Video Game / Content Warning

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Content Warning is a 2024 co-op horror video game published by Landfall. The game was free in the first day of release, which led to 6 million users download on Steam. It became paid afterward.

Players take the role of an intrepid group of content creators seeking to go viral, and what better way to do that than to journey to the abandoned old world, film something spooky, and upload it to Spooktube for all the world to see? However, the crew may find more than just creepy buildings and scattered bones during their dives....

Not to be confused with actual content warnings in media.

This game provides examples of:

• After the End: The place where the monsters lurks is called "the old world", hinting that something bad happened to it in the past; so they now must live far above the surface.
• All Just a Dream: Anytime the player gets a Game Over, the narration that discusses the players downfall as a content creator closes with this, leading to the player waking up at the beginning.
• Almost Out of Oxygen: The players have a limited supply of air, and will keel over dead when their oxygen tank empties.
• Anti-Frustration Features: If all players end up dying and or leaving without the camera, so long as it isn't the final day this happens, the recorded footage can be recovered by finding the broken camera in the same place that it was lost in, just so the players aren't immediately offset in their goals for view-count.
• A Simple Plan: A 4-step plan written on the whiteboard at the player's house:
  1) Go down to the old world
  2) Film something scary
  3) Upload to Spooktube
  4) Go viral!
• Blackout Basement: The Old World is generally pretty dark, with only a smattering of light from broken fixtures, contrasting the bright and well-lit home of the players.
• Bland-Name Product: Players upload the video of their adventures to Spooktube.
• Boring, but Practical: Some of the gadget you can buy are boom mic and clapper. Makes sense since you're trying to go viral. Players also can heal by hugging each other using the hugger item.
• Character Customization: A simple one. You can choose the color of the helmet's visor and type up to 3 characters and possibly rotate it to represent your 'face'.
• Co-Op Multiplayer: Up to 4 players can join up to dive into the depths in search of content.
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Getting killed by the monsters only causes you to wake up the next day with a hospital bill that will maybe cost you a couple bucks. Or none at all if you don't have any money.
• Deliberately Monochrome: In contrast to the colorful home area, the old world is mostly black and white/grey (save for occasion like the lasers or explosions).
• Drop Pod: In this case, the crew uses a Diving Bell to journey down to the old world. The Diving Bell is attached to a massive crane and also serves as their exit from the old world.
• Eternal Engine: The abandoned factories you can explore have machines that are still running, though their purpose isn't readily apparent.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: There are plenty of "things" down there that will not hesitate to make sure you don't leave alive. Luckily filming scary, life-threatening creatures is a prime ticket to going viral.
• Equipment-Based Progression: As the players get more money they are able to buy better items which allows them to better prepared going to the old world and make more money.
• Featureless Protagonist: The players are all clad in full diving suits, with the only differences being their face-plate colors and the emoticons that stand in for their faces.
• In-Universe Camera: A key part of the game is the players recording their adventures on a handheld camera to upload to Spooktube. The video can even be saved as a file for the players.
• Mechanical Abomination: One of the monsters you can encounter in the old world is a strange humanoid creature with what looks to be a giant hand mixer replacing everything from the waist up.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: One of the monsters is a giant spider with ants head and abdomen.
• Resources Management Gameplay: The players have to manage their resources when down in the Old World, especially their remaining film, and their whole expedition can be for naught if they lose and are unable to recover their camera.
• Scare Chord: Encounters with the various critters can be punctuated by one of these.
• Shout-Out:
  • Spooktube is an obvious pastiche of YouTube.
  • One of the many weird objects one can find in the Old World is a strange plush toy called a Chorby.
• Social Media Before Reason: The whole point of the excursions is to film spooky stuff, which may take precedence over little things such as not getting your face (or the faces of your friends) eaten by monsters.
• Spiders Are Scary: One of the monsters is a giant spider/ant hybrid.
• Timed Mission: The players have a limited amount of oxygen to complete their dive, and must return to the diving bell before they run out. Additionally, they must reach the required amount of views by the deadline or they'll fail to go viral.
• You Have Researched Breathing: The players can only emote — doing various poses such as dancing/posing — by buying instructions and using them. The "how to hug" paper in particular isn't consumed like other instructions, and is actively held in hand so the player can hug other players. While gameplay wise this makes sense to limit the action due to the act healing other players, it still seems baffling that the character can't remember to hug without having instructions on hand.

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