Today on Cog consider, let s talk about jumping panic. More specifically, how important they are in the horror. Yes, this article is in fact in favor of the fear of jumps! Shocker, I know, but it s not because jumps are overused these days they do not play a very important role in horror, especially interactive horror. And I hate frights, so you know I m serious. It s hard to celebrate something you really hate, but the fact remains that if many horror games have scared me, I have never been so terrified in my life only when I met jumps well Designed in games like The Crooked Man, The Witch s House, Five Nights at Freddy s, Original Slender: The Eight Pages, PT and AMNESIA: The Dark Descent. Even Silent Hill 2 and the Original Evil Resident incorporated jumpscars. The introduction of Pyramid Head and this initial kinematics where zombie turns around and looks at you are the story of the video game for a good reason.
Jump alerts can be cheap. They can be lazy. They can also scream you and, for some brief moments, become completely absorbed by the frenetic need to survive. Some games use carefully designed jump alerts for engaging in players. Others, like Slender: The Eight Pages, Spooky s House of Jump Scares and the Five Nights at Freddy series are fully structured around the fear of jumps. The FNAF is particularly fully benefiting from the unpleasant reaction of surprise to make players very anxious and therefore very determined not to be afraid of jumps. From a mechanical point of view, take the frightened jump would change the basic gameplay loop. This makes them important, even if it makes the game literally unplayable for some people.
I do not like jump fear. They scare me, obviously, but above all, they are literally jumping from my seat. For a few moments, I m really sure that my life is in danger. You know, as long as they have not been constantly launched to compensate for a dull experience. And as long as the fear of the jump is itself scary. When it is properly configured, a good fear of jump can make a fun game to unforgettable.
It can also catapult you out of your chair, but it s the price we pay for good horror games.
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