Don't worry, horror games still seem to be quite relevant in the indie development scene. Indie developers seem to be able to make better horror games than the mainstream developers anyway.JaymesFogarty said:
Amnesia Dev Wants Gamers to Play the Story
- Thread starter Marshall Honorof
- Start date
Yeah, that's one thing I never understood. How is it that people with full-time jobs and commitments can still find free time to make amazing Indie Horror games, yet developers never do the same thing?! Expense obviously isn't an issue, as indie horror games don't need the graphics.SlaveNumber23 said:
That's what is called gameplay narrative, yes you can still have notes and cut scenes. But a solid gameplay narrative that keeps you on your toes is few and far between its just not what the common demographic wants. They want shallow shiny forgettable games.
1) You can't keep a horror game franchise scary forever. By the time the second sequel comes out those hordes of monsters you were fighting in the previous game can only do so much to surprise you. James Cameron knew this back in 1985 when he released Aliens, and that's why the next Amnesia game has nothing to do with the previous one.JaymesFogarty said:
2) I've wanted to co-op with my buddy in Dead Space since the first game came out. But no one's forcing you to go co-op, so your poor social life needn't concern you. Within the context of Dead Space, anyways.
3) Maybe you'd be less butt-hurt if you didn't walk into a new sequel ass-first.
OT: Some narratives just can't be told the Half-Life/Amnesia way, especially if the character we play as has his own personality and motivations that don't match our own. We can pretend to be Gordon Freeman or Daniel because they have no personality and their previous life experiences aren't necessary for us to play the game. Strange how once we take control, Gorden doesn't get to do any actual science, huh? Even Barney mentions it. But for characters like say Joseph Capelli from Resistance 3, there's a motivating factor. He wants to save the world for his wife and son. Frankly, cynical jerks like you or I or Yahtzee Crowshaw don't give two squirts about either, we just want to freeze Chimera solid and then shatter them with all the thick, Austrian-Californian accented "ice" puns we can think up.
Well than they shouldn't scare players shitless, maybe than we can play the story 
.
Amnesia was awesome, but damn I was so scared sometimes.
.Amnesia was awesome, but damn I was so scared sometimes.
1. Obviously. Except of course that Silent Hill 1, 2, 3 and yes, even the unfairly chided-against 4 all manage to be scary, simply by giving players a truly wonderful horrible experience. If the sequel is the same as the original, of course it isn't scary, (that's where Dead Space 2 succeeded) but that's no excuse for developers not to try. Konami did it well enough.SnakeoilSage said:
2. Well, good for you. Unfortunately, the majority of people who bought the first game, weren't looking for a good-old buddy co-op TPS, because that's not what the first game was. It was an Event Horizon crossed with Alien zombies in space horror. The fact that you can play with your friends, (which again I don't understand, you're not supposed to 'enjoy' playing horror games, that's the point of them, is good, but again, not what fans of the series enjoyed it for. And thanks for judging my social life on the fact that I don't want to play online on a single game that I've already stated isn't suited for co-operative play. Alarming vitriol ho.
Maybe I should make myself clearer. I don't care about co-op - it expands EA's market for the game, to include people like you. That's fine. It's everything else I'm not too sure about. The ability to roll, human enemies that introduce stereotypical third person shooters complete with chest-high walls, universal ammo, combining and forging new weapons, and an over-reliance of action over horror. Oh, and side-missions. The game seems to be simplifying down to the lower gaming masses, like with many other franchises, which I'm worried about. I'll quote though, that I said that the Dead Space franchise was, 'looming.' I haven't judged it yet, and I'll still probably buy it. I'm just voicing my concern about the current state of pure horror franchises, which frankly, are waning very thin.
3. The second I read butt-hurt, I wondered whether I should even care what you just typed. It's sort of like the phrase, '******.' Whenever someone uses it with me, I just don't really give a shit what they have to say anymore. What are you, five? 'Butt-hurt?' Jesus Christ, that's the most asinine childish straw man I've ever encountered. Congratulations. Finally, going into sequels, 'ass-first?' I have no idea what you supposedly mean by that, care to clarify? Unless of course, you're too busy playing online games with your many friends. With a vocabulary including gems like, 'butt-hurt,' you must be so very popular.
So from this rant I take it you want more atmosphere in the Dead Space games, because none of the Silent Hill games have ever been scary. "Scary" is fleeing from a creature in Amnesia and getting an adrenaline rush. Atmosphere is the dread you feel wandering the Sprawl in Dead Space 2, hearing an infant crying somewhere and realizing how the chaos of the Necromorph outbreak has led to so much death and suffering.JaymesFogarty said:
Dead Space 3 is still about dread and horror, you can see in laced through the gameplay videos and trailers, but you choose to dwell on the chest-high walls and commando rolls as if those now define the game. It's still about fighting necromorphs in an oppressive setting. So don't worry, you'll get your atmosphere.
And "walking in ass-first" is when cynics who expect something to suck go in acting like it already does.
And don't pretend you've got some maturity high ground because you edit all the curses out of your post. You come in to a forum that has nothing to do with Dead Space passive aggressively whining about Dead Space 3 potentially ruining the franchise for you, acting every bit like someone who just got kicked in the ass (hence "butt-hurt," what did you think it meant?) and you think I'm five years old? Walk away before the moderators punish us both.
I don't agree at all that none of the Silent Hill games have ever been scary. Unless you're pedantically using 'atmospheric' over 'scary'. When people describe things as scary, I don?t think they ever mean anything other than a successful build-up of tension and dread, with a heavy looming atmosphere. If you like, yes. I?d like to see Dead Space 3 continues the series? good use of ?atmosphere.?SnakeoilSage said:
What do you mean, ?choose to dwell?? When I made my comment, I was making a point about the changes. Dread and horror are a staple of the series, I wouldn?t feel the need to comment about it for the third game. The point was that all of the changes that the trailers showed Visceral made to the game, (universal ammo, chest-high walls cover shooting, commando rolls) seem to be making it more generic and ?fun,? which would detract from what I would like to experience in my game. I really don?t see why you?re being so defensive about it. I?m a huge fan of the series, (I?ve got both Collector?s Editions of the first 2, and I?ve bought them both twice on the PC, with a pre-order of Dead Space 3 extremely likely) which is why I?m comfortable to voice any concerns. All I was saying was that if Visceral?s changes all look like they?ll detract from the game, I?d rather they hadn?t changed it at all. To be honest, giving me Dead Space 2 again, with a conclusion to the story, new characters and a good script, and good locals and graphics and better scares would be enough.
I wouldn?t describe myself as a cynic. I?ve seen trailers, and from what I can glean from them, the game looks really good, but unfortunately looks to be straying from the horror that drew me to the series. How many times do I have to type, ?looming?? I?m not saying it will be terrible. I?m worried that EA has made the game more generic to be accessible to a wider market, for greater profit. That?s a valid concern, especially seeing what they said about having to sell 5 million + copies in order for the franchise to be viable. That?s more than the first two together. That?s insane.
I think I?ve just proved my maturity to you, because there are no curses that I had to edit. (Please don?t think so little of me, person-I-don?t-know-and-will-probably-never-meet.) We are strangers on the internet, having a discussion/debate about the state of horror in Dead Space 3. It would be disgustingly stupid to get angry at you, vice-versa, and start rattling off expletives like our lives depended on it. I?m not an idiot, you?re not an idiot. We?re simply people online, debating something. I think enough of you that I don?t imagine you backspacing expletives with your keyboard. Please, be adult and treat me with the same respect.
As for that, I almost agree with you. Except ?passive aggressively whining.? I don?t know what to make of that. My original statement was that modern survival horror games were in an unfortunate state of disrepair, (with true horror relegated to indie classics like Slender and Lone Survivor, two excellent games by the way) and that with Dead Space 3 looking like it was going the same action route as RE5, what AAA horror games would we have left, should that be what ends up having. It wasn?t whining, it was a valid concern of mine that I raised, and to which I?ve gladly received many replies with recommendations for horror games I should try out, as was my original intention.
Should Dead Space 3 be bad, what AAA horror games would we have left, apart from the eponymous, (thread-wise) Amnesia? That was my question, the only reason I posted. Again, what you typed was a little too vitriolic, especially considering as how you typed that you?ve wanted to play co-op with your friends when the first one out. That pretty much confirms that we?re both fans of the series, and for you to have to type that is unfortunate. We just disagree, there?s no ?whining? or ?whinging? to be had, unless you want to ?whine? and ?whinge? at me.
I?m sorry that you had to end your post like that. I was very interested in hearing, (reading, rather) what you had to say. I was a little intrigued that I?d found someone that had seen the latest material regarding Dead Space 3, and wasn?t worried about the quality of horror. I?ve found your points quite valid, (however much they don?t apply to me ? again, a social life is going outside and meeting people, and has nothing to do with playing video games as far as my life is concerned. You may disagree ? good for you. We?re both right, in that our lives and needs no doubt differ greatly.) and would like to hear (read, rather, again) back from you. I?m sorry that you appear to be annoyed.
This all the way!SecondPrize said:
I loved the part of the story I got, but I didn't manage to finish the games since I was pissing my pants at how scary it was.
I was literally crying after a skype session with a friend.
Skyping with a friend who plays it simultaneous as you makes it a whole lot scarier.