Aschrock280's Blog

Reply to Interactive Horror

Reply to C.C. Wilkins post.

If scary movies weren’t bad enough, they had to create actual games where people can live the horror. Awesome. Not. I have never been a fan of the survival horror genre, but needless to say, it has intrigued me for quite awhile. You run around, get the crap scared out of you, solve a mission, and if you’re lucky: Your Survive. I feel as though there should be a maniacal laugh at the end of that sentence. Let’s be honest with ourselves, if you’re looking for a scare or two, survival horror games were the way to go…yes. I said “were”. I too have noticed a decline in substantial story within video games. Of course, there will always be good games and bad games, but it just seems as though recently, with the rise of technology, there has been a decline in creativity. I can only think of a few games that continue to have broad appeal to the masses with an expansion on their original story (Tekken and Kingdom Hearts to name a few).

So is the video game industry a reflection of the dumbing down of society? Or is it merely a victim of it? It also seems as though the “Military” genre has taken over the video game industry as well. While fan’s of western flicks are familiar with the “Bang, Bang, Shoot ‘em Up” style, games such as Call of Duty add complexity to their in-game missions. So in reality, are we being dumbed down or smartened up to the point where simple features just aren’t as appealing to us anymore? It’s a crazy argument and it’s one that will probably never die.