The Jaded Horror Fan – Console Terror
The first horror video game experience I can remember was the great, yet frustratingly hard Friday the 13th on the NES. I was immediately hooked, though I don’t recall if I ever made it out of that game alive. Either way it was a blast – and scary at the same time.
I didn’t really start gaming seriously until the first PlayStation was released and I stumbled upon a little game titled D – a game which took place in real time and had no option for saving progress; talk about being ahead of its time. While there was not much to offer in terms of gameplay, it was claustrophobic; and something about the rudimentary 3D graphics made everything a bit creepier.
Following the odd experience that was D, Resident Evil (which I’ll refer to as RE) popped up on me and my neighborhood friend’s radar. Back in 1996-97, there weren’t too many publications other than magazines Gamepro and Electronic Gaming Monthly, both of which I was a subscriber to, that hinted at new releases and reviewed games.
There were many days of going to Blockbuster and checking out box art and hoping the $5 rental was good. Safe to say my friends and I immediately got our parents to buy us RE (or maybe it was The Director’s Cut), and we went to town. Before the days of Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, kids actually sat in the same room and played games with each other or watched as others played.
RE was the first game I’ve played that felt like a movie, and at 12 or 13 years old I had no real knowledge of how stories could be told in games. Seeing the opening live-action sequence threw us for a loop and immediately hooked us for the long haul. I’m pretty sure this game introduced me to the now all too common jump scare, but RE did it right, with no accompanying loud noises – just visuals abruptly showing up in certain scenes. Also, besides the game Zombies Ate My Neighbors, this is the first time I’ve seen zombies in a game and portrayed in a movie-like way.
Where RE really shined, though, was the enveloping and dense story, which stuck with me so much that I still remember tiny details regarding The Umbrella Corporation and their motivations for the T-Virus. It’s just one of those games that you have to experience firsthand, and I was lucky enough to be there as it was released. There were plenty of sequels, and in my opinion the only good ones were when the control scheme stuck to the original. Resident Evil 4 was when things changed to the now more common “over the shoulder” perspective and completely took you out of the environment. Again, it’s something that needs to be experienced to appreciate.
Jumping ahead a couple of decades, the horror genre in the gaming community has resulted into shock value rather than scary storytelling. The RE series is still going strong, but it’s changed so much it really isn’t even horror-related. Another great series that I got into a little late was the Silent Hill games; the first was good but admittedly scared the shit out of me, and I never went back to it. That series ended recently and is something I’ve contemplated getting involved in, but the time it would take is daunting.
I’m getting a bit long in the tooth and could go on for another 1,000 words, but I don’t want to bore anyone who isn’t a gamer. I’ll end this with urging anyone who hasn’t played PlayStation 1 era horror games to please go check them out and compare them to the stuff of today. There is a huge difference in both storytelling and overall mood.
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
