Loops Horrific

Recently I've seen the footage of the new Silent hill game that has been floating around.

I suppose this is the next step in the evolution of the Horror genre of gaming. Whereas horror games have relied upon building the horror by sowing seeds of doubt within the player's mind, the new Silent Hill game expands upon this by forcing the player through a loop with small changes added with each run through and thus creating a sense of unease within the player that only increases.

But if this is the next evolution in horror games I wonder how long it would be before there's a horror game that builds up the tension but presents no pay-off. I can see it now: The player is placed in a situation where it's made clear that something horrible is going to happen but as they end up dreading what's around the corner nothing happens. As such the player is slowly going crazy trying to find something that ultimately won't arrive.

And like they say, it's what you don't see that's more terrifying....

You. Me. Outside. Now

Some gaming deathmatches I would like to see:

Kratos (God of War) vs Amaterasui (Okami)

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7) vs Kefka (Final Fantasy 6)

Samus Aran (Metroid) vs Femshep (Mass Effect)

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) vs Nathan Drake (Uncharted)

Kratos (God of War) vs The Master (Actraiser)

Morrigan (Dragon Age Origins) vs Morrigan Aensland (Darkstalkers)

Shodan (System Shock 2) vs GlaDOS (Portal)

Wander (Shadow of the Colossus) vs. James Sutherland (Silent Hill 2)

Vaan (Final Fantasy XII) vs. Vyse (Skies of Arcadia)

Aerith (Final Fantasy 7) vs. Nei (Phantasy Star 2)

Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy 7) vs. Taki (Soul Calibur 3)

Duke Nukem vs. Sonic the Hedgehog

Binge it On

Just got through my Mass Effect 2 binge. It's been fun, and indeed different, to play through the whole game with the inclusion of the DLC so here are some of my thoughts that cropped up during play:

- I've heard a lot of people don't like Kasumi Goto - reason being (as is my understanding) is that whereas everyone else comes out of their respective loyalty mission significantly changed by the whole experience, she doesn't.
Strangely, I'm not sure that was the point: If her conversations on the Normandy are anything to go by, Kasumi is an observer - and, speculatively, a key source for Shepard to spot any dissension in the ranks. Indeed, a spy seems to be the ideal role for Kasumi with her being sassy, her limited range of emotions and her face being concealed under her hood.
Okay, so I will concede that Kasumi doesn't evolve much as a character, and what I've mentioned above is me finding my one excuses, but playing the role of a spy is good reason to belong on the Normandy. And I for one would like to see more of her in ME3.
Besides, that part where Kasumi blows up the gunship is frigging hilarious:


- Of the DLC, the moments that stood out for me the most were the wreck of the Normandy and the Prometheus Station (Overlord). What I like best about these two is that they're really effective in creating a sense of atmospheric unease - the type of which is usually found in a Silent Hill game. If I'm eager to leave the damn place in question then Bioware must've done something right.

- I did enjoy the Shadow Broker mission (although I found beating it on Hardcore difficulty wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be). Great to see Liara go from boring to, in a remarkably turnaround, kinda cool.

- In the final mission, man did I get sick of Harbinger constantly reappearing. It got to the point where he started to remind me of one of those High School drama queens - you know, the type that go :"Lookatme! Lookatme! Lookatme! Lookatme!"

- Gaming on a HDTV is sweet as.