A Rant on Horror Games

Horror games aren’t for everyone. A lot of people don’t like the idea of playing a game mean to scare them. Fear is thought to be a negative feeling and generally uncomfortable. Horror in media has been around for a while but horror games take it to a new level because YOU are in control. Instead of screaming “NO DON’T GO IN THAT ROOM STUPID” you are whimpering “oh god, I HAVE TO GO IN THERE!?”.

Picture from GameTrailers.com

There have been many games in the past labeled as horror games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame. For a while though, the frequency of them declined. The past couple of years though an influx of games like Amnesia and Outlast have hit the market and have been having great success. This is where I begin ranting. I respect these games first of all. I can never beat them out of fear (I’m a big wimp but I love to play them) but there is a trend in a lot of recent horror games that doesn’t sit well with me. The helplessness mechanic.

Amnesia is popular for it. You can’t fight back. You are alone and scared in this dark and uncomfortable setting. Your only option is to hide and sneak passed these monsters. Helplessness is something that is surely scary. No one likes to be faced with danger and be forced to do nothing. That is the issue I have with this game along with Slenderman and Outlast (which I have only seen videos for not played so forgive me if I am wrong). You CAN’T fight back even if you want to. I think this takes away a lot of the fear and even hurts the feeling of helplessness. In Slenderman this tall skinny dude in a tux is chasing you. You mean to tell me I can’t sock him a good one? Fight or Flight is part of human nature, taking away the option for one of those seems unnatural.

Epicgamergirl.com

I’m not saying horror games should all be like Dead Space or F.E.A.R where all you do is shoot the monsters. Fighting back shouldn’t be the only way we have to respond to a situation. We should be given the choice because CHOICE is scary. Decision making in high stress situations is a lot scarier than a faceless man in a tux. I read a really interesting article. It talks about how Penumbra is scarier than Amnesia because you could fight back. There was a quote that described how the player is perched on top of something throwing rocks at a dog and whimpering as his supply ran low. It’s the point I am trying to get at. The most intense and scary moments for me in Silent Hill was seeing something come towards me and hearing my gun click.

A game that does this exceptionally well is Siren Blood Curse. Jesus Christ I hate this game for how scary it is but it does an amazing job at forcing you to choose your encounter. You have 2 bullets left and all of the monsters you kill will come back to life with a vengeance and look for you. Hiding is the better option but you are not limited to it. They teach you to fear the monsters. Why would I hide from an old lady zombie? Oh because she will climb the ceiling freakishly fast and attack you from all angles if you try to fight her. If you’re good you can maybe take out some of these monsters easily. Now you’re hurt, you have no ammo and they’re slowly coming back. Good luck.

Stevivor.com

The TLDR version is having a choice of how to approach a situation in a horror game is scarier than being forced to play a certain way.

 

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8 Responses to A Rant on Horror Games

  1. dxg5099 says:

    I’m surprised most people here are disagreeing with you. You brought up a valid point about the human fight or flight reaction. I really think that it is important to be able to make a decision when faced with an enemy or monster. Part of the “scariness” in my opinion is having the option to fight, run, sneak, etc. The moment when you have to make the decision is one of the high-adrenaline points in any game. I was never a fan of when you would didn’t have the option to fight. Granted, I don’t have as much experience in the horror genre of games as most people I would imagine. However, I distinctly remember games like Hunter: The Reckoning for Gamecube. The constant decisions to fight or run from difficult enemies was what kept me on my toes.

  2. blw5180 says:

    This is interesting and I see what your are trying to say. But there are parts where I would have to disagree with you. The fact you cannot kill these creature makes you feel helpless. This helplessness is what drive the horror of the game. That fact that instead of being able to shoot this monster in the head, you have to sneak past it or out smart it in order to get away and survive, is in my opinion more powerful. I will reference Bioshock in my argument. In the very beginning the player is afraid of the big daddys and you try to avoid them at all cost. This caused the player to be scared every time they heard the sound of a big daddy near them. That is until you realized that you can take down a big daddy. As long as you knew what you were doing, a big daddy wasn’t all that hard to kill. Then the scare factor of the big daddy turned into something that you wanted to avoid at all cost into just a harder than normal enemy.

  3. atk5102 says:

    I completely disagree with what you’re saying about the idea of being helpless. I think that is EXACTLY what makes a game scary. The idea that you are up against some foe that is far more powerful than you is not a feeling you can really get in real every day life. And it is this fear for your life because you are powerless that causes the anxiousness in the game. Knowing that turning every corner could be the end, and there is not a thing you can do to stop it. For me, fighting in a game, in any capacity, creates a sense of power, and the game designers want to strip you of all the power that is not essential for survival. Going off of your point from Silent Hill, the scariest moment for you was when a monster came at you and you had no ammo, or in other words, you couldn’t fight back. This is exactly what I mean. You are scared the most when you have no way to protect yourself. Now sometimes game mechanics such as batteries or ammo are added in to teach you how to be conscious and smart about when to use certain skills to achieve certain goals, but at the base of any horror game is this idea: You are up against some force that is beyond your comprehension, and is extremely more powerful than you.

  4. tos5189 says:

    I agree with what has been said above, but I also think a huge factor in making a successful horror game is mastering the numbers balancing game. That is to say part of the reason these games are tense is because your resources are powerful, but scarce. The player should know that their weapons will be effective/strong/rewarding to use, but at the same time – they should know that with each use, they are one step closer to no longer having it. Whether the player is using guns/melee/flashlights/whatever – part of the drive to go forward through the game is the promise of finding even just a few more reloads/batteries/things. This contributes to the ever important balance of tension/fear and player empowerment that in my opinion is the crux of survival horror games.

    A lazy developer could just add more spiders, though.

  5. muh5000 says:

    Very Interesting opinions here; by the way there never comes a time even for experienced horror game players where that motivation to play horror games is stinted. That is the whole point of horror games! You and everyone else would rather not play these sorts of games because they purposely set out to make you feel the opposite of calm and serene. Take it from Horror game enthusiast from gaintbomb.com <blockquote cite = " It takes quite a bit to scare me. Granted, there’s a good reason for that: I’ve seen it all. The reason Shocktober’s lineup doesn’t include so many obvious films, movies that will be showing on AMC all month long, is because the moment something good comes along, I’ve consumed it. Horror is an addiction, and I’m always looking for the next high. Since my tolerance is so high, not much can grab my attention. " )

    source http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/horror-and-the-oculus-rift-are-no-joke/1100-4757/

    I wanna highlight that last sentence, ” .. Horror is an addiction, and I’m always looking for the next high. “. This is why people play horror games, to feel scared. Your not looking for a good time, as strange as that may sound for some of you, but rather an experience. You want to step out of your comfort zone and confront your fears, while havng the crap scared out of you. Its all about the thrill. Think about why people snowboard , or go rock climbing, ride roller coasters. They themselves are not really what one would consider fun by themselves but that heightened sense of danger that these activities invoke is the pull that keeps people coming back for more.

  6. cds254 says:

    Horror games are not a genre that I have much experience in, however I have played F.E.A.R. 2 and a little bit of Slender Man (although I didn’t find the latter very scary). I defiantly agree that having choice makes for a much more convincing experience than strictly evasion or fighting. I found that the anxiety of not knowing what to do or how to act during some of the scenes in F.E.A.R. 2 was the most terrifying part of the game. The lack of knowledge, along with an attachment for my character (something that Slender Man failed at in my opinion) lead for a powerful experience. As you said however, the lack of a proper flight mechanic lead to a less realistic portrayal although the story did step in with an explanation for the lack of this mechanic. Adding both mechanics in something like a cross-over between F.E.A.R. (horror) and Splinter Cell (stealth with an option to fight) would make for a terrifying game.

  7. byh5145 says:

    Horror games really raise my curiosity. I am curious because I’m trying to figure out why some people love it. In other words, what is the motivation that drives these people to play horror games? I am personally not a fan of horror games, at all. It’s not because the game mechanics are not well designed, game story is not well written, stuff like that, but because as soon as I know the game I am about to play is a horror game, I am already scared even before the game really starts. I remember when I was very young, I played a Jurassic Park game, which is technically not a horror game but still scary enough to creep me out. I remember a scenario when I was just wandering alone in a experiment lab and suddenly the roof has been lifted and chewed by a huge dinosaur. By the time the dinosaur looked straight to my eyes, I almost shitted my pants and I didn’t even exit the game but directly cut down the power of the computer. What’s even worse is that I can’t even have a good sleep for a few days after that because every time I closed my eyes and tried to sleep at night, the first thing that comes to my head is always that huge and scary dinosaur that stared at me, like it wanted to swallow me. I swear to God I would never play a horror game again since then. Anyway, this comment is kind of like a question, if anyone would like to explain what motivates you to play horror game, I would appreciate that.

  8. Kelly Renee Dietz says:

    Okay, I am going to go off of what you said about scary games and just say; have you ever played L4D2 in a house by yourself with headphones on? Because that is one of the scariest things I think I have ever experienced. So even though you’re focusing on how it’s scarier when you have to make decisions for yourself – and any of the L4D games aren’t really like that cause there is a certain way you’re supposed to go, I still agree. Scary things and making decisions are the two things that give me the most anxiety ever.

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