First and foremost, I’m a survival horror video gamer and as such will focus on the topic as it applies to the survival horror genre. With that being said, this thread caters to survival horror video gamers but it doesn’t necessarily belong in the Survival Horror Genre section of the PlayStation Forums (not a lot of individuals post there besides Dead Space fanatics as of late). If you are a moderator and you feel this thread should be moved, use your discretion…
~ Actual Discussion ~
With the release of Dead Space (PS3) and Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3) I have found myself really taking a look at the death scenes in video games… Back in 2005 I thought it was great just how many death scenes could be found in Resident Evil 4 (PS2)! Didn’t someone actually compile 8 minutes of RE4 death scenes and post it on YouTube? There are 11 minutes of DS (Dead Space) death scenes somewhere so check them out on YouTube if this is your cup of tea!
In my opinion death scenes add replay value to video games (I can’t be the only one who is curious about the ways in which the main characters are dispatched in these video games)! I also think death scenes are a good way of looking at the creativity of a developer. There are always those video gamers who return to a particular boss battle just to see what the fight might have been like if they had not made a crucial decision in their approach to certain attacks (this is a nice way of saying they let the protagonist live). Just the other day I was fighting the Scarlet boss in Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3) and I decided to see what it would look like if Alex didn't kick off the enemy while it was trying to bite his head off... Pretty gruesome stuff but it doesn't compare to some of the instant death attacks in this video game (mainly those from the Schisms and Needlers). With the integration of context-sensitive action commands (and quick time events) developers have been able to pull off some great cinematic death scenes in recent years (IMO). I can easily see future survival horror video games benefit from the integration of more cinematic death scenes...
With that being said, I’m not too sure about the rest of the video game genres. Most of the non-survival horror video games I have played don’t have a lot going for them when it comes to creative death scenes. Oftentimes I see an enemy attack, the main character flinch in some manner and then fall to the ground (followed by the dreaded Game Over/Continue screen).
Are there any video games (from video game genres other than the survival horror genre) out there that incorporate cinematic death scenes that I have somehow overlooked? Do you think certain video game genres could benefit from cinematic death scenes or would that essentially push certain video games into the survival horror genre? I would think that beefing up the gore (or simply making death scenes more cinematic or detailed) in a video game would merely give it an M-rating from the ESRB… What are your thoughts?
Main topics discussed in this thread…
Have the integration of cinematic death scenes had a positive or negative influence on your overall enjoyment of a video game?
Would you rather the video game industry stick to the attack-flinch-die methods that have been used in video game character “deaths” for years?
Do you think certain video game genres (other than the survival horror genre) could benefit from cinematic death scenes?
What are your thoughts?
