Spooky time games for spooky times.

[dsheinem]

SOMA as pure walking simulator doesn't sound like too much fun, though I guess if the setting is creepy enough. Dave, not withstanding the sneaking about, how do you feel about the atmosphere?

It is really very well realized - like an even more immersive Rapture with a much stronger "sciencey feel" for lack of a better term. I've been playing with headphones and the audio is outstanding and, yes, everything is tense even outside of the monster encounters. That said, the idea that the monsters can come out from any where at any time adds a lot to that suspense, and a lot of the background sounds are the kinds of things that make you think "oh shit, is that a monster?".

A lot of these atmospherics are built on sounds of electricity/dying electronics (e.g. pops, fizzes, stutters) and on the sounds of organics interacting with electricity (e.g. sizzles, muted pops, etc.). The monsters have all of these sounds going on...and they boost the soundtrack volume too, so you are always listening for audio cues and every audible noise is potentially a threat...

And now I think I want to write an article on SOMA's sound production.

[noiseredux]

Dead By Daylight is getting a Halloween patch... literally. It will put Michael Myers and Laurie Strode into the game.

So now the asymmetrical shooter that is very similar to the licensed Friday The 13th game that's coming out soon will basically be the licensed Halloween game.

This is a lot to process all at once.

[TSTR]

[isiolia]

SOMA as pure walking simulator doesn't sound like too much fun, though I guess if the setting is creepy enough.

I would say that the enemy encounters are basically functional for creating atmosphere, but aren't really compelling or challenging gameplay to start with. Most of them you can literally run past, taking the hit(s) if needed, to reach the next safe zone (not like you can do anything but avoid them anyway). Making them passive would really just remove the potential of having the game shriek in your face and make you restart the section until you don't get caught.

Personally, the enemy encounters were more things I put up with to get to the next narrative section. I feel like the game could have gotten what it needed out of them (tension, story ties) with far fewer than it had.

[retrosportsgamer]

I'm here to pick up my participation trophy because I finally opened and fired up:

The Pinball of the Dead - GBA

I figured I'd revisit the Crush series for my pinball horror fix this month (I've played Alien Crush a good bit, but Devils Crush is new for me), but got off track when going through my GBA stuff. I realized this was still shrink wrapped from years back too.

There are three tables here, each with three playing fields (and one with a fourth underneath like Black Hole). Similar to the Crush series, each builds vertically with a boss entrance at the top. The bosses are the same for each table. There's a couple other goals on each table to boost your score (I've yet to trigger a multiball though). You can save in-game which is neat. There's a tutorial for scoring AND each time you start a table you can watch a mini tutorial as well for how the table works. There's a normal and challenge mode (challenge just starts on the first table, you don't get to pick - seems like a conquest through them all in some order). Felt each of the tables was different enough where I felt there was an ok amount of content (I probably paid like $10 for it).

[Xeogred]

I already praised SOMA enough when I beat it earlier this year, but it was like Silent Hill 2 level mastery to me. An absolute must play. I'd agree the atmosphere is far denser than Bioshock (not that that comparison is going to sell Ack), and that it gave me Alien-like vibes, like when they stumble upon the Space Jockey and whatnot. The Abyss came to mind too. There were brilliant musical cues and the scenery is breathtaking. SOMA feels like one of those games that will age gracefully and with replays you'll continue to piece more things together.

I grew up on Resident Evil and still prefer action oriented survival horror games, but so far the more adventure-esque ones I've played and really enjoyed would be:

Outlast
Amnesia Machine for Pigs
SOMA

With SOMA being several mountains above those two and just straight up one of the best games I've played in years in many ways. The scariest thing about it, is how it's still somewhat obscure apparently.

[noiseredux]

if anyone's looking for a good spooky co-op game, Killing Floor 2 has been great.

It is... kind of gory.





Stupid sexy fastbilly...

[noiseredux]

[noiseredux]

Aliens Versus Pinball
Alone In The Dark
Friday the 13th*
Ghosts N Goblins
Layers Of Fear
Mortal Kombat XL
Nightcry
Resident Evil 0 HD
Umbrella Corps

Struck Aliens Vs. Pinball from the list, as I've been playing it (and loving it) and have now written about it for my site.

Not sure which I'll focus on next. Probably not Alone In The Dark though.

I also removed Ghosts N Demons from my list. I realized it is not a direct remake, so eh. If I can get GNG to run on my Win98 machine then I'll do that. But it runs like shit on Windows 10 unfortunately.

[retrosportsgamer]

Devil's Crush - TG16
Alien Crush - TG16

So I flirted a bit with Devil's Crush today and it is not breaking news or anything, but The Pinball of the Dead is essentially an homage to the layout - enemies march in similar patterns even!

I flipped over to Alien Crush and put up a personal best score - still struggle clearing the bonus stages, but earned a free ball and was somewhere close to 12 million in points.

The TG-16 Everdrive + Duo-R is so nice on the CRT. I've played Alien Crush on the PS3, but the real experience was worth firing up.