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Videogames are
crawling with
terrifying, spooky
and wonderful
monsters. Hordes
of ghastly flesh-
eating zombies,
otherworldly fantastical fire-breathing
dragons and ancient beasts with
daggers for teeth are all the rage for
players to have a good brawl with. But
what makes a memorable videogame
monster? Is it the challenge, the
adrenaline of fighting one, or the
satisfaction that comes when
delivering that killing blow? Or, how
about the monsters that cause your
stomach to tighten, your hair stand on
end, and the ones that make you feel
the most vulnerable?
They are creatures that do not
fit into what we understand as a
stereotypical monster, like vampires,
werewolves and zombies. These
beasties, demons and ghoulies hit
a nerve that no amount of blood,
gore and violence could ever touch
upon because they come from
within. There’s something particularly
disturbing about facing off against a
foe that is an extension of the main
character, be it their psyche, personal
struggles or dark past.
Trying to understand the meaning
behind the contorted fleshy beings
or deciphering the logic behind these
terrifying demons, horrifying as they
are, is really interesting. They capture
something that would take pages of
written dialogue to communicate,
and are a great opportunity for
developers to convey a game’s
troubled characters. The
dread that these monsters
conjure is grounded
in human emotion
and represent an
unsettling look inward,
unveiling a character’s
subconscious fears.
From within
This is the driving force behind
many horror monsters, and a series
that uses it masterfully is Silent
Hill. The titular fog-covered town
is a breeding ground for gruesome
creatures that have materialised from
each protagonist’s mind. With every
grim encounter, you start to reveal the
ABOVE Kay’s
resemblance to
the monsters in
Sea Of Solitude
alludes to a
deeper meaning.“Beneath their surface is
a human core built from
emotions like greed, guilt,
anguish and loss”
origin of each creature and begin to
burrow deeper into each character’s
hidden fear and trauma.
Trying to decipher these creatures
is like a psychological puzzle, and
the most well-known enemy of the
series, Pyramid Head, has inspired
discussion years after Silent Hill 2’s
initial release. This mass of meat and
metal is a bringer of punishment for
James Sunderland to confront, and is
a projection of how the weight of his
guilt still sits on his shoulders.
Grotesque monsters can also be
found in The Evil Within’s nightmare-
scape of distorted memories
that its characters would
rather forget. In puzzle
game Catherine, Vincent is
plagued by giant undead
brides and babies,
exposing his despair
about commitment,
parenthood and infidelity.
Many games that use
this storytelling technique
have created complex psychological
portraits of their characters. In Fade
To Silence, an apparition scoffs at
your attempt at survival in the winter
apocalypse. It berates you and suggests
that you give up in a cruel and mocking
tone. This monster is unsettling in thatWHAT IS IT?
Videogame monsters
aren’t always what they
seem. There are plenty
of beasties and ghoulies
that invite you to look
beneath their surface.it’s the one constant voice you hear in a
lonely world of frosty silence.
Other games have repurposed
the meaning found in monsters and
have used it to inform players on
understanding human psychology.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice uses
Norse mythology to help frame its
monsters, and developers Ninja Theory
worked alongside a team of mental
health specialists to help convey
Senua’s experiences of psychosis.
The demons and projected illusions
that Senua must battle are more than
just imitations of Norse gods, they
interweave mythology and metaphor
to create a portrait of a young Celtic
warrior’s struggle with mental health.
Sea Of Solitude explores a new
approach to monsters in that
protagonist Kay’s blood-red eyes and
black fur are traits that she shares
with the giants she faces. And the
connection runs deeper than a shared
appearance, these monsters are not
only projections from Kay’s mind about
her isolation and loneliness, but also
beings who have their own stories of
solitude. She is a part of them just as
they are a piece of her.
What makes these monsters
memorable is that they evoke a feeling
of reflection instead of just scaring us.
Their terror lies in the realisation that
beneath their surface is a human core
built from emotions like greed, guilt,
anguish and loss. They encompass
an aspect of ourselves that we
can’t deny or escape, and our fear
comes from the understanding that
something so monstrous could come
from a place of humanity. QMore Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 105