Righto, lockdown is somewhat boring (well, when I'm procrastinating anyway), so Imma going to post a thread from time to time of stuff I think of. My question is, how 'involved' do you get when you play a game? By that I mean for example, if you're playing a scary game, can you get so tense that your heart rate shoots through the roof and sometimes you have to take a break? Some people seem to just think "it's just a game, why so serious?". I'm definitely not one of those people! I bring this up as I was discussing Alien Isolation with some of my internet friends. I was watching a playthrough of Lone Survivor (never got around to it as it came out after I played through the base game) and even just watching was scaring me! I remember trying to play the original game on nightmare (had to play it on easy in the end): at one point I was trying to hack a door but the Alien emerged and started walking up behind me. I was smashing away at the 'esc' key, got to the main menu and noped out of the game. Then walked away from my laptop and had a cup of tea for half an hour, before playing Space Run instead. One of the chaps revealed he never made it to the end as it just got too tense. Another example is the Predator versus Predalien battle at the end of Aliens vs Predator (2010). Not so much scary, just really got my heart pumping having to constantly jump platform to platform, whilst looking for the Predalien - because I was playing it on the hardest mode, he could wipe you out in a couple of good hits. Obviously the quality of the game matters, so don't think about failures. Think about great games, like Alien Isolation!
I find very few games that immersive. However, when one does get me it gets me by the short and curlies. I remember for example doing Tick Tock Clock in Mario 64 (100 coins, it's very very difficult) and having to put a foam headphone (those crap in ear ones) pad over my stick and constantly dry my hands because they were sweating ollies. A good FPS gets me going too. I constantly whoop and cheer and shout obscenities when I'm really into it lol. The last time I pooed myself proper in a game was Doom 3. The double take flash in the mirror, in the dark, with headphones on. I broke my keyboard tray because I jumped so hard. Fallout 3 also makes me jump. Again, in the dark, headphones on and a ghoul does that sound behind you in the dark metro "OOMBERR !". That always scares the crap out of me.
Yep, that's me in a nutshell. Especially over the last few years, I've not been drawn-in by a game to anything like the extent I was by my first years of WoW playing, or my first few months playing Skyrim. Maybe it's just an age thing... Elder Scrolls 6 might be different, if it's any good when it finally crawls into view.
Depends on the game - some grab me more than others. A shining example is Thief: Deadly Shadows - there were parts of that game where I had to stop and take a break - far more immersive than any film I've seen. In fact most horror flicks don't do much for me, but that game had me freaking out. There are others - Amnesia comes to mind. Stalker was completely engrossing and not just a wee bit freaky in places. It's not all lighting and sound direction in FPS or survival horror either. FTL for instance - I can get completely lost in that game. I've played it countless times. Thousands of hours. I usually beat it on any difficulty but, every now and again, it turns the screw and has me spitting bile at the screen. On the other side - some AAA FPS titles leave me cold. I've only completed about half of the Call of Medal of Battlefield games, because it's mostly mechanical gameplay and is crushingly tedious at times.
Mostly I'm so aware they're games that I don't feel like that. With horror games I tend to be sat there trying to guess when the jump scares are coming. Based on many, many, films watched I'm getting pretty good at it. They did used to scare me, though. I remember playing the Silent Hill demo that game with MGS and being on the edge of my seat. The only ones that really get my stress levels up are sim racing games when I'm hotlapping, and for some reason DOOM 2016 on Xbox. Doesn't do it on PC. Just Xbox. I mostly get invested in characters, so stuff like Mass Effect, GTA V, Witcher, things with characters that have more depth than a teaspoon. Not many games pull that off.
I lose interest before finishing most games, so fair to say the emotional investment is generally limited - this is either a testament to my priorities changing over the years, a testament to games being less engaging over the years, or a bit of both. Skyrim, Witcher 3, Horizon, Doom '16, Doom Eternal, Uncharteds have had their moments... these are the only games of note in recent years that not only held my attention to the end, but offered replay-ability. These same ones are the ones that got my heart rate going at times. That's not to say the rest aren't good games, I just find them more of a pleasant distraction.
Varies game to game, metro 2033 had me on the edge of my seat and wanted to replay it recently but haven't been able to as I'm too jumpy now it seems! But there will be times/games where I'll play for a bit before realising I'm not really enjoying it and just quit/uninstall without issue, maybe to come back another time and try it and love it who knows.
I remember freaking out the first time I played through Ravenholm in HL2. After some replays, it's now just that fun section that might be just a bit too long. Having played through HL:Alyx twice now, the "Jeff" chapter didn't scare me the first time (I thought it was the best level in the game), and the second time I really tried to push the boundaries of the programming to see how close I could get to Jeff, what limits he had to hearing me move, etc. It was still fun and intense, but I was never scared. Not the first time, not the second, and its intensity diminished greatly from first playthrough to second. It might just be that I'm older than I was when I first played HL2. It might be that I understand just enough about how games are programmed to abstract some of those elements a bit more now (it's just if/then AI with some horror paint).
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl had four points that put me completely on edge. The first time you go underground at the Agroprom facility, the second time at X18, just all of X18 really. Then the first time you go into the Red Forest and they start coming up out of the floor, finally once you enter the Sarcophagus and the walls start shouting at you in Russian. The Half Life and Metro series have plenty of massive induced anxiety moment too. But the series that really gets me into controller throwing fits coupled with spasms of joy is Ace Combat. If I ever have a near death experience I'm sure my life flashing before me will be accompanied by the beeping of the missile warning system.
I vividly remember the first time that I was overcome by adrenaline in a game. That was late at night in my first flat playing Marathon, Bungie's original FPS on a Mac. I was in the dark, with the sound though an amp and speakers by my desk. I entered a corridor and an alien jumped out making an unearthly noise, I must have jumped a foot accompanied by a loud noise of surprise.
Depends on the game. Witcher, Skyrim, KCD and a few others where I can get lost. The Last of Us had me moved at some points, most definitely. FEAR and the first Dead Space got me a bit jumpy at the time I must admit.
Sound is vital I think. When you hear an enemy scuttling round somewhere (particularly if it's a tough one), your left cracking it trying to figure out where they are. Even in stuff like duke3d when you were in the dark and could hear the pig cops grunting, in division 2 it's the noise of a dog coming in (mechanical Boston dynamics thing). Even something stupid like the soundtrack from the rock in the r6 urban operations menu.
I enjoyed Doom 3, but I didn't find it too scary. I think it's because it's a straightforward shooter, so I knew any problem could be solved by blasting away at it, which is oddly comforting. Interesting. It never had any effect on me - I was having too much fun with the saw blades! The 'wow' of the new physics system overrode everything for me. Oh yes! That was nasty! Heading down by a strobing red light that is making a rusty squeaking noise to fight chameleon like enemies that looked as though if they bit you, it'd be a painful death. In the middle of abandoned Russia. Yup! Though the game got less scary when you got better weapons and armour. Absolutely! One of the really terrifying things about the Alien in Isolation is the impact of its footsteps: it sounds powerful, heavy and unstoppable; you know you don't stand a chance against it just from that.
I don't tend to get that involved in games but when beating Atheon for the first time in Destiny was one time where I really did. Anyone who knows the final fight when at the original level without raid weapons (forever 29..) will remember that final stage where you have teleported for the second time, beaten the Praetorians, shot the oracles in order and exited to the centre for the DPS phase. Your Titan drops a WoL bubble, everyone is on point and you have 15 seconds to shoot the utter **** out of the boss. Down to nothing but primary ammo and with 1 second left he died to a well placed fusion grenade and we had done it. Going back to the fight a couple years later and it was basically a cake walk but on launch it was brutal without the right strategies . Repeat again for the first time downing Crota (that moment when you are the invisible hunter calling for rockets and you see them fly overhead) and the MUCH MUCH MUCH more challengine Oryx (seriously who decided to make the "runner" random on the daughters when you have one person in your group who simply can't jump..). So many good times that Destiny 2 has completely failed to repeat.
I get more inured to it as I get older. I think it does get harder and harder to get back to that place of total immersion. Oddly, graphics and visual fidelity isn't a big part of it. I find System Shock 2 more immersive than Skyrim, for plot, game and audio design reasons. A really intense story and characters tends to be my hook. The Last Of Us' notorious opening chapter was legit too much for me, I had to go calm down. Probably the fact I'm getting to a broody age so parental trauma hits me more than it would've 15 years ago. Tomb Raider grabbed me pretty well. Because it's so well voice acted and animated and scripted, and because she's such a nice and cool character. When Chiselled Mercenary Commando With No Feelings And A Heart Of Iron is hanging off a cliff, I don't care. When Plucky Posh Grad Student With Dead Parents Who I've Guided Through DIY First Aid And Wolf Attacks is hanging off a radio tower, my palms sweat like a rainforest. I loved Heavy Rain for the same reason. I'm not upset that so many people hated it. Not everyone goes to video games for that stuff. But it's the only thing I really keep coming back for now.
Well i've just got so deep into killing a boss in Borderlands 3 my head is like exploding because of the shouting and cries in my head. It's like next time i've got you. Other games like Mass Effect 2 in the past I've gotten so immersed into the game and the sun as started to rise.
I think I used to get worked up with some games where my heart would race and I'd need a moment to breathe before pressing on (Resident Evil 3 Nemesis), but I can't say I've felt that major adrenaline rush with any game in the past 5-10 years. I'm a story person; for me to get completely absorbed in the game, I either want a game with a really deep and interesting story or a mostly empty shell where I can make up my own stories. Classic roleplay games tend to capture me a lot more than action focused games, I can get quite absorbed into the interactive choice-based games like The Wolf Among Us and Detroit Become Human as well. I tend to switch completely off after a few hours with first person shooters... If cutscenes can be skipped, after a while I'll most likely skip all of them in a shooter as I tend to get to point where the story begins to lose it's charm. I'm a little better at retaining my interest with a third person shooter, I think it's because I can actually see the character. The most recent game where I got somewhat emotionally attached to the story and characters with was A Plague Tale: Innocence, had a hard time putting that one down when I got started.
Original Tomb Raider, the music in the first big cavern before being chased by the Rex... Wowhoaaa... Walking Dead, I cried like a big blubbery wally at the end. Alien Isolation, bricked it... still haven’t finished and I know I’m close to the end but that thing holds a place in my heart (been to the Giger museum twice)... PS1 release of Doom... I know it wasn’t the best but the soundtrack was genuinely disturbing. My GF at the time would fall asleep on the couch and would wake up having nightmares and screaming! The Last Guardian, tears again. What a game. Skyrim, just the awesome scale and the soundtrack... ESO is good but it’s only a placeholder until ESVI Half-life, damn! Sounds! I know that the soundtrack is key at turning on the waterworks. Stabs of nostalgia (Back to the Future), memories (Indiana Jones) and just some of the situations that have been pulled from blockbusters to indies (thanks Hans Zimmer), when the right element of song to scene ratio is on, I’m a mess!
Dammit, just noticed the typo in 'A game's a game. I enjoy then, but I know they're not real', and I can't find an option to change it .
