The Scariest Spider-Man Enemy In the History of Video Games
Written by Zack Hargrove.
Considering to play a horror game sets you up to experience pressure in order to win in its virtual reality. Clear, unambiguous indications like the title of the game, main menu, sound effects and brief description filters out players who don’t have any willingness to sacrifice their emotions. Sensitive fans of the action genre prefer to play non stressful games where they can relax, anticipate no fear nor anxiety, and face just enough level of difficulties that only make the game challenging and fun to play. Nevertheless, in some rare cases action games that were made for everyone and particularly for children can have unpredictably mortifying traps that can even scare off an adult person. And the game that is responsible for having one the scariest opponents and giving nightmares to a generation of kids is Spider-Man (2000).
Core Of The Creepy Ambience
Game starts off with an atmosphere similar to the Spider-man animated series of the late 90s and early 2000s. It is very cartoonish. The only difference is relatively good sense of humor and the fact that this story line throws at you tiny portions of pretty dark and alarming edginess.
The main villain of the game is iconic Doctor Otto Octavius (a.k.a. Doctor Octopus). But in spite of being an evil scientist with passionate intentions to take over the world and destroy Spider-Man, he is nowhere near in comparison to his secret symbiote weapon Carnage. Red, jelly-like consistency alien that invaded the body of Cletus Kasady and uses it as the main source of energy for destruction.
Carnage has a notorious reputation as one of the most chaotic villains that has ever existed in the Marvel universe. But unlike in comics, video games provide you with various sound effects. And this details is exactly what made Carnage almost an r-rated character.
In the very first clip you get to see only some parts of Carnage’s body. But you can clearly hear his crazy, high-pitched rambles and maniac/hysterical laughter at his best. A voice actor Dee Bradley Baker did a great job of voicing Carnage (as well as Rhino, J. Jonah Jameson, Daredevil and The Lizard). The problem is that he coped with his task too good… His maniac laughter is basically a combination of Jockey from Left 4 Dead 2 and Heath Ledger’s version of Joker. He went over the top so high that it became one of the main obstacles that made it impossible for many players around the world not to abandon the game right at the finish line.
Monster Ock Chase
You don’t get to face Carnage up until the final level. As you win a battle over this slimy creature that used the body of another human, it flows down on top of Doc Ock who you fought previously. It emerges with him and becomes a red savage monster with 4 additional metal limbs. Since Monster Ock is too big and too powerful for even Spider-man, the last and the only option that you have to do to complete the game is to run for your life. To make it a complete simulation of Spider-man’s escape from hell, creators of the game went a little too deep and took care of a number of variables.
Camera Angle
Throughout the whole game you play with the camera behind Spider-Man’s back. Which is pretty comfortable. But there are a few times when the camera switches into a 2D mode. And the point where it gets the most uncomfortable starts at the beginning of this horrifying chase. You can’t see the structure of the tube where you run. Camera angle changes depending on where you’re at. And before you get used to it and study every corner good enough to know every right and wrong turn of the “labyrinth”, you will have to die at least 30 times.
Sounds
• loud, hammering sounds of metal limbs
• explosive sounds of the doors that Doc Ock breaks behind you
• hunting distorted phrase “Why you won’t die?!”
• panicking reaction of the spider: “Get away!”
• heavy industrial track with guitars that would almost make Ministry sound like The Smiths.
How You Die
Much like in Alfred Hitchcock movies, the game gives your imagination a chance to imagine how Spidey dies. You don’t get to see blood and guts. But you can clearly see how violently Monster Ock gushes his tentacles in the place where Spider Man takes a dramatic fall.
Feedback of YouTubers
Various videos of walk-throughs of this mission gathered thousands of like-minded people who admitted how much they feared this monster back in the day and how both mechanically and mentally hard it was for them to complete it. These are independent opinions from players around the world.
“The real boss is the camera angle”
“There are plenty of times when I wished I could be Spider-Man… THIS AIN’T ONE OF THEM!!”
“This was absolutely THE HARDEST boss fight in the game for me, and Carnage used to freaking scare me to death”
“Perhaps the first ever legitimate time I was terrified”
“this game made me fall in love with carnage”
“i would say this is the scariest and most heart thumping moment in video game history”
“My heart used to pound every time I would play the Monster Ock chase”
If you find this mission not scary, you either have never played it or you might have a pantophobia (medical definition of total absence of fear). For what it’s worth, if the game had only this level or if the whole game created this type of pressure, ESRB would definitely not give it a rating E, since this great superhero game is certainly not for everyone.
About the Author:
Zack Hargrove is a remote editor at cheetahpapers.com and edupeet.com. One of his missions is to notice interesting, unusual phenomena in the world of gaming, music, fitness, comedy and reporting it to a diverse scope of audience. You can find him on twitter here.
