Do Horror Games Have Anything Else To Offer?

They all have felt like the same games for years now. It's either you are a survivor with a bunch of weapons that can blast any monster away or you're a survivor who doesn't use weapons and are forced to hide and solve puzzles. I used to really dig horror games because they were fresh and had a lot of thrill to them. Does the genre have any more spark in it or is this it?

Nope.... its a Novelty genre just like Puzzle games... you only need to play them once.....despite the Massive Success of Remastered HD Editions of President Evil classics.... theres just no point in playing them again.... obviously thats not what you meant.....

Some Horror games do have Co-Op..... thats worth looking into

Check out the new Silent Hill game: "Silent Hills". Seems to be a whole new take on the genre. Check out youtube videos.

Well, you make good points. The cool thing about Resident Evil when they started off was that the franchise still had a lot to offer even if the games played exactly the same as its predecessors until RE4. The story was intriguing and very creative while the gameplay could switch from slow pace to really intense just by stepping through a door. That was the same case for Silent Hill, Fatal Frame and a bunch of other games from that time. Those games were and are still worth playing more than once. Like you said though, these days you only need to play a game once and you won't be missing out from anything else.

@-paranorman-:

Ah yes... its a combination of Adventure Game design with weird Survival moments....

Thanks, I will!

@-paranorman-: I could say the same for every other genre.. FPS what's that? an american marine shooting brown people??

Third Person shooter what's that, a generic 30 something male shooting people and occasionally climbing stuff

Your right, you can apply that to pretty much any genre

@torenojohn7:

You were watching Honest Trailers weren t you ? ;)

I hear you complain that there is no spark left, but don't offer up any ideas how to make horror games more fresh or thrilling.

Most Horror games serve one purpose and that is to be youtube fodder nothing else.

Unless you have an audience there is no reason to even play these games at all, since they are all horrible made and if it wasn't for twitch and youtube they would never be a thing.

There is actually a lot of variety, although I don't know what you've played or what era of game you are looking for. For one, there is a lot of middle ground between the two extremes you described, and I wouldn't describe games where you have "a bunch of weapons that can blast any monster away" as "horror". Those are more like horror themed action games because one of the ways to make something not scary is to have it constantly jump out in front of you so you can shoot it. Games like Dead Space (especially 2 and 3) are like this. Action heavy and not very scary. They can certainly be tense, but not scary.

At the opposite end of the spectrum you have games like you described where you are either completely incapable of defending yourself or combat is very limited. These games on average tend to be much better horror games, although as a genre they haven't been around for that long. Most of the earliest horror games really fell into a "middle" area between these two extremes where your character is capable of combat but your resources are limited (survival horror). You mentioned Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Fatal Frame, which are three decent horror franchises (although like any franchise some individual entries are going to be better than others). Silent Hills 1 through 3 are great examples of the genre. Resident Evil is a bit more "popcorn" but up through 4 they were all really good games. Fatal Frame games are usually pretty solid (although 2 was probably the best one).

As for "new" ideas in horror games, yeah, they are out there. Five Nights and Freddy's 1 and 2 are basically like Night Trap only actually fun, even though they are simple strategy games and they rely entirely on jump scares. Other games that bring something new to the genre are games like Eternal Darkness or Amnesia, where mental health is as important as physical health. ED was great because it trolled the player in order to convey the character being incapacitated by losing their mind. The sanity effects often were funny (like a screen popping up telling me that the game is formatting my memory card) but it made this game really stand out.

Call of Cthulhu had no HUD whatsoever. If you wanted to see how much ammo you have in your gun, you pop the cylinder and looked at how many unspent shells you had. There was no health bar, and wounds had to be healed with the correct items (broken bones require splints, deep cuts will bleed until you suture them, etc) and damage was location specific and had different effects (i.e. head injuries mess with your balance and eyesight, leg injuries slow you down).

The Obscure games were nothing to write home about but they were interesting in that they had a slew of characters to choose from and each one suffered perm death if killed, so you had to grab one of the other characters to continue. Run out of "Scoobies" and the game was over.

If you are just talking about current and upcoming games, the already mentioned new Silent Hill game should be interesting but nobody has any idea what it’s going to be like yet beyond the “ideas” they showed off in their early demo (which probably will have nothing to do with the actual game).

The upcoming game Until Dawn also looks interesting. Something more like a teen slasher flic in a game.

-Byshop

Well, Dying Light offers very basic parkour, which makes running from zombies pretty fun and intense.

It's a fun game for sure. Not sure I'd call it horror but it does get intense. The problem with games where your character is too well-abled and the enemies are omnipresent is that they lose their scare factor pretty quickly. At first I was very cautious running through the streets and I would give all the zombies a wide berth, but as I learned the ropes they became far less threatening because I knew their limitations and how to work around them (not to mention the various upgrades to my character).

Great game, though. I have about 35 hours in it so far. There's so much side quest content you can spend a lot of time on this game.

-Byshop

Tell me about it. I've been playing the game off and on since I got it, and I think I'm only 10 percent into the story. At times, I lose myself in the game just scavenging. Back on the topic of horror, yeah, it's not really horror, but run around in the dark and don't pay attention to your mini map, and you'll get horrorified pretty quickly!

Yeah, that's a good point. The game becomes a very different game at night. Also, playing it with an Oculus is simultanously tense and nauseating.

-Byshop

Oh yeah I still think that there is plenty left to be had in the Horror genre. Silent Hills looks like it may bring some new things to the table. Even still I still enjoy the genre very much. I recently played through The Evil Within and found it to be an excellent game, very creepy and pretty intense.

We need a good horror rpg game. with lots of stats.

I am looking forward to games like Silent Hills and Alien Isolation in VR. I think VR will help making the horror genre to feel fresh again.

Frictional games are working on a new title, sci-fi horror I believe but I know very little about it so far. Regardless I'm very much looking forward to it; have you played the Penumbra games or Amnesia TC?

Like Parasite Eve? I would play a reboot of the series, it's certainly been long enough.

And lots of cut-scenes.

I have, my favorite is Penumbra Overture out of the Penumbra series.

Yeah The Evil Within was a pretty good game, I did enjoy it. Although I wouldn't call it horror.

@Archangel3371:

Don't forget Cheap Deaths !

Don't forget Frictional Games are still working on a new game at the moment. Then you also have that new Silent Hill coming and Routine.

Also I'd have to agree with what other posters are saying above, you can apply that line of thinking to any genre (what's an FPS? A military man running around shooting the enemies etc. etc).. I think the horror genre still has a lot of to give and is no where near it's limits. What I'd love to see is an open-world horror game like Alan Wake was originally meant to be, and no games like Dying Light don't count. I don't see anything horror about that game, they are more action adventure if anything.

@Archangel3371: Evil within was not a horror game lol its a RE4 clone.

I agree with you, horror games are getting repetitive, but nowdays I prefer to have a horror experience in a game that in a movie, I think that movies are gettitng way more like the same, is just a bunch of Paranormal Activity sons, forcing you to take scares, and not giving the tension that we feel in olders games and movies.

Alan Wake was awesome. Amnesia too.

@modsviciado:

How can you be sure its not just becsuse you were younger ?

A horror game that try to scare the player limit itself greatly. Game play is about critical thinking to solve problems. Where Horror that is to scare the player, it want you to suppress critical thinking and go more gut. This opposing goals creates a large amount of limits and problem when trying to do both.

I like atmospheric horror and fear of the unknown but too many times horror games get predictable quick as far as enemies, terrain and what likely waits ahead. Alan Wake was probably the worst offender. I found STALKER with some mods to be excellent at both survival, atmosphere and fear of the unknown.

Resident Evil just got their ideas from Alone in the dark trilogy.

The Forest is a horror game like no other but it's not finished. Someone brought it for me last Christmas, I wouldn't buy an Alpha game myself, but I was thankful as it's very goodies.

It's very immerse, atmospheric game with elements of The Hills Have Eyes, The Descent and a bit of I am Legend to it. They've done a great job with the islands other inhabitants.

We haven't seen all there is to be seen in horror games. There's still room to grow.

There's this indie game that starts out all cutesy and it slowly takes an ominous turn. The way in which it turns into horror is what's most interesting, as it has the potential to be a true mind-f*** if done right. I can imagine a "horror game" that appears to be horror-action on the surface, but the game slowly flips the script on you making you feel more and more uncomfortable as the game progresses. Things that appear to be glitches purposefully planted to create unease. Perhaps an, "In Loving Memory" of a lead programmer at the starting credits to plant the seed.

You know that glitch where the ragdolls jiggle around when they land on strange geometry? Those would be planted to happen and the enemy's dead head freezes straight in your direction momentarily before resuming its movement. Things that we normally take for granted as glitches like pop-in or slow loading textures used to cause distress in you. All this along with things that you're certain can't be glitches and making you less powerful against this new type of threat as the game turns it up to 11 and turns full horror.

@wiouds:

Thats an adventure game... which is essentially what the first President Evil was....

A horror game shoukd definitely go for scares..... thats what makes it a horror game....

@Lulu_Lulu: He is correct games that only try to scare you are bare bones a complete horror game should be a complete adventure.

Most are there to scare the player first and foremost. Some though, mostly old school ones, feature unlockables like costumes and weapons or even extra game modes that do provide a legitimate incentive to play them beyond scare factor. It's why I enjoyed Cry of Fear so much. Even though it's an indie first person horror game, it's formula and style are much, much more in tune with old classics like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. There are multiple endings, numerous costumes and a few cool weapons to unlock, which is a lot of content for a free to play horror game. So replaying it becomes a matter of memorization and using new items. There's even a side scenario reminiscent of HUNK's scenario in RE2, in that you play as a side character fighting your way through areas of the main game filled with enemies of all kinds. So, ultimately, a lot of modern horror games don't have much to offer beyond scares and maybe a hidden ending, but a lot of older ones usually have a large chunk of content.

Still love them, despite their flaws. I think the Silent Hills demo was outrageously good. Beyond good. Praying for that.

@torenojohn7:

Again... that would be adventure game....