Horror Games - What happened?

rrpbgeek

The majority of new horror game releases are not scary. Resident Evil has morphed into a laughable joke. Fear and its sequels started out okay, then rapidly devolved into stupidity. Similar trends have been seen for Dead Space, Silent Hill, and other renowned franchises. So how may they yet be saved?

The two scariest games I have played in the recent past? Demon's souls and Half Life 2 in Ravenholm. Even with its poor (by current standards) graphics, I replayed Ravenholm a few days back and had nothing but chills. I had to go watch something happy to snap out of it. Demon's souls (and its successor/competitor Dark Souls) is relentless and unmerciful. Even if you have been through a region 100 or more times, you round the corner and realize you forgot about that one skeleton who hit you twice, and now you have almost no health and its one of the hard ones to kill and you are low on herbs I don't want to lose all the souls! You get the idea. That tension is palpable, and you know that one mistake will cost you all of your progress.

Does anyone else miss the widespread success of this form of horror game? I've heard that it's demise is due to 'market conditions' and other false advertising terms, but I wanted to hear the community's take on it.

curly haired boy

enemies just aren't as deadly these days, plus players are used to exploiting AI.

PLA

Aren't there still lots of games where getting caught is instant game over?

String of Letters

I definitelly agree with you on Dark Souls -- to me, Catacombs and by extension, Tomb of Giants are some of the most ambient, oppressive level designs. Especially considering that you are undergeared no matter the circumstance in Tomb of Giants, and really feel helpless in the darkness. These areas require for me to be in a certain mood to attempt.

And yes I agree, but you see, this is a deeper problem with games industry -- casualisation; the root of horrors "horror" lies in the fact that you are weak, move slow, and / or lack ammo, which are big no-nos with casuals, who desire to be spoon fed. There are a lot of people who like challenges and true difficualty, but they are forgotten about alot of the times, when developers try to "please the crowds" (ie., make money), instead of just expressing themselves through the game, no matter the potential feedback.


It takes balls from a developer nowadays, to do stuff like develop horror games; not many devs have them, sadly.

Drake

I suggest you check out Amnesia.

FEAR has never really been a horror game, in the usual understanding of the genre. It has a ton of horror elements for sure, but scaring the shit out of the player isn't necessarily the goal of that series. Personally I enjoyed every official installment of the FEAR games and I loved the conclusion in FEAR 3. The first one is indisputably the best though, that's for sure.

But seriously. Play Amnesia. Also the Penumbra series by the same developers. Penumbra isn't as effective as Amnesia for a couple of reasons but it's still damn scary.

Burnage

The longer a horror franchise lasts, the more jokey and less horrifying it becomes. This isn't just true for video game franchises, but movies as well - think Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Saw...

There are still plenty of successful horror games, even if titles which used to fit the term "horror" no longer do. Amnesia. The Void. Alan Wake. The Last of Us. The Walking Dead. All excellent, all genuinely unsettling in different ways, all recent. I certainly wouldn't say that the genre has seen its demise.

Gigazombie Cybermage

I think that the indy scene is where we're going to get good horror games from. AAA horror games are basically non-existant. I mean, look at what happened to Resident Evil.

Chance

I don't think it's so much that we've stopped liking them, mostly that they've stopped making really good ones. The last pure survival horror game I really enjoyed on a console was in... 2008, I think.

I needed anime to post.

Horror games don't exist to the degree they once did because we've figured out how to make games that control well. Games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill cease becoming horror games the more in control and capable you feel, and become action games with horrific imagery. Games like Amnesia and Slender and The Walking Dead are finding success because they are moving away from an empowered player character.

The_Scarab

Limbo is absolutely horrifying, at times. Just because fewer games are 'horror games' doesn't mean horror as a mechanic or theme has gone too.

More games are blend of genres now. Some of the most frightening parts of Bioshock I would say are ripped straight out of the horror genre.

Tube

Good threads, what happened?

The majority of new thread releases are not scary. This thread has morphed into a laughable joke. The industry thread started out okay, then rapidly devolved into stupidity. Similar trends have been seen for the X Box One thread, PS4 thread, and other renowned franchises. So how may they yet be saved?

The two best threads have played in the recent past? Whatever ones I made. Even with its poor (by current standards) jokes, I replayed the Redraw Wonder Woman thread a few days back and had nothing but chills. I had to go watch something happy to snap out of it. Draw a Horse (and its successor/competitor Draw a Horser) is relentless and unmerciful. Even if you have been through a draw 100 or more times, you round the corner and realize you forgot about that one rule where you have to draw a horse, and now you have almost ability to draw a horse and its one of the hard ones to draw and you are low on ability to draw a horse I don't want to lose all the respect I would gain by being good at Draw a Horse! You get the idea. That tension is palpable, and you know that one mistake will cost you all of your progress.

Does anyone else miss the widespread success of this form of thread? I've heard that it's demise is due to 'market conditions' and other false advertising terms, but I wanted to hear the community's take on it.