Here at Green Man Gaming we care a lot about our readers, so we are slowly putting together a survival guide in order to help you, the gamer, just in case you get caught in a particularly life threatening situation.
You may remember our last guide, how to survive a harsh winter according to video games. This month’s survival guide will cover surviving your typical isolated, horror type setting. We believe that this will cover most, if not all, horror situations. So without further a-do lets look at what video games suggest we do in these perilous situations.
Never Trust The Lights – Outlast & SlenderMan
If video games have taught us anything, it’s that the electrics in your typical building can never be trusted. Whether you are just merrily exploring a dilapidated mansion, or an abandoned insane asylum, the general lighting never seems to work. This may be possibly due to the cheap electricians that are hired to wire these places up, or the fact that the generator hasn’t been fired up in decades. So we suggest taking a flash light with you or finding one on your travels. The model of flashlight we suggest is the one that is featured in SlenderMan, as it seems to never run out of battery. If Outlast is anything to go by however, your typical cam corder will also be quite handy. Most models of cam corder that are favoured by amateur journalists these days come with night vision as standard. Just make sure you bring plenty of batteries. Or just go with the flashlight we suggested, because you know, endless power and all that.
Standing And Shooting – The Evil Within & Resident Evil
If you find yourself stuck in a situation where a horde of zombies and/or monsters are slowly creeping towards you, then we suggest standing very still and shooting the oncoming beasts. It is the tried and tested method used by games such as Resident Evil and The Evil Within (now thinking about it, maybe any game which features the word Evil in the title). True, natural human instinct is to try and out run these horrific creatures and hide. Or even moving whilst shooting so that your demise is avoided. Standing very very still however is the best plan as you will be able to disperse the hordes in a short amount of time, even if they get close enough to bite your legs off.
Staring Intently at photographs and objects – PT & Resident Evil 7
Most nightmarish situations that you will find yourself in will probably have you stuck inside a building somewhere for a fair old while. Whether it’s a long corridor or your typical haunted house, you will find yourself stuck with no means of escape. After analysing the techniques used in popular horror games such as the PT Demo and Resident Evil 7, we can confirm that the best course of action in these situations is to stare intently at photographs, clocks, lights and any other inanimate objects you can find around the place. Usually if you stare at an object long enough or in the correct way, you will hear a noise, such as a baby crying or giggling and then you will be able to proceed. It has been proven that doors will open using this method.
Bathrooms are not for explorers – SlenderMan, PT, Any Horror Game
In your typical everyday scenario the bathroom is a convenient place for when you are caught short or need to freshen up. According to horror games though, this room is probably the worst place you could go. Take SlenderMan for example, for some reason SlenderMan always likes to hang out in the bathroom. In PT the Bathroom is one of the most horrific rooms in the whole game due to the fact there is a baby constantly crying in the sink, not to mention that the aforementioned baby is also looking a little worse for wear as well.
Vacuum Cleaners can be your best friend – Luigi’s Mansion
As our second tip in this guide covers a typical situation where you are fighting zombies/monsters, there maybe a situation or two where you find yourself coming up against the paranormal. Typically the Ghostbusters would be the ones to call, but sometimes you may find yourself stuck on hold. We then suggest taking a leaf from Luigi’s book and grabbing a vacuum cleaner. This handy dust busting device also doubles up as a portable trap for ghosts. Simply aim and turn the machine on and you will suck up the ghost in no time.
So there you have it, if you do indeed find yourself stuck in a horrific situation then this handy guide should help you survive. Be sure to keep an eye on the Green Man Gaming blog as next month we will bring you another edition of The Editor’s Survival Guide.
