What happened to horror?

Outlast has gotten a lot of love and I can't for the life of me figure out why. The game is all cheap jump scares, has a seriously problematic story and wildly inconsistent AI. The atmosphere seems to be nothing more than "throw a bunch of corpses in a room and cover them in blood." Not only that, but the game is pretty much good for one play through and that's it. There are no unlockables, no incentives to replay aside from trophies. It seems that games like this and to some extent Five Nights at Freddy's (three games in a year and a half is too many, I'm sorry) are what's wrong with horror these days.

I wish there were more games where there were multiple endings and lots of unlockables to get. I'd say Cry of Fear (a FREE game on Steam) is absolutely horrifying. It relies on jump scares occasionally but it's atmosphere can be extremely subtle and really gets under your skin (plus the monsters are just freaky). Plus, it has a ton of unlockable stuff to give you more of an incentive to replay it.

I understand the idea of not giving the player a weapon, but Cry of Fear gives the player a full arsenal to choose from and still manages to be scary as hell. It may be first person, but it is old school with very little of the old school annoyances (no fixed camera, you can aim exactly where you want). In other words, it's actually mechanically sound and still manages to be scarier than most other recent horror games (especially Outlast, which ceased to be scary after about a half hour).

Does anybody agree with me or am I full of shit?

Well I haven't played any of those games but the last horror game I played was The Evil Within and it was excellent. Silent Hills could be very promising. I'm not sure what else there is on the horizon for horror games though.

@Archangel3371: I enjoyed Evil within as well, but more as an action game than horror game. It wasn't very scary at all but had nice environments. Really enjoyed it, but the actual scares felt obvious and predictable.

I found it more creepy and disturbing as opposed to jump out of your seat scary.

@Archangel3371: Maybe I'm just jaded lol. I didn't really find most of it creepy... It felt too "in your face," like it was trying too hard to scare you. And I don't really need jump scares (as a matter of fact, I hate them when they're overused, which seems to be the case with a lot of horror media). Like I said, really enjoyed the game and the environments themselves were nice but there was so much gore and disturbing stuff like that that it ceased to have an effect on me.

Amnesia and Penumbra done horror right.

I have not played outlast but I have not heard of it either. Can't be that popular.... Doesn't sound like the kind of game that's good from your description.

As far as the Horror genre, its evolved to be more like a 'Dead Space" or a "Alien: isolation" or even the new "Silent Hill" which is the type of Horror I personally enjoy and go for. Give me atmosphere, original characters/monsters and a solid story over random jump scares any day of the week.

You're definitely not full of shit.... that much I am sure of.... but I can't completely agree just yet.... I never played thosr games....

I do enjoy survival horror when it is about surviving a horror movie more than trying to scaring the player. Nothing worse that having a large number of jump scares or worse those game with a large number of part with no game play to "build atmosphere." If I want to be scared than I will watch a movie at least they do not clash with themselves.

Outlast was fantastic. So much disturbing stuff going on in that game. The atmosphere was great and kept you on edge. The idea of throwing in inmates who weren't actually enemies was brilliant as you never knew what to expect when you encountered people.

I would honestly say Outlast was the first great horror game I have played in quite a few years. The ONLY horror game I cared for last gen was the original Dead Space. I am hoping thr popularity of games like Outlast, Five Nights at Freddies, and the PT demo help revive the genre. I feel like it has basically been dead since the PS2 era.

I think that the success of Resident Evil and Silent Hill means that new games want to match their success, not match their substance. This means that they're making the games from the wrong starting point.

@wiouds: You hate horror games that scare you..? What?

I think horror games that focus on trying to scare me will always fail at holding my interest (for example, outlast). I enjoy the dark atmosphere and general creepiness of the scenario over cheap thrills. The Silent Hill games weren't scary, just extremely unsettling while simultaneously compelling. I also enjoy the zombie apocalypse scenario, so I find the worlds of RE and Dying Light fun to play in.

I don't read horror as fear, but rather darker worlds with bleak outlooks. A roller coaster doesn't have to make you black out to be a fun ride and similarly a horror game doesn't have to make you jump to be good horror.

I really enjoyed Outlast, and that is one of the only few games that made me scared to play it at night. Not to mention how many times I jumped out of my seat due to being frightened, I really loved this game. Evil Within wasn't scary whatsoever to me, but I did enjoy it as an action adventure game.

Horror games done right most of the time doesn't even have a real enemy chasing you down or anything, it gives you the feeling you're being watched and something could pop up around any corner.
Also using things like flikkering light, sounds like crying babies or laughing childeren can make the hairs on your back just jump up if done right...

This is a thing that is almost impossible to pull off if not having the dark mindset for it.

The last horror game i enjoyed was Resident Evil 4, i know nothing that scary about it but it was pretty cool. Tried Penumbra and Amnesia but my hard drive died and i never played them again. Outlast was boring as F*** so was Alien isolation the evil within was great but wasn't scary at all looking forward to silent hill.

I'm enjoying the evil within it kind of creeps me out at times.

@sukraj: If you want to be creeped out look out of your window ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I won't lie, running away from Laura as she chased after you was pretty damn creepy.

@BattleSpectre: She isn't moms prettiest daughter i see...

I finish Alien isolation and playing resident evil hd. Evil within its shooter like resident evil 4 5 6 revelation i finish evil within 24 hours on survival difficult

@turtlethetaffer: I died when Dead Space died.

It got americanised and turned into shit.

@Ish_basic: Like Dark Souls.

It has one of the most unsettling atmospheres.
Even if your standing around doing nothing it still feels like something is terribly wrong with the place and I'm talking about standing around at Firelink Shrine.

New Londo Ruins when you've lowered the water and you see all those piles and mountains of corpses. Duke's Archives with the Chanelier Chants or that Crystal Cave that felt so alien-like. Lost Izalith was an area with bad level design but stil that atmosphere and the entire idea of a city that got engulfed by Chaos itself. Oh and the music that plays when you are fighting bosses. ESPECIALLY THE GAPING DRAGON.

if i am honest like REALLY REALLY honest it is because the newest generation of gamers are a bunch of pussies! they can't handle the scares of real horror and need their "horror" with a bottle of milk...

I think the problem is that everybody experiences horror differently and you're looking at it from your opinion only. Case in point being your comment that others find Outlast scary and you cannot understand why.

And many share your view while many will also disagree.

Does that mean you're right and they're wrong, or you're wrong and they're right?, No. There is no right or wrong when it comes to personal preferences. Some like Horror where you have weapons, some prefer it when you are helpless. Some like jumpscares more then atmosphere and some like the opposite. Some don't like any elements of horror at all.

So to answer your question. Nothing has happened to the Horror genre, it's just that Horror is different to many consumers and developers that Horror games varies and it's not always created to suit your prefered taste.

Now you stole the words out of my mouth.... i find it funny that everyone finds it a deal-breaker if said horror game isn't "Scary" enough.. it seems like people are missing the point of a game altogether what should truly matter is the overall atmosphere&gameplay not a jump-scare or weird effects on screen(i'm looking at you Amnesia&Eternal darkness!).

I don't see people complaining about horror movies not being "Scary" enough or not having any jumpscares so why people bitch about horror games not being scary enough is beyond me,what someone finds "Scary" is really subjective as a kid i was scared of doom heck i was scared of dark rooms! but as an adult i can't find anything scary even if i try.

Horror games that focus some much on scaring the player just make the game play worse.

Well they do think that Five Nights at Freddy's is the scariest thing ever so...

People think being yelled in the ear is horror, so... why should developers bother?

I never liked horror games, games can't scare me so the atmosphere is just grating to me. Doesn't help that for the longest time they were limited to resident evil's tank controls as far as 3d games go.

I love atmospheric games, but not that kind of suspenseful cheesiness in horror games.

@acp_45:

Does it ? Its one thing for a game to have no music but its something else entirely for a game to have absolutely zero ambience..... the enemies don't even make sounds save for a handfull of them, the only memorable one us the Titanite Demon, the rest don't make a peep until you show up.....

Besides its counter intuitive this game's intent on killing you and forcing you to repeat entire sections kills whatever little atmosphere it manages to have.... much in the same horror game would kill its own atnosphere if it tries to scare you at every turn......

But then again..... its all subjective..... I can't objectively say Dark Souls has no atmosphere.....

BTW Lost Izalith was so bright that I couldn't see a damn thing...... it was even worse than Tomb of Giants.... atleast that made sense you're not suppose to be able to see in the Dark but how the hell does Lava make everything above it Dark and harder to see?

Heh, usually it's not a bad thing when women chase after you. In this case I'll be right.....

Horror games just don't make any money. They are the ultimate rental. Rent, be scared on one playthrough, return it. No money in it. It's slim pickings, so I'm not too fussy about them. They are my favorite

@Shmiity: Except they used to have staying power. Older games used to have thing like multiple endings, unlockables, difficulty levels etc.

@Lulu_Lulu: I don't know what you anted to prove but as soon as you said it's all subjective......You just made my point valid. So yes I agree with you.

On the Izalith part though......remember that there is lore behind almost everything in the game and therefore there is a reason why there is lava in Lost Izalith.

From playing P.T. I'm definitely looking forward to Silent Hills. With Kojima/Del Toro working together with Norman Reedus I have high hopes.

I and many others found P.T. pretty scary and while there are jump scares, they are pretty random ones and the feel of the game has the horror kind of atmosphere as well.

@acp_45:

yeah I heard those words before.... its funny... nobody ever says there is a good reason....

Theres just a reason..... and mist of the time it hurts the gameplay..... The biggest offender being The Lore of Seath the Scaleless...... according to the lore..... Seath is immortal...... but the way the actuall gameplay handled it was cheap and lazy....... But its okay to Force players to die and change all the rules they've been reinforcing (in the worst way) as long as the Lore says so ?

COD happened. Now everyone wants COD money by targeting wider audience.

@Lulu_Lulu: NO.... According to the lore Seath studies immortality and uses crystals to give him temporary immortality

Fatal Frame 5 might get a Wiiu north american launch which would be sweet

@acp_45:

And that makes it okay to change the rules if the game ?

I wonder who gets killed by Seath and reacts like "wow that lore was soooooo deep"....... I mean when I talk to people about it thats the impression I get from them.....

What do you mean ?

Isn't that what lore is there for ?

The Lore is deep can have more than one meaning....... you might be misunderstanding it when people say it's deep.

BTW have you killed Seath ?

If you have then you should know that the lore is not neglected at all.

You need to destroy the crystal like figure in the room to make Seath vulnerable......

I don't see the problem.

In my experience, the most effective way to scare a person is through the use of atmospheric horror. the best thing a game to do to make it scarier, as well as a film or show, is to add small things that make the scene evoke fear, so much so that the actual creature or centerpiece of the scene isn't the focus and primary source of the scare, but an effective addition to an already frightening encounter. The best example that I've seen of this in games recently has been in P.T.. While you could argue that the game utilized a jump scare with the woman, a notably cheap and typically bland horror technique, the woman was, in fact, not actually prevalent in a majority of the levels. The game instead created an atmosphere that scared you without being overtly frightening, relying instead on subtle uses of sound, light, and coloring to convey a sense of looming danger within each level, even when the jump scare was utilized. It's choices like these that make a game scary, not simple and easy choices like jump scares and gratuitous blood. Even games which I thought were not that great, like the new Alien game, did this effectively. These methods are highly effective and I think that any horror game would benefit from using them in thier development

@acp_45:

Yes I killed Seath 7 times now...... I'm talking about your first encounter with Seath in Archives..... not in the Crystal Caves

The last game I played that actually creeped me out was Eternal Darkness for the Game Cube. I really enjoyed Alan Wake, wasn't scary but had great atmosphere. In all fairness, I don't play alot of horror games.

@Lulu_Lulu: What about your first encounter ?

He basically captures you and puts you in cell...... and he probably wanted to experiment on you since there are already so many crystallised people in Duke's Archives and also Seath seemed to be fascinated by Humans especially...if you look at the Crystal Golems that captured humans and held them as captives in their bodies for like thousands of years. It makes sense....

@acp_45:

Capture ?

Nope.... he kills you...... and you can't kill him....

Uhhhhh...... He captures you..-_-.. right after you spawn you'll find yourself in a cell with a bonfire and not your previously used bonfire.... It's quite obvious. Technically he doesn't kill you but I do agree that if you don't pay attention to what's happening it might look like he did because it says you died after that first encounter.... but why would he put you spawn in a cell and not your previous bonfire.