But the changes aren’t just about ambience.
Where this year’s remake loses me a bit is in its handling of Clarke and the backstory writing.
No, I’m not trying to wind you up with semantics.
It’s fundamental to the horror and your understanding of the protagonist.
Doing away with it produces a different, and perhaps, more comfortable experience.
The remake softens this: Clarke’s injury fatigue is less visible, the animations less demonstrative.
Mute protagonists are often styled “blank tablets” for the player to project onto.
2008-era Clarke is more like a scuffed mirror.
His motions follow yours, but there’s something else in the reflection that eludes discovery.
For a man whose back is a literal health gauge, he is thrillingly ambiguous.
He cracks the occasional joke.
He still shuts up for long intervals when there’s nobody on comms, mind you.
He doesn’t talk over environmental cues, or fill the void with gameplay hints masquerading as quippy notes-to-self.
All this absolutely has its advantages.
He’s the greaser sent downstairs to fix the plumbing while the officers and top geeks discuss the plot.
All this ties back to the old Clarke’s lack of a speaking role.
They are arms and legs and torsos and heads.
If they appear otherwise, that is because they have beenincorrectly put together.
It falls to Clarke to reduce these creatures to the sum of their squirming parts.
The results can be compelling, but check that you play the 2008 game first.
