Fire Alarms Systems

Watch a Game 's most famous faces plunging several stories and impale itself on a rugged iron pipe is an unpleasant experience to say the least. But wait, it 's not done. Almost sobbing, she is unhappy about the new appendage wrest from her side, crying while emitting a skin-crawling. And that 's just the beginning.

The first time I saw the latest Tomb Raider game in action, my heart nearly exploded from my chest - probably in an effort to escape the carnage. The rest of my body, meanwhile, wanted nothing more than to follow her. Lara Croft was in pain. Real pain. Blinding pain. Not "Rawr, my video game character to shake me ball, as tiny blind kitten baby face" pain. It was ugly, dirty and miserable. And it wouldn 't stop happening . Lara fell steadily slipped, and survived by scraping rocks until her fingernails were bloody shreds. The demo reveled in pain, many experts said. It was "torture porn," sharing a straightjacket with movies like SAW and the part of our brains that loves to stare at car wrecks.

But I completely disagree. Not only do I think that's something the gaming industry a lot more could take advantage of. Find out why after the break.

Modern games have all but the Grim Reaper himself turned into a teddy bear wearing a hood, which just happened to take place from your childhood security blanket. Death 's not scary - not in the least. After all, you 'll just respawn at the last checkpoint, or - if you' re playing with save-anywhere features - 2 seconds before you died because you 're probably affected with debilitating OCD Constant-Save. Worse yet, we 've successfully de-fanged the threat of death as well. Have you ever eaten one too many face-missile while it is charging headlong into battle? Just chill out behind a rock for a few seconds and wait for the strawberry jam disappear from your screen. Then there is' \ s only a matter of yelling "3, 2, 1, 0! Attention, robo-Hitler and his army of giant spiders shark, I'm coming!", And skipping merrily into the fray.

Game characters lack vulnerability. And that's a damn shame, because it can be an incredibly powerful tension-building tool when used correctly. That 's why Tomb Raider was so striking. That 's why people didn' t know how you classify it - why are they lumped in there with Weird Mask McScaryDude and SAW 's circus of Cheap Thrills. Tomb Raider's debut demo re-established the idea that a videogame character surrounded by blood-thirsty beasts and constant peril could be, you know, life in danger . It 's, as in many films or TV series: you know the main character is to survive, but keep it in mind as it seems how they were able to bite the bullet at some point. Is it all an illusion? Sure. The best stories, but can put the smoke and mirrors, front and center, but it doesn 't bug you for a second. You 're already under her spell.

I 've only once in my whole life fell into a swoon, and - shockingly - it was not' t because someone in the face. Another waited movie called "The Iceland" is what suddenly \ me for the count, and it was a scene's masterful use of vulnerability, that sealed the deal. Words can 't really fair, of course, but here' s the short version: Michael Clarke Duncan 's character was on the operating table - or more accurately, sawed with the chest. The part, but wasn 't particularly cruel.

He woke up half way, however, and it went downhill fast. He ran for this sterile environment, called in a mixture of fear, anguish and confusion, beating heart hidden behind the thinnest flap remaining meat. I do not 'm exactly what part actually, but I suddenly felt a strange feeling in my stomach and then - night-night - I was out in the cold. (A slight aside. This little episode took place during a first year English classes So, uh, say, don 't let someone who English is boring, I think.)

Point is, vulnerability is powerful. Unfortunately, with the exception of Tomb Raider, the last few games have been trends away from him. For example, at one point pain and vulnerability were the survival horror genre 's calling card. I mean, that 's kind of what the "survival" bit' s all about. And in those games - the classic Resident Evils and Silent Hills - it was not 't an illusion. They were weak. Overwhelmed. Resources were always a weak drip away from running dry, and the death threat seriously.

Meanwhile, survival-horror's modern crop has gone all Rambos Vs Zombies on us, essentially turning the genre into undead whack-a-mole. Sure, Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space have their creepy moments, but you're packing an arsenal that'd make Michael Bay jealous and either a futuristic super suit or Chris Redfield, who's 95 percent steroid. Modern games - survival-horror or not - seek to empower and fulfill fantasies. But where's the tension or raw feeling in shedding gallons upon gallons of blood while barely breaking a sweat? There's a place for that type of experience, sure, but it shouldn't be the only Kind of experience.

On some level, games are inherently empowering. You're given control of a world, a character, a life. That, however, is precisely why taking power away can be so impactful in games - perhaps moreso than in any other medium. Gamers are used to mastering entire universes. What happens, though, when they can't even master their own frail, frightened avatar? That's when things become interesting. Or thrilling. Or terrifying. One thing's for sure, though: They're certainly not forgettable.

And so, while other geeks, about their 360-degree spin Sniper headshots, I can help 't, but listen to the end of Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake had a badass war hero at one point in time, that, but now he was old, sick and wounded horribly to boot. He barely keeps itself together. To achieve his ultimate goal, he had to crawl - something ridiculous - a passage loaded with microwave radiation. But put the stupidity isn 't what happens to me. Instead, I remember desperately mashing a button to make Snake inch forward, because I have nothing more than to tear him from death 's door wanted. My wrist felt like it was burning, but I kept mashing. He crawled. I crushed. He crawled. It was painful - emotionally and physically, believe it or not. But I was so into the moment that nothing else mattered wound.

The world around me melted. Sights, smells, sounds - everything. My senses were completely consumed by a fucking video game . How cool is that?