Welcome to the reboot of Horror Gaming and if you are unaware this was once a section on the website. As you can tell by the title, I would use this section to upload reviews on gaming Creepypastas. For the first edition of this reboot, I will take a look at an original gaming Creepypasta called The Theater. It is a tale about an obscure PC game that released during the time Doom came out in 1993. Will this be another hidden gem for the PC or something that should stay forgotten? Let's begin... For an original gaming CP, this was well written as the depiction of The Theater made it seem like an eerie game for its time. It starts with a narrator asking its audience if they have ever heard of a game known as "The Theater." He/she explains it was an old game for the PC released around the time Doom came out. The narrator states that if you ever come across such a title now, the game will most likely be found on a bootleg disc that barely works on any computer. However, he/she does explain that when it came out as legit copies in 1993, its jewel case only depicted the Ticket Taker as its cover. I loved how the narrator started with a short history of the fictional game and claiming that it was some urban legend. The game did remind me of a time in the 80's when many PC indie developers would do swap meets of their own in-house games. The author obviously did their homework as The Theater sounds like something that would've come out between Castle Wolfentein and Doom's releases. Between the dark hallway and a creepy pixel sprite of the Ticket Taker, who in their right mind would come here. Another thing imagine walking along a narrow corridor in the dark when a figure with an extremely disfigured face comes out of the darkness. I love how the author-centered the story around the Ticket Taker and the way he/she described the character was creepy. I mean, come on he's a balding middle-aged man that's designed into a crappy sprite in a dark setting, it doesn't get any creepier than that. The pacing was good as at first the way he/she describes the game seemed like it was boring. I'm unsure if I could even play something like this, especially when walking into a dark hallway with the possibility that something could get me. There are a few things that I loved about this pasta, and it's the weird stuff that happens when the Ticket Taker disappears. Seriously, first he disappears, then you enter the hall without fading and then suddenly an alternate version of him comes out. It's like the game is haunted by some systelien specter that was changing it for odd reasons. Another thing was when the Ticket Taker appeared again, only for his dialogue to say something with the letters being corrupted. The way the author explained how many gamers thought he was saying "Never reach the other levels" would only add more mystery. It made me wonder if the Swirly Head Man is the Ticket Taker's alter ego and was actually trying to prevent the player from reaching these "other levels". The story at this point did freak me out a little that these "other levels" could be so haunting that the Swirly Head Man could be in them. However, there is a couple of flaws and it is the way the narrator explained that the players would feel sick to their stomachs from the Swirly Head Man. They would also have to look away because of his awful presence. The idea of this character being there was creepy, but it wasn't truly horrifying that they had to look away or want to throw up. I also like to know how can the Ticket Taker show anger on the jewel case if you smash the disc. That doesn't make any sense considering no supernatural forces were present, which makes that unrealistic. Yeah, the narrator states that some players claim to see him in real life from the corner of the eye at the end. That comes off more of an anecdote than an actual fact about this obscure game and wasn't needed to make this creepy.
Funny enough, I found two videos of people who actually made mock-ups of this game. One of them posted by unknown developer and the other claimed it was the original mockup by ASEF. The second video called, "The Theater (original)" was closer to the depiction than the one created by an anonymous user. It's because the one made by the anonymous creator comes off like a fan made Unity game which looks like it. I mean, sure the Ticket Taker is a sprite, however, the voice of his dialogue was too clear and the environment didn't seem designed with sprite textures. Now in the one posted by a YouTube user named ASEF, looked as if the developer made this in the early 90's on the Doom Engine rather than Unity. The environment and gameplay used textured sprites as shown on the Ticket Taker that resembled a poorly drawn sprite accurately to the story. The designer even added a low-quality voice, and the sound effects were giving it a horror movie vibe. Just looking at the character screams crazy psycho and whoever made this version did a great job making it creepy. Rating: 8.2/10 Very Good Sources Story: creepypasta.wikia.com. The Theater. Anonymous. http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Theater Images: YouTube.com. (April 16, 2013). The Theater (Original). ASEF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P864_zOSIds YouTube.com. (June 30, 2016). The Theater - Full Gameplay - No Commentary. Lazy Blue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgx51V_9thk
0 Comments
|
Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
Archives
Categories
The social media icon images and Vector Designs by Vecteezy, Medium and Onextrapixel
For More Please Click Below
|