AHeatonwriter
The inability to run away from danger is the source of many anxiety-inducing fears when it comes to horror. When limited to using a wheelchair, for example, the terror can really be ramped up. Take the final moments of the Half-Life standalone mod Cry of Fear or the intensely long “Rick Trager” cutscene from the first Outlast as examples. But what if the player were confined to a wheelchair for the entirety of a game? That’s what ALIEN Studios’ upcoming VR horror Deadness does.
The developer describes Deadness thus:
You find yourself confined to a wheelchair in a gloomy old research facility. Where am I? Why am I here? Where do I go from here? The spine-chilling eerie spaces and your imagination will fuel your fear leading you to the realization that something horrible has happened here. Trying to hide from the undead will make your heart race and take your breath away, because you cannot kill what is already dead.
In creating Deadness the emphasis was on the game looking as realistic as possible, including intuitive controls, naturalistic graphics and horror atmosphere. Just like in reality, on the wheelchair you can only move using your hands which control all the movements which makes the game feel even more realistic.
Without being able to run away, this confining dynamic creates a whole other world of horror and tension. Games like the aforementioned Outlast and the Amnesia series intensify the terror by removing any notion of self-defense, requiring players to run and hide instead. But at least in those instances, you are ambulatory. Not so much in this case.
Deadness will be coming out on February 22th and will be available for Steam VR, Viveport, and Valve Index. In the meantime, you can check out the trailer below.
Source: Bloody Disgusting
