Cradle. Dear God... - by mol
Ahkaskar on 1/5/2007 at 00:32
SirBlade raises a very valid point. The Cradle sort of draws you away from all the other things that are going on and focuses you on two things: completing the Cradle and the Hag. By the end, the only thing left on your mind is the Hag and all the trouble she's caused for everyone. You get attached to this girl who seems to be the only sane thing in the Cradle and you just want to help her.
I don't really understand why anyone would think that the Cradle is full of horror movie cliches. I'll admit I haven't seen too many horror movies, but the ones that I am aware of are usually emphasizing gore or some sort of "hopeless battle to survive" sort of thing. The Cradle, really, doesn't require too much more "survival" skill than Garrett already has. It's just like 8 zombies littered about, right? Not like he's fighting an army while waiting for the chopper to come in for evac.
I've heard the "horror movie cliche" line used with regard to other games, like FEAR. The most common reasoning was, "scary little black-haired girl". That sort of logic seems like the absolute worst thing to focus on. So they share one piece of imagery. What's the big deal? Can't you look past the fact that, really, in generalizing an aspect of an element you're bound to hit some lookalikes? Are you not doing the same thing as someone comparing Thief to Half Life as an action game, simply because they're FPSes?
If someone can start a list of cliches that TDS: The Cradle uses that aren't just terribly generic observations, I might be able to accept it. Creepy little girl doesn't count. Twitchy zombies don't count. Buildings with dark pasts don't count. Don't consider this challenge a slap to the face. I just want to see something other than, "yeah it has horror cliches because I say so".
Orobas on 1/5/2007 at 01:12
You know, I too have a hard time with the whole Cradle "full of cliches" thing too. In reading the "Journey Into the Cradle" article from PCGamer, elements of the Cradle were inspired by real Victorian era asylums in England. Does that make the same elements in the Cradle cliche? Sure it does, in the same way that the old saying about how just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean that people aren't out to get you. Yeah, it makes you smile, but only if its true. The same for elements in the Cradle. To me, while demons and the like are scary, its what people do, or rather did, to each other that provides the fear in this scenario. I think the only reason why there are undead crazy people in there, because who would believe the idea that the inmates were alive and well and living it up in a place that was abandoned years before.
Beleg Cúthalion on 1/5/2007 at 10:49
The ultimate reason why the Cradle is not cliché: Garrett does not belong to a group of curious teenagers. :p
Palantir on 1/5/2007 at 13:56
Well...
I just want to say...
Cradle is just another creepy thief level, only this and nothing more...
Take it naught too seriously.
Dia on 1/5/2007 at 15:00
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
The ultimate reason why the Cradle is not cliché: Garrett does not belong to a group of curious teenagers. :p
... who go to party at a deserted cabin in the woods, or who, just for a lark, decide to spend the night in a notoriously haunted mansion.
Phyre on 2/5/2007 at 06:55
Quote Posted by Dia
... who go to party at a deserted cabin in the woods, or who, just for a lark, decide to spend the night in a notoriously haunted mansion.
Heh, as much as I hate to encourage the 'stupid teenagers' genre of horror movies, I have to admit that I
would spend the night in a notoriously haunted mansion for a lark.
Possibly I lack an important self-preservation instinct.:erg:
Tch on 2/5/2007 at 07:03
I'd do it, just because we're not in the movies, and there aren't actually any ghosts. Dangerous squatters, perhaps...
tiger@sound.net on 2/5/2007 at 11:50
Well, those "'stupid teenagers" horror movies are usually just "eye-candy" or "Babe and Hunk" shows with lots of nudity, mixed with plenty of "cheap sex and violence" ploys. (And to be honest, mates, their advanced special-effects have become more like a very deep and technical art-form, over the past decades, without CGI's marginal help.)
So it seems that "cheap nudity and sexy thrills" really drives their market.
But The Cradle doesn't go anywhere near there, folks! :thumb:
Aja on 2/5/2007 at 22:17
Quote Posted by Ahkaskar
If someone can start a list of cliches that TDS: The Cradle uses that aren't just terribly generic observations, I might be able to accept it. Creepy little girl doesn't count. Twitchy zombies don't count. Buildings with dark pasts don't count. Don't consider this challenge a slap to the face. I just want to see something other than, "yeah it has horror cliches because I say so".
Creepy little girls and mental patients that twitch unnaturally and buildings that have evil personalities are all horror movie cliches, and don't you find it ironic that
your argument is basically "these things aren't cliches because I say so"?
Dia on 2/5/2007 at 23:38
Quote Posted by Phyre
I
would spend the night in a notoriously haunted mansion for a lark.
Fine. You do that. And I'll be there to be the first one to say 'Told you so.... :p :p :p ' when the caretaker of the notoriously haunted mansion comes by and finds your cold, clammy corpse just lying there in the foyer and notes that your face is frozen in a horrified grimace of terror.
Quote:
Possibly I lack an important self-preservation instinct.:erg:
Yeah; just like all those other fools that went into that notoriously haunted mansion in the first place but never came out again. (Man! Don't those kids ever watch notoriously haunted mansion movies??!!)
Quote Posted by Tch
I'd do it, just because we're not in the movies, and there aren't actually any ghosts.
Great.
Another one. Well Tch; why don't you just accompany Phyre on his next daredevil mission to the nearest notoriously haunted mansion and then we'll just see.
And I'll get to say 'Told you so ... :p :p :p ' twice.
:cool:
