The project proposal mentioned examining paranoia in other forms of entertainment such as movies and books, so I honestly couldn’t have thought of a better franchise than Aliens for examining paranoia. The film ‘Aliens’ was released in 1986, and I remember clear examples of paranoia within the film, such as the marine’s motion sensor which is practically infamous these days for meaning bad news. As it can detect any motion, even from non-hostile targets, it prompts a reaction within the characters to ready their weapons and prepare to defend themselves. The bleep on their sensor turned out to be a mouse, and later on it found Newt, the orphaned child. Both examples created a tense piece of footage to sit through.
Besides the motion sensor, the whole environment was particularly important in creating a sense of foreboding. Lighting, sound effects and the design of the setting were all essential in creating that atmosphere. The light was always dim or red when the possibility of danger lurked, whereas it was light and clear during safe parts. The sound effects of the film were so effective; I would imagine they are instantly recognisable amongst most teenagers and adults today. The bleeping of the motion sensor, the hissing of a nearby Alien and their trumpet-like screams and the distinct sound of a pulse rifle restoring order were all used with great effect. The design of the setting, the base on LV-426, made use of long, dark, repetitive corridors and hardly any form of cover for protection. At times it almost felt claustrophobic when watching a squad of marines attempt to traverse them whilst on-guard.
Imagine then, if the same mechanics that made the characters paranoid and the viewers forced into hiding behind pillows and covers were transferred into a game. As a general rule of thumb for action/horror/survival games, immersion is one the main keys to success. Make the player believe they are the ones on-screen. Base it on the Alien films, and you had a sure-fire game to create paranoia. The initial first viewing of a movie or playing of a game is always the most important in becoming emotionally attached to it. Alien Trilogy was released on the Playstation in 1996, and I must’ve played it when I was around 10 years old or so. On my very first go, my sensor bleeped and I froze, suddenly wondering why I was playing a game based off a film that terrified me. I shot down the first facehugger and began to move slowly forwards. When my sensor went off again, I had had enough. I left myself standing on the corpse of the facehugger so that she (Ellen Ripley) would eventually die from the acidic corpse, thus saving me from playing the game any further.
I played it again a few years later and did quite a bit better this time, having grown out of my Alien fears and found it to be a very atmospheric game almost exactly like the films. The lighting was always dim or completely pitch black at times, and I had to rely on my motion sensor constantly. The sound effects were genuinely creepy, from the scuttling of a facehugger to the hissing and screeching of the proper aliens, or Xenomorphs as they are referred to in the game. The music has an eerie tone which really helps to expand upon the tense atmosphere and the level design implemented long, thin, repetitive corridors with many corners to accommodate the creepy crawlies. At times it became cramped which created a sense of dread knowing that the time would come when you would have to back off from an incoming xenomorph to avoid its attacks and acidic blood.
Unfortunately the game doesn’t stand the test of time. Having replayed it briefly for the purpose of understanding its techniques better, it’s become painfully clear to me how awkward and sluggish the controls were, how bland the environments were in comparison with similar games like Alien vs Predator on the PC and how awful the xenomorphs looked. They were horribly pixelated sprites with basic animations and the level design was erratic at best, and most levels were straight forward and on the short side. The plot was strange, incorporating the first 3 Alien movie plots into one game, and the lighting, or rather the lack of it only serves to annoy. I can’t help but feel like a piece of my childhood has died by replaying this game after studying games design. My tastes and standards were so much more welcoming towards games as a child. The only thing I can still stand by is the sound effects and music of the game which still to this day instil me with an uneasy feeling. I have briefly played Aliens vs Predator 1 on the PC roughly 2 years ago which left me as a quivering wreck before even the first level was over, unfortunately due to compatibility issues, I had to uninstall it. Instead, I look forward to testing a later incarnation of the series which will hopefully be more stable, and for the releases of Aliens vs Predator (being developed by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game) and Aliens: Colonial Marines (being developed by Gearbox Software).
In addition to testing Alien Trilogy’s environmental effects for the cause of paranoia, I have also borrowed a couple of books from the library. “Creating Emotions in Games” by David Freeman will hopefully expand upon the techniques used to create feelings such as paranoia, and “Cognitive Therapy for Delusions, Voices and Paranoia” by Paul Chadwick, Max Birchwood and Peter Trower offers a more academic view of paranoia which I will study, with the aim of hopefully being able to properly understand paranoia and be able to identify it when the time for testing our theories comes round. The book states that, “The central point is that responses to events are mediated by thoughts, images and beliefs.” So if the environmental effects of a video game can effects the player’s thoughts and beliefs, then maybe the images will be able to cause paranoid reactions. The book also mentions Ellis’ (1962) ABC model for paranoia, “A stands for the “activating event”, B stands for “belief” about the activating event, and C stands for the emotional or behavioural “Consequence” that follows from the B, given A.” This framework is deceptively simple but it is a powerful and subtle model which can guide assessment, formulation and therapy of paranoia, exactly what Team Mercury needs in order to succeed. After we all understand paranoia a little better, we plan to make an appointment with the University’s psychologist Dr. John Charlton who will hopefully be able to steer us further in the right direction.
Images provided by www.grupomh.net, http://www.fpsdungeon.com and http://en.wikipedia.org respectively.
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