Lonely Games

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06 Aug 2009, 05:15 AM
Sqoon

Lonely Games

I've been enjoying a lot of Battlefield on the 360 and it's probably the first online-only game I've gotten into since Alien Front Online. It got me thinking: as social interaction and online replayability becomes increasingly important (EA recently blamed Dead Space's and Mirror's Edge's commercial failings on lack of multiplayer), what has become of social deprivation, one of video game's most difficult sensations to produce?

Film directors like Kubrick and Tarkovsky used this sensation well. Within video games, it's difficult to replicate since the medium inherently is about physical interaction. But there is a history of games that have used social desperation (aka lonely games) to create atmospheres of terror, claustrophobia, and dread.

Games like:

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shot...7825645-00.gif

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shot...6542184-00.png

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screen...alChambers.jpg

http://imissthe90s.com/wp-content/up...09/03/myst.jpg

http://www.fpsteam.it/img2004/doom/doom1_01.jpg

http://games.multimedia.cx/wp-conten...man-towing.png
06 Aug 2009, 05:21 AM
bbobb

Oh yeah, games like mobygames.com, yeah those are great games.

Stop fucking hotlinking already people, what's so fucking hard about using the attach function?
06 Aug 2009, 05:23 AM
Frogacuda

Way to hotlink.

Condemned definitely comes to mind. You got a bit of radio banter, but it was pretty oppressively lonely.

System Shock 1 and 2 are big ones as well, as well as Ultima Underworld.
06 Aug 2009, 08:17 AM
Dyne

Everytime I turn on my PS3 I feel lonely.
06 Aug 2009, 08:41 AM
Bacon McShig

Metroid I-III and Prime, definitely.
06 Aug 2009, 08:43 AM
epmode

Shadow of the Colossus is definitely up there.
06 Aug 2009, 08:53 AM
PKBMax

Fallout 3 is mostly lonely as hell.
06 Aug 2009, 09:19 AM
Yoshi

Fuck multiplayer. I'll have to go retro to get my social deprivation apparently.

Edit: And get that Myst trash out of there.
06 Aug 2009, 09:26 AM
DacaZ

I prefer almost all my games solo and I cannot stand when reviewers bash games soley on it not having any multiplayer abilities. It's like, yeah the game was great, everything about it was just fantastic. But no multiplayer, so D+.

For the most part, my favorite thing about XBL is the leaderboards and shit like that.
06 Aug 2009, 09:27 AM
DacaZ

Wow, I just re-read your post Sqoon and realize that I had no idea what you were talking about when I replied.
I must have been blinded by your hotlinking.

So... um... yeah, I'd go with Silent Hill. I felt pretty lonely playing those games.
06 Aug 2009, 11:32 AM
YellerDog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoshi

Edit: And get that Myst trash out of there.

But Yoshi...

...it's the best selling PC game of ALL TIME!
06 Aug 2009, 11:34 AM
Yoshi

It's the original figurehead of the casual plague as far as I am concerned.
06 Aug 2009, 11:36 AM
kingoffighters

Whenever I play Madden football, I feel pretty lonely because my QB would run 40 yards back and launch a 100 yard pass.
06 Aug 2009, 11:42 AM
Yoshi

The mistake is the first clause of that sentence.
06 Aug 2009, 11:47 AM
kingoffighters

The mistake is giving you a keyboard.
06 Aug 2009, 12:06 PM
bVork

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is definitely the loneliest game I've played. The mood is so overpowering that it's almost depressing to play.
06 Aug 2009, 12:09 PM
YellerDog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoshi

It's the original figurehead of the casual plague as far as I am concerned.

The disease is already IN YOU, Mr. iPhone/hipster easymode Ninja Turtles Remake. Fire is the only cure!
06 Aug 2009, 12:16 PM
bVork

I'm inclined to defent Myst and especially Riven on a gameplay level. Sure, the games may mostly be sterile static images, but the puzzles themselves are excellent and always consistent both with the settings and with logic in general. That's something that few adventure games can claim. Solving puzzles in either game requires you to thoroughly understand how the underlying mechanisms work. (As 95% of the puzzles involve machines of some kind)
06 Aug 2009, 01:28 PM
Yoshi

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingoffighters

The mistake is giving you a keyboard.

Don't worry. You didn't. Though your cousin probably made it.
06 Aug 2009, 04:21 PM
Wildkat

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sqoon

I've (EA recently blamed Dead Space's and Mirror's Edge's commercial failings on lack of multiplayer)

Bioshock says hi.
06 Aug 2009, 04:25 PM
Frogacuda

Quote:

Originally Posted by bVork

I'm inclined to defent Myst and especially Riven on a gameplay level. Sure, the games may mostly be sterile static images, but the puzzles themselves are excellent and always consistent both with the settings and with logic in general. That's something that few adventure games can claim. Solving puzzles in either game requires you to thoroughly understand how the underlying mechanisms work. (As 95% of the puzzles involve machines of some kind)

Riven was way too obtuse. The puzzles were spread out over the whole world and depended on constantly re-exploring and sharp observation. I really found it quite frustrating.
06 Aug 2009, 05:10 PM
bVork

I think Riven makes a lot of sense, but only after a very significant ah-ha moment about halfway through the game. Namely, discovering that they use base-5 notation.
06 Aug 2009, 05:11 PM
Frogacuda

Also, Riven was unplayable until the DVD version came out. Fucking disc swapping.
06 Aug 2009, 05:31 PM
bVork

This is true.
06 Aug 2009, 06:11 PM
Low

Alot of 8 bit games felt like this to me, Guardian Legend and Monsterworld 2 for instance. Shadow of the Beast comes to mind too.
06 Aug 2009, 06:18 PM
jyoung

The Alien vs. Predator PC series is a good one.

Just you and a bunch of bloodthirsty buggers crawling around in the dark with the *beep* *beep* of the motion sensor as your only company.
06 Aug 2009, 06:21 PM
mgmam

http://i29.tinypic.com/28kujag.gif
06 Aug 2009, 06:34 PM
mgmon

http://i29.tinypic.com/28kujag.gif
TNL=FAG LOSERS
-- Billy Mays
08 Aug 2009, 04:48 PM
Videodrone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Also, Riven was unplayable until the DVD version came out. Fucking disc swapping.

I was finally going to get around to playing IV and V, but never Finished Riven, so I started playing it two weeks ago. Your right, the disc swapping is terrible.
08 Aug 2009, 05:54 PM
Joust Williams

The new racing game FUEL is pretty damn lonely. In fact, a lot of racing games with time trial racing and overcast/rainy settings feel eerily lonely. Bioshock
08 Aug 2009, 06:09 PM
Frogacuda

Shadow of the Beast is a good call. That game was really bleak at the time.

Kind of obvious, but Alone in the Dark deserves a mention.
10 Aug 2009, 04:12 AM
Cowutopia

1 Attachment(s)

Speaking of MYST and Riven, if you guys like puzzles you should fucking buy this book:
10 Aug 2009, 04:14 AM
Frogacuda

I remember that. I had that when I was a kid.
10 Aug 2009, 04:15 AM
Cowutopia

I totally solved it before I read the end. Totally. But I didn't figure out every puzzle.

It's a bomb-ass book to own.
10 Aug 2009, 06:21 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

Metroid I-III and Prime, definitely.

Would 3 be Super Metroid, or a Gameboy version?

Super Metroid was the one that stood out most for me. The music and sounds emphasised how alone the character was.
10 Aug 2009, 06:39 AM
bbobb

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamevet

Would 3 be Super Metroid, or a Gameboy version?

Huh, yeah, could 3 be Super Metroid, or the game called Metroid 2?

I wonder.
10 Aug 2009, 06:44 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbobb

Huh, yeah, could 3 be Super Metroid, or the game called Metroid 2?

I wonder.

Well, WTF is Metroid 3? No such title exists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid...eturn_of_Samus

Quote:

Metroid II: Return of Samus (メトロイドII RETURN OF SAMUS, Metoroido Tsū: Ritān obu Samusu?) is an action-adventure video game, the second game in the Metroid series, and the only one developed for the Nintendo Game Boy. The sixth installment in the overall series story, the game was designed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (Nintendo R&D1), developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo in North America in November 1991, in Japan in January 1992, and in Europe in May 1992.
10 Aug 2009, 07:13 AM
bbobb

I CAN QUOTE WIKIPEDIA TOO!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Metroid

Quote:

Super Metroid (スーパーメトロイド, Sūpā Metoroido?), also known as Metroid 3, is an action-platform video game and the third game in the Metroid series.
10 Aug 2009, 08:53 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbobb

I CAN QUOTE WIKIPEDIA TOO!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Metroid

I had a feeling you'd do that. ;)

Honestly, short of looking it up on google, I had no idea how many versions of Metroid were on the Gameboy. Metoid II: The Return of Samus, was the only one I'd heard for the craptacular handheld, and my ownership of the Gameboy was about 6 months of frustration (the screen absolutely sucks) with the GBC.

Still, I wanted to confirm that he indeed was talking about Super Metroid and I agreed that SM really gave you the feeling of solitude, beyond the first game that I'd played.

It's not like people go around calling Castlevania: Bloodlines by a number either.
10 Aug 2009, 09:07 AM
bbobb

Yes, but Super Metroid actually said Metroid 3 on the screen when you booted the game up.
10 Aug 2009, 09:15 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbobb

Yes, but Super Metroid actually said Metroid 3 on the screen when you booted the game up.

I've skipped that screen so many times, I've totally forgotten about that.:bang:
10 Aug 2009, 03:22 PM
YellerDog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joust Williams

The new racing game FUEL is pretty damn lonely. In fact, a lot of racing games with time trial racing and overcast/rainy settings feel eerily lonely. Bioshock

Thanks to Amazon doing a pack in deal, that game was all lonely in my house for all of a day before it sold. I like FUEL, it's pretty great. :tu:
10 Aug 2009, 05:17 PM
StriderKyo

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoshi

Don't worry. You didn't. Though your cousin probably made it.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1249935409
10 Aug 2009, 05:55 PM
Frogacuda

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbobb

Yes, but Super Metroid actually said Metroid 3 on the screen when you booted the game up.

Yeah, I think Fusion said Metroid 4 in it, too.
10 Aug 2009, 11:04 PM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Yeah, I think Fusion said Metroid 4 in it, too.

Yeah it does, but I don't sit there and nerd out about which number in the series Super Metroid, or Fusion is. I play the game, enjoy it, and I refer to them by their names not a number.
10 Aug 2009, 11:11 PM
YellerDog

Which gives you license to be really wrong.
10 Aug 2009, 11:14 PM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by YellerDog

Which gives you license to be really wrong.

So what!?

All I said was "if you're calling Super Metroid "Metroid 3" .....

OMG I'm not l33t!
10 Aug 2009, 11:37 PM
Frogacuda

Are we still talking about Metroid numbers?

Anyway, it's kind of an odd one, but I always thought The Neverhood was really lonely, depite the lighthearted feel. The echoing of Klaymen's footsteps, the fact that the world only had 2 or 3 NPCs... very desolate.
10 Aug 2009, 11:43 PM
YellerDog

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamevet

So what!?

All I said was "if you're calling Super Metroid "Metroid 3" .....

OMG I'm not l33t!

It's funny watching you get upset about it. :lol:
10 Aug 2009, 11:50 PM
StriderKyo

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamevet

l33t

I think you might be the first person to use that term since 2003. Achievement unlocked!
11 Aug 2009, 02:43 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by YellerDog

It's funny watching you get upset about it. :lol:

I think it's funny that such a big deal was made out of it.:\
11 Aug 2009, 02:43 AM
arjue

Unreal 1 for the first time was deeply immersive and was the first shooter i played with really big open outdoor areas. It really tackled the whole desperate loneliness awesomely.

Other titles:

Another World
the Shadowgates
Farcry 2
Morrowind
11 Aug 2009, 11:13 AM
kingoffighters

Quote:

Originally Posted by arjue

Farcry 2

I started this game a few days ago and even though you have buddies to help you out, you feel so alone in this HUGE world. Really amazing environments and tons of stuff to find.
13 Aug 2009, 01:38 AM
arjue

Yeah, i was really surprised by how good a game it was. Exploration wise, it almost felt like an elder scrolls game set in Africa.
13 Aug 2009, 04:18 AM
Frogacuda

I bought that when it was new and haven't played it. I even have it installed.

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