When can a trailer be considered "too" dark?

[Aac18]

For those of you who have seen the rather amazing new trailer for Dead Island (http://uk.ign.com/videos/2011/02/16/dead-island-announcement-trailer) I ask you.

As much as I love the idea of a game that really brings the horrific nature of a zombie apocalypse into a realistic light are some things that just make you uncomfortable to watch, even if they are more realistic?

Edit: Perhaps "Too Dark" was the wrong phrasing, I mean I'm not condemning the trailer as "evil" or any such rubbish (heck I'll probably buy the game and love it). But my question still stands. Are there some things that make you feel a little "wrong" or uncomfortable to watch?

 

[KalosCast]

Yes. But as an avowed fan of horror, I tend to seek them out. It's rather the point of horror to be horrified.

 

[GiantRaven]

There is absolutely no way in hell that game is going to be anywhere near as good as that trailer suggests it will be...

 

[Solo-Wing]

There is absolutely no way in hell that game is going to be anywhere near as good as that trailer suggests it will be...

Case in point: You can make anything look like pure GOLD if you do the Trailer right. The Alone in the Dark trailer was pretty good and I was also a fan of the PS1 games so I went and bought it. Boy was I retarded.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Wow, that trailer was just... wow. I'm now very, very interested in seeing how that title turns out, it looked pretty damn awesome.

Granted, it was "just" an announcement trailer, but it's quite effective at setting a mood. I think the creepiest thing was the serene music, which was in complete contrast to the violence and horror actually going on in the scene. It threw me off a bit. Nevertheless, very interesting.

As for answering your question, I can't really think of anything, at the top of my head having the same effect, but I've heard that Heavy Rain is also very good at throwing people off, even if it's getting ruined by the uncanny effect. I haven't actually played it myself yet, but I probably will, eventually anyway.

 

[p3t3r]

looks fun

 

[jakko12345]

That was a truly excellent trailer. Very moving

 

[Floppertje]

a trailer can be too dark in the sense that it's a lot darker than the product it is a trailer for. like if mariokart had a really dark and edgy trailer... it's really just a case of attracting people from the target audience. if your trailer doesn't match your product (not talking about quality), it's not right. but if it's a really dark trailer for a really dark game, there's nothing wrong with it. if it makes you too uncomfortable, don't play the game. it's the purpose of the trailer to show you what you're getting into (and of course, to make you want it)

 

[BENZOOKA]

I barely ever watch game or movie trailers for anything other than to know is it a romantic comedy or a camel documentary.

They mislead such an awful amount.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Thus I will never have kids. They will always be the first ones to bite me and turn me into zombie. That trailer looked amazing, nothing wrong with it at all. I just hope the game is just as good.

 

[Swaki]

There are plenty of things i would consider too dark, but most of these things are left out of movies/games because of this and that very few people are talented enough to make a movie/game about it, a few examples would be rape and anything bad happening to kids age 0-5, kids age 6-10 seems to be the go to for most horror games/movies.

But yeah there are many ways to make something too dark.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Did anyone else think the father looked kind of like Chuck Greene?
Anyway...I'm really interested in what the gameplay is like. More research is required.

Edit: Between this and Dead Space, I wonder if having children die in horrible ways (Then making you kill them!) is becoming...well...like...I don't know. A 'Mainstream idea'

Do game developers just hate little kids?

 

[ZeroDotZero]

That was.. dark... I feel a bit disturbed after watching that trailer. I wouldn't say that it pushes the limits though. Child death is a heavy topic though.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

The caption for that trailer says it all. This game will really be about screaming babies on an airplane.

But in all reality, if they can make the game at least two thirds as good as the trailer looks, it'll be a pretty solid game.

 

[David Bray]

Gaming will only be constrained as a medium as long as fools are there to put constraints upon it. There is no such thing as too far in any given situation...merely the wrong audience.

 

[Wondermint13]

Thats a tough trailer to enjoy when you already have kids.. But it was well done and deserves respect for what it is.

 

[Canid117]

I thought we were going to talk about trailers with horrible Gamma settings...

 

[Sacman]

That was a fuckin' cool trailer man... I gotta add that to my buy list and even if it sucks it gets put on my top trailers list...

 

[hazabaza1]

It looks friggin' awesome in my opinion.
"Too dark." Psssssh.