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Frictional Wants to Postpone Death in ‘SOMA’
There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming year. If you’re a fan of the horror genre, there’s no shortage of horror games that are worth getting excited about. Of the myriad games we have on the way, the one I’m perhaps most looking forward to is SOMA — the next project from Amnesia developer Frictional Games.
Frictional Games creative director Thomas Grip recently took to the studio’s official blog to share his thoughts on a reaction video for Alien: Isolation. In it, players react with terror and relief when their character is captured and killed by the xenomorph. While Grip mentions the Alien: Isolation video specifically, he’s only using it as a jumping off point for his article — not as a criticism toward that game. Grip sees this as a problem for all horror games to avoid, including SOMA.
“If you watch the video you can see that the players aren’t being freaked out of their minds when they die. They’re laughing, and feeling relief. And the death sequence is non-interactive, which further enhances this sense of sitting back and becoming a spectator.”
Frictional Games is working on remedying this issue by postponing the player’s death, so as to prolong that feeling of suspense and anxiety as long as possible, because when the player dies, it gives them a brief reprieve from the horrors on-screen.
“The only proper solution is to make sure that death is postponed. Outlast has a monster that throws you to one side, giving you a chance to run off, a mechanic that works well in its story. Daylight has damage build up on the screen, which gives you time to escape. Both of these are great ways of extending the terror. Some kind of death must happen sooner or later, though, or the player will quickly realize that the monster is harmless – and that’s no good at all. When death occurs I think it’s important to remove this sense of repetition. For instance, in Amnesia we changed the map a bit after each death (which in some cases led to additional scares).”
I’m glad he brought up Outlast, as I’ve always felt that game handles death in a smart way. In related news, Outlast: Whistleblower released today, and I hear it’s pretty good.
SOMA arrives on PC and PS4 in 2015.
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply sad to learn that The Blob director Chuck Russell has passed away at 74 years old.
Russell’s career began with his directorial debut, 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
The multihyphenate film director, screenwriter, and producer is best known for helming 1994 comedy The Mask starring Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Eraser, and adventure spinoff The Scorpion King. The latter served as the first leading role for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The filmmaker left an indelible mark on horror with his ANOES sequel, 1988’s The Blob, and 2000’s Bless the Child.
Russell’s final film credit is 2024’s Witchboard remake starring Madison Iseman (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), and Jamie Campbell Bower (“Stranger Things”).
It marked Russell’s return to horror after a lengthy hiatus, and he shared sequel hopes to Bloody Disgusting in an interview ahead of the remake’s release: “I got to design the board with real mystical symbols and things that I know represent good and evil, and where that board takes us if the audiences respond to the film, and I hope they will; I know it’s out there for you guys, but the sequel is a world we’ll get to go a little further. That’s sure the intention.”
He also recently expressed interest in returning to the franchise that began his career.
TMZ notes that Russell passed away at his San Diego-area home.
We send our deepest condolences to Chuck Russell’s family, friends, and fans.
Director, Co-Writer & Producer Chuck Russell behind the scenes of the horror film, WITCHBOARD. Photo courtesy of The Avenue and Atlas Distribution
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