I love listening to audio logs in videogames. There’s just something about how unrealistic most are. That said, I appreciate that game developers sometimes find the time to insert an audio log here and there, providing more context to the world we're currently exploring. While audio logs are pretty common in games, horror games have mastered this kind of feature, adding a little bit of suspense to make that imminent jumpscare worth it.
Now that the spooky season is here, there’s no reason not to try out one or two horror games. Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation, for example, is a game that knows how to take advantage of its audio logs as an immersive experience. As part of its diegetic horror, how Isolation does its audio logs is completely simplistic. You find a handful of Nostromo logs narrated by none other than Ripley herself. Voiced by the great Sigourney Weaver, you can get a full picture as to why things are going from zero to a hundred in the Sevastopol Station. If it weren’t for Ripley’s rambling, we wouldn’t really bridge the gap how connected Isolation is from the first Alien movie.
EA’s Dead Space also loves this kind of trope. Apart from running away from the Necromorphs or slicing their limbs with your Plasma Cutter, you also get to encounter audio logs, especially near dead bodies. This is where you get to hear the slow madness behind a non-player character’s story once you find their audio tapes. It could go from simple observations around the Necromorph transformation to their body to disturbing gurgles and primal screams that don't resemble a human anymore.
Audio logs aren’t just exclusive to horror games. Just recently, games like Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have an entire repository of audio logs to listen to from the fallen Expeditioners. It’s where players get lore behind the weird ‘yellow paint’ symbols, which was made by the Grapple Team from Expedition 70. Others include the great Expedition 60, who swam for days just to reach the Paintress, only to succumb to the Gommage on their return trip. The way Clair Obscur does their Audio Logs gives us a different perspective to the many Expeditions that came before, and while their journey was met with doom, the knowledge they passed for those who come after was essential. Some might call it cheesy, but it gave me a sense of hope from Clair Obscur’s hopelessness.
Perhaps my favorite audio logs in gaming has to be with Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear games, or more specifically, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
There were no Podcasts back in the day, so I only had my PlayStation Portable with me and hours worth of conversations Kojima recorded as Snake talks to the many inhabitants of the Mother Base. These conversations can go from talking about the politics behind the Cold War to odd things like Santa Claus’ existence. While they may pose zero effect to the story, it felt like I was attached to these characters as I dabbled in their interests. In a way, it taught me a lot about history as well, and we all know Kojima loves to teach us a little bit of history and his absurd prophetic claims for the future.
Obviously, listening to these audio logs is a personal preference; but whenever I encounter one, I always have to make sure my character is standing in place, not moving away until the audio log has ended and listen to what these unfortunate souls have to say. Yes, while they are unrealistic, they really add up that sense of ‘worldbuilding’ that I’ve always loved in a videogame.
Now, imagine if FromSoftware decides to add one instead of us having to read the flavor text from every item and armor piece.
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