The State of Horror Games: A Dark Future Ahead?

Sean Halliday of Pixel Gate writes:

''here are a number of things that a lot of modern ‘horror’ titles get wrong. For example, the player isn’t treated like a victim; they are the one in control of the situation. This is often a result of arming the player to the teeth and throwing waves of enemies at them. There’s nothing scary about out-gunning everything that comes after you.

The elements of horror have become too tightly entwined with the staples of the action/shooter genre. Players are often put in a position in which they are exposed to the enemy regularly. The enemy itself is often one of many, further detracting from any sense of horror they may carry. The player is often equipped with various firearms that are more than capable of killing anything in sight, and the resulting experience is more ‘intense action’ than ‘heart-pounding horror’. But this just seems to be the modern day method–’action horror’ rather than just ‘horror’''

[GentlemenRUs]

Action horror just sucks...

Just go back to its roots...

[Pixelgate]

I think action has it's place...but that doesn't mean it should dominate the market :(

[Conzul]

Dead Space 2 was VERY good.

[Linko64]

Too many zombies

[Pintheshadows]

You must of missed the horror genre's resurgence on PC over the last few years.

[Pixelgate]

Given the nod towards indie efforts I'd hardly call that missing them

[Pintheshadows]

I know you nodded towards them but the article as a whole has a very pessimistic outlook whereas I think it should be more optimistic.

[Pixelgate]

It's aimed mostly at main stream, you have to remember that there's a ton of people that pay little attention to indies, or own PC's for that matter.

[Pintheshadows]

Those people are silly.

[TheFirstClassic]

Just asking since I'm in the market, what horror games on pc would you recommend? I've played through Amnesia, which was freaky as hell, but I was looking around for some more horror.

[Pintheshadows]

Outlast.

[s45gr32]

Besides Amnesia dark descent, I recommend Lucius (is the Omen in gaming form), lone survivor (silent hill in 2D), Doorways, any version of slender, Alan Wake, Limbo, Outlast, just pretty much it be on the lookout for among the sleep.

[SweetDangos]

Get Silent Hill 2 on PC. Once you get past the controls it's the best horror experience gaming can offer. You'll have to torrent it though since it's not available on steam and the hard copies are hard to find.

[s45gr32]

This article was spot on in the sense is true indie game developers are the ones that bring horror games the major studios not anymore unless "the evil within" turns out to be a huge success. I am looking forward to play Outlast, among the sleep, Constantine, Asylum, Dread Out, etc so many indie horror games so little time.

[SweetDangos]

AAA horror sucks nowadays. The indie scene are the only places that offer a horror feel but even then most of them just offer scares and lack storytelling and good character development. The golden age of horror will always be PS1-PS2 era.