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Slave Zero X is not a horror game, but it was pretty much made like one.
Rib cages are torn out of enemies effortlessly, flying across the screen with every punch landed.
There’s something called a bug bomb that is every bit as gross as it sounds.
That’s something art director Francine Bridge sought to correct.
“Then after the fact, I came to understand and appreciate the art in and of itself.
For Bridge, it all started with “capturing the atmosphere” as the 1999 developer intended.
But that stuff is still in the DNA of the original,” says Lotz.
Ultimately it was all about context.
Now, however, we certainly are.
A key component in that?
Gratuitous and frankly silly levels of gore, not unlike howDead Island 2taps thatabsurdist 80s horror vein.
“The base concept is still incredibly unnerving at face value.
This same sensibility applies to the Game Over animation, wherein Shou/X gets flayed alive before exploding upon death.
“It’s kind of supposed to call back to things like Metroid Prime,” laughs Bridge.
We wanted to do a much more gory version of it.”
In short: “The more control you give them, the less unsettling it can be.
Therefore, maybe it takes less work to create',” says Lotz.
But building a horror-soaked atmosphere is about more than “high polycount models and all these crazy shaders.”
“I saw how much work went into those sprites.
There’s a lot of craft that goes into it.
And, you know, beat-‘em-up games tend to be on the shorter side.
But this is a game that’s just set piece after set piece.”
It feels like growth."
