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• 1 media/Black Background.jpg 2017-11-28T07:23:18-08:00 Analyzing the Uncanny within The Evil Within 22 plain 2017-12-13T19:50:42-08:00

  It can be quite difficult to give a clear definition for the feeling of uncanniness and it’s increasingly difficult to clearly define what causes this feeling. The forced relationship between two opposing subjects seems to be what causes these feelings, and the more forced the relationship, the stronger the feelings become. The media I’ve chosen to use attempts to show how uncanniness is created by the forced suturing of two polar opposites such as human versus non-human, but also how uncanniness can be created outside of transgressing dichotomous boundaries through the modalities of gaming. The modalities of gaming that have the heaviest impact on uncanniness are animation, art style, and sound.
  
  Once these boundaries are crossed through the manipulation of said modalities the subject in question defies the pre-conceptions associated with it causing the uncanny. When we begin to question what the subject has become or believe it is in fact no longer what it was, this is uncanniness. When the subject contradicts or threatens our normal world view this is the uncanniness that creates our reaction of unease. Within Freud’s piece  “The Uncanny” at the beginning it is stated that it is difficult to accurately determine what is classified to be uncanny and what isn’t, and this is further proven to be difficult due to the model measuring for “human likeness.” The Subject can be seen as uncanny within the basis of human likeness based off of physical resemblance or conscious resemblance, yet the subject may not always be analyzed on a basis of “human likeness.”  This is partially addressed in the Freud piece when it states, “...one is curious to know what this peculiar quality is which allows us to distinguish as 'uncanny' certain things within the boundaries of what is 'fearful'."  If the feelings of uncanniness are caused by the ambiguity of  a subject to exist outside itself, why would this be disregarded in the measure of a subject's uncanniness?

  As humans we believe that we are the pinnacle of evolution and when dichotomies between humans and non-humans become ambiguous, or when the modalities we create are manipulated to defy our perspective views of the world we become uncomfortable. The state of  intellectual uncertainty we are put in is one of the essential components to the feeling of uncanniness.
  
  This chapter will analyze the uncanniness employed within the massively successful survival horror game The Evil Within. It will breakdown each modality mentioned above within the game and how it effectively manipulated our conceptions of each based off of the subjects resemblance to ourselves. Lastly this chapter will analyze the dichotomies represented within the game that also set the uncanny vibe present throughout the game.