GAME TECH: Grotesque brings its own forms of beauty
Bloodborne is a terrifying experience for many reasons, but chief among them is the gameâs exceptional artwork and design. In fact, it makes a strong case for the most beautifully designed game ever released. The enemies are simply stunning in their grotesqueness, from their clambering movements to the way most of them draw from nature for inspiration. You might think baby birds are cute? Once youâve seen the carrion crows in Bloodborne, a chicken fillet will make you jump.
Bloodborne was created to be a waking nightmare, a labyrinthine horror that you become lost in, and eventually master. It will invade your dreams, if you play it long enough. But that isnât what makes Bloodborne scary. Like many games that came before it, Bloodborne is terrifying for one unassailable reason â consequence.
Unlike a horror film or book, games are the only media where your fear develops as a result of personal consequence. In Bloodborne, the enemies are some of the toughest in gaming. They are unpredictable and ferocious. They are designed to kill you and kill you quickly. And they do so very, very often. When that happens, you lose more than just a few nerves â you lose your patience, too. That is the price to be paid in gaming. You live in fear of your own frustration, afraid of losing your progress in the game, afraid of losing the time invested in getting to that point. You live in fear of perceived injustice.
Bloodborne is a master puppeteer of those fears. It tempts you with the secrets of its Victorian world, slowly unravelling the history of Yharnam and the âhuntâ, a night in which religious fanatics fight beasts that overrun the city. The combat system is impossible at first, only to slowly reveal layer upon layer of subtlety, as persistence pays off with mastery. The obtuse level design, too, begins to take shape like a fever dream the more you uncover. It is a HR Giger fairytale come to life.
By the end, you feel as though your satisfaction has been earned. This is not entertainment â it is an ordeal. It is a trial that you have overcome. Yet, as fascinating as âBloodborneâ is, youâd be forgiven for wondering whether all that hard work is really worth it. Wouldnât joy be a better feeling to evoke?
RETURN OF THE HAMILL
A lot of hard work has already gone into Star Citizen, the game that has raised a staggering $100 million in crowd-funding since 2012. Yet that number is nothing compared to the money Star Wars is currently raking in â lucky for him, Mark Hamill is involved in both.
Hamill first worked with Christ Roberts on Wing Commander, the last of which was released in 1999. Now the duo have teamed up again for Star Citizen, an online space-faring MMO. Hamill is an obvious fit for the series, coming from Star Wars, but there are a lot of concerns about whether Star Citizen can achieve its lofty goals. Itâs easy to quickly squander $100 million in the world of games development â and this is money from the fans, after all.
Still, Hamill seems happy to have landed the gig. âWhen [Roberts] asked, I didnât need to see the script,â Hamill told PC Gamer. âI said, âCount me in!â Of course my agent said, âYou didnât tell him that, did you? Play hard to get for Godâs sake!ââ Hamill isnât the only big star who jumped at the chance. Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, Gillian Anderson and Mark Strong all signed up too.
NINTENDO POWER
Itâs nice to see memories of Star Wars and Wing Commander being kept alive, but thatâs nothing on Twitter user Wanikun. Heâs a Japanese gamer who was so afraid of losing a saved game that he kept his Super Nintendo powered on for 20 years. Heâs been posting information about the experience on his Twitter account, including the revelation (with proof) that his Nintendo has been on for 180,000 hours straight. Thereâs nothing to fear but⊠a power cut?
