Video games have a lot of nice fictional places that many of us would like to visit, but what about those places that aren’t mentioned in the AAA handbook? Instead of visiting Hyrule or seeing the Mushroom Kingdom, what if you accidentally turned the wrong way into a much more dangerous land, one where you may not survive? These are the first 5 places, in no particular order, that may take your life if they actually existed.
Silent Hill
From what I’ve gathered from playing numerous entries in the Silent Hill series is that the town of Silent Hill adapts to the person who is visiting so that, if I went and then you went, we would both have different monsters to fight and perhaps even different people to save. This is how I think Silent Hill works: somehow you are drawn to the physical town itself, it makes you want to go there. Then when you get there, it reads about your past demons, fears, and the like, and creates an environment that you must survive to continue on in your life. The town got its power in the first game from the followers of Samael failing to bring him to the plane. Some of Samael’s powers stayed in the town and drew people with troubled pasts to it so that Samael could possibly feed or gain freedom with some unsuspecting, troubled folks. Silent Hill wouldn’t really scare me that much, and I doubt Samael or the town would call me to it– I haven’t experienced a divorce, I don’t have a criminal record, and I have no skeletons in my closet or the like, so I’d be fine. What about you? How would you fair in Silent Hill?
The Ishimura
When Issac Clarke climbed aboard the Ishimura, I really don’t think he envisioned the trip that he got. I’m sure he just wanted to fix leaky pipes, the hyper drive, and so on, but he had no idea he would be upgrading his suit and making makeshift weapons to survive against the Necromorphs. What kept Clarke alive was the fact that he could build things from nothing with just trash lying about the ship. I can’t even change my oil without freaking out, because I have no patience doing mechanical things like that. It would be to the point I’d be bludgeoning Necromorphs with unfinished weapons or the helmets to my suit since I couldn’t get it on correctly. I think only engineers and mechanics would be able to visit the Ishimura and write a review on Yelp!
Raccoon City
The poor rural town of Raccoon City just really didn’t have a chance once Umbrella got its claws into it. Ground zero was the Spencer Mansion with all the zombies, then Raccoon City itself with the huge outbreak that Leon and Claire had to contend with. So if you’re just visiting or are a resident, your days are numbered. If you didn’t die during the initial outbreak and survived somewhere in the city, that really didn’t matter. You were nuked anyway to keep the virus contained, so thank your government and Umbrella for being vaporized or turned into a shadow. This is one place I would NEVER visit. Anyone is open game here–at least at some of the other locations you have a decent chance of surviving, but here you are toast, one way or another.
Vault-Tec Shelter
My first few experiences with Fallout left me to believe that getting to a Vault-Tec Shelter would be a good thing. However, after seeing what happened at the beginning of Fallout 4 with murder and kidnapping, maybe being turned into a crispy critter isn’t such a bad thing. I mean they even turned away their salesman and left him out to die while all the people he sold spaces to were let in. That is pretty shady, plus the whole kidnapping and murdering of the protagonist’s family. However, even if those story events hadn’t happened, I would still be wary about entering one of these. I am very claustrophobic and would not be able to live for 30 years underground in a metal tube with other people. I can barely ride an elevator when there are more than three people on it. I’d rather take the stairs.
Innsmouth
Not many gamers have had the opportunity to get to Innsmouth while playing games. My biggest trip to Innsmouth happened when I was playing one of the best Lovecraftian games ever: The Call of Cthulhu: The Dark Corners of the World. This town that was part of the Esoteric Order of Dagon who worshipped three beings, the most important being Cthulhu. The town was described as “of wide extent and dense construction, yet one with a portentous dearth of visible life. From the tangle of chimney-pots scarcely a wisp of smoke came, and the three tall steeples loomed stark and unpainted against the seaward horizon. One of them was crumbling down at the top, and in that and another there were only black gaping holes where clock-dials should have been.” While gazing at this dilapidating city, you might even run into one of the Deep Ones, who will kill you where you stand. Think Atlantis but with a much more gruesome twist, these creatures are very fishlike in appearance and sometimes come to shore and mate with the locals in Innsmouth. Needless to say, if you’re Tindering in Innsmouth, swipe left to all them.
Are any of these places you would like to visit? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, @SuperJerry13. Keep and eye out for Part Two coming soon!