RFM Talks: 3D Games showing their age

Recently I decided to blow the dust off of my Dreamcast and give Blue Stinger another go. It’s one of the Dreamcast’s signature, weird games that helped the console earn it’s cult following. Bad visuals and voice acting are signs of it’s time and if you can get on board with the ridiculous story that’s as camp as Christmas it remains quite enjoyable. Initially I was quite surprised at how much fun I was having with a 14 year old game, that was until they brought in a swimming section.



A couple of hours in game you come to an area where you have to swim around a maze-like water plant whilst avoiding a shark, a concept that became a staple of action-adventure games since Tomb Raider, but in the case of Blue Stinger it’s where the game really began to show it’s age. Until this point Blue Stinger had been relatively easy to control even with the Dreamcast’s crazy controller, but navigating in the three dimensions of water became utterly unplayable. The easiest way to describe it is, imagine you're strapped into an aerotrim submerged underwater. It was shocking to play and I would go as far as saying it felt completely broken as there seemed no real way for my character to tread water to catch their breath.



It’s easy to forget the teething problems game developers must’ve had in the 90s making the transition into 3D games. I had mentioned before that Tomb Raider led the way in terms of 3D action-adventure games and not to mention Super Mario 64 doing it’s thing for platformers but they weren't without their problems. Turning Lara on the spot and manipulating Mario’s camera are a few things I remember vividly. These sort of problems were slowly ironed out over subsequent iterations in their respective series, but other games took years to change and some not finding their feet until this generation of consoles.



To this day the Sonic series struggles to work in a 3D environment, Chris Franklin explains it more eloquently than I ever could but in short, Sonic’s signature speed doesn't lend itself well to a 3D environment, dodging hazards and landing jumps worked in 2D because you were limited to UP, DOWN FORWARD and BACK. Maneuvering 360 degrees gives more opportunity for error and navigating obstacles at speed is difficult and frustrating.

Sonic Adventure and Sonic 2006 had this problem and ultimately began the series decline. Only recently with Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations has the formula been changed to make Sonic play more like the Burnout series. Having you navigate a relatively linear track and letting the player boost and drift around corners feels great and fits a character like Sonic perfectly. It’s just a shame they had to pad Unleashed with those bloody werehog sections and add fluff between the great core of Generations 2D and 3D bits. From what I understand though, to design a long detailed track to race down at breakneck speed is a hard process and is probably why the padding exists. It’s a step in the right direction for the series and I hope it evolves from here.



Another good example is if anyone should play the original Resident Evil games now, they’re likely to struggle with the infamous “Tank-Controls” or “Unicycle controls” as I like to refer them. Combined with the awkward fixed camera angles and terrible combat it’s enough to turn anybody off. Fans of the series will argue that it adds to the tension of the game and is half of the identity of a genre but it’s still very clunky and unpleasant. Resident Evil 4 adjusted the mechanics and improved them significantly. The camera was brought in for an over-the-shoulder perspective adding the ability to aim more effectively while still maintaining tension with enemies being able to sneak up on you. This addition was universally praised and would later be used by other games like Dead Space, which in my opinion perfected the mechanic.



I think we’ve come to a point with this generation, where we've established many different mechanical improvements that simply work and developers use them because they have become the standard. The only minor gripes I’ve encountered recently are down to changing how a crosshair is aligned with the analogue stick and goes to show that we’re pretty spoiled now having high quality games to play. Maybe it’s because I am spoiled with this new standard, that some of my older 3D games feel less accessible but I’m sure there are plenty of exceptions out there for me to discover.        

Finally do yourself a favour and check out some videos of Blue Stinger if you’re interested in seeing how absurd it is without having to actually play it. It’s definitely worth a look.

Thanks for reading,

Kris.

RFM Talks: Forbidden Siren

Continuing on my Survival horror kick I’m going to talk about my experience with the Forbidden Siren series on PS2 and more specifically one of the games great features.




I love the Siren series it’s another one of those games with all the ingredients to be a real pant-cacker. The game is set in a remote Japanese village and revolves around a cult trying to raise some hellish guff from the beyond and in the process manage to turn the villagers into psychotic zombie killers called Shibito, who don’t make a habit of staying dead for too long and to make things worse the sky ends up pissing down with blood. Magic!

You play as a diverse set of people, young and old stuck in the village for one reason or another, who have to rely primarily on sneaking about to survive. Few occasions occur where you’ll be given a weapon but in these cases should only be used to get the drop on a solitary Shibito or in times where there is no other option to fight as you will become overwhelmed if you try and go all out, like I said before they don’t stay dead for long. All is not lost though, you have an ace up the sleeve.



What I want to talk about is Forbidden Siren’s unique gameplay mechanic dubbed “Sight-jacking”
a mechanic that lets you see through the eyes of the enemy and can be used to orientate yourself according to their current position so that you may hopefully avoid them. The game’s story explains the sight-jacking as a sort of hive-mind ability that the Shibito have and you the player receive as the town’s rain slowly transforms you into one of them which makes it all the more creepy.

The way it works is, with the press of a button your character’s vision is turned to static, similar to that of a TV and with a turn of the analogue stick you tune into the frequencies of each Shibito’s vision, to streamline the process you’re able to assign a shibito’s sight to a face-button to access quicker. Whilst in this state you’re also able to see your relative location to the monster with a coloured cross. For gameplay purposes the Shibito cannot see this cross, just to make it easier.



In order to use this ability you sacrifice your mobility and are completely defences whilst sight-jacking so it’s safest to use it whilst crouched or hiding behind something. It’s a great risk/reward system that adds a lot of tension to an already creepy and atmospheric game.
As you can imagine there are times when you come a cropper whilst sight-jacking and you get to see the Shibito spot you whilst prone and start running towards you giving horrific shots from their viewpoint as they run towards you snarling, knife in hand and you frantically try and exit whilst your bum-hole devours your undies. It reminds me of similar shots that were used in The Evil Dead where the monster stalks the house. It’s a great system that makes for some exciting moments.



Forbidden Siren managed to get a sequel on the PS2 as well, which I also enjoyed a fair bit. Though it didn’t change much significantly gameplay wise it did do something with the Sight-jacking mechanic that I thought was an excellent twist on the formula and is the main reason I started writing this piece.

So imagine the previous scenario, scary Japanese town, crazy blood rain starts turning everyone into Shibito and you have to get out of dodge but this time you’re a blind man...
On the list of worst case scenarios this ranks somewhere between being up Shit Creek without a paddle and Spilling gravy on yourself at Hannibal Lector’s dinner table.



What a deliciously scary scenario to create for a player to experience after establishing the gameplay mechanics and slowly increasing the difficulty curve and tension with other characters, you literally handicap them by taking away their sight. Brilliant!

Just to clarify though you aren’t completely blind and faced with a blank screen (because that wouldn’t work) rather the screen is heavily blurred in the way I imagine people who rely on strong glasses see without them. You are still incapable of effectively navigating around the level by yourself so that’s where sight-jacking comes in, not only can you see through the eyes of the terrors that lurk outside but you are able to look through the eyes of your guide dog to lead the way. Having to manoeuvre around the Shibito, switching between them and the dog to see effectively doubles your workload for these levels, ensuring you are both hidden and progressing in the same direction sounds difficult on paper but I found that it was designed in such a way that rather than it be a scenario where the player would fumble with controls and get caught, it forced you to play extra cautiously and added more close-shave encounters leaving your heart pounding until the end. It’s just a shame the game didn’t have more levels using this character.

Very rarely do gameplay franchises manage to establish a feature or mechanic and then further elaborate upon said feature in a sequel. It was great to see that here and whoever was responsible for these innovations deserves a bloody good pat on the back.

To be honest I’ve only really scratched the surface in describing how great Forbidden Siren 1 and 2 are but I would hope that it would inspire more people to check it out for themselves. The first game got a Psuedo remake on PS3 called Siren Blood Curse but unfortunately ‘2 wasn’t released in the US but I’m sure you’d be able to pick them up on the cheap on Ebay or Amazon. I’d say it’s also a likely candidate for a PSN release in the future.

Thanks for reading,

Kris
   

RFM Quickie: Text from Mom (Cry of Fear)

Some of my friends and lovely Twitter followers will know that I’ve been playing through a lot of survival horror games lately, like the Penumbra series and Amnesia and most recently Cry of Fear.

To date Cry of Fear is probably the scariest game I’ve played and so far it’s made Amnesia feel like tea with my Nanna.
Admittedly Amnesia’s horror is more sophisticated on the whole, giving a slow burn of atmosphere as well as great set pieces whereas Cry of Fear has been throwing me kicking and screaming to the lions with it’s constant jump-scares and frantic combat. Cheap and effective, but only while it lasts.



Ultimately jump scares are like ripping off a plaster, you get a couple of seconds of anticipation and then a jolt of pain and it’s over. If the game was this way exclusively then I would be quick to write it off but Cry of Fear managed to pull the rug out from my feet in a way which I wasn’t expecting.
At the beginning of the game you are given the standard tension building and foreshadowing of monsters running just out of your peripheral vision along with the creepy music that have all become expected tropes in the genre by now, but then you hear a ringtone, your character stops and whips out his phone to find a text message which reads...

“Where are you? Come home as soon as possible it’s getting dark” - Mom.
This is perhaps the most unsettling thing I’ve experienced while playing a game and it hit me like a punch in the stomach.

I think I speak for everyone here by saying we can all relate to the guilt of worrying our mothers. Granted we’ve probably never been in a scenario where we have to fight monsters on a night out (or maybe you have) but it’s the idea that there’s someone who loves us and is worrying about us and just wants us back in the comfort of our home. It really got to me, more than any Pyramid head or Zombie could because it hits you right in the feels and I applaud the dev’ team for making me feel so crappy. A great catalyst to set the tone for the rest of the story.


I haven’t made much progress in the game but so far I’ve experienced a few more instances like this that has left my brain feeling fried and even made me have to turn off the game and look at some nice kitten pictures as a palate cleanser. The biggest compliment I can give a horror game is that I’m reluctant to even keep playing it. We’ll see how I get on...

If you feel like subjecting yourself to Cry of Fear it’s now available for download on Steam and it’s completely FREE so play at your own risk!

Thanks for reading,
Kris.

RFM talks: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

“In late August in the year 1839, Daniel, a young man from London, awakens in the dark halls of the Prussian Brennenburg Castle with little to no memory about himself or his past.
All he can remember is his name, that he lives in Mayfair and that something is hunting him. Shortly after awakening, Daniel discovers a note written to himself, from which he learns that he has deliberately erased his own memory, and that he needs to descend into the Inner Sanctum of the castle to kill the Baron, Alexander.”



Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the reason I got ahold of a gaming PC. Survival horror games come and go but Amnesia came out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise. Not long after it’s release many “Reaction Videos” started popping up on Youtube showing player’s explosive hysterical reactions to the games many scares and arguably this is the reason why many people, myself included started paying attention to the game. It began to receive a reputation for being “the scariest game ever” I had to see for myself. Having been fascinated with the survival horror genre now for many years I’m on a constant mission to find a game that I could call THE most frightening experience out there and for the longest time I would argue that Silent Hill 2 should be awarded that title. So how scary is Amnesia?

Well pretty f’ing scary to be honest. The best compliment I can give Amnesia is that it does absolutely everything right, a perfect blend of mechanics, pacing, atmosphere and set pieces culminate in a thrilling experience which doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Amnesia masters the survival horror genre by properly exploring both of those concepts, Survival and Horror. It sounds obvious really but all too many games have tried to take on that genre have fell short because you might end up feeling overpowered with weaponry, safe in certain areas and a general feeling of disconnect from the atmosphere. Here’s some of the many ways Amnesia succeeds without giving any spoilers.



By abandoning all combat mechanics, Amnesia makes you feel completely vulnerable, your only choice is to run or hide from the various horrors that could lurk around any corner. Hiding is usually the most prefered method of defence as the game’s “Monsters” managed to quickly catch up if they’ve spied you and rip your giblets out. You’ll find yourself hiding in cupboards or cowering in rooms and though its never specifically demanded you’ll be attempting to poorly barricade the door even though you’re fully aware that those monsters are completely capable of ripping a door off its hinges and that’s bloody scary. Brilliant.

To make things worse Daniel (you) has the stability of Michael J Fox playing Operation. What this means for the player is you have to keep yourself "Sane" by avoiding the dark as much a possible, eye contact with the monsters and various shocking sights you might encounter. While it might sound frustrating it never really hinders the gameplay. The game is paced properly and you always have enough tinderboxes to light candles in certain areas. I may have encountered one occasion where my sanity dropped so low Daniel collapsed to the floor for a few seconds and the field of vision becomes very blurry but thats about it. It doesn't really add anything gameplay wise but Daniel's elevated breathing and soft whimpers will certainly add to the atmosphere.
The game also does well at creating these scenarios where you as the player are thrown in the deep end, to give an example a later stage of the game has you go to a morgue and while exploring you are alerted by the telltale siren that indicates a monster is on your tail and you're only choice is to hide behind a large pile of naked dead bodies, having to cautiously peep out to ensure the creature has lost your scent and also ignore a dead man’s penis next to your face. That’s enough to scare anyone if you ask me.



The whole game oozes with the Lovecraftian aesthetic from the Occult imagery and brilliantly twisted monster design to the sacrilegious artifacts perverting men’s minds into creating dimensional rifts to another world. It’s very easy to become immersed in the world. Everything feels very bleak every interior feels poisoned or decaying and there are even times when fleshy tumours start to grow and pulsate making it seem that the castle itself is out to get you.

Sound design is suitably chilling as well, all of the horrible creaks and clangs you would expect to hear in a haunted castle along with more subtle noises of the hissing of cockroaches and scurrying of mice, oh and there’s also the near constant cries of help from prisoners being tortured who may or may not even be there it can really get to you after a while. Perhaps the greatest piece of sound in the game is the monster’s “siren” which I briefly mentioned before that ring’s out to alert you to give it legs. The best way I could describe it is a cross between nails down a chalkboard, a fire engine and your morning alarm clock, it’s horribly effective and hit’s you like a punch.

Above all things Amnesia succeeds in what I consider the defining trait that makes a survival horror game successful is making you, the player paranoid. It’s the negative space the game gives you in between, where the real fear happens. The moment’s of anticipation between events where you’re mind tries to conjure what could possibly lurk around the corner. The moments where you’ll double take or close doors behind you, allocate good hiding places for the future and ensure you have an escape route in case anything happens. After all the most horrific fears are the ones conjured in your own mind.




So this leaves us with one question, Do I think Amnesia is scarier than Silent Hill 2? Well, It’s a close one and its something I’d like to discuss in more detail, so consider this a teaser for an upcoming article where I’ll be comparing the two...

Amnesia isn’t for everyone but I can assure you it won’t give you nightmares so if you think you’re brave enough, give it a shot.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is available for download on PC and MAC through STEAM.

Thank’s for reading,

Kris