My
favorite works of horror are all built upon the foundation of three
solid principles: a strong sense of place, clearly defined
consequences, and an ability to create expectations while
simultaneously defying them. It doesn't matter if it's Halloween,
The
Colour Out of Space, or
Silent
Hill -- the medium makes no
difference. These three elements are
at the core of every work I consider to be truly horrifying, so it's
with that in mind that the upcoming PC title Routine
has piqued my
interest.
Unveiled at last year's
Gamescom, Routine is the first work from the UK-based Lunar Software.
It's a survival horror game set in an abandoned lunar base. Yep, that's
a pretty strong sense of place. And there are no extra lives in the
game -- permadeath means that one wrong move, and you're starting over.
Well, those are some clearly defined consequences. And just take one
look at the trailer, and you'll see that Routine is filled with the
unexpected. It's this last element that left me searching for answers,
and who better to turn to than Lead Artist and Designer Aaron Foster.
It's easy to see that Routine
is rooted in the themes and aesthetics of '80s science-fiction horror.
Think Blade
Runner, Alien, and The Thing.
I asked Foster what the appeal of this very specific era of genre
fiction was, and he replied, "I think in the '80s Sci-Fi was still very
relatable, there are buttons you can feel, there is dirt in the corner
of objects, the whole world was still very lived in. Today's Sci-Fi is
more about minimalism and keeping things very sleek...I feel that this
is very hard to relate to and for me personally is a lot less
interesting if I couldn't imagine myself interacting with things in the
world."
While Routine draws much
inspiration for those films, as well as Stanley Kubrick works like The Shining
and 2001:
A Space Odyssey, its roots
are also planted in the world of video games. Foster's favorite
space-based games include System
Shock 2, Doom 3,
Zone
of Enders, and
cites all three as inspirations for Routine. While the former two are
early staples of the horror genre, I asked him what he thought of
recent series like Resident
Evil and Dead
Space, which have certainly
shied away from their frightening roots in favor of giving a more
action-orientated experience.
"I think that in most cases
this is purely down to broadening their user base, but I also feel that
it isn't wrong to do this sometimes. For instance, in the story of Dead
Space, Isaac has really been through it all and by DS3 he is a
different man, hardened and a lot more determined to fight back, so I
feel that keeping in mind the progression of story it can kind of make
sense if done right."
While few would argue that
these AAA series have morphed into something far different than their
original installments, smaller titles have stepped in to pick up the
torch. We've seen a real horror revival from PC games like Slender
and
Amnesia.
I asked Foster if working at Lunar Software, a team of three
people that includes himself, Jemma Hughes, and Pete Dissler, gives
them the freedom to explore certain themes and mechanics that a AAA
game simply can't. "Amnesia and Slender have
inspired a lot of indie devs to try and tackle the horror genre and
it's great! But this will happen whenever great Indie
titles appear for
any genre, I mean we are still feeling the impact Braid
had on the
indie community. And of course Indie teams are able to be more
experimental in their design choices for sure."
Though much of Routine is being
kept close to the vest, we do know that it's going to be a non-linear
experience that opens up the entire moon base for you to explore.
Though that freedom sounds fantastic, horror tends to be something that
must be immaculately calculated. I asked Foster how difficult it is to
create tension and horror in an open-ended world, to which he replied,
"Extremely hard! I think that with a linear horror game it comes down
to level design to really create those tense moments, in Routine it
feels more like we are making sure that the AI is the key factor to
creating something really scary, how they react to your actions and
develop as you progress in the game. Routine is also 50% an exploration
game with an eerie atmosphere and really tense encounters with the
enemy, so the game isn't relying solely on making sure it's scary but
also making sure the world is really interesting to explore."
From what little we know about
the game, it's clear that Routine embraces those three pillars that
comprise the core of my favorite works of horror. The last question I
asked Foster was in regards to any one thing about Routine that he
hasn't told anybody else yet. He responded by saying, "The vents in
Routine are a safe zone...honest."
I love the fact that, for some
reason, I just can't bring myself to believe that.