Expanding on the Key Elements of Horror Games

Having played and observed a variety of horror games, I thought I would expand on Jane’s “key elements of a scary horror game” and describe what conditions and components are necessary for the ultimate horror game. I recognize that many gamers would not want a game to be too scary, in the spirit of the genre I will attempt toestablish both what elements of gameplay would maximize horror and why they would do so. The most lending aspect of gameplay to horror games is the level of character identity. It is important for the player to be immersed in the gameplay and feel as though they areresponsible for the decisions and well-being of their character. Morality and diagetics are the two key components for immersion, but can be difficult to balance. The playershould first be immersed in the gameplay through the diagetics before being faced with moral ambiguities which call into question the players’ own beliefs and ideals. Thissort of examination into the player’s morals may seem to approach some ethical lines by exploiting the player’s personal judgments to enhance gameplay, but without encroaching and capitalizing on the player’s morals the player will feel detached from their character. Games use diagetics in different ways and with varying levels of success. My personal favorite, and the one which I believe should be emulated in the hypothetical “scariest game ever,” is Dead Space. With almost no interface excluded from gameplay and very few moments when the player is completely safe, Dead Space creates a constantly high tension level for the player. Menus, cinematics, and ammunition are all included within the game, and even while the character is communicating with allies she is subject to attack. The beginning of a game is also important for establishing immersive diagetics. Many games use brief cinematics along with limited disclosure of information before throwing the player directly into the game. This is a great strategy, as it allows for the establishment of a narrative while allowing the player to learn the controls through gameplay rather than directing her. Morality can be difficult to infuse into a horror game. In most cases, the scariness of a game comes from some sort of demonic or mutated creature that the player must kill. Very little moral judgment is required to kill a zombie or monster bent on devouring your flesh. However, if the game designers are not careful, the game will feel more like an action "mow-'em-down" game rather than a horror game. Resident Evil 5, the latest installment in the Resident Evil franchise, has become reminiscent of Duck Hunt at times as the player finds herself able to mow down infected humans with a shotgun rather easily. I think Bioshock successfully incorporates morality into gameplay while still maintaining a horrific gaming experience. Through the use of plasmids, Bioshock creates a moral dilemma: to what extent should the player use plasmids to increase her own strength while simultaneously running the risk of becoming corrupted by them, as did the rest of Rapture. The upcoming Bioshock 2 plans to take this dilemma a step further; the player's character, rather than an outside human, will be the "First Big Daddy," a prototype model for the Big Daddys seen in Bioshock that was never put into production by the citizens of Rapture. In Bioshock 2, when the player kills other Big Daddys and frees their Little Sisters, the player can choose to adopt the young girls and have them harvest ADAM, the building block for plasmids, from other monsters in the game. Thus the player is faced with a 3-way decision: kill the girl and harvest the maximum ADAM, free her and harvest no ADAM, or adopt her to harvest ADAM from other creatures. Once the player adopts a Little Sister, they will be able to kill or free the Little Sister at any time. By forcing the player to decide between power and personal safety, Bioshock immerses the player into the game by instituting the player's own morals. Thus, Bioshock is able to immerse the player while still providing plenty of action. This immersion, the connection the player feels with her character, is the most important aspect of a horror game. Through the use of morals, perhaps balancing immediate gain with long-term risk such as in Bioshock, the player will feel more responsible for her character's well-being and thus more frightened when her character is in danger.The atmosphere in which a game is played is incredibly important in determining the scariness of a game. While the game designers only have control over such features as music and world design, the atmosphere in which to play games is determined by the gamer herself. I conducted a brief experiment which compared heart rate with different levels of light and volume while playing the beginning of Dead Space. My hypothesis was fairly simple: the louder the volume (to a reasonable extent) and the darker the room, the higher my heart rate would be. I played the game in a large room with black walls, surround sound, and a projector. I had some difficulty decided how to actually run the test; playing the same part of a game over again would become less scary each time through so I decided to play the game continuously, breaking it up into 5 minute sections with any given set of conditions, pausing to measure my heart rate at the beginning, middle, and end of each interval and averaging the three together for a final number. I was fortunate enough to have a dimmer switch, which I tested at 3 levels: fully on, halfway on, and off, all with the speaker system turned to 20dB. The sound system was plugged into a pre-amp system which I tested at 0dB, 20dB, and 40dB, all while keeping the dimmer switch on the middle setting. I calculated my resting heart rate at 62 while sitting on the couch before beginning the game. Inevitably, I encountered more enemies in some sections than in others, but I would not run the experiment if I knew a period of rest or relaxation, such as a save point or weapons upgrade station, was near. My (average) heart rates by variable were as follows: full light--74bpm, medium light--76bpm, no light--84bpm, 0dB--76bpm, 20dB--82bpm, 40dB, 86bpm. While not being completely linear, the results show over a 40% increase in heart rate for volume levels of 40dB and playing in the dark. These results are not very surprising, but I felt there should be some empirical data to help support the claims we as a group have been making all term: the darker the room and the louder the volume, the scarier a game will be. The scariness of a game lies in both the game designers' hands as well as the players'. Immersing the player into the game and making them feel responsible for their character is left to the game designers, while the atmosphere in which the game is played is left to the player. There are many other aspects which can add to or detract from the scariness of a game, but character identity and atmosphere are pivotal to any horror game's success as a horror game.