Thanks to the Humble Bundle V -which you should take a look at- I now own quite the collection of indie games  Lone Survivor is one of those titles, but I have only been able to play around 30 minutes of this game. I hold this love and hate relationship with most survival horror games. Although I am a huge fan of what developers may be trying to achieve in this genre, such as ”Alan Wake,” “Silent Hill,” or most recently “Lone Survivor.” I must wonder how many of us who purchase these games will actually complete them. I am one of the few who have purchased, rented, or borrowed these titles and have never finished the basic story line of any horror survival video game.

Don’t let the cute pixels fool you: this game may haunt you.

Kind of a sad pattern in most of my gaming life. I will be the first person to tell you Alan Wake is a very good game, if you can get past your fear of your own shadow. Silent Hill? Awesome. If you play it in the light of day. Horror Movies? May be a piece of cake – if I have all the windows open and sun is shining.

I have come to conclusion that while the game achieves a great level of psychological horror, I may just be scaring myself for the 80% of time I am playing.  I can totally watch my friends play these games sitting in the dark. It’s the fear of having to control the decisions of the character and where the game is leading to.  I cannot help to become absorbed in what is going on, making it very easy for the game to frighten the living daylights out of me.

I first observed this when I realized I was afraid of leaving my own bedroom. Shortly after this thought I realized that I would have to leave the house to participate escaping this town and facing the fighting horrific 2D monsters. I am that uncomfortable with terrified of this game. To be perfectly honest I have turned down the volume entirely and put on a rather sunshine filled television show in the background while playing. Even with the help of cartoons I am still nervous scared-out-of-my-mind to even begin the story-line.

Perhaps it is more of embracing the spooky factor of this game, and the rush of emotions the fear may bring, that will bring a closing to my first full survivor horror game play.  After close to twenty years of playing games it is about time I give this genre another chance. I’m not sure how this round of game play will effect my future horror gaming experience, but I sure hope I can make it out my survivor’s door tonight (or maybe tomorrow morning – in daylight). One small step at a time.