Firewatch & Layers of Fear
This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Firewatch & Layers of Fear.
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This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Firewatch & Layers of Fear.
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Zero Punctuation: Firewatch & Layers of Fear
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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I'm really, really tired of all the hate these kind of games get. They're niche. Most people won't like them. If you don't like them, fine, but don't burst down the clubhouse door and demand that they accommodate you. I don't like MOBAs, but I'm not going to go to the comments for everything MOBA-related and say they're stupid. I understand that different people have different tastes, and that DOTA and LoL are very well-made for their target audience. No one is forcing you to play walking simulators. If you know you don't like them, just don't.
So Yathzee isn't being invited to my house anytime soon, because I like it spider-free and unburnt down.
And what he said is pretty much what everyone is saying about Layers of Fear, that it's pretty shit.
And what he said is pretty much what everyone is saying about Layers of Fear, that it's pretty shit.
I haven't played Layers of Fear, but to me the Firewatch stuff was more or less on point. It's a good game for about two and a half hours, then a bit of an anticlimax, before a pretty OK denouement. Really, if the grand reveal of the central mystery had been almost anything else, it would have been a great game. As it stands I dunno if I'd give it an unqualified recommendation to friends.
I guess it's because of the hype these games get.wallstaples said:
You know "OMG, it's so amazing, you must try it".
As an analogy.
Let's say that "Walking Simulator" is equal to a Renault Twizy.
The problem arises when it gets introduced to petrolheads with the explanations of "Oh it's so great, you must try it".
Petrolheads like cars, but the cars they like generally tend to be fun cars like the Renault Megane R.S. 265.
So most petrolhead will probably end up thinking "What's the fuzz about the Twizy?!? I mean it's not that good. It's slow, not that agile and has a low range".
The biggest disappointment of Firewatch was the mystery reveal. Like it was just a straight up let down. It had such a great build up and then just fizzed. The rest of the game was pretty good and the dialogue was a lot of fun.
I actually don't understand. Layers of Fear is bad because it never lets up and keeps its heavy handed atmosphere building fog machine on the entire time.
Silent Hill 2 is great because its Japanese heavy handed atmosphere building fog machine is on the entire time.
Like just in terms of atmosphere, discounting plot, story, writing, gameplay, setting, and all that other malarkey, atmosphere only the games seem incredibly similar. Its always slightly spooky until its really spooky, then it goes back to being slightly spooky, all the while talking about the murdered wife with heavy handed and insanely easy to interpret metaphors.
And like Layers of Fear, a lot of SH2 horrors comes from signs reading "Hey look, isn't that sack of reddish brown lumpy liquids scary? Being even scarier if you walked up to it." at which point I never did.
Silent Hill 2 is great because its Japanese heavy handed atmosphere building fog machine is on the entire time.
Like just in terms of atmosphere, discounting plot, story, writing, gameplay, setting, and all that other malarkey, atmosphere only the games seem incredibly similar. Its always slightly spooky until its really spooky, then it goes back to being slightly spooky, all the while talking about the murdered wife with heavy handed and insanely easy to interpret metaphors.
And like Layers of Fear, a lot of SH2 horrors comes from signs reading "Hey look, isn't that sack of reddish brown lumpy liquids scary? Being even scarier if you walked up to it." at which point I never did.
It also doesn't help matters that a fair number of these games and their devs are regularly high off of their own farts. Really, just look at sunset and it's dev team for a fine example of that.MrFalconfly said:I guess it's because of the hype these games get.wallstaples said:
You know "OMG, it's so amazing, you must try it".
As an analogy.
Let's say that "Walking Simulator" is equal to a Renault Twizy.
Now the Twizy isn't a bad car. It's actually a fairly great, little electric city-runabout.
The problem arises when it gets introduced to petrolheads with the explanations of "Oh it's so great, you must try it".
Petrolheads like cars, but the cars they like generally tend to be fun cars like the Renault Megane R.S. 265.
So most petrolhead will probably end up thinking "What's the fuzz about the Twizy?!? I mean it's not that good. It's slow, not that agile and has a low range".
Firewatch is the most amazing forgettable game I think I've ever played. It reaches unbelieveable heights at its, well... high point, but then wastes all that accumulated goodwill on the limpest of limp reveals.
Also those cartoony visuals kind of miss their mark when all you're looking at are trees and rocks.
Also those cartoony visuals kind of miss their mark when all you're looking at are trees and rocks.
Based on that logic, they live in the South Park version of San Francisco, and their kids cope with it by dropping acid.Metalix Knightmare said:It also doesn't help matters that a fair number of these games and their devs are regularly high off of their own farts. Really, just look at sunset and it's dev team for a fine example of that.MrFalconfly said:I guess it's because of the hype these games get.wallstaples said:
You know "OMG, it's so amazing, you must try it".
As an analogy.
Let's say that "Walking Simulator" is equal to a Renault Twizy.
Now the Twizy isn't a bad car. It's actually a fairly great, little electric city-runabout.
The problem arises when it gets introduced to petrolheads with the explanations of "Oh it's so great, you must try it".
Petrolheads like cars, but the cars they like generally tend to be fun cars like the Renault Megane R.S. 265.
So most petrolhead will probably end up thinking "What's the fuzz about the Twizy?!? I mean it's not that good. It's slow, not that agile and has a low range".
What really gets my goat is how some idiots call games like these two "SJW games". Layers of Fear isn't harping on about complex social issues in need of being exposed, and Firewatch isn't much more than a cute little discourse on what happens when you drop a normal human in an environment where one's imagination gets to do all the spooky work.wallstaples said:
Ever camped out in the forest? I have. Nevermind how safe I was, the encroaching darkness and seeing the goddamn stars for the first time in years made me feel all small, vulnerable and wibbly. If that qualifies for an "SJW" experience, then something's wrong.
But of course, there's a subset of the gaming population that snobs anything that's not overproduced, packed with recognizable gameplay features or geared towards the competitive sector.
I've heard Firewatch's ending is so bad it ruins the entire experience. So I'm definitely not paying full price for that. Maybe just watch this one.
I know you're joking, but a lot of the "Eeeeuugh, Ess Jay Dubya Gaemz, blaaah!" nonsense I see on Steam tend to come out of close relatives of the Common CoD Player, mostly the DotA Fans and CS:GO players. That said, now that time's passed since the game's release, most of the negative reviews are more coherent. The excellent story delivery is noted, the art design is praised - but folks seem to rather uniformly have trouble digesting the idea of a story where *nothing* happens, despite outwards appearances to the contrary.slo said:
We're at a point where shows about nothing warrant postgrad theses (see Seinfeld) whereas games about nothing (which Firewatch seems to be) are decried for not giving the player some of the old agency-preserving devices like a tangible threat or an outwardly perceptible reason to care. I'd chalk that to the medium and to its consumers both still being fairly young, so there's still a lot of folks who think that Walking Simulators aren't games because there's no guns, no XP system, no movement or traversal mechanics or no competitive pull.
Keep in mind, film has been around for over a century. Literature's had thousands of years and visual art's had a few hundred thousand more, if you go by the Lascaux cave paintings. Video games, on the other hand?
Thirty years if you go by the post-crash recovery and the release of the NES, sixty to seventy if you go by the research leading to Pong's development. That's nothing, a drop of water in the ocean. We'll be able to tolerate really daring and artistic approaches to the medium some day, but there's a lot of research and general education of the masses to take care of until then.
Try debating Gone Home's worth to someone who's still stuck at "Super Mario Bros."-levels of game design exposure. You'll be at it a long damn time.
I think the one niggle that i wish i never knew, going into Layers of Fear kind of ruined any fear it could've been capable of giving me...
I'll wait for Firewatch to go down in price before trying it, a sale mayhaps.
that you never are in any danger. I don't care how, just put something in the game that can fuck my shit up! How are you supposed to be afraid when everything is just picture and noise?? It's like a constant cushion with a scary face stitched into it. Ok, the metaphorical imagery is nice with some wonderful moments that appear to have a lot of thought and potential. But, to feel the horror in a horror game, i need the danger! Neeeeeeeed it!!
I'll wait for Firewatch to go down in price before trying it, a sale mayhaps.