F.3.A.R writer interview

Popular writer Steve Niles tells eu.playstation.com what it's like to be behind the dark veil of PlayStation 3 horror shooter F.3.A.R.

How did you get the role of writer on F.3.A.R and were you a big fan of the series before you got the job?

I was! I played the first two games and absolutely loved them. My agent just offered the job to me one day... I had been offered a few other things before and those weren't quite what I was after compared to this. And specifically because of the way F.E.A.R. 2 ended I wanted to follow that storyline.

I was also working on a movie with film director and writer John Carpenter that just fell apart - we both ended up quitting - but we got along really well. I knew he was a big gamer so I asked Warner Bros. if I could invite a friend to help me with the game and then they found out it was John Carpenter [laughs]. So they really got into the idea and we started working on it.

What was it like working on a videogame script?

The developers at Day 1 Studios had in mind some things they wanted to do: strip back the military and conspiracy parts and increase the horror. And they also gave me the characters that they wanted to use in the game. My number one question was: is Alma [one of the main antagonists in the series] pregnant? That's all I wanted to know, as the possibilities there were amazing.

So they gave me these basic guidelines and then - and oddly enough I've only experienced this in videogames - they gave me environments, which were already built. So they asked me to make something happen in these particular environments. I started digging into the story and following all the threads from the previous game. I wanted to make it into a solid trilogy; tie everything up and hopefully then create the groundwork for the future of F.E.A.R.

Which of the game's storylines were your favourites to work on?

I loved working on Alma's pregnancy, because now she's half supernatural being, half human, and her world is starting to affect our world. Her contractions are literally shaking our world, and that's just so cool. I really enjoyed that, and also that Paxton Fettel is such a great anti-hero now he's trying to help his brother, so I had a lot of fun with that. And it's fun coming up with ways to scare people!

Are videogames becoming more effective at scaring people than other mediums?

Absolutely! Although I think videogames are in the silent movie period right now - we're making the equivalent of Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [laughs]. Soon we're going to move up to Frankenstein and Dracula when we start figuring out how to use all these tools.

Being a gamer and horror fan I think one of the biggest trappings and problems of horror based games is that you memorise the scares. But not anymore. Now we've figured out ways to randomise the enemies. You turn a corner and that nasty creature isn't where you found him last time... he's behind you, or bursting through a door. So the game experience changes and just being aware of that, the tension rises. And that's what horror is all about, building expectation and fear and then catching you off guard. Videogames are in their infancy and as we learn how players respond, we'll learn how to scare them more effectively.

What do you feel are the key ingredients to making videogame players fearful?

It's all about building tension. That's why I love these environments in the game, wandering around in some of these rooms gets you worried, on top of the randomised enemies appearing everywhere, and then you've got all sorts of new monsters. What's really nice about the game is, opposed to the military conspiracy which has been going on before, it's now just a mass panic because the culmination of all the experiments they've performed in the last two games has blown up in their face.

Is there anything you want to add about your whole experience as a writer on F.3.A.R.?

I've had a great time working with everybody on it. Beforehand, I wasn't sure how much fun working on a videogame would be, and even working on screenplays can be awful sometimes because you have to work by committee. And this has been an experience where working by committee has really worked out well. And working with John Carpenter was great.

I want to see how people react to the ending. I really didn't think I was going to be allowed to do what I've done, but they let me! So I'm really curious to see what people think of the game's ending. And I just hope players enjoy the whole game.