Restless dreams inSilent Hill: approaches to video game analysis

Expansion, Excess and the Uncanny: Deadly Premonition and Twin Peaks

“…Upon its release, Deadly Premonition was generally received and evaluated as a survival horror title and this categorization is understandable, given that it shares many of the gameplay features and representational elements commonly associated with this category. In the game's combat focused sections, the player is trapped in the dark, maze-like environments common to survival horror (Kirkland 2005), and the awkward movement and aiming mechanics (reminiscent of Resident Evil (Capcom 1996) work to both highlight the uncanny relationship between the player and their onscreen double (Hoeger and Huber 2007) and to restrict the player's control and field of view in the manner described by Krzywinska, who notes that survival horror games typically position the player as being "unable to act as efficiently as would be expected" (2015b, p. 296). These sections pit the player against the types of uncanny monstrous adversaries that are typical of survival horror games (Perron 2018).…”

Expansion, Excess and the Uncanny: Deadly Premonition and Twin Peaks

“…Furthermore, Agent York is frequently presented as overwhelmed by the foes that he faces, being forced to run and hide at various points in game, providing the sense of vulnerability that Hand (2004) identifies as being essential to the success of survival horror. In the game's combat focused sections, the player is trapped in the maze-like environments common to survival horror titles (Kirkland 2005), and the awkward movement and aiming mechanics (reminiscent of Resident Evil ([1995]) work to both highlight the uncanny relationship between the player and their onscreen double (Hoeger and Huber 2007) and to restrict the player's control and field of view in the manner described by Krzywinska, who notes that survival horror games typically position the player as being "… unable to act as efficiently as would be expected…" (2015, p.296).…”

“…While backtracking between previously explored locations is a common feature of survival horror titles, relatively few games within this category provide a genuinely open world for players to freely explore at their leisure. The oppressive, terrifying atmosphere of survival horror games is often linked to the restrictive and claustrophobic environments that they force the player to traverse (Kirkland 2005), and is generally developed at the expense of player preference or choice, with horror games tending to favour a predetermined or 'on rails' structure (Kirkland 2009a (2005). The player is required to maintain the health and appearance of Agent York while they explore the town, ensuring that they sleep, eat and bathe at regular intervals, but these life-simulation elements are very easy to complete, and never become fraught or stressful in the manner of a survival horror title like Pathologic (2008), where the need to manage the player character's health, fatigue and hunger adds to the tension and the desperate atmosphere of the game.…”

“…In fact, the often excessive rewards for these activities, where players will receive hundreds of dollars for something as simple as shaving work to undermine the more conventional survival horror sequences, by allowing players to purchase and stockpile a surplus of in-game resources. Survival horror titles tend to place strict limits on the in-game resources that that the player can accumulate to aid them in combat encounters (Perron 2009;Kirkland 2005). This typically forces players to inhabit a "survival space" within the game (Browning 2011), where the decisions they make in regard to exploration and combat are Premonition also uses its soundtrack to confuse and complicate the emotional responses of its audience throughout these shifts in a manner that is very similar to Twin Peaks.…”

Fantastic Universes and H.P. Lovecraft in Survival Horror Games. A Case Study of P. T. (Silent Hills)

“…Pertenecientes al género survival horror, los juegos de la saga se caracterizan por la relativa indefensión de los personajes (normalFigura 1. El fantasma de Lisa mente sólo disponen de la ayuda de una linterna, radio y algún arma improvisada) y un ambiente oscuro y tenebroso en el que la niebla y los elementos distorsionados adquieren un especial protagonismo (Kirkland, 2005;Santos y White, 2005;Kirkland, 2007). Generalmente la acción transcurre en espacios cerrados (claustrofóbicos) o caminos exteriores de libre exploración (entre una y otra localización cerrada).…”