Hey fellas, Ack here. I'm using this introduction to explain a bit about what I'd like to talk about, as well as teaching myself the blogging software here.
And now...
picture break!
Ok, glad I understand how that works. And yes, that is a map of Silent Hill.
Anyway, I'm Ack, and I like video games. I especially like video games with horror themes, though I do play a lot of other stuff, so please don't think I'm a one-trick pony. I just happen to have a soft spot in my heart for games that terrify me when I play them in the dead of night.
In fact, horror games have given me some of my favorite gaming memories. Resident Evil 2 was my first...I remember sitting up in a little hole-in-the-wall game room in my stepmom's house in Maine, controller gripped tightly in my hands, eyes wide at the carnage in front of me. We went out to dinner that night, and on the way back I kept glancing out the windows into the pitch-black woods wondering if zombies were really out there. Were they? Were they coming for me? I didn't sleep well for days. I didn't realize it until later that this had been one of those little gaming epiphanies, where you suddenly realize just how powerful the medium can be. But I digress.
I've discovered over the years that a lot of people avoid this genre because it terrifies them far more than any movie or book, likely because in this medium they have the power to control the so-called "victim," the player character, though they're still confined to the game's rules. But there are some folks who rise to the challenge, who subject themselves to this sheer, unadulterated terror, who sit up late into the night while playing Silent Hill, palms sweaty, hair unkempt, fear in their eyes. It is for these people that I'm doing this article: I'm giving them a list of nightmares, with some discussion of mechanics, a few screenshots, and sometimes a few insights of my own on the game.
Or maybe I'm just overthinking this, and some folks just want to play some games.
Either way, I'll be focusing on an individual game each post, following a thing I did over at the Racketboy.com forums, where I talked about one game each day for October. In fact, some of my earlier posts will likely just be straight ports of that material, if only to give me a platform to springboard off of with original content once October is over.
And if you have requests, such as you've heard of a particular title and want to know more, or think that certain games should be discussed, or you just want to know the thoughts of myself and the rest of the folks here at RFGeneration, post it in the comments! It's the best way to have a conversation.
