Idea Notebook: Horror game about being a civilian chased by armed goons

[HQDefault]

This is an instance of me getting an idea for something that I'm not particularly interested (certainly not motivated) to work on, but I thought the idea itself was cool enough to share. And hey, who knows what the future may hold, so why not write it down.

 

The basic idea I had in mind was that this would be a horror game that forgoes the common trope of there being a supernatural or sci-fi element to create monsters and drive the scares. No, the game would be designed to feel like a mostly plausible scenario. You're just some random civilian with minimal knowledge of firearms and no combat training, and for some reason or another, there is a bunch of armed soldiers in the building trying to kill you. Yeah I haven't really thought too much on what the context of this would be... I don't know if they're hunting you specifically or just anyone in the area, I also don't know if this would be a real government entity or some private entity. So for now I'll just call them the "Goon Squad".

 

Anyway, the structure I had in mind was that it would be laid out somewhat like a classic Resident Evil game, where you'd have to traverse back and fourth through an interconnected structure solving puzzles and trying to survive. And the gameplay would be a first person shooter with very light milsim elements. And I do mean light, like mainly stuff related to bullets being wasted if you reload to early, having to hold still and wait for a second while you bandage yourself, that sort of thing. Just enough to make you feel sufficiently de-powered. Furthermore, I think the thing about this concept that intrigues me the most is that the people you're fighting aren't just mindless zombies. The Goon Squad would (hopefully) be fairly intelligent and act like a coordinated group of soldiers. Meaning they'd scan areas looking for movement, they'd radio in backup if you're spotted, and even if they don't get the opportunity... if you get in a fight with them and the bullets start flying, people are gonna know. If you fire off a shot and kill a soldier, everyone in your quarter of the building is going to be like "What the fuck was that?" and immediately run to your position. So if you're forced to get in a gunfight, you will likely have to either try and hide somewhere, get the hell outta dodge, or maybe try and find a vantage point where you can pick off anyone who comes in. Although if you do that last thing too much, then when new members of the Goon Squad are sent in, they'll start throwing flashbangs into a room before investigating. And maybe as you get closer towards the end of the game, we can slowly give the player a certain degree of empowerment. Like reloading is a little faster, your character is able to keep the gun more steady while aiming down the sights, maybe you found a silencer for your pistol, that sort of thing.

I should also mention that aesthetically, we'd still be going for a distinctly "horror" atmosphere. Not using sci-fi monsters or ghosts or whatever doesn't prevent us from using some creepy lighting and chilling sound designs. Also I do like the idea of giving the Goon Squad that "illuminated gas mask" look, sort of like the HECU have in Half-Life, and the Helgast troops in the Killzone series. I can definitely get down with the idea of giving them uniforms that have a subtle alien look to them, just as long as they clearly behave like human soldiers.

 

I suppose the one major issue I see with this idea is just that it would be too difficult, and I can see two possible ways to remedy that- 

1: You make actually encountering a soldier a rare occurrence for a large chunk of the game. So the soldiers would usually just be in a group of 2 or 3, and there'd only ever be like 4 or 5 groups in the building at any given time. 

Or 2: Widen the map up significantly so you can give soldiers a wide birth. You would have to stealth through areas in a manner closer to something like Far Cry.

 

Now maybe a game like this does exist and I'm just not aware of it, but I don't think I've ever seen a game come close to this. I mean already, the idea of a game structured like Resident Evil but with exclusively human enemies is not something I've ever heard of, let alone one where the AI is designed to respond in a way actual soldiers would. The only game I've heard of that seems to even be in the ball park conceptually is... This War of Mine...? Which is a 2D survival game. But from what I understand, that's mainly meant to be a commentary on what being in a warzone does to civilians and their families... and with the premise I just outlined, you definitely could go in that direction thematically, but that's not really what made me think this was such a cool concept. I mostly just like the idea of creating horror simply by being outnumbered and outgunned, all while using enemies that aren't something we'd typically call "creepy".

 

Let me know if you've heard of a game that's done something like this, I definitely think this idea has potential and it'd be really cool if someone's already done it.

[Captain red pants]

Hmm, not 1:1 what you're looking for but you may be interested in Dissident: Frostland Escape where you're being hunted be soviet coded goons, though it's less horror and more survival (more The Long Dark then This War of Mine). It's not out yet though.

[HQDefault]

On 9/24/2023 at 12:17 AM, HQDefault said:

if you get in a fight with them and the bullets start flying, people are gonna know. If you fire off a shot and kill a soldier, everyone in your quarter of the building is going to be like "What the fuck was that?" and immediately run to your position.

 

Ooooh, I just recently had another idea that could spawn from this: If you shoot somebody while there's soldiers directly above you, you'll get an audio cue of them noticing the gunshot, realizing where you are, before they start blind firing through the floor. Ideally you would make the first couple shots scripted to miss so you would have a moment to react even if you didn't understand what was being telegraphed.

[Dreamskull]

Ever hear of a game called Metal Gear Solid? Who hasnt? Its worth bringing up though if youve ever done a minimalist run.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Dreamskull

[HQDefault]

10 hours ago, Dreamskull said:

Ever hear of a game called Metal Gear Solid? Who hasnt? Its worth bringing up though if youve ever done a minimalist run.

 

Shit, now that you mention it, yeah. The structure I described is pretty similar to Metal Gear Solid.

 

I suppose the major distinction I was thinking of would be, 1- It leverages the player character's lack of combat experience, and 2- It uses the atmosphere and sound design to make the prospect of fighting human enemies scary and not just tense.

[Rudolph]

The first half of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - before you get any weapon - would also qualify.