With the recent announcement of The Evil Within, Kris looks at the survival horror genre and how it can evolve by building off of the design decisions from Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
Not always happy with what the flashlight reveals.
The controls introduced in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories were some of the most natural I have seen in the genre to date. All of this was done by the simple mechanic of the flashlight. First, it really made you feel immersed in the experience since you never really had to hold the controller in an unnatural way, effectively making the control learning curve non-existent. Secondly, the action of revealing darkness via a flash light is really the basis of the fear experience. To any person that was afraid of the dark when they were young, there is a specific mix of emotions you feel when the light finally breaks the darkness. It’s that mix of anticipation and tension that then leads to relief or understanding.
General story exploration was also done very well. I really enjoyed the use of the Wii remote as a cell phone and having parts of the story told through phone calls that were explicitly heard through the speaker on the remote. What an amazing idea! The fact that some of the words were difficult to hear only helped to drive the creepy factor. And because I was not looking at my screen at the time but rather focused on listening to this little device in my hands, it further pushed to give the game world a sense of realism that you don’t typically get. This is where I believe the sense of authenticity and immersion needs to go for these games. Once the actions I do to push the game forward feel more natural, the way I react to the happenings in the game will also be the same. Then there are the whole question sessions, whose answers are clearly reflected in the game content going forward. Not only does that give you a sense of investment into the world, but it also further pushes the mystery of what all of this can mean in the grand scheme of the game.
