[Interview] A look into the mind behind the nightmares of Allison Road

Let’s be honest here…we all shed a few tears when we found out Silent Hills got cancelled. Judging by the Playable Teaser PlayStation 4 users got treated to (P.T.), it looked like it was going to be the greatest gift to horror games since it’s predecessors.

But one fan, Christian Kesler, refused to let that be the end of it and took on the daunting task of finishing what Silent Hills set out to do.

Through that, Allison Road was born. If you don’t know what that is, I’ll leave a link right here for you to get acquainted. Go on, I’ll wait.

You take the role of an unnamed protagonist who is trying to unravel the mysteries of the house while facing off against the dark entities that seem to take pleasure in driving you ever closer to insanity. 

It’s pretty similar to P.T.. The game’s photo-realistic visuals and the first person horror, it’s all there. While Kesler is not shy about the source of his inspiration, Allison Road is its own game as he told GamesRadar. The similarities are only limited to the visual style and atmosphere. Allison Road is about solving the mystery of the house, not about being stuck in a constant loop in your own personal hell.

So what drove him towards creating something like this? What are his sources of inspiration? Just who is this gamer-turned-developer? I had the pleasure of asking a few questions to discover just that from the man himself; Christian (Chris) Kesler! 

What was the very first game you played that made you think ‘This is what I want to be doing in the future?’ 

Oh! That’s a tough one. I’ve been playing games since I was a little kid (Gameboy and Tetris back then); I always loved games and I wanted to make one for a long long time, but as you probably know, it’s a huge undertaking.

 

Certainly not a decision to take lightly, so I was always a bit hesitant. So one could say it’s been lingering for many years, but the decision to jump right into it came after playing P.T. 

What are your most memorable moments in gaming? (A particular game’s storyline, gameplay, etc) 

Silent Hill 2 affected me most profoundly in terms of video game horror / narrative I have to say. 

 

One particular scene I remember vividly is when you get to the Historical Society and there is this hole in the wall. A strange sound of a horn faintly audible. 

 

And then you start descending. You go down, down, down to the prison.  At this point I was already so tense; I was like ‘Noooooo’  haha. Felt like descending right down into hell. 

 

Which game would you say made you think ‘Wow, that’s something completely new!’?

 I think that would be ‘The Last of Us’.  

There wasn’t anything new in terms of gameplay of course, but the way they told the story was just absolutely amazing. 

 

I think I never felt so invested in video game characters. I deeply cared for Joel and Ellie’s journey.. more probably than I ever did for any video game characters before. 

 

Can’t wait for part 2 !

Which book/movie franchise would you say is your favorite?

I love the first 3 Alien movies. And pretty much all David Fincher movies; pretty much all Coen Brothers’ movies. 

Books;  that’s trickier.  I don’t read as much as I used to (and probably should). I still love ‘The Road’ by Cormack McCarthy and read it every now and then. In fact, I think that’s my favorite book. It’s so dark! 

Name one person you would say that inspired you the most?

Dreams and Goals haha. 

 

I know that’s not a person.  But what always inspires me are dreams I have..  and then you take these dreams and make them into achievable goals bit by bit. Always inspiring and always keeps me going 🙂

And of course, I couldn’t resist. 

How do you feel about the word ‘Gongoozle’? 

I think it’s Splendoozle!    😀

You know how you sometimes feel like we, as the gamers could design better things for games? Well… here we have one of our own who’s taken to the stage. Silent Hills may be gone, but hopefully Allison Road will scratch that lingering itch. 

Right now the game is slated for an end of Q3 2016 release for Windows PC. Consoles are a possibility as well. You can keep track of the latest information regarding Allison Road via the official site, facebook page, and of course, Chris Kesler’s twitter account.