Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra :: it's all DePalma's fault

[quote name="jeep"][quote name="FABIO"]<a STYLE='color: #AA4422' href='http://www.sirlin.net/Features/feature_suspense.htm'>Here</a> in his article on suspense in video games, claims Resident Evil 2 (the absolute worst of the series as far as I'm concerned, except for code veronica simply because it was the exact same thing as 2) mops the floor with Silent Hill as a horror game simply because RE2 follows HIS formula on what makes good horror. Claiming RE2 is scarier than SH is the most utterly fucking ridiculous thing I've ever heard.[/quote] I jumped clear off the couch the first time the licker got me in that game. I also stayed up all night to beat it, because I wasn't going to bed scared. RE2 is masterful construction, even if it's not <i>original</i> construction. Silent Hill doesn't suck, but it isn't really better. [quote name="FABIO"]Of course he also claims that the blair witch project and scream 2 are masterful horror movies. Total fucking crackpot.[/quote] Again, a case of something being well constructed around tried and true methods. The guys who made Blair Witch knew nothing about making movies, really (or TV or anything else as it turned out). But they knew one thing about horror films no one else gets: the less you show the scarier it gets, and they milked it for all it was worth. EVEN THOUGH it was obvious they had no talent they stuck to that central idea and it is effective. Scream 2...maybe he's a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar in tight shirts. Who isn't? [quote name="FABIO"]He claims that RE2 had all sorts of suspenseful moments that made you nervous around everything. What the fuck? Anyone who's played a single RE game for an hour can tell you the ONLY moments that (try to) make you jump is something crashing through a window. You can relax in a RE game as long as there aren't any windows; the instant you see one you KNOW something's going to come crashing through it. The absolute worst case of this was a room in Code Veronica where the camera angle switched to a point with a giant window dominating the screen, and in the smack middle of the room was a key item you had to pick up. Gee, wonder what's going to happen once I pick that item up. [/quote] I only played it once, in one marathon session, but I remember every minute of it. The licker who gets you when you're walking back through the hallway you already cleared is enough. So the shit comes through the window over and over, you know to pay attention to windows as you go. It was the other stuff that got to you, and it was enough to make a good game. [quote name="FABIO"]So according to this guy, the only scary thing a horror game can do is have something jump out and go "boo", which is why RE2 gets his best horror game ever award and SH is "dull, flat, and empty". Subtlety? Hello? [/quote] They're both about the same, really. SH is a good game, but I played RE2 first, and it's more memorable maybe for that alone. /jeep/[/quote]