myk
volveré y seré millones
Posts: 14420
Registered: 04-02 |
EvilNed said:
Doom being an "atmospheric" game is definetly NOT something people started saying to defend Doom 3. It was something people were fully aware of back in 93 and 94 as well.
You're stemming from a "straw man" in your response, as I didn't say that was invented for DOOM 3's defense, but that people do tend to defend DOOM 3 by calling DOOM an atmospheric game. The main argument against DOOM 3 here being that while DOOM does have a strong atmosphere, it works better (than DOOM 3) as an action game.
The original game is a bit over-the-top and lacking in seriousness to really scare an adult, in any case. I do recall some guys stating that even the beheaded bunny scared them when they were kids, though, heh. Regardless of how effective the atmosphere is, denying the game's main theme is blowing shit up in a gory and explosive way is silly. With time, the atmospheric element diminishes but remains in the background aesthetically while the action element still holds strongly. The atmosphere is a kind of catch that welcomes people to the game while the action is the meat of the game. Even nowadays the game has its charm with its peculiar graphics and mood, without needing to be scary. In fact, much of that atmosphere is made up by the action. The bright reds from hell and the spilled blood or the pulsing green or the toxic slime have an exciting quality that encourages a "violent atmosphere" instead of something creepy. And as we know, horror is most at home in the things we cannot grasp or understand, and not so much in those we can blast with a plasma gun.
One thing that kind of muddled the scary aspect is save games. How scary can the game be when you can reload after and before each challenging fight? That's why to me the game only got more fun when I got better and I could consistently blast my way through it on UV without such help. The main reward wasn't suspense or horror, but feeling like a powerful hero that could blast his way through a defiant hell.
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04-12-10 18:09 
