Even in "stealth" games there's usually a way to take out or at least avoid a given enemy. No matter what, the player always has some kind of weapon to use against the bad guys.
You see, the first thing any gamer thinks when encountering an adversary is, " how do I kill it?" That is the lesson we've had pounded into us. This prohibition on combat creates a sense of helplessness that challenges every video game instinct I've had burned into my psyche. On top of the aesthetic, the structure of play is designed to ensure that the player is always on edge since there is absolutely no fighting back against the various enemies encountered. The wonderfully disturbing castle combined with subtle visual and audio effects are seamlessly woven together to create something terrifying on a level I've never experienced before. Completely alone in the castle, Daniel must contend with all the things going bump in the night on his own, with no map and completely unarmed save for a lantern.Īmnesia creates the best atmosphere I've ever seen. That's the entire setup, and the simplicity of this concept lends itself brilliantly to the sense of isolation that Amnesia conveys so well. The player takes the role of Daniel, the main character who wakes up in a dark castle with no memory of who he is or why he's there. Not scared as in a short burst of shock, but in a heart-pounding, sweat-inducing, I-need-to-stop-playing-so-I-can-calm-down kind of scared. Ask yourself, have you ever felt truly afraid in a game? Have you ever felt for yourself the imminent danger that the player character is supposed to be feeling? I can't say I ever have.Īmnesia: The Dark Descent is to date, the only game that has ever scared me. Still, there is one emotional state that I've never felt in a game-fear. Over time the range of responses that games are able to invoke has only increased, getting the player more and more involved in the goings-on of their worlds. We get choked up when Aeris dies, we laugh at the antics of Phoenix Wright's quirky witnesses, and we get angry when Mega Man can't quite make that jump over the pit. Games, like any other art form, are capable of eliciting very strong emotions.
WTF: Encountering a monster for the first time and being forced to run and hide LOW: Encountering a monster for the first time and being forced to run and hide. HIGH: Encountering a monster for the first time and being forced to run and hide.
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