Innovation is Hard

I’m trying to take more time to use this site as a place to write my thoughts about games down instead of just reporting survival horror news.

Some of you may remember a post I wrote a few months back where I complained that Siren is too frustrating and difficult. Four months later I am still playing Siren, but my opinion of it has increased. The game is hard, yes, and every level takes multiple tries to complete, but these flaws are forgivable because the rest of the game is so awesome.

Siren’s biggest problem is that it has tons of new ideas and it doesn’t communicate all of them very well to the player. It takes a while to realize that Siren requires you to leave your preconceived notions of how games work at the door and actually try to think critically about the problems it throws at you. Example: in most games, bushes are made using a couple of flat polygons with leaf textures on them in a plus shape. Typically games that allow you to walk through these bushes treat them as eye-candy only; they never have any affect on the game. However, even though the bushes in Siren look similar to most game bushes, they actually have an in-game function: you can hide behind them. When you hide behind a bush or other object, the zombies (“shibito”) will not see you if you are sufficiently obscured. The definition of “sufficiently obscured” is a little vague, however, and this is where Siren runs into problems. The game designers have gone to great lengths to make their world as realistic as possible, but in doing so they have traded a degree of game mechanic clarity.

Siren gets away with these flaws because it does everything else so well. However, since the game is fairly vague about the perception of the zombies, a lot of playing is required before you are able to have a good sense of where to hide and how to move. Of course, this vagueness also increases the tension in the game by several orders of magnitude, as you can’t always be sure that your hiding spot is sufficient or that the shibito is far enough away for you to walk quietly without being heard. I’m willing to put it in writing right here: Siren is by far the scariest game I have ever played.

The problem of vagueness extends to the game play as a whole. There are many, many cool mechanics going on in Siren, but they are not communicated to you clearly by the game and you are required to learn them on your own. My previous post was right in the middle of that learning phase, a time that can be quite frustrating because one feels like they do not understand the correct way to play.

However, after 4 months of playing this game (about 4 or 5 hours a week), I am mostly convinced that the steep ramp up time is worth it. The developers of Siren are innovating, and they are innovating in all sorts of crazy areas. Siren might look like a cheap knockoff of Silent Hill, but in fact it plays like no other game on the market. The closest analog I can think of is Hell Night, which employs some of the same mechanics. In the end, I don’t mind learning new ways to play horror video games if the effort is rewarded. Though I have yet to complete Siren, I already feel like the debt has been paid in full.

We need more games that try new things, even if they are not entirely successful. It is very hard to deviate from the beaten path when it comes to game design, and I have nothing but respect for developers who are able to work new ideas into their games. I’m looking forward to the Siren sequel, and I hope that the developers are able to correct some of the issues with their initial design while continuing to push this genre in new directions.

Cold Fear Announced

Thanks to forums member ZombieEater for posting about UbiSoft’s announcement of Cold Fear, an action-horror game slated for release in March 2005. From UbiSoft’s press release:

Cold Fear renews the horror genre by combining the popular elements of both action and horror releases, delivering an action-packed, fear-filled gaming experience.

Were excited to make our debut in the horror genre with a unique title like Cold Fear, said Tony Kee, Vice-President of Marketing for Ubisoft. It falls into a previously un-tapped category of realistic action-horror gameplay including vast environments and a disturbingly plausible storyline.

Players step into the role of Tom Hansen, a U.S. Coast Guard who is sent to board a drifting Russian whaling ship in the middle of a howling storm on the Bering Sea. He arrives only to discover that terrifying surprises await him on the bloodstained decks of the constantly rocking, shifting vessel. Set in a volatile, dynamic environment, players will find themselves overwhelmed by fear as they engage in intense combat with intelligent enemies.

Demento Renamed

Capcom’s recently announced horror game Demento has apparently been renamed to Haunting Ground, according to Total Video Games. The article also includes new details about the game play.

Players take the role of the games female protagonist, Fiona, who wakes to find herself in the dark and dank cellar of a mysterious castle. Confused and frightened, Fiona begins to investigate other rooms, along with menacingly dark corridors and grounds to seek answers. The more secrets the castle reveals, the more Fiona learns about her past and more importantly, her future.

One of the main features of Haunting Ground is the ability for the player to feel Fionas state of mind as she explores the castle. When Fiona encounters the inhabitants of the Castle, she naturally becomes frightened and the control pad mimics the pounding of her heart through vibrations on the pad. If she becomes even more scared then players will find controlling her more difficult, whilst she stumbles and falls.

To add to the effect, as Fionas fear increases then the colour of the screen fades away and is replaced by a stark monochrome effect. Naturally by running away or hiding, Fionas heart-rate and actions will return to normal and the colour of the screen will be replenished.

As TVG previously revealed, Fiona is assisted throughout her adventure by Hewie, an Alsatian dog, which she befriends once she has rescued him from a trap. Much like real life, Hewie wont obey all of Fionas commands at first, but as his loyalty and trust increases so does his willingness to do as she bids, including fetching items and attacking assailants. Were told that the partnership between Fiona and Hewie is crucial if Fiona wants to solve the mysteries of the castle and stay alive.

More Demento Info

IGN.com has a bunch more information on Capcom’s new horror game called Demento.

The story of Demento begins as 18-year-old Fiona Belli reunites with her parents following a stay at college. The three are involved in a traffic accident that leaves Fiona’s parents dead. Fiona awakens in a mysterious castle. Unaware of what has happened, she wanders around and finds that she’s actually inherited the castle, and its former resident has left a mysterious message to her, “Azouto.”

IGN has also provided a link to the official site which conntains a short flash trailer.

As speculated by IGN, the game looks very similar to Clock Tower 3.

Buncha database updates

I’ve finally gotten around to making a bunch of modifications to the database.

  • Silent Hill 4 has been updated with release data and world score information.
  • Friday the 13th has been broken up into two entries, one for the C64 version and one for the NES version (turns out they are different games).
  • I’ve added Ghost Master to the database, which looks like a weird combonation of The Sims and ghosts.
  • I’ve also added Nanatsu no Hikan, a Dreamcast-era horror game from Koei (name roughly translates as “Seven Hidden Houses”).

Thanks to forums members Crave and visuatrox for the tips!