Great Gaming Moments

[clumber]

Mmm...this is going to be a bit on the rambling side, but I'll do my best to keep it structured and so that it makes sence, and I'm fairly sure I'll be able to actually get to the point by the end.

 

 

I was playing a computer game called Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl today. It is a horror-survival game in which you are faced with a large, wide open landscape full of various groups of heavily armed people, deadly mutants and area's of dangerous terrain. The idea behind the game is that survival is given realistic limits, meaning you need to sleep, eat, avoid bleeding and so on. Since all of the other creatures in this game have the same aim in mind, then it means there will be a clash of interests (a pack of dogs desire to eat comes into conflict with your desire to keep your guts to yourself, for example). The fact that it is set in a run-down apocalyptic hell, complete with burnt out cars and a general shortage of roofed buildings adds to the atmosphere nicely, along with things like the great horror-film-style lighting (shadows are never that black, surely) and the near-constant danger.

 

The theme of the game is that in the area around Chernobyl strange things have started happening. Weird 'anomalies' have begun appearing, places where gravity or time or temperature or something just isn't quite right. They have created mysterious items called 'artefacts' that seem to capture and store these effects, but gathering these artefacts is dangerous. Thats where the 'Stalkers' come in. These are people that inhabit 'The Zone', and survive in this hostile environment, hunted by the military and preyed upon by the mutants and bandits, all in order to make a living from hunting down artefacts. The Stalkers are split into various factions and staying alive is difficult. You are one of these Stalkers, but with a mysterious past and peculiar circumstances (all kept hidden by convenient amnesia).

 

Oh, and when I said its realistic, I meant in terms of needing to eat and stuff. The game also subscribes to the well-known comic book fact that radiation results in fire-throwing mutants and zombie apocalyses. Still, if your character occasionally chews a sausage then its realistic, just wait and see where this is going, ok?

 

 

Anyway, the point I am getting to is that some games can evoke feelings that films and books never could. I'm not saying that all games can ahceive this, in fact it is very rare to find a game that truly brings out an emotion. Stalker is a game that, for me, has had great atmosphere and has truly made me feel appropriate emotions for what is happening in the game. I'll give you some examples:

 

 

 

A one point I was making my way through an abandoned industrial area in the middle of the night, trying to get back to safety. I only had a near-useless pistol and a hunting shotgun for protection, and since the shotgun needs to go through a long, tedious reloading process after every second shot, it wasn't too much use.

 

It was completely dark, with no moon or anything, and so my only light source was my flashlight, which is a pretty narrow beam and not much use for anything other than avoiding walls. I knew I was getting close to the camp, and would soon be safe. As a result, I sped up, and became less cautious. The game had me feeling truly relieved at the idea of finding somewhere safe, after a long trip of avoiding bandits in the dark and running from packs of wild dogs. I began sprinting, turned and corner and froze. There, in front of me, was one of the largest mutants I had ever seen. My flashlight only revealed its large face, which was crocodile-like, but white and incredibly big. The face was on the front of a large body that seemed to be supported by two legs, but before I could do anything more it leaped forward, landing right in front of me. Terrified, I backed away frantically, and blasted a couple of rounds of buckshot into its face. It recoiled backwards, and then sprung forward even faster, pulling itself through the narrow spaces between the brick walls, chasing me down as I sprinted away from it. Every time I reloaded I turned around and fired at it again, but my aim wasn't great and it didn't seem to have much effect anyway. The monster would always shrug off the damage and come after me again.

I ran and ran and ran but despite its bulk it was still able to keep up with me. Then I turned a corner and before me was a ladder up to a roof. I quickly climbed up it, stopping only briefly to look down and see the monster roaring up at me from the ground below. When I got to the rooftop I paused, sorted myself out, got my bearings and headed back in the direction of the camp. Luckily I hadn't gone to far off course and soon I could see the bonfires shining through the broken windows of some buildings and the armed guards keeping watch over the entrances.

I got to the center of the camp and settled down, feeling unbelievably happy to have survived and got back. It is these moments of safety in stalker that you soon begin to truly appreciate, as they are your only chance in the game to relax. For quite a while after that, whenever I played the game I refused to travel at night. In the game that encounter had made me actually scared of the dark.

 

 

 

 

Like I was saying, some games can really get you worked up into some emotion or other. I have given an example of this happening with me. Has anybody else had anything similar in a game, where they have gotten so into the game that they have truly felt as if they were there? If so, would you like to tell the story of what happened?

 

 

(Note: I play Stalker with the Oblivion Lost modification installed. It changes the game by doing things like making more powerful mutants appear earlier, making the night darker and making weapons and attacks do more damage. If that monster had gotten as much as two attacks in it would probably have killed me. Its not that I'm good at the game, I'm actually terrible, but I prefer a game like that to be difficult to survive in even in fairly ordinary circumstances).

 

 

Martin