Possibly one of my most feared creatures in any game. Not, shriek-like-a-little-girl-and-run kinda fear but simply a one-hit kill thing. Those and Yowgui’s (or however you spell them).

I’ve found that I’ve never been afraid of anything simply for its appearance, ever. It’s what it can DO to me that measures my fear of something. Which is why I cautiously edged my way through the first Silent Hill, and plowed my way through Resident Evil; big, shuffling, grotesque moaning zombies (when you have a shiny big gun) are almost comical. A first aid kit for sewing your face back on and a crowbar to swipe at stuff that moves in the dark, that can kill you with one swipe however puts me into “nervous mode”. Couple that with only knowing something’s around you because of radio static and you have tension, apprehension and yes, fear.

Peering into a foggy, dark street, KNOWING that SOMETHING that will kill you if make a wrong move is far more freaky than “oh look, a hoard of zombies! Pass the minigun”. When the tension is built properly, even a fluffy bunny can be scarier than some wall-crawling, salivating alien with claws for hands -- and Silent Hill knows this.

On the other hand, there’s always Costume Quest! Check PSN for a super fun little Halloween game people!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I played Baulder’s Gate on PS2. I found dungeons and the things that dwelt there did have a visceral effect, it becomes the automatism of Surrealism. The nightmares are no longer confined to ghost or the spirits. The darkness yields other haunting visages.

As you can tell I have a fondness for the surreal, it shows in my art. Though the movement started in the 1920s it has some roots in the chaotic works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance with the visions of Hell and torture for those that left the path of light and ventured into the dark. The Ladder of Souls, with seven Deadly Sins c.1200 Chaldon Surry, is one such depiction.

By some standards the more immersive games have this theme. This is were video games have the characteristics attributed to the surrealist automatism, images shift and change automatically from one horror into another, described by Andre Berton, some games play on the psyche and are therefore perfect forms of surrealism. Art here has no boundaries, and imitation is a nod to the artist that came before.

Dragon Age itself is actually the spiritual successor to Bio-Ware’s Baldur’s Gate series on the PC, which uses the D20 engine since its also D&D game based in the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting. The reason why Dragon Age is a spiritual succesor is because the game play is similar but they no longer have the right to make games under the D&D license.

The Diablo series is also another RPG that has used Horror as a theme in some levels, mainly Gothic Horror. Just take a look at bosses like Andariel and Duriel and theevidence is clear.

Also, other genres have used horror as well. Games like ID software’s Doom series, Castlevania, and Magic the Gathering all gain heavy inspiration from horror.

What it all comes down to is style and art history. Inspiration inspires more Inspiration. The Romans for example used Spoila (The Spoils of War) in certain arches like the Arch of Constantine which was a collection of other art (unfortunately stolen) from around the world to create something new. It was their way of collaging a piece together. Looking throughout the Renassiance, art was inspired from Ancient Greece, yet new techniques were adopted to bring these classic tales back to life.

The same thing happens in the Video Game industry because weather some people want to admit it or not, Video Games are Art due to the fact that they are a mix of writing, artwork, music and code created from someones imagination. As a result, in this day and age, Genres usually boil down to sub-genres because of their ecletic mix of elements from other games. This is how old experiences become new again