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Action vs. Tension

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Lacedaemonius

Lacedaemonius

Grizzled Veteran
Feb 16, 2011
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#1
It seems like Killing Floor 2 is largely moving in an action-oriented direction, and away from the very tense, moody, atmospheric style that was present in the first and the mod especially. Personally, I was a huge fan of the survival-horror atmosphere between waves (sometimes even during), and hope TWI doesn't abandon it in the sequel. But where does everyone else stand; what's your vision of Killing Floor?
 
#7
Action and tension go hand in hand in kf. Action because well shooting things and tension because things can fall apart (which is why I like faked player solo so much). It's not "spooky" horror, it's "oh **** oh **** oh **** oh ****" sort of horror.

"I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor . . . and surviving."
 
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#10
Player 1 + Player 2 said:
KF1 was not scary in any way at all the time even when I first started

Unless you count being the last teammate alive as a Commando and theres two fps chasing you
Click to expand...

That is what we count, and that's tense action. That's what KF's horror survival is, tense action. A teetering fight that could lose balance at any time due to slip ups or toxicity.
 
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#11
I don't even think of KF as a horror game. Doesn't mean the action doesn't get tense.

It's just socially acceptable to makes ultra-violent games and call them "horror" games.
When overly critical people see something is ultra-violent, that is an action movie or game, they always say "why does it have to be so violent?" and if it's an action game or movie, it seems to them like it could have been just as good as a less violent version. Which to them actually seems better.

Because some people are messed in the head and they see cinematic/computer-generated violence as a bad thing where it's not necessary artistic element.

But then you tell them it's a "horror game" and that clicks with their presumed assumptions of what the horror "genre" is and then regardless of any other context the of games, then ultra-violent content is considered to be a necessary artistic element that makes it what it is.
 
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#12
good point about some people maybe reactingly differently to 'violence' because of what genre the entertainment is labelled as, had never thought of that before.

but 'violence' isn't the right word, it's just gore.
i don't think should respect this mistake that gore makes anything more violent. entertainment hasn't been anymore violent than i imagine it was early 20th century such as with old black and white cowboys and indians films as killing people is about as far as violence goes.
if anyone complains about something being very violent just becasue it shows gore then they should be corrected.

horror label maybe makes gore more acceptable to people, but almost everyone is already fine with the most extreme violence whether they realise it or not.

like this stagecoach (1939)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jY_NyzGZF0
that is far more violent than any torture scene could possibly be.
that one scene is arguably more violent than all the saw movies put together. depicting people firing guns at each other and trying to instantly kill other people without a second thought. not gory though.
and that film is rated U.
 
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#13
Graphic violence = horror? Now there's a bold claim, but that's largely a matter of perception, and given the vast amount of ultraviolent games that don't fit the bill, I'd say there aren't many that agree with your perception. I sure don't. There might be a spurious correlation between them simply because invoking that fear response is a lot harder without violence, real or implied, but to say it's causative is ludicrous. I think you'd find a much stronger relationship between pacing and horror.
 
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#14
tibits said:
but 'violence' isn't the right word, it's just gore.
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You are absolutely correct, and I stand corrected.

Lacedaemonius said:
Graphic violence = horror? Now there's a bold claim, but that's largely a matter of perception, and given the vast amount of ultraviolent games that don't fit the bill, I'd say there aren't many that agree with your perception. I sure don't. There might be a spurious correlation between them simply because invoking that fear response is a lot harder without violence, real or implied, but to say it's causative is ludicrous. I think you'd find a much stronger relationship between pacing and horror.
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I was not making a claim to what it IS, regarding genre and content, I was remarking on what it IS regarding to genre and the CONCEPTION of that genre by generally un-knowledgeable and judgmental people, and how that effects marketing strategy.

I'd agree with you entirely that horror doesn't not equal necessarily blood-and-gore. However, given the North American nearly ritualistic release of horror movies with tons of blood and gore, often in October, it's just a general perception of the genre (horror/"slasher-flick"). And by calling something "part horror genre" that makes marketing games and movies with lots of blood and gore easier to be unopposed by critics in markets with large youth demographics. Particularly the console industry, where, while COMPLETELY UNTRUE, is the perception that the user base is dominated by those 13 and under.
 
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#15
From what i saw in one of the videos Crawlers are now able to move on walls and ceilings so that should add some Tension to the game. It's a shame the Crawlers don't spit acid or poison that drains HP that would make it more interesting it would give the medic something new to look out for while making the Crawlers abit more powerful.
 
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#16
When I played Killing Floor 1 with my friends on normal, I didn't think should have been a horror game either.

Time passed, I racked up ~150 hours at the time, and I tried to solo Foundry on Hell on Earth.

I've never been more horrified in my life. Having a Flesh Pound chase me around the map for a good 3 minutes of me barely getting by while it plowed through hordes of clots just to fling my corpse across the map.

The horror aspect comes by a lot less often than action and tension obviously. But hearing imminent death approaching when you get into bad situations can really be horrifying if the setting is right.
 
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#17
Deathgrip22 said:
I was not making a claim to what it IS, regarding genre and content, I was remarking on what it IS regarding to genre and the CONCEPTION of that genre by generally un-knowledgeable and judgmental people, and how that effects marketing strategy.

I'd agree with you entirely that horror doesn't not equal necessarily blood-and-gore. However, given the North American nearly ritualistic release of horror movies with tons of blood and gore, often in October, it's just a general perception of the genre (horror/"slasher-flick"). And by calling something "part horror genre" that makes marketing games and movies with lots of blood and gore easier to be unopposed by critics in markets with large youth demographics. Particularly the console industry, where, while COMPLETELY UNTRUE, is the perception that the user base is dominated by those 13 and under.
Click to expand...

Ok, then my bad. You make a great point and I wholly agree with you, but I'm not really sure how it relates.
 
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