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The Watcher
The Watcher
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By Ryan Davies
I
’m really not very good with
scary games. For me, the
sense of relentless dread
and horrible jump scares aren’t
particularly exciting. I mean,
they certainly get my heart
pumping - but in a ‘my body
wants me to survive this’ kind
of way, not really the ‘this is
so much fun’ way. So as you’d
expect I tend to steer well clear
of things like Outlast, Slender
or Alien: Isolation. Well... that’s
only half true. While I sure as
hell wouldn’t want to play those
kind of games alone, and I’d
probably put up a fight if I had
to play them in the presence
of others, I do happen to
thoroughly enjoy watching other
people play horror games. I’m
not sure if that makes me some
kind of low-level psychopath,
but I’m very happy to admit it.
When watching someone play,
much of the pressure is taken
Issue 61 • November 2014
off. That direct feedback from
game to player is removed,
I don’t have to focus on the
screen anywhere near as much
as while playing. Obviously,
for many people that close
connection with the on-screen
action is what makes scary
games so appealing; movies can
generally only provide a sense
of dread or simple fear, games
on the other hand can make
the player feel truly vulnerable.
I suppose it’s that vulnerability,
that feeling of genuine mortal
terror, that I like to avoid.
Watching means I can enjoy
the design and core elements
of the game without the everpresent piss-your-pants fear.
It’s more than that though,
and this is where it gets a little
weird. There’s a very strange
satisfaction that comes with
actually observing someone
play a scary game. Reactions are
priceless and the tension buildup is often hilarious to see. It’s
especially gratifying when the
player is just as useless with
horror games as I am. It’s not
just me though, is it? I feel pretty
safe saying that most people
get some level of enjoyment
out of seeing and hearing
people cower while playing
games. The millions of YouTube
videos titled ‘my girlfriend
screams... due to Slender
Man’ or ‘nan plays Amnesia’
are a testament to that fact. It
worries me, if I’m honest, but
I just find watching my friends
scream far too funny to stop.
Let me share a recent example
with you. My friend Ed and
I planned to play Alien:
Isolation together, swapping
the controller every time we
died (which we figured was
inevitable). He ended up playing
6 • GameOn Magazine