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erer

The naysayers said a whole bunch of nays when last month's topic went up, but, as always, you guys delivered: you talked about stuff you hated without devolving into flaming or trolling, and we got some interesting discussion out of it all.

Where last month was all about hatred, this month is about my other favorite emotion -- fear. "The fear! The FEAR!" asks the question, what scares you in videogames?

I don't just mean in terms of horror games, but what makes you nervous, uneasy, frightened, or terrified in games in general? Is it the nervousness one feels while playing a bullet hell shmup? The feeling of reloading during battle? The tenseness of waiting in the shadows to pounce on a guard? Which videogame antagonist terrify you? Or, is there not enough fear in videogames? 

Hit the jump for further explanation of the theme.

Firstly, make sure to put "The FEAR:" in your c-blog title, and secondly, check the Monthly Musings tag before you set it live.

Since this is a pretty vague theme, I'll point out a past article written by Dtoid staff that would still apply: this one, by Ashley Davis,  is about her real-life fear of virtual water. Though the article is more about Banjo-Kazooie than Silent Hill, it includes a pretty indepth explanation of the poor girl's true terror toward murky water in videogames.

Similarly, Jonathan's post yesterday on underpowered game protagonists had a couple of interesting references to the terror inherent in controlling a weak-ass protagonist who can't go all Niko Bellic whenever he feels like it.

Though I'm definitely looking forward to reading some articles on survival horror games, those don't represent the beginning and the end of this theme: there are a lot of things that have potential to scare us and, perhaps just as importantly, a lot of things that sadly don't, but should. 

Anyway, yeah. Pretty vague theme, and you can more or less come up with your own definition of what "fear" is (I'd personally say that really, really epic scenes make me somewhat "fearful," if only because they give me a sense of  scale and how small I am in relation to the world I'm playing in), but I remain interested in seeing what you guys come up with.

 


Continue: More Monthly Musing stories





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28 comments | showing # 1 to 28

PappaDukes's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:23
PappaDukes
Man, methinks this is going to be a good theme. Fear is a [i]very[/] subjective term. For instance, since playing the MGS series, I have become fearful of playing "big boss" battles for the first time. Unsettling to say the least.
Scrixx's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:25
Scrixx
I call dibs on F.E.A.R.
PhazonYoshi's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:27
PhazonYoshi
Ohai ravenholm :S
Jordan Devore's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:27
Jordan Devore
So many possibilities. I'll have to sit on this for a while.
eternalplayer2345's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:29
eternalplayer2345
Another great theme, I know what I want to do this time.
Scrixx's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:30
Scrixx
@PhazonYoshi:

I was actually going to do that, I must have beaten HL2 around 8-9 times, and Ravenholm still scares the living SHIT OUT OF ME.

But for me to do an article on it, I would have to play it one more time, and well, FUCK THAT.
sbshootme's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:35
sbshootme
The Cradle
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:42
Dexter345
Don't lie, you're not going to read any of these.
PappaDukes's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:43
PappaDukes
I fear BBCode!
AwesomeToph's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 15:43
AwesomeToph
Okay, I'll admit that the first time I played BioShock, the Big Daddies and Little Sisters scared the hell out of me. Actually, a lot of the things in that game creeped me out -- mostly the part where you're in the dentists office, you grab something off of a table, turn around... and a Splicer is standing RIGHT THERE STARING AT YOU.

Screamed like a little girl.
Wexx's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:04
Wexx
So... Are you doing themes based only on Metal Gear Solid bosses now? What's next, the Sorrow?
pendelton21's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:17
pendelton21
One word: Chainsaw
A New Challenger's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:22
A New Challenger
I know there are some great moments from my gaming past that I can draw on, but I can't recall them just at the moment. I'll try to get off my ass and participate this time.
Gen Eric Gui's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:34
Gen Eric Gui
Ooooooh...

I have a couple good ideas. I think I'll start one right now.
Primo's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:45
Primo
The music in the castle levels of Super Mario Bros.
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 16:51
Tubatic
And I must remind my self that there's a difference between anxiety, tension and fear . . .

I've got a few of these in me.
SWE3tMadness's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 17:11
SWE3tMadness
Hmm, this is a tough one. I may just take a break this week, seeing as I did the last four or five months in a row. >.>
thebza's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 17:23
thebza
october has 31 days.
NotAZombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 18:07
NotAZombie
This reload time is exhilarating!
Palidi's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 19:13
Palidi
Inb4 "Your Last Life"
The-Excel's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 19:15
The-Excel
My definition of a good game is one in which the player becomes genuinely terrified when he realizes he's about to lose, regardless of its genre or aesthetics. This is going to be tough.
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 19:20
Sharpless
@Dexter
LOL @ Anthony actually reading Destructoid.
Johnny Justice's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 21:25
Johnny Justice
Anyone who writes about F.E.A.R. is a big "Wah wah sissy baby"

"Oh no slow motion! That means something weird is going to happen but nothing is going to hurt me!"
nebones's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2008 22:31
nebones
Nothing comes to mind at the moment.
NihonTiger90's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/02/2008 12:00
NihonTiger90
I've got a few of these planned.
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/02/2008 20:06
Cowboy TTop
For me, its creepy RE music, claustraphobia, and being caught short on ammo.

Apart from that, fear of getting killed before you can save too.
StumpFreak's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/02/2008 20:12
StumpFreak
I think I went a bit of a different way with mine. I hope you guys and gals enjoy it.
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