Beginning at the point Jill Valentine separates from Chis and Sheva, Desperate Escape shows how she and BSAA agent Josh Stone (spoilers!) escaped from the Tricell facility and managed to save the main characters later on. The developers aimed to create an incredibly challenging mission, and I'd have to say they completed that task admirably. While Lost in Nightmaresreturned to the series' roots with puzzles and atmosphere, Desperate Escape is the complete opposite. Strategic movement and combat tactics still help in some of the larger battles, but it's gameplay is very much like the most recent games in the series.

The entirety of the story is just as the title implies: Jill and Josh are escaping, and they're rather desperate to do so. It's just you and a friend against a horde of Majini warriors, and even though you may be better equipped than they are, they have numbers. You'll constantly be surrounded by a great deal of them as explosions go off around you, and having another player you can trust by your side will make it that much more enjoyable. The partner AI seemed to be improved a little from the main game, but you'll still find yourself wishing for a human if you're stuck going the solo route. A few surprising additions found their way into the story mode from the Mercenaries mode, namely in the form of exploding enemies. I was caught off guard many times by exploding bodies after I thought my enemy was dead, which added another layer of intensity throughout the games many firefights.

One of my favorite parts of Resident Evil 5 were the situation-determined action commands, through which you could incapacitate and even kill the enemies in order to conserve ammo usage. These make a huge return in Desperate Escape, as both Jill and Josh come equipped with hand-to-hand moves of their own. Jill makes use of her flexibility and nimbleness by knee dropping prone enemies, and even snapping their necks with her thighs if they are both situated properly. Josh's moves were some of the coolest I've seen, incorporating grappling techniques and various wrestling maneuvers to subdue his enemies. The character animations are incredibly fluid and look amazing in motion.

As I was playing through Desperate Escape with the same friend I finished the main story with, we were constantly surprised with the amount of story points they intertwined within the main plot. It was interesting to see what Jill was up to when she was in communication with Chris, and what she had to go through to save them at the end of the game. As a huge nerd when it comes to storylines, it answered a lot of questions I had regarding the whereabouts of Jill and Josh during all the craziness in Chris and Sheva's storyline. It also does a great job of fleshing out the side characters and adding a bit of depth when it comes to their personalities, ambitions, and overall reason for doing what they do. As soon as a new character is introduced, though, they are usually done in to make room for Jill and Josh, who are the kept as the focus the entire time.

Overall, Desperate Escape is a very interesting experience. It is almost the polar opposite of the last DLC patch Lost in Nightmares as it sticks with the newer formula found in Resident Evil 5. It is entirely action-oriented, with absolutely no puzzles. The main draw is the almost horde-like rush of enemies you'll experience throughout the entire gameplay experience, which makes for a very intense and somewhat frustrating mission. But with the addition of new plot points that flesh out the already interesting Resident Evil 5 story arc, it's a game you'll want to play again to see if you missed any references or side stories.

Likes

• New, revealing story points on how other characters fared.
• Amazing new hand-to-hand animations for both new characters.
• Tons and tons of challenge even for the most hardened RE5 veterans.

Dislikes

• Returns to the emphasis on action of the newer games.
• The challenge can become a bit frustrating after numerous attempts.
• The partner AI still needs a lot of work, but remains somewhat manageable.

Review Score

 / 

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The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

Let’s go back to 1992. Kirby’s Dreamland was just released, Midway let loose the bloody Mortal Kombat, Alone in the Dark redefined horror in video games and Sonic made his second appearance this time accompanied by his sidekick Tails. It was quite a year, but in all the hubbub another gem was released. In 1993, the part creation myth, part action-adventure platformer, E.V.O.: Search for Eden came overseas and went mostly unnoticed. Today it’s remembered for its innovative and progressive design. It was a game that came out way before it's time, and it helped evolve the genre.

 

 

Originally released as 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron (1990) or 46 Billion Years: The Theory of Evolution for the NEC PC-9801, E.V.O. is probably one of the most innovative videogames released, ever. Do you remember Spore? E.V.O. did it first. We all hailed Will Wright's game as something marvellous and original, but we were sorely disappointed in the game's delivery and lacklustre gameplay. E.V.O. recipe is quite different. The combination of platforming elements mixed with an interesting story made it an engaging experience from start to finish. And it's a game that has always fascinated me because of its diversity and its scope.

 

I first played E.V.O. at a friend’s house back in the heyday of my childhood. Back then my little undeveloped brain could barely comprehend the concept of evolution, at least until playing this game. It’s a game about evolutionary theory! You could perform as many fatalities as you wanted as Johnny Cage, but were you learning about life? Let's start from the beginning.

 

The story begins with The Sun, the ruler of the solar system, telling the third planet, Gaia, that she will bear life. Each time a new species comes into existence they will be put through a test. This contest of Survival of the Fittest will be used to find Gaia’s partner in Eden. Then civilization will grow on her planet. Think of it as a spritual prequel to Almanic Corp’s Actraiser, a city-development simulator mixed with action platforming sections. Your quest starts off in the prehistorics and ends somewhere in the range of 5 to 3 B.C., the age of early man. There’s also something about aliens, crystals, a gelatinous monster and a prophecy. The story gets a little hazy here, but I won’t spoil the crazy ending for anyone. Your struggle to survive is the game’s central focus, and the story revolves around the player aiming for the same end, the ultimate form of survival, Gaia.

 

 

Gaia, what can I say? She’s the goddess who controls Earth and the fate of humanity; she’s also really pretty and wants to share Eden with you. You know what that means, actually, no, I really can’t say what Gaia had planned. She’d probably find a means of asexually reproducing your final form so that your species could inhabit the Earth. She’s a goddess damn it, shame on you (and me) for thinking that way, but I applaud the game for tackling a touchy subject. Being with Gaia in Eden will grant your species "Intelligence" and thus they begin their trek towards civilization. They'll learn and become more than just animals; they'll become civlized and eventually discover the secrets of the universe! You really can’t call E.V.O. an educational game, but you can call it an insightful one. Evolution is still considered just as a theory and for some reason people still don’t agree with it, but if it comes even close to being this entertaining who really cares?

 

It has taken human species took over 34 billion years to evolve, E.V.O. will take just about that much time to complete. This is the only problem I have with the game. Playing the game as a kid, my brain was constantly afire each time I ate a jellyfish or evolved a new pair of jaws. It was exhilarating to have that much variety and control over the development of my creature. It was my 16-bit Spore, and it was actually fun. Going back to the game and playing through it again, I was surprised to see how much grind there is. It’s inevitable that for the best parts you should have to work for them, but it shouldn’t take a few hours just to get enough points to get a new pair of fins. One saving grace of this evolutionary system is the occasional dropping of “super-meat” (I guess you could call it that) that gives you a 50 e.v.o. points. I spent hours playing through the first section and trying to make sure that I had every part, and then I was transported into the Jurassic age and sentenced to start all over again.

 

It’s cool to think that you’re going to get a whole new table of upgrades, but it’s a little frustrating to be up heaved every time you move on. It’s a lengthy game, but playtime all depends on how you play. If you’re a purist like me, it’ll take a good amount of time to get the best parts. If you’re a normal and well-rounded person who has to actually do something with their life, it’ll take the better half of ten hours to get through. For a 16-bit non-RPG game that’s quite a lot of time to invest, and speaking of RPGs.

 

 

E.V.O.’s music was composed by Koichi Sugiyama who also did the music for Dragon Quest series. This was the first 16-bit game he ever worked on and his skills as a composer really show. Whenever I played through the first part of the game in the ocean I always thought that the music sounded familiar. If you listen to the themes of both E.V.O. and Dragon Quest, you can hear some similar melodies. There’s something about the game’s theme that adds to the game’s atmosphere of discovery and development. Sugiyama's music adds another layer of awesome to the epic nature of your survival.

 

E.V.O.: Search for Eden was a revolutionary title. It once had me hooked and even today it still holds my interest. The level of innovation E.V.O. displayed has also had a lasting effect on the developers today. The evolution of videogames received a real boost from this title, and it taught me that to survive I needed to be tough. There were life lessons to be learned from this game, and maybe save enough points up to get a new set of jaws. I'm sure some big canines would do wonders for my writing and my personality.

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New Game+ is LevelFortyTwo.com's blog not just looking back at older games, but also the effort and work that was put into them, as well as the joy of reliving old gaming experiences. Read more about the goal of this blog here.

The game controls differently from any other game you might have played before, and although there is a small adjustment period it quickly becomes second nature. The tasks that you are required to perform by using the Right Stick, or buttons are very good at immersing you into the experience. From the get go I was aware that any of the characters I was playing as could die and thus my decisions were greatly influenced. For my first playthrough I was determined to keep everyone alive. As the story progressed I found myself in increasingly stressful situations where my heart rate would steadily rise.

After beating the game I was still so enthralled in the story that I couldn’t think of much else for the next little while. Another amazing aspect of this game are the branching story paths. Based off of your decisions characters can live or die, and as such the story can be impacted. Upon completing Heavy Rain I felt instantly compelled to go back and play the game again with specific things I would do differently for each chapter.

The game also shares heavy similarities with the movie se7en, which actually works in its favor to create dark and atmospheric environments. Speaking of atmospheric, the music in Heavy Rain is phenomenal. There are many times where it builds up suspense making you feel as if your next decision could cost you your life. As mentioned earlier, each of the four characters can die and as such there are no restarts; if someone dies, that’s it. There were many times where I could only play a couple chapters and would then feel the need to take a break, sort of like reading a book. I felt as if this was a testament to how well crafted the story was; I was able to complete it at my own pace and not feel the need to finish it “before everyone else”.

Overall, Heavy Rain is an emotionally engrossing game. It provides a new experience not yet seen in the medium of video games. I would highly recommend it to those looking for something different than anything else on the market. With twists and turns around each corner, and plenty of replayability Heavy Rain is one of the best experiences you’ll have on your PS3.

Likes:

• Engrossing story with many endings
• Controls bridge a gap between been player and character
• Ability to choose your own actions and have to live with the consequences

Dislikes:

• Walking can sometimes be frustrating
• Characters sometimes look stunning, and horrible at others (Uncanny Valley)

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Justin Potts: Upon embarking on the Heavy Rain rollercoaster, one of my first ambitions was to wander my spacious, sun-drenched home in my undergarments.  I was not allowed to do so.  This felt strange, as I had taken part in such simple activity only a few short weeks ago.

Forced to make myself presentable, I headed for my wardrobe, which appeared to be packed with stylish options.  With the flick of a thumbstick, my character dressed himself in something that I certainly wouldn’t have selected.  If found this rather frustrating, not because many smaller games built on “archaic” design principles sport some rather extensive costume customization, but because just prior to this I had been forced to . . . take a shower?

Despite these regular engagements with the mundane, Heavy Rain places the player smack in the midst of a multitude of intense, compromising situations, and these are (most often) stressful and anxiety inducing, to say the least.  Failing to perform the prompted inputs accurately in these segments, something I frequently struggled with although I feel this was due to no personal fault of my own, can drastically alter the course of events later on in the story.  However, should you choose not to engage and merely watch things play out, while the end result may be different, the individual events within the scene may not change in the least.

The examples above outline my biggest complaint:  More often than not, it feels as if points and events for player “engagement” are arbitrary.  I often got the impression that the entire game was “shot,” and then had “interactive” elements laid over the top, as opposed to the developers having actively sculpted interesting interactions which would then add to the experience.  Yes, the action and suspense are certainly tense, but that in and of itself is really nothing new.  It was all of the stuff in between that I was looking forward to.  We often hear the argument that merely presenting text to the player is a “waste of the medium,” that there should be other ways to pursue these interactions.  Heavy Rain has presented us with one more method, which should be seen as just that, one possible method.

Yet, despite what may read like a somewhat scathing analysis, the fact of the matter is that I could not stop playing.  The game’s developers repeatedly stated that Heavy Rain is not a “game,” but something more along the lines of film.  If this is truly the case, then Heavy Rain has accomplished something rather remarkable, as there is no way that I would put up with a movie this long, much less repeatedly sacrifice sleep in order to watch “just one more scene.”  There is something bigger occurring here, something that has been brewed up in the bowels of this composition, and the argument surrounding exactly what this may be still seems to be far from reaching any sort of conclusive analysis.  The questions in this case, I think, are of far greater importance than the (perceived) answer.

The qualities of Heavy Rain which make it feel fresh, engaging and memorable, most notably the story, themes and atmosphere largely lacking from big retail products within the medium, as well as the game’s visuals, likely aren’t going to stand the test of time.  As hardware grows more powerful and video games (hopefully) continue to broaden in their scope of viable material, the outstanding qualities of Heavy Rain will one day likely become some standard form of sub-genre.  It is quite possible however, that upon looking back, we may end up viewing the title as a significant turning point, a catalyst for the exploration and resulting production of a more diverse and challenging engagement with various avenues for storytelling and what it means for something to be “adult” underneath the video game umbrella.  Should this prove to be the case, I can hardly imagine a more welcome contribution. 

Likes:

• Forces the player to make difficult, rarely explored decisions
• Lots of great conversation to be had about the experience with others
• Always want to see what’s next

Dislikes:

• “Interactive elements” often feel arbitrary, disengaging
• Experienced many issues inputting desired commands
• Feedback to the player is (intentionally?) unclear

When you immediately walk in, United Front Games is actually what you would expect the lobby of a development studio to look like; it’s open concept, nicely decorated, and there are plenty of posters feature concept art or magazine spreads featuring some of their highly anticipated games.

After a couple of seconds looking around I was taken to the lounge/break area of the studio. With the Olympics in full swing a few employees (some there with their children) were huddled around a TV cheering. Not only is the studio increasingly busy as they put the finishing touches on ModNation Racers, but they are also outside of one of the busiest destinations in downtown Vancouver (especially during the Olympics). It’s nice to see a sense of unity amongst all of these workers, it just goes to show that even when you’re in the middle of deadlines you don’t have to tune out all aspects of your life.

Next I was taken to the main development area of the studio. As Dan explained to me, there is a large sense of camaraderie between all of their employees. With certain teams placed close to each other people are easily able to ask questions or get re-assurance from their coworkers (ie. Character Modelers are sitting next to the Art team).

At this point in time I was only able to see the part of the studio working on MNR, with their work on True Crime kept under wraps at the moment. Even so, United Front Games seems to have struck quite a balance between work and pleasure, even their meeting rooms are named after various Mexican “Luchador” Wrestlers (there is also a wall of Mexican wrestler masks when you first enter the floor currently working on True Crime). As I look back at the studio tour, I must say that I found it very interesting to actually see where a game was developed. In this day and age, so many gamers are very narrow sighted and only look at a game for a week or two until it becomes deemed at “old news”, however this tour has now really wet my appetite for the release of ModNation Racers on the PS3 this spring.

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Of course what studio tour wouldn’t be complete with an interview? Below is a transcript of my interview Dan Sochan.

What can you tell me about the history of United Front Games?

United Front Games was formed in 2007. The goal was to make great games that really pushed the boundaries of creativity and what was also technically possible. We also wanted to do that while having a really fun environment. Making Triple-A games right out of the gate is actually pretty challenging! We’ve been really fortunate to partner up with two fantastic publishers like Sony and Activision (for True Crime) that have believed in us since the beginning and have been very supportive. I think they’ve been very happy with the results we’ve been able to achieve as well. Overall, we’re a two-teamed company, and we are dedicated to making the absolute best games that play to the strength of our platforms.

How did you originally partner up with Sony?

When United Front Games was looking to form, we were looking for different partners or publishers, and obviously you want that sort of synergy with the partner, especially being a young studio. What we wanted to do was make a great racing game that pushed the boundaries of creativity, and it just lined up really nicely with what Sony wanted. They really wanted to push the online component (such as the sharing). They’d already announced LittleBigPlanet at that point and they felt that that was a very strong genre and that the industry was going to move in that direction, and they wanted another game that had those same elements, yet was different. Although there are quite a few similarities between us and LBP, there are also quite a few differences.

Why did you decide to reveal the PSP version of ModNation Racers so late in the cycle? How long had the idea for a PSP version been in the works?

The PSP version has been in the works for quite a while. It’s just all about timing and releases. Often you don’t want to make an announcement just before New Years or things get lost. It was all just about timing and getting a lot of excitement and energy about the Playstation 3 version, and then showing off how fantastic the PSP version is looking early in the New Year.

What are some of differences between the PS3 and PSP versions of ModNation Racers?

We worked really closely with the PSP team to ensure that they’ve done an unbelievable job at creating a game that still has those “Play Create Share” aspects to it. They also did an amazing job of not being hindered because the PSP obviously isn’t as powerful as the PS3. They took what the PSP did best and really built those game features around that. It’s been really great seeing the progress they’ve made and the really fun, interesting game they’ll be creating. There will be more announcements about the PSP version in the future.

What else does United Front Games have in store for the future? Are you looking at only developing for the Xbox 360 and PS3 or would you ever consider developing for handhelds?

We definitely wouldn’t want to ever close the door on any opportunities. What we want to do is make the best possible games that really help change and define what the games industry is. We’re essentially console-agnostic, which means whichever console we feel best suits the style of game that we want to work on then we’re always open to those ideas.

 

What is one thing you are most looking forward to with the launch of ModNation Racers?

The thing that I am most excited about with ModNation Racers is just getting it out there and really being able to interact with the community. The Public Beta was a great example of that. There were obviously some things that were still getting fixed at that point, like load times and framerate (which is standard with every game), but it was amazing being there; racing with different people, seeing different race styles, seeing the unbelievable creations that people made, and that was with a very limited subset of our total parts. Only 20% of the total parts we’ll have in the game were available in the public beta, maybe even less, perhaps only 15%. I can’t wait to see what happens when someone has had more than just a couple weeks with the game and they have the full part set available.

Depending on the success of ModNation Racers would you consider doing a sequel or would you just continue to support the game with long-term DLC?

I think that that is something where we would have to wait and see. I think both obviously have a lot of merit, there’s a lot of things you can do in a sequel that you can’t do by just having a DLC pack. I think a lot of this will come from the feedback that we get from the general public, sort of “what do they want to see?” and then we’ll respond accordingly.

What are some of your favorite games that you’ve played recently?

I haven’t been able to play a lot recently, but over Christmas I was playing the sort of “classics”. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was great, but I was actually playing a lot ofBuzz! Quiz TV with the family which was a lot of fun. Also, Beatles Rockband was fantastic; I really like a wide variety of games, I’m definitely into sports games and have a strong background in developing sports games, but I have to say it’s pretty cool in the industry these days. There are a lot of people doing some very unique things such asScribblenauts. People seem less confined by “I must make another shooter”, “I must make another hardcore sim-racer”, and with the power of the consoles we have today you can do a little bit of everything. Thinking of what ModNation Racers is, it’s a kart racing game, but it’s also a track building game, and a character or kart building game, as well as an online racing/sharing game; it’s multi-tiered. Those would have been six different games 4 or 5 years ago but with the power of the PS3 and the Playstation Network being so accessible we’ve been able to take all of the best elements of those genres and put them into one package.

Do you think it would have been possible to develop ModNation Racers on the Xbox 360?

I think parts of it could have been developed on the 360. We really like the hardware configuration for the PS3. Another big thing for us was the built in hard drive, not to mention the Playstation Network being for free; these things all help to make the game that much more accessible.

Does UFG look at other developers in the industry to help better or strengthen the games you are developing?

One of the things I’ve always really enjoyed about the video game industry is that it’s very collaborative; it’s definitely not cut-throat in the way of “I have created some new technology and I will not share it with anyone”. It’s actually very much the opposite. If anyone ever has the opposite to go to some game symposiums, such as GDC, it’s amazing! People get up there and they spill beans. Obviously there are some things that are patented, but in general they talk about their principles and how they developed technology, how they build great game studios or come up with fantastic designs or beautiful artwork. I think it’s a general belief of: we’re a relatively new industry, we want everyone to succeed, because the more of us who make great games the more we are inspiring each other and thus the bar gets raised.

 

 

There’s something about that blank stare. It creeps me out and it certainly makes Henry Townsend pretty nervous. I first played Silent Hill 4 a few weeks ago and I was surprised just how unrelenting Walter is. He’s literally everywhere and that ominous presence is what makes him so frightening.

 

 

Walter spent his childhood at the Wish House orphanage in Silent Hill. After six years at the orphanage and after being subjected to numerous occult rituals, he was told that the apartment complex in which he was found was his mother. You can imagine how that might mess up your mind a bit. He spent the next few years visiting the apartment complex. Walter was then told that in order to see his mother come back to life, he had to complete the 21 sacraments. He had to kill 21 people.

 

Walter Sullivan isn’t your typical take over the world villain. He’s a methodical serial killer influenced by the occult. But there’s even more to his character than this. In terms of omnipresence, the entire game is a construction of Walter’s desire to see the apartment become reality. His personality is so pervasive that the worlds you travel to become a reflection of his psyche. His reality is even able to invade your sanctuary in the late stages of the game. Walter is a menacing character in both presence and in his actions. And please don’t pick up the doll! Whatever you do just leave it on the stairs. What, do you think he just innocently left it there as a present? At least the next person on the list doesn’t pull this psychological torture, well, maybe a little…

 

Alma was an unfortunate test subject of Project Origin. This was Armacham Technology’s attempt to harness her psychic powers and impregnate her in order to create super soldiers. What’s worse is that her father, Harlan Wade, was in charge of this abuse. Alma is like a ghost. She has the ability to turn up anywhere, and you’re always left wondering when the developers are going to try and catch you off guard.

 

 

Taken as a research subject at the age of three, Alma spent the next half of her life at Armacham undergoing various scientific tests. Her father wanted to create a new life out of Alma, a god amongst men and a blank slate, so that he could control and manipulate them into being the perfect solider. The only problem is that he underestimated Alma’s psychic powers, and she takes it upon herself to get revenge. This isn’t a good thing for the Point Man.

 

This is where Alma gets her powers to unsettle us. Her psychic abilities are directly linked to the protagonist through their similar genomes. Alma can manipulate his mind and infiltrate his unconscious. We experience this throughout the game through flashbacks and ghostly images. She’s everywhere, and even in your mind. You can’t help but mentioning Alma’s childlike appearance. This is meant to trigger an emotional response from the player. We know that she was abused as a child and her vengeance is totally justified, it’s just that we’re in the way of her pyrokinetic crosshairs. She’s always there, but she does give you time to recover between encounters. The next guy doesn’t.

 

 

Unlike other zombies in the Resident Evil series, Nemesis has some control over his actions. This alone doesn’t make him particularly menacing, but his intelligence may make the player think he can be reasoned with. You'd be wrong. Dead wrong. Jill Valentine isn’t dealing with some kind of bumbling zombie who’ll stumble his way towards you, no, you’re dealing with a relentless and zombified contract killer.

 

 

Nemesis was created from a strain of the T-virus, specifically the NE-T virus. He was designed to be more intelligent than the other “super soldiers” sent after the remaining S.T.A.R.S team members. This really shows in his perseverance as an antagonist. You can knock him down, burn him alive, shoot him and he’ll just keep coming. This gives him an authority over the game’s progression. Everything you do is based around Nemesis’s proximity, or if you know he’s encroaching. You look for safe houses and areas to relax specifically to be away from Nemesis. He becomes the main focus of Resident Evil 3’s horror.

 

His command over the action has a definite effect on your thought process as a player. You have to conserve ammo, plan your route and make sure he’s not around. He’s aggressive and intelligent, not to mention scary as hell. What’s worse is that every time you defeat him, he just gets stronger and stronger. Nemesis is an intelligent and resilient monster, and he’s unlike any other enemy in the Resident Evil series. Maybe.

 

 

What’s worse than a zombie, a reanimated one. I think the Crimson Head could possibly be the first meta-zombie in a videogame, and this just adds to their terror. The first time I played the Resident Evil remake for the GameCube, I was unaware of them. It was on the back of the box, pretty stupid not to have checked that. A pretty critical mistake, actually. The Crimson Heads changed the atmosphere of the game and provided a real sense of urgency that wasn’t there in the original game.

 

 

What makes the Crimson Heads so lethal is that they are faster, quicker and deadlier than other zombies. This may seem like a loose justification for them being menacing, but they add a heightened level of danger to the game. As a player, you now have to be aware of what zombies you killed, when you killed them and if there’s enough time to get back, gas them and burn them. An easy way around this was to go for head shots, but unlike RE5: Lost in Nightmares, we don’t have that privilege. This made me hoard as much shotgun ammunition as I possibly could. They made me change the way I played the game. That’s a pretty big impact.

 

For the most part, you didn’t actually see too many of them. If you were like me and had a methodical obsession with dispatching zombies, you didn’t have to worry. But the threat still loomed. If you forget even just one zombie, just one, then you’d have to deal with a deadly reanimated-reanimated enemy. And they are relentless and they will kill you. What’s cool about them is that they effectively changed up the Resident Evil experience. Those quiet hallways that you once thought were safe now had a new kind of evil lurking through them… with big claws, red skin and frothing jaws. Kind of makes you happy that the mansion is so huge and filled with so many sanctuaries. The next guy will find you even if you hide.

 

 

Remember that Monty Python lumberjack sketch? Michael Palin is a barber who has an irrational fear of hair, and he tries a few times to stab Terry Jones in the head with a pair of scissors. Think about that, minus the Canadian thing, the transvestite thing and multiply Palin’s insanity by about six. That’s Scissorman from Clock Tower.

 

 

What makes him so menacing is his contrast to Jennifer Simpson. She’s a weak and defenceless orphan who’s recently been adopted, along with two other girls, by a loving family. Like all good horror stories, they don’t turn out to be that great. What makes Scissorman so alarming comes from his sheer presence in the game. He can come out of anywhere, at anytime and just plain murder you. This wouldn’t be so bad if you could fight back, but you can’t. All you can do is run away and hide. This gives him a lot of power over the game experience.

 

Without Scissorman chasing you around, Clock Tower wouldn’t have been that scary of game. His authority over the experience creates a tension filled pace that pressures Jennifer into exploring the mansion and progressing through the story. And he only got scarier when he made the jump to 3D. You still can’t fight him. You just have to keep running and hiding. The horror of hide and seek chase is something that Japanese developers use a lot in their horror games, and, coincidentally, that’s all you do in the next game on the list.

 

 

Siren: Bloodcurse was terrifying. Forbidden Siren for the PS2 chilled me to the core, and I still get nightmares. You spend the entire game running, hiding and fighting your way through rural areas of Japan trying to avoid the zombie-like residents of Hanuda. They’re called Shibitos. Think of the Shibito as Japanese ghosts who’ve possessed dead bodies. Sounds like a typical zombie affair, but what makes them so menacing is your reliance on them to survive. It’s a game mechanic called sightjacking.

 

 

Sightjacking allows you to take the sight of a Shibito. This shows you exactly where they are and it helps with sneaking. It’s like a survival horror MGS. What makes this so unnerving is the knowledge that someone or something is always lurking behind the next corner. It’s not just a niggling feeling of danger, you know that they are there and you have to rely on them to survive. It’s quite unsettling.

 

The Shibito are scary and monstrous. I know quite a few Japanese people and most of them are pretty reserved. When you first meet the police officer in Blood Curse, you hope he’s there to help you out. He flips out and tries to kill you, leaving your character scrambling for the woods and its countless other dangers. Zombies are one thing, but combined with the atmosphere of the game, the dark forests, your character’s intense fear and the constant sense of encroaching danger, the Shibito make for some pretty menacing characters.

 

 

This game is a golden oldie. Well, not really, but it’s better than Clive Barker’s Jerico. I’ll give Clive Barker one thing as a game developer, he knows how to tell a good story. The characters of Undying are really well developed. Each of the residents at Covenant Estate has their own disturbed past to explore, their own persona and a haunting aura that surrounds them. Aaron’s is probably the most eccentric and menacing of the bunch. Unfortunately that was the best image I could find of him, but it speaks volumes about his character.

 

 

Imagine having your jaw removed, your skin ripped off and while lying dismembered in a cold, dark cellar and being eaten by rats…wait… don’t do that. I was probably too late with the warning, but this is what Aaron’s current existence is like and it's partially why he's haunting the manor.  His rotting corpse is hanging in the attic of the mansion waiting for you to return his jaw. Until you do, he haunts the halls of the mansion trying to get you. He’s an artist, an eccentric and a psychopath.

 

Undying is a really well-written game, but compared to games today its graphics are archaic. This is partly what makes Aaron so terrifying for me today. Just the way he looks speaks to his personality as an omnipresent antagonist. There are a few moments in the game where he appears right behind you bogeyman style, it's kind of cheesy, but it nonetheless scares you because of his grisly appearance. He looks like a low-poly corpse and though he’s anything but photorealistic, his dialogue is so well written it doesn’t matter. He’s an antagonist that’s more substance than style, and he freaked me out back in the day.

  

 

Pyramid Head is probably the most well-known survival horror icon. A creation of James Sunderland’s psyche, Pyramid Head is the manifestation of James’s every unconscious desire. This hulking enemy pursues the player throughout the experience, and simply by existing he torture us with what he symbolizes.

 

 

James is an extremely neurotic protagonist, and I even struggle to give him that heroic qualifier. The people and creatures of Silent Hill 2 symbolize something deep within his unconscious mind. Pyramid Head is by far the most explicit example of this. James’s wife Mary was very sick and unable to live a normal life, she couldn't be an active partipant within the relationship. Pyramid Head is just one big phallic symbol. You might get what’s wrong with James. He is extraordinarily sexually frustrated because he had to repress his desires in order to take care of Mary. This monster is the manifestation of his frustration, and what’s worse is that there are two of them!

 

Pyramid Head isn’t so much an omnipresent antagonist, as he is an intergral part in the game’s theme. You never know when he’ll show up, but he’s always with James subconsciously. Pyramid Head is a part of James. He’s a monster manifested straight out of the protagonist, and he’s trying to kill you. This is what makes him so menacing. Talk about a personality disorder. At least, he doens't have illusions of grandeur like the next guy.

 

 

Here’s a good quote from Andrew Ryan: “What is the difference between a man and a parasite? A man builds. A parasite asks ‘Where is my share?’ A man creates. A parasite says, ‘What will the neighbors think?’ A man invents. A parasite says, ‘Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of God.”

 

 

Andrew Ryan has a dangerous mind. He’s also the deco-punk equivalent to Shodan from System Shock 2. Ryan is always watching and always plotting against you, but his influence has sunk further into the enemies of the game than Rapture has into the bedrock of the ocean. He’s eccentric and a villain, but worst of all he’s outside of society. This means that he is free from ideas of morality and ethics.

 

This is what makes Andrew so dangerous and so menacing. He’s gone outside of the scope of morality. This opens up Rapture to an insane and inhuman element, and he really couldn’t care. His omnipresence as the King of Rapture provides both a subtle atmosphere of anarchy to the game and is a reflection of the psychology of the splicers around you. This is where a character with a dangerous ideology can become a master manipulator of both the player and the unstable elements around him. He's methodical and extraordinarily intelligent, but sometimes there’s no method to the madness.

 

 

I'd hoped it wouldn’t come to this one. The Dopefish. This is the thing of nightmares. I first played Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle on my old DOS computer and freaked out whenever I had to go down into that well. It wasn’t that I was necessarily scared of the Dopefish, but I knew that it was always lurking around the next corner waiting to eat you.

 

 

There’s something about the way it looks at you that just unnerves the hell out of me. He’s probably the definition of menacing because you can’t tell what it is thinking. It’s a blank-staring bright-green big-eyed fish, and by all accounts he should be a nice guy, but he has a nasty habit of eating you and everything around him. He’s a dope, but that’s a little obvious.

 

You just can’t know his motivations as a villain, and maybe that’s the problem. You can’t judge animal instincts. He’s a neutral enemy running on an impulse that he has no control over. Hunger can be a powerful thing. Still, the Dopefish is probably the most terrifying thing since Zelda for the Panasonic CD-I.

 

***

 

What makes a videogame character menacing? It’s more than just being scary. The common thread that ties all these characters together is how they unsettle the player with their ideas, actions and attitudes. They may be violent, aggressive, ugly and repulsive, but each of these characters has a motivation for their actions. Well, maybe not the Dopefish. Each of these characters creates a unique atmosphere of terror and each instils a kind of visceral horror on the player. Being a menacing videogame character is about changing the game experience, it’s about making you run, hide and scared when you would otherwise take a shotgun to them. I’ll tell you, some of these characters have kept me awake at night. They’re scary, they’re iconic and they’re menacing.

 

I know there are characters I’ve missed. How about ones that you think should have made the list? Feel free to comment below and help add to the menace!

On Indie Compendium, Erika talks about EON, an indie puzzle game about space and gravity.  You can visit the developer's (Michael Boxleiter and Greg Wohlwend) collaborative website here.  We also talk about the WiiWare release of Cave Story(finally!), if you haven't already checked out the original freeware title, be sure to do sohere. You can visit the Cave Story website here for more information about this amazing indie game!  Finally, we talk about a great indie game bundle over atDirect2Drive.com that everyone should check out.  The offer ends March 12 so get it while you can.  Whether for yourself or as a gift, these titles should make a great addition in anyone's collection!  You can find more information here.

Michael also makes some special mentions of the TV show Nurse Jackie and movie, Shelter. Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.