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Serial Killer Roguelike Is Disturbing

RSS by Nick Simberg on 26 August 2010, 5506 views
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Roguelikes are a very niche, very hardcore genre of video games.  Rogue, from 1980, is widely credited as being the first "graphical" adventure game.  Zork, and other early adventure games like it, had been merely text-based before Rogue brought interactive storytelling into the future.  Rogue's ASCII-based visuals were new and incredible back in the day.

In 2010, however, we have new and exciting ways to show violence on the small screen.  Mortal Kombat and God of War and countless other bloody games of the like have nearly desensitized gamers to the visceral rawness of "real" violence.  Maybe it's time to go back to our roots to remember just how violent violence can actually be?

Some random programmer known only as "SKRoguelike" on YouTube has made a roguelike game where you play the role of a serial killer.  You sneak around, break into houses, kill the inhabitants, cut them into pieces, shoot at the cops, shoot yourself.  In a roguelike game, you can do anything your twisted mind desires.  When you are placed into the role of a serial killer with unlimited potential for wreaking havoc in an ASCII world, you may find yourself committing some pretty heinous acts that seem both less and more violent when supported only by a few lines of text and your imagination.

Have a look at some gameplay footage from this work-in-progress:

Jaw.  Drop.

From the video description:

"Keep in mind that this is a GAME, and that I am not advocating or condoning murder or any of the crimes that take place in it. I feel that the subject of serial killers, specifically the psychological conditions that drive them to do what they do, is one of interest and will hopefully translate into a unique game that has a vast number of potential options for play."

It's definitely psychological.  We'll see if there's any substance behind it when/if it ever releases to the public.  Subscribe to him on YouTube for updates.

Tags Indie, Video, Roguelike

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9 Comments

makingmusic476
makingmusic476 (on 29 August 2010)

This game is a hoax. The guy mentioned in the comments of his video it was an attempt to get /b/ all riled up.

With some of the stories we post, this place feels like Kotaku at times!

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theprof00
theprof00 (on 27 August 2010)

can't wait to play it

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Hunner
Hunner (on 27 August 2010)

You must have never heard of HellMoo. Can you feed on the corpses? Can you use their limbs as weapons and their heads as puppets? (And multiplayer, so the corpses arn't just lowly NPCs.) This is nothing new to ascii games.

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The Ghost of RubangB
The Ghost of RubangB (on 27 August 2010)

Hahahhaa, that is so awesome. So much more gruesome than any of the visually gruesome games. It actually tricked me into visualizing all that sick stuff.

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Cactus
Cactus (on 27 August 2010)

Looks fun

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hagelt18
hagelt18 (on 27 August 2010)

Haha...looks interesting. But the original Rogue is where it's at.

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ghost_of_fazz
ghost_of_fazz (on 26 August 2010)

It's the first time I hear about this kind of games, must try it!

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kain_kusanagi
kain_kusanagi (on 26 August 2010)

I don't like it. But I didn't like Manhunt either.

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spdk1
spdk1 (on 26 August 2010)

wow that's messed up

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