Video Games

[Dr. Zirk]

I'm curious if any other TLO members are video gamers, and if so, have you encountered any games with a Ligottian feel?

I'm a casual gamer, and no expert on the subject, but I'm playing an Xbox title now called Manhunt (from the same company that does the Grand Theft Auto games). This game has atmospheric parallels to MWINYD, with its depiction of the dilapidated streets of Carcer City, a generic stand-in for any American rustbelt city (Erie, Pennsylvania comes readily to mind for me).

Almost as soon as I started playing this game, it made my think of the locale of MWINYD. The game's storyline is obviously much simpler than a TL story, and has to rely on graphic violence for a lot of its impact, but the atmospheric touches of desolation, isolation, fear, and a touch of madness all ring true.

I'm curious if anyone else has made similar connections between video games and TL stories?

 

[adam]

Funny you should mention video games. I am a lapsed gamer (for a few years now), but in the last week or so I have been playing Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube. It may be 4 years old by now, but Its a very interesting game. A bit more Lovecraftian than Ligottian, but there may be some subtle aspects of Ligotti in there. You have a Sanity meter that causes hallucinations if it dips too low (kind of reminds me of Call of Cthulhu RPG). I would imagine that those that are into Lovecraft and/or Ligotti would find it amusing as it follows the history of 'elder god' entities and a specific tome containing forbidden knowledge as it falls into the hands of various characters (and most of their endings are not very happy). Of course, this doesn't really address your call for video game parallels to specific Ligotti stories, but its all I've got.

 

[DeathfareDevil]

There's a series called "Silent Hill," and while I've only played the second of the trilogy, I can safely say that this has to be the most Ligottian series of video games in gaming history.

A few years ago, a friend of mine left in my possession both his Playstation 2 and his copy of SH2 -- I played the game, without sleeping much, over the course of a week until I had "beaten" it. This was the only game ever to a) supply me with nightmares, and b) spook me on the level of good, weird film and literature. Whoever designed the thing is a mad genius.

I remember little about the plot, but I must say disorientation and dubiety are sort of the selling points of the game. From a third-person, above-and-behind perspective, you begin the game on a dark, misty street in the middle of nowhere (it reminded me somewhat of the beginning of the flick "An American Werewolf In London," whose first few minutes always freaked me out). After wandering around for a bit, listening to ominous and unidentifiable background noises (always somewhere out in the fog, slithering and groaning beyond your field of vision), you stumble into a desolate little town (truly in a foreign land) full of abandoned cars, abandoned houses, abandoned stores, etc, whereupon you discover a few hints at your "mission" -- one of which is a transistor radio that only begins to emit wordless static when "something bad" is approaching you. And let me tell you, before too long, you really, REALLY begin to dread hearing that sound, the hiss of radio static coming to life. You have to play the game to fully comprehend it. On a much lower scale, it's sort of like those first few moments of an anxiety attack, when you know something just shifted "out of your favor," and things only are going to get worse.

Anyway, the point of the game is to find your wife, who disappeared into this town some time ago. Ultimately you end up crossing a lake at the edge of town to explore an insane asylum (without which any Ligottian video game would be incomplete), but I'll go no further than that, in case any of you decide to check out this game.

What is so specifically "Ligottian" about Silent Hill 2, though, apart from the atmosphere (which, I'm telling you, is claustrophobically tense), is the special brand of beasties that regularly shamble toward you from out of the fog. Like a combination of the distorted, out-of-time images from the movie Jacob's Ladder, and something from HR Giger's imagination, these things will have arms and legs in the wrong places, or will move with loathesomely unfamiliar locomotion, or will have too many mouths ... that sort of thing. And they get weirder and more twisted as the game progresses. Even if I wanted to describe to you the "final boss," I'm not sure I could. The visuals (if not the game itself) were designed by a Japanese artist who clearly has an acute vision of the deranged (I'm going to look up his name later), and whose work makes most other video games look like "Muppet Baby" cartoons.

Honestly, even if you're not a gamer, this one is worth renting an entire Playstation 2 from Blockbuster (or wherever).

Here's a "beastie":
http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/014/014904/img_1283626.html

Here, from the asylum, is a lovely nurse whose hippocratic allegiance seems to have disintegrated some time ago (along with her face, apparently):
http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/014/014904/img_1283639.html

Here's the proper first page of that particular gallery:
http://ps2.ign.com/objects/014/014904.html

This page, http://www.black-helix.com/is/dead/ , looks to be pretty extensive in its coverage of the whole SH series (I've only just read there of a fourth SH); but beware: should you play the game, the best part is feeling lost and clueless as to what the hell is going on. So "research" may not be the best idea.

 

[Dr. Zirk]

I'd have to agree with adam on Eternal Darkness - I played that one when it came out, and it's a great title. Definitely more of a Lovecraftian trip than a Ligottian one, but a well-done game all around. It's a shame it was only ever released for the GameCube; more people might have had a chance to experience it if it came out on another platform.

Silent Hill does sound interesting - I'll have to check into that one.

 

[adam]

Of course! How could I forget Silent Hill (I guess I really am out of the video game loop). I've only played through the first one, but it is VERY Ligottian, right down to leaving certain key points unexplained. Definitely check them out.

 

[Aetherwing]

Silent Hill DOES appear to be right up the collective alley insofar as the Inhabitants of TLO would be concerned.

There is an ACTUAL Call of Cthulhu gane out for X-box among other platforms, that seems to follow the classic pen & paper scenario ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH. I don't know how many of you have ever played CoC rpg, but IF you have, and IF you attempted that murderous scenario, you'll probably get a nice nostalgic thrill from the CoC vid game.

I know Doc B has at the very least READ EFI, and Doc L had the dubious honor of being a player in the old Call scenario with me as the gamekeeper.

My daughter has a PC game that seems extremely Liggottian. It's called ALICE, and is a twisted insane asylum version of Lewis Carroll...The Cheshire Cat, who will appear sporadically to offer cryptic clues, looks like a Cat of Tindalos. It's a really creepy game, I must say.

 

[DeathfareDevil]

My daughter has a PC game that seems extremely Liggottian. It's called ALICE, and is a twisted insane asylum version of Lewis Carroll...The Cheshire Cat, who will appear sporadically to offer cryptic clues, looks like a Cat of Tindalos. It's a really creepy game, I must say.

Where does that reference, Tindalos, come from? It's been a while since my last Lovecraft binge. In the thread about bands, I mentioned one called Epoch Of Unlight -- they recorded a song called "Hounds Of Tindalos," and I've never figured out where the name originated. (It IS Lovecraft, though, right?)

 

[Dr. Bantham]

Where does that reference, Tindalos, come from? It's been a while since my last Lovecraft binge. In the thread about bands, I mentioned one called Epoch Of Unlight -- they recorded a song called "Hounds Of Tindalos," and I've never figured out where the name originated. (It IS Lovecraft, though, right?)

"The Hounds of Tindalos" was actually written by Frank Belknap Long, who was considered a member of The Lovecraft Circle. The story is within the Lovecraft Mythos vein, however. "The Hound", written by Lovecraft, may have been the basis for the further design by Long. I do not recall the creatures being mentioned in full title by Lovecraft, though I stand ready for someone to correct me. While a devout fan of Lovecraft, I certainly do not consider myself a scholar in such matters. I will leave it to Aetherwing and The Silent One to expound on the finer points related to the crytozoology and dark history of The Hounds of Tindalos. Those two will no doubt have volumes to add to my quaint observations, as they are quite mad to the point that I suspect both of regularly imbibing space mead.

 

[Aetherwing]

Hi guys...good to be back!

On the matter of Tindalos Hounds and whether HPL ever referenced them...

I cannot recall the precise phrase, nor do I immediately have a volume which includes the story at hand, but I'm pretty certain HPL gives a tip of the hat to Frank Long's creations in the story "The Whisperer In Darkness". I seem to recall Wilmarth relating that his host mentioned the beasties in passing during their long conversation.

-Aether

 

[bendk]

Outside of an occasional game of chess, I haven't played many computer games. And I doubt if I'll be investing in a gaming system, but the PC game ALICE sounds very cool. (I'm a big fan of Lewis Carroll) The game is inexpensive on eBay. Does anyone know if it plays well on Windows 2000? Some of the ads say "it can be played on Windows 2000, but it is not supported." Whatever that means. I'm computer illiterate.

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'

 

[Dr. Zirk]

I've got an unused copy of the Alice PC game that I can donate if anyone wants it. Somehow I never really got hooked on PC games, although the brief time I devoted to this one was not without rewards - the game does have a striking (if sort of primitive) visual style.

I have no idea how it will run on Win2000, but if anyone wants my copy, I can mail it to you (at least within the US or Canada - I'm a poor working stiff).

 

[unknown]

I was about to suggest the Silent Hill series...and yes...the second one is the best

 

[damo]

like you im not a big gamer. get through about three a year. but check out 'the suffering'. you play a guy who MIGHT have murdered his family and has been sent to this horrible, island-based prison. the boss is a bit of a dabbler and manages to bring hellish creatures to the fore, which go through the populace in no time, leaving you to make your way to freedom while battling various freaky monsters. its a third-person shooter (the only kind i play, apart from the odd first person), but you can also play it first person. well spooky, great prison, and its even got a 'haunted prison' documentary.
currently playing psi-ops by the same company. also pretty dark and a great game.
Liked the theme of silent hill, but not enough action – found it a bit plodding.

 

[unknown]

My daughter has a PC game that seems extremely Liggottian. It's called ALICE, and is a twisted insane asylum version of Lewis Carroll...The Cheshire Cat, who will appear sporadically to offer cryptic clues, looks like a Cat of Tindalos. It's a really creepy game, I must say.

Where does that reference, Tindalos, come from? It's been a while since my last Lovecraft binge. In the thread about bands, I mentioned one called Epoch Of Unlight -- they recorded a song called "Hounds Of Tindalos," and I've never figured out where the name originated. (It IS Lovecraft, though, right?)

EoU's latest album is fucking great

 

[yellowish haze]

I liked the second part of Silent Hill but it was way too scary for me. Im more into atmospheric adventure games, with less shooting and more puzzles. Arcane is definitely this type of a game. I would also recommend a french game "Dracula:Resurrection" and it's sequel "Dracula:The Last Sanctuary". It has some very disturbing images and fantastic settings - as if taken directly from the real Transylvania (believe me, I've been there)!

 

[The Silent One]

Where does that reference, Tindalos, come from? It's been a while since my last Lovecraft binge. In the thread about bands, I mentioned one called Epoch Of Unlight -- they recorded a song called "Hounds Of Tindalos," and I've never figured out where the name originated. (It IS Lovecraft, though, right?)

"The Hounds of Tindalos" was actually written by Frank Belknap Long, who was considered a member of The Lovecraft Circle. The story is within the Lovecraft Mythos vein, however. "The Hound", written by Lovecraft, may have been the basis for the further design by Long. I do not recall the creatures being mentioned in full title by Lovecraft, though I stand ready for someone to correct me. While a devout fan of Lovecraft, I certainly do not consider myself a scholar in such matters. I will leave it to Aetherwing and The Silent One to expound on the finer points related to the crytozoology and dark history of The Hounds of Tindalos. Those two will no doubt have volumes to add to my quaint observations, as they are quite mad to the point that I suspect both of regularly imbibing space mead.

Thank you, my good sir ! The byakhee will be dismissed. Khyqh'khruch Hquheshha'hh! Anyway, the Hounds of Tindalos are horrid pan-dimensional beasties, born of the angles of time as we were born of its curves. They lust for some innate quality in normal life that they have not, and viciously hunt down makers of paradoxes and time-travellers in general. All that seems to remain of their victims is a pus-like bluish green substance. My modern theory: antimatter exposure. Their appearance is most likely not canine, likely simply indescribable. As an author, I will be mentioning them in my short fiction "The Grey Simulacrum".

 

[Karnos]

I was about to suggest the Silent Hill series...and yes...the second one is the best

Yeah, I also like the Silent Hill games, although I think the last two in the series (3 and 4) have been rather bland, although 4 did pack a good punch, once you start walking down the almost endless spiraling stair...

But the first two are great, 2 being the most "personal" storyline (It actually affected me) and 1 being the most hellish and thus my favorite one. Matt Cardin's fiction often reminds me of the fleshy decay of Silent Hill 1' aesthetic.

 

[paeng]

Has anyone played the Call of Cthulhu game? I am told that it received mixed reviews and that its publisher experienced financial difficulties. A recent article from Escapist discusses Lovecraft-inspired computer games and explains why they have not been very successful.

 

[Dr. Bantham]

Has anyone played the Call of Cthulhu game? I am told that it received mixed reviews and that its publisher experienced financial difficulties. A recent article from Escapist discusses Lovecraft-inspired computer games and explains why they have not been very successful.

I own Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth for the X-Box. The controls were awkward and there were points of insane difficulty which ruined the game for me. I gave up playing it altogether after reaching a point in the game where I was continually dying and having to re-trace my steps in a perpetual cycle of death. Otherwise, the graphics and story were done rather well.

 

[simon p. murphy]

I played through 'Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth' last year. I enjoyed the game, but I should mention that I found it to be entertaining in a way quite different to the way I would enjoy a Lovecraft tale.

I haven't read the article about Lovecraftian games and why they don't succeed, but my own impression is that they seem built around the (I think mistaken) premise that what made Lovecraft's fiction so frightening was his monsters. I think this a big although ubiquitous misconception.

You can't expect to feel a Lovecraftian pang of supernatural horror when you have the power to lay waste to a horde of Deep Ones with a side-by-side 12g. What true horror can be defeated in such a mundane way? In Lovecraft's tales we'd be lucky if we caught even a glimpse of his beasties.

I liked DCotE because it was what I'd call a 'historical shooter', and had some novel elements such as the sanity system; but the constant drove of humanly-defeatable enemies (while cleverly realised by the visual designers) had little more than a desensitizing effect.

I also own Chaosium's pen and paper RPG 'Call of Cthulhu', but I've never played a game of this where the key elements of a Lovecraftian tale have dominated - narrative blurring, suggestion, and painstaking restraint. More to do with who is running the session than the system itself which is very well done.