Editorials
6 MORE Games And The Studios That Should Make Them!
A couple months back I listed a few horror games and the studios I’d like to see make them. A Silent Hill by DmC developer Ninja Theory? Yes, please. Resident Evil made by the studio behind Uncharted and The Last of Us? Don’t tell me that doesn’t get your nether regions aflutter with the possibilities.
Well, now I have even more horror games and the developers I’d like to see pick them up. Check out my picks after the break, and feel free to agree/disagree/offer your own pairings in the comments.
People Can Fly – The Suffering 3
People Can Fly brought us the marvelously over-the-top action shooter Bulletstorm, and lately they’ve been collaborating with Epic on the Gears of War franchise. To me, this makes them the perfect developer to breathe new life into the long dead The Suffering series. The bombastic action People Can Fly is known for would translate well to the equally explosive action horror franchise.
I also really want another Suffering game.
Visceral Games – inSANE
Visceral has made a name for themselves in this genre by crafting one of the best new horror franchises of this generation: Dead Space. Their games are well known for having copious amounts of gore, violence, and a lot of crazy. The dementia moments were first introduced in Dead Space 2 as Isaac Clarke started losing his mind after spending way too much time near the Marker, and they grew progressively worse for him and his companion John Carver in the third entry.
We don’t know much about Guillermo Del Toro’s first foray into video games other than it’s an action horror game that’s heavily inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. If any studio is capable of excelling in both areas, it’s the team behind Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno.
Telltale Games – World War Z
Yeah, I know I already gave Telltale Alone in the Dark, but then I got to thinking… what if they made a World War Z game? Paramount has teased us with the possibility, and should the game ever see the light of day, I feel putting it in the very capable hands of Telltale Games — which brought us the amazing episodic series based on The Walking Dead last year — would be very a smart decision. In fact, we can just ignore the upcoming movie altogether and instead focus on the book, which has already been neatly divided into self-contained stories that would make it perfect as an episodic release similar to TWD.
Monolith – Manhunt
From 2005-2009, Monolith was doing a damn fine job in making themselves a real name in the horror genre. Between F.E.A.R. and Condemned, they quickly became one of my favorite studios. Since then they’ve made some solid titles — Gotham City Impostors was fun — but they’ve shied away from our favorite genre. F.E.A.R. and Condemned each deserve new sequels, but what I’d really like to see is how Monolith’s eye for the visceral would translate to one of gaming’s most brutal and sadly short-lived franchises: Manhunt.
Plus, Rockstar’s far too busy right now making games that sell well to return to it, so that means the reigns need to be handed over to someone else. I nominate Monolith.
Crystal Dynamics – Eternal Darkness
If you haven’t played the latest Tomb Raider, you really should. Crystal Dynamics proved themselves adept at telling an emotionally charged, action-packed, and often horrifying story with the latest reboot. If anyone can reinvigorate Eternal Darkness, which has sat untouched for far too long, it’s them. This game holds a sacred place in many gamers’ hearts, so if/when a developer finally does begin work on a sequel, it needs to be one that’s mastered action, horror, and storytelling. Crystal Dynamics fits the bill.
Platinum Games – Nightmare Creatures
This is a weird choice, right? Pairing Platinum Games, the studio behind wacky Japanese action games like Bayonetta and Vanquish, on a now practically ancient horror series like Nightmare Creatures? Who does that?
Apparently, I do.
Nightmare Creatures might not be the best horror IP out there — there are certainly other games more deserving of sequels — but I just really wanted to put this out there. Platinum is very good at delivering action and spectacle in their games. They’re capable of creating big, beautiful worlds filled with elegantly designed creatures, and they really know how to make a good action game (Anarchy Reigns not withstanding).
We came so close to getting a third entry, dubbed Angel of Darkness, but that fell into development limbo soon after its announcement over a decade ago. It was set in 19th century Prague and followed a young woman who could merge with her Raven companion to fight monsters. Replace the bird with magic hair and you have something that sounds a little like Bayonetta! (I said sort of)
What do you think? Did I miss a game? Are you not happy with a certain pairing? Let me know in the comments!
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
The trailer for Ti West’s upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol raised a lot of eyebrows when it dropped earlier this week. While plenty of folks initially dismissed Ebenezer as a derivative project meant to cash in on the recent wave of unnecessary prequels that expand the backstory of beloved characters (such as 2023’s Wonka), Charles Dickens’ original novel already made a point of exploring Ebenezer Scrooge’s origins in detail – meaning that this new film is likely just a particularly faithful adaptation of the source material under a different name.
Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.
That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.
Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
The Phantoms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Ebenezer’
Marley’s Ghost in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”
And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.
Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.
Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.
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