In my opinion, Silent Hill 2 is one of the best games ever. Therefore, I'm constantly reccomending it to people. What I've noticed recently is there are a lot of people out there who I know would appreciate this game, if only they could play it. If you don't like getting scared shitless, and if that happens really easily, it might be a little difficult to experience and enjoy a horror game. While I've never had this problem with games, I'm easily scared by horror movies, and so I know where these people are coming from. But I also know that for some media, especially Silent Hill, there are many facets to appreciate besides simply the horror aspect, and if one were to enjoy these facets, they would need to get around the horror aspect somehow. So I wondered, what could a horrorphobe do that would make it easier to play horror and appreciate it, without the problematic weeks of nightmares and such? The trick, I found, is to not let yourself be sucked into the game. If the game could be played and observed without sucking people in, it becomes much less scary. The trick is to create a comfortable atmosphere which is more or less opposite to that of the game. So I've compiled a list of things that I've found that should help with this.
Play in a room that's well lit by sunlight.
This one's obvious. Darkness is usually part of the atmosphere of a horror game. It's much less easy to be scared during the day than during the night.
Turn the sound down.
Lots of people don't know this for some reason, but 80% to 90% of fear in a game or movie is expressed through the sound or music. So turn it down, or off completely. You may want to listen to your own music in the background too.
Use a smaller or harder-to-see TV.
This one doesn't normally help as much as most of the other ones, but it does help. I've found that watching a horror film in a youtube window instead of fullscreen helps me, and this isn't much different. If the screen gets in the way of drawing you in, that's a plus. Just make sure it's not too annoying.
Take frequent breaks.
Silent Hill style fear, especially, builds up over time. Go get something to eat, or take a walk, or whatever, then come back to the game.
Play with someone else.
If you're easily scared, do not play by yourself. Have someone else there to focus on, preferrably someone who isn't scared by these kinds of things, and preferrably a good friend who understands and agrees with what you're trying to do. Converse and joke with them about the game, while you play. Laugh at how stupid the monsters look, talk about the storyline, joke about how the physics doesn't make sense, whatever. But having someone else there makes it much less scary.
So that's my list, it's helped some of my friends so I expect it might help some of you too. Feedback is always welcome. Cheers.
Play in a room that's well lit by sunlight.
This one's obvious. Darkness is usually part of the atmosphere of a horror game. It's much less easy to be scared during the day than during the night.
Turn the sound down.
Lots of people don't know this for some reason, but 80% to 90% of fear in a game or movie is expressed through the sound or music. So turn it down, or off completely. You may want to listen to your own music in the background too.
Use a smaller or harder-to-see TV.
This one doesn't normally help as much as most of the other ones, but it does help. I've found that watching a horror film in a youtube window instead of fullscreen helps me, and this isn't much different. If the screen gets in the way of drawing you in, that's a plus. Just make sure it's not too annoying.
Take frequent breaks.
Silent Hill style fear, especially, builds up over time. Go get something to eat, or take a walk, or whatever, then come back to the game.
Play with someone else.
If you're easily scared, do not play by yourself. Have someone else there to focus on, preferrably someone who isn't scared by these kinds of things, and preferrably a good friend who understands and agrees with what you're trying to do. Converse and joke with them about the game, while you play. Laugh at how stupid the monsters look, talk about the storyline, joke about how the physics doesn't make sense, whatever. But having someone else there makes it much less scary.
So that's my list, it's helped some of my friends so I expect it might help some of you too. Feedback is always welcome. Cheers.
