Home Launches, Keeps Us Up At Night
Given that I'm from the majestic, apparently spacious-sky-ed nation of Amercia, I should probably be sleeping right now. Alas, however, I face a dilemma: I really want to play Home. As in, right now. It's freshly available for a pithy $2.00/£1.39, and - between a frantic, senses-strangling trailer and a fantastic fictional Twitter account - it absolutely nails the nauseating air of mystery that makes it impossible to look away from great horror flicks - even though you really, really want to.
So then, what's with all this MRI business? What happened to the main character's significant other? My brain is sitting in the front row of my skull, eagerly awaiting answers. It's incredibly painful. But I'm also kind of a giant wuss, and scary things make me turn lights on. So then, to sleep or not to sleep - Home is the question. While I deliberate, here's this part-live-action (they're all the rage) launch trailer.
OK, I will now try to talk myself down in an attempt to get some sleep. So, let's see here... ah! Well, for one, Home apparently "changes - subtly, almost imperceptibly - to reflect your perspective." I mean, who wants that? Games should be about guns and linearity. Nothing else.
And also, the Twitter account suggests Home's main character is having his brain ground into mush by a pretty serious medical issue. Off the top of my (at least, currently) ailment-free head, I can't think of many games that have put the spotlight on that sort of truly frightening, day-to-day vulnerability. Maybe it's just me, but the idea of a slowly, unavoidably fatal disease scares me way more than some dumb, probably punchable monster. It's fear from within instead of fear from withou-- I mean, er, that stuff's depressing. Guns and linearity. Yeah.
Well, that didn't work. I'm going to go play Home now. My body will soon hate me for a fright-fueled night of sleeplessness, but at least my electric company will always love me for the resulting gigantic bills.