019) springs to mind here. Although this sequel is a better game than its predecessor on many levels – with a more complex story, better lighting, a greater variety of locations and more gameplay mechanics – it is noticeably less scary because, most of the time, the new main character is fleeing from exactly the same villain as players encountered throughout the first “Coma” game. There’s very little in the way of surprise – so it isn’t as frightening.
On the other hand, if a horror game sequel tries to be too different, then it can lose the things that made the original so brilliantly scary. One classic way that this happens is when a horror game tries to be larger or more “dramatic” than the first game in a series. Horror is a weird genre. It is often at it’s very best when it is small-scale and “uncool”. For example, although they are both amazing games, the original “Resident Evil” (1996) is noticeably scarier than the original “Resident Evil 2” (1998).
A lot of this is to do with the scale of these two games. Even though the sequel – for the most part – keeps the “trapped in a claustrophobic mansion-like building” thing that made the first game so brilliantly suspenseful and atmospheric, it begins with a short Hollywood-like segment set on the streets of a post-apocalyptic city. Yes, this segment is incredibly well-designed and also adds a certain element of dramatic contrast to the rest of the game too. Even so, it adds “cool” drama to the game- which makes it less creepy than the decidedly “uncool” old rural mansion from the first game.
Still, the classic “Resident Evil” games – mostly – contain a good example of how to change a series without alienating fans too much. The changes are gradual. “Resident Evil 2” (1998) contains a small segment set in a post-apocalyptic city and some occasional “spectacular” moments. The original “Resident Evil 3” (1999) contains a much larger “post-apocalyptic city” segment and a lot more spectacle. Because the second game introduced these elements in a toned-down form, the change doesn’t seem too drastic or different.
Then again, there was “Resident Evil 4” (2005) – which was perhaps a change too far. Yes, its a really fun game on its own merits, but it made the artistic mistake of appealing to a “mainstream” audience by watering down its horror elements in order to focus on fast-paced action. It also swapped out the brilliantly suspenseful “awkward” controls of the older games for something more “intuitive” too. Yet, in fairness to the game, this switch to action-horror was very popular. Popular enough that the series released its eighth sequel – “Resident Evil Village” – this year. Although this latest game looks more like a first-person shooter game, the footage I’ve seen of it still includes horror elements, albeit more with a “stylised classic gothic/monster movie” atmosphere.
Horror game sequels have to walk a tightrope between changing enough to be scary whilst also keeping enough the same to appeal to fans. And I can think of at least one horror sequel which actually pulled this off perfectly – I am, of course, talking about “Silent Hill 2” (2001). Seriously, there’s a reason why this game is considered a classic.
It kept the setting, controls and general atmosphere of “Silent Hill” (1999) – but not only did it include a totally new set of characters, it also played a clever trick on fans too. In the first game, most of the horror comes from the atmosphere, the suspense and the monsters. The early parts of the second game seem to do something similar – but with additional intensity. Suspense is built through a 5-10 minute segment where the player does nothing but run along eerily empty fog-shrouded paths and roads. The atmosphere – thanks to the more muted colour palette and sombre introduction – seems even more lonely and bleak than the first game. The very first monster the player encounters also looks at least twice as creepy as anything from the first game too.
Yet, as the game progresses, it gradually turns into something different to… and scarier than… the first game. I’m not going to spoil too much here, but there is a much heavier emphasis on characters and story than you might expect. It also goes from being a survival horror game with psychological horror elements to being a psychological horror game with survival horror elements too. And this results in a game that, instead of merely being frightening, becomes the sort of thing that will leave you feeling haunted for hours after you’ve played it. In this regard, it is probably the perfect example of a good horror game sequel.
It’s kind of like how some long-running punk and metal bands, such as The Offspring and Iron Maiden, will usually include at least one or two “old-style” tracks on their modern albums. This allows them to use their more modern style (both bands I’ve mentioned have moved towards a slightly “gloomier” style/sound/emotional tone – Iron Maiden did this from 1995 onwards, and The Offspring did it from 2003 onwards) most of the time, whilst also reassuring the fans of their older stuff too. There’s just enough to appeal to old fans, but enough changes to keep things fresh and interesting too.
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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting 🙂
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