Dark Seed – H.R Giger’s Beautiful Nightmare
The horror genre is somewhat of a staple amongst the sabukaru community, be that manga, films, artists, or video games.
There is beauty in the nightmarish, and we bask in it. One of our favourite individuals that opens a door for us into the realm of the unsettling is the one and only H.R. Giger, the Swiss artist that through his vision brings to like sci-fi horror with an immense amount of world building and depth. His work is known to many, but many may not know about his video game, Dark Seed.
Dark Seed, released in 1992 by developers Cyberdreams, uses official H.R. Giger artwork in this point and click video game. Now over 30 years old, it’s easy to see that Dark Seed has aged, but has done so like a fine wine. Accruing only more and more character as time goes on, and by using Giger’s work Dark Seed has become a timeless piece of both artistic and gaming history.
Being a point and click game, Dark Seed has you look, touch, and move different items to advance through the game. Unlike many other point and click games of its time, Dark Seed has you battle against the clock on many different occasions, and failing certain moments sees you in an unwinnable game state meaning you need to restart the game. This on the one hand created a very frustrating concept to the game, although did certainly add to its tension.
The use of H.R Gigers art is undeniable as it is distilled through the games ‘Dark world’. With the plot teleporting the main character into this parallel universe, ruled by an Alien raced called The Ancients, Gigers artwork is the predominant driving force behind the visual language.
Instead of a snarling and wicked world, the true horrors behind Gigers illustrations, and this game in particular, are one of ambiance and suffocation.
Not lending itself to cheap jump scares, but instead developing a world that is nightmarish by nature. This can be seen throughout Dark Seed, although balanced out with often notes of humour to take the edge off.
