My aim with this series is to draw attention to some of the best examples of ‘gothic gaming’
produced. Whilst video games have become a universally recognised academic field in recent
years, there is still a considerable gap between their current circulation and the cultural space
held by other forms of media such as books and films.
In the first part of what I hope will be an interesting and informative series, I will be
examining Clive Barker’s Undying, arguably one of strongest examples of gothic adaptation
yet seen in video gaming. Undying was one of the first games to use the first person
perspective to connect players’ experience directly to the world of the game, boasting one of
the most immersive and atmospheric representations of ‘period horror’ story-telling yet
conceived in a video game.
A ‘Bare Bones’ Review
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Dreamworks Interactive
Released: 2001, 2002 (Mac)
Platforms: PC, Macintosh, Playstation 2
Taking place in 1920s Ireland, the game sees protagonist Patrick Galloway attempting to help
an old wartime friend reconcile ancient horrors seeded in his childhood. What follows is a
journey through classic gothic locations such as a decrepit Victorian mansion, an ancient
monastery, a pirate cove and the hidden past of the island itself. In Undying players explore
through the eyes of the redoubtable Galloway; both he and the player are invited to open
every creaky door in the game’s sprawling gothic mansion and typically of the first person
genre, we are not given the luxury of an omniscient, disconnected viewpoint in order to better
see what horrors might await us and instead must investigate every half-heard sound and
flitting shadow with our vulnerability firmly rooted in Galloway’s feet (and ears and eyes).
Undying stays a fresh and exhilarating experience throughout by varying its pace in terms of
the trepidation experienced by the player. The mansion, which serves as the lynch-pin for the
game in terms of both location and narrative, demands a slower and more careful
progression; both to soak up the fantastic digital representation of Victorian Gothic decorum
as well as the steady stream of diaries and papers which slowly form a chilling back story
culminating just in time for the game’s ultimate revelation. Yet stray too far from the
‘homely’ and you are liable to end up being chased through crypts by a long dead order of
monks or through the cyclopean ruins of a burning eldritch city, by things which – even by
video game standards – defy conventional description.
Wherein Lies the Gothic
As a video game Undying is perhaps best described as a gothic kaleidoscope; merging and
recombining differing elements of the gothic to form a surprisingly rich and cohesive whole.
Clive Barker, who headed the writing team, was involved with introducing and combining
the literary gothic references, as Lead Designer Dell Siefert describes: ‘Clive Barker was the
first to point out to us that we were crossing genres of Horror. We start with very gothic
sensibility (haunted house, family in decline) and transformed it into a more cosmic
(Lovecraftian) tale.’ (2004). These changes of theme within the horror of Undying are also
backed up by other creative elements such as the game’s music, which often shifted its mood
with exploratory choices made by the player, to the benefit of the game’s atmosphere.
Composer Bill Brown praised the rest of the game’s creative whole for allowing his
contribution to flourish: ‘The interactivity allowed in games creates a new space for musical
development over time...The common denominator in my mind is a good story and solid
narrative with creativity and vision.’ (2004). Barker also helped to temper the developers’
impulse to create an overly flamboyant leading character for the player; one typical of video
games overall but inappropriate for a relatable horror protagonist: ‘Originally our hero's name
was Magnus Wolfram, a stocky barrel-chested man with eccentric clothes and a bald head
and tattoos all over his body. We all thought he was cool, but Clive saw Magnus as
unapproachable and seemingly super human.’ (Dell Siefert, 2004). What resulted from the
literary expertise of Barker as well as the seamlessly bonded visual and interfaced elements
from the design team was an engrossing and thoroughly entertaining gothic tour de force.
Moments to Remember
Whilst Undying remained consistently strong in nearly all the elements of its conception and
production, it was the afore-mentioned immersion produced by this which stood out as its
most striking feature and never was this more significantly represented than in ‘scrying’. By
listening for particular cues, such as whispering voices, the player could cast a spell which
allowed them to see or hear into the past or ‘truth’ of their current location in the game.
Dreamworks Interactive took excellent advantage of their medium’s potential for altering
perception to create morphing paintings, ghostly re-enactments of past horrors or just the
chilling echoes of dark conversations; notions of the ghost story extrapolated and even built
upon, through the interactivity of the video game medium.
Best Left Buried
Perhaps the greatest injustice with regards to Undying’s quality as a piece of gothic horror
gaming, was that it went the way of so many critically acclaimed media products; receiving
high praise but low sales. Whilst the issues of marketability and video games is one which
could well merit an entire book in itself, suffice it to say that Undying lacked the hallmarks of
the most popular video games which ultimately prevented it from being a large seller. In a
market flooded by ‘war simulation’ shooters such as the always topical Call of Duty series,
Undying’s nuanced horror and story-telling struggled to capture gamers on a large scale. Of
course this is not to say that the game was without its problems. Certain sections towards the
end of the game could drag on to become somewhat laborious and though innovative, certain
of the game’s enemies were in danger of becoming over-used and stale towards this point as
well. Overall though, these elements were little more than a small blemish on what was
otherwise a rich, polished and thoroughly gothic gaming experience.
Works Cited
Gamespy Artilcles, Clive Barker's Undying: The Developer
[http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/september00/undying/index3.shtm]
September 5, 2011.
Journals, (2004)
Accessed