10 Seriously Immersive Video Game Details You Missed
9. Counting Ammo – King Kong
Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (yes that is the actual title) may have aged considerably since its 2005 release, but it did make some interesting design choices.
Although you can play as Kong during a few chaotic levels, the game mostly follows protagonist Jack Driscoll, as he attempts to survive the perils of Skull Island. The lack of a HUD seriously adds to the dread the player experiences as they traverse the island, facing off against monsters that Jack is usually woefully unequipped to face.
A side effect of this lack of on-screen information is that the player can’t see how much ammo they have remaining for their weapons, with Jack instead commenting on the magazines available to him.
While the player can trigger these calls at any time, it raises the tension during combat, especially as ammo is quite rare, and feels very different to the tendency of other first-person shooters to place an ammo counter onscreen.
Jack also shouts mid-way through combat scenarios when the need to reload draws near, another use of the feature that feels incredibly immersive, while also somewhat raising your pulse.