Ideas for theoretical "Scariest Horror Game Ever"

[Oneirius]

There seems to be a sort of limited consensus that at least one element of the "Super Scary Horror Game" would be playing either a child or a protagonist who is otherwise very weak, am I right here? So, fifteen year old tiny frail girl with glasses and asthma? Or is that kind of extreme? Where do you draw the line with the weakness of the protagonist?

 

[gothic wolf]

something simalar to the regenerators from resi 4 in the hospital........no music in the backround all goes quiet then all of a sudden u hear a ragged breathing as you round a corner u see a horrible slavering mutant, and after you have emptied an ammo clip/beaten it with th hardest object ur carrying in to it its limbs and boddy grow back and it keeps coming...

that bit scaerd the hell outta me when i was playing that

 

[Subzerowings]

So if you want to make it scary, take your pointers from Eternal Darkness.

Why does every one say Eternal Darkness was scary?
I played through the game three time (to get the secret ending) and I wasen't scared at all.
Maybe the that bugs crawled over the tv-screen when my insanity-meter got too low kind of creeped me out, but to me it was more of an adventure game with some really neat mechanics. It's still one of the best gamecube games ever.

On topic: Sure I can think of something. The game would start out like Heavy Rain, only less cheery and cheesy. It would also last a little longer so you could build up a personal relationship with the characters. One night you"ll go to bed and fall asleep. You"ll wake up in the middle of the night and see the room shift and turn as as black, scaly hands drag you through your bed and you fall into an abondoned city.


A figure cloacked in shadows tells you you"ll have to sacrifise those whom you love the most if you are to leave this place.
As you wander in it's streets you"ll meet the family you had met before. They all accuse you and speak in riddles while they stare at the ground. First you'll meet your sister, since you have no weapons, you choke her to death. As the game progresses you"ll have to kill all of the members of your family.

After murdering every one the whole city begins to shift and you return to your house. Your hands stained by the blood of your family. The mysterious man appears again, hands you a gun, and watches you fom the darkness. Enraged you shoot the man, upon which he falls to his knees. Before he dies he pulls back his hood, and you stare into your own eyes while the blood leaves your body.

It's a psychological horror game, but a horror game nonetheless.
Overall: Meh, I could've done alot better.

 

[sniper9474]

1st person survival game.
You wake up half dead in a small town without a clue whats going on or where you are. You have to find try to find out whats going on, find you family and other people and try to get out of the town.
Most of the town has been taken over by zombies(the fast and clever type), the people has been possessed or they've gone bat shit crazy, and they're hunting you out before you can get to them.
After your first encounter with whatevers in the town, they dont cope very well causing hallucinations of all sorts meaning that one action could turn against you or leave you in a hard spot.
In short you're stuck in a small town without a clue whats where, guns and ammo are scarce, the enemies are stronger and faster than you are, you cant tell if they're there or not and they're looking for you.

 

[Oneirius]

Here is another question for you, to answer if you want: do you think that the hero of such a game should be a perfectly normal human, or can he have some sort of "superpower" or the like? If yes, what kind of power and how would it work?

 

[Bananahs]

You play as a character who goes to bed as the power goes out, so you know, all dark and that. You start hearing noises and windows breaking. You'll investigate and they'll be nothing there.

You'll move yourself back in bed and do the same thing four times over, and then new sounds will be added in like screams. You'll see silhouettes on walls (turning out to be objects), whispers.

Just that four six hours straight.

Was all in the head.

Right?

 

[Jandau]

How about a game where you play from the perspective of a man suffering from violent hallucinations and schizophrenia. The world slowly begins to morph and change into something that seems to comes from the darkest nightmares. And whatever actions you do, may or may not have an impact on the real world (ie, the demon that you thought was living inside your basement, that you killed with an axe, was actually your sister's dog whom you were looking after). As the game progresses, everything become more intense, more unreal and your character gradually begins to go insane.

That would truly work if there really was something wrong going on in the world. Say, a demon invasion is actually happening, and it's up to a schizophreniac to stop them, but you can never be entirely sure if what you're seeing is truly the enemy or just the product of your diseased mind.

To make the mindfuckery even more intense, each New Game would randomize certain elements, such as the demon in the basement that you mentioned might turn out to be an actual demon, the dog as you suggested, or even your sister.

Of course, there would be ways to distinguish the reality from delusion, but they would have to be subtle, such as small audio and visual clues, while at the same time not giving you much time to decide since if you're wrong you might end up dead or worse.

There would be a "Get out of jail card" solution in the form of antipsychotic pills that would be rare, but when taken would suppress the halucinations for a short period. Of course, they'd be the most valued items in the game.

 

[Iron Mal]

One way to counter this would be a "variable system" so that the game difficulty can change slightly and most encounters only have a 1 in 3 chance of happening.

It should be a game in which ammo is scarce and all the fights are hard, but not impossible. Having to think adds immersion. One of the reasons dead space failed at horror is because after half the game I was tearing through enemies like a chainsaw in a newspaper factory. Your weapons, upgrades, new suits and rapid skill increase turned the game into a slaughter fest.

The game should always be slightly challenging, the variable system could even apply to the lesser boss fights, resulting in a: WTF? that wasn't there the first time!!! That could surprise all but veterans of a certain game.

Left 4 Dead tried this and failed in my opinion, after a playthrough or two you would still be able to notice patterns and make educated guesses at what was going to happen and where.

It also resulted in the situation where 'random' events ended up being more irritating than suspenseful (anyone who has had to deal with a witch blocking a doorway will know what I mean), and could end up punishing players for simply being unlucky (again, this is more frustrating than frightening).

Any time you make a game random you remove all skill and thought from the gameplay and it simply becomes a case of being lucky enough to make it through (which will only serve to piss off most players since it makes most levels into a battle of attrition, seeing which gives in first, the player or the laws of averages dictating their odds of success).

The issue of replayability cutting out the horror is mostly a result of the fact that it's a game with a definate beginning, middle and end (there's not much we can do about that, trying to make it random will sacrifice some of the pacing and tension in favor of trying to make it replayable).

 

[TylerC]

There seems to be a sort of limited consensus that at least one element of the "Super Scary Horror Game" would be playing either a child or a protagonist who is otherwise very weak, am I right here? So, fifteen year old tiny frail girl with glasses and asthma? Or is that kind of extreme? Where do you draw the line with the weakness of the protagonist?

In my post, I meant you start the game, in your perfect little world as a little kid. You're then killed and you fade into another character, the main protagonist. This would give the player of feeling of wow..I was just playing as an everyday kid, and was killed by this nuclear apocalypse. Instead of just throwing you into an environment where everything has already happened. The main protagonist could range anywhere from teen to mid twenties, or even a 55 year old war vet, who was just getting ready to retire, due to his disability. His disability could be something like a blown off limb, that you'd have to repair with spare parts, or you become much much weaker.

I also think injuries that you can see like Far Cry 2, but even more so. Like applying field dressing, or stitching up a gash in your leg. This wounds could happen mid fight, and you'd have to fight so hard to stay alive, and kill/hobble away from the enemy to perform in game surgery. Bloody.

 

[sniper9474]

Perfectly normal human, once youve got a superpower, you're less vunerable, meaning that it isnt as scary.
Unless your given a crap superpower.

 

[Brandon237]

One way to counter this would be a "variable system" so that the game difficulty can change slightly and most encounters only have a 1 in 3 chance of happening.

It should be a game in which ammo is scarce and all the fights are hard, but not impossible. Having to think adds immersion. One of the reasons dead space failed at horror is because after half the game I was tearing through enemies like a chainsaw in a newspaper factory. Your weapons, upgrades, new suits and rapid skill increase turned the game into a slaughter fest.

The game should always be slightly challenging, the variable system could even apply to the lesser boss fights, resulting in a: WTF? that wasn't there the first time!!! That could surprise all but veterans of a certain game.

Left 4 Dead tried this and failed in my opinion, after a playthrough or two you would still be able to notice patterns and make educated guesses at what was going to happen and where.

It also resulted in the situation where 'random' events ended up being more irritating than suspenseful (anyone who has had to deal with a witch blocking a doorway will know what I mean), and could end up punishing players for simply being unlucky (again, this is more frustrating than frightening).

Any time you make a game random you remove all skill and thought from the gameplay and it simply becomes a case of being lucky enough to make it through (which will only serve to piss off most players since it makes most levels into a battle of attrition, seeing which gives in first, the player or the laws of averages dictating their odds of success).

The issue of replayability cutting out the horror is mostly a result of the fact that it's a game with a definate beginning, middle and end (there's not much we can do about that, trying to make it random will sacrifice some of the pacing and tension in favor of trying to make it replayable).

I didn't play left 4 dead, but I get your point. Maybe not such a good idea...

Although the events would be for example 1 scripted event out of a possible 3, still well scripted, but unpredictable. Would be a massive challenge for the designers, that's for sure.

 

[Oneirius]

Perfectly normal human, once youve got a superpower, you're less vunerable, meaning that it isnt as scary.
Unless your given a crap superpower.

What would you define a "crap superpower"? Also what about "blessed with suck" type powers, that theoretically make you powerful but have terrible side effects? Like, the hero can phase into another layer of reality to move unseen and through walls, but when he does so he becomes prey to the Dread Things that live between dimensions? Or something like that?

 

[TerribleAssassin]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.187738-Ammunition-and-reloading-in-games

Defo a pointer that would help build some atmosphere

 

[Iconoclasm]

Would it suffice to say "Something Lovecraftian" and be finished?

 

[Riobux]

I think one thing would really need to be in the concept that there is something out there that absolutely hates you and is trying to hunt you down relentlessly. However, it would also need to contain lesser monsters you can dispatch with weapons.

 

[Oneirius]

How about a game where you play from the perspective of a man suffering from violent hallucinations and schizophrenia. The world slowly begins to morph and change into something that seems to comes from the darkest nightmares. And whatever actions you do, may or may not have an impact on the real world (ie, the demon that you thought was living inside your basement, that you killed with an axe, was actually your sister's dog whom you were looking after). As the game progresses, everything become more intense, more unreal and your character gradually begins to go insane.

That would truly work if there really was something wrong going on in the world. Say, a demon invasion is actually happening, and it's up to a schizophreniac to stop them, but you can never be entirely sure if what you're seeing is truly the enemy or just the product of your diseased mind.

To make the mindfuckery even more intense, each New Game would randomize certain elements, such as the demon in the basement that you mentioned might turn out to be an actual demon, the dog as you suggested, or even your sister.

Of course, there would be ways to distinguish the reality from delusion, but they would have to be subtle, such as small audio and visual clues, while at the same time not giving you much time to decide since if you're wrong you might end up dead or worse.

There would be a "Get out of jail card" solution in the form of antipsychotic pills that would be rare, but when taken would suppress the halucinations for a short period. Of course, they'd be the most valued items in the game.

Oh, I have an idea for how to make the game interesting without a demonic invasion! It's going to be like one of those psycho-thriller cop shows. Basically you are a guy who is known to be schizophrenic, and you supposedly murder a person close to you. Only you know you didn't(Did you?). You have some reason to be sure that you have been framed. Perhaps you are an ex cop, but you saw something that caused you to go insane. And an old friend of yours is involved. So it's a dark psychological investigation quest where you try to prove your innocence, with nightmarish hallucinations.
And... erm. A government conspiracy! Or something like that?

 

[Iron Mal]

I didn't play left 4 dead, but I get your point. Maybe not such a good idea...

Although the events would be for example 1 scripted event out of a possible 3, still well scripted, but unpredictable. Would be a massive challenge for the designers, that's for sure.

That would be an improvement (as far as randomising things go) but it would still cause colossal problems for the narrative and pacing (things which are also important to a horror game), this means that the writer has to come up with numerous plot lines/potentially different stories/endings based on what random events/choices occur throughout the game (which would not only confuse many players but would more than likely make the quality of the writing suffer as a result). How would the random events be chosen? Would it be based on the players previous actions? (in which case it's not random) Is it random? (in which case it could result in the plot taking a random turn and thus breaking the immersion).

It could work, but it would have to be very cleverly implimented.

 

[Elemental]

How about a game where you play from the perspective of a man suffering from violent hallucinations and schizophrenia. The world slowly begins to morph and change into something that seems to comes from the darkest nightmares. And whatever actions you do, may or may not have an impact on the real world (ie, the demon that you thought was living inside your basement, that you killed with an axe, was actually your sister's dog whom you were looking after). As the game progresses, everything become more intense, more unreal and your character gradually begins to go insane.

That would truly work if there really was something wrong going on in the world. Say, a demon invasion is actually happening, and it's up to a schizophreniac to stop them, but you can never be entirely sure if what you're seeing is truly the enemy or just the product of your diseased mind.
There is already a game like this.. It's called Condemned, minus the schizophrenia
To make the mindfuckery even more intense, each New Game would randomize certain elements, such as the demon in the basement that you mentioned might turn out to be an actual demon, the dog as you suggested, or even your sister.

Of course, there would be ways to distinguish the reality from delusion, but they would have to be subtle, such as small audio and visual clues, while at the same time not giving you much time to decide since if you're wrong you might end up dead or worse.

There would be a "Get out of jail card" solution in the form of antipsychotic pills that would be rare, but when taken would suppress the halucinations for a short period. Of course, they'd be the most valued items in the game.

Oh, I have an idea for how to make the game interesting without a demonic invasion! It's going to be like one of those psycho-thriller cop shows. Basically you are a guy who is known to be schizophrenic, and you supposedly murder a person close to you. Only you know you didn't(Did you?). You have some reason to be sure that you have been framed. Perhaps you are an ex cop, but you saw something that caused you to go insane. And an old friend of yours is involved. So it's a dark psychological investigation quest where you try to prove your innocence, with nightmarish hallucinations.
And... erm. A government conspiracy! Or something like that?

There is already a game like this... it's called Condemned, minus the schizophrenia part.

 

[Brandon237]

I didn't play left 4 dead, but I get your point. Maybe not such a good idea...

Although the events would be for example 1 scripted event out of a possible 3, still well scripted, but unpredictable. Would be a massive challenge for the designers, that's for sure.

That would be an improvement (as far as randomising things go) but it would still cause colossal problems for the narrative and pacing (things which are also important to a horror game), this means that the writer has to come up with numerous plot lines/potentially different stories/endings based on what random events/choices occur throughout the game (which would not only confuse many players but would more than likely make the quality of the writing suffer as a result). How would the random events be chosen? Would it be based on the players previous actions? (in which case it's not random) Is it random? (in which case it could result in the plot taking a random turn and thus breaking the immersion).

It could work, but it would have to be very cleverly implimented.

Exactly, a challenge for the devs. The plot would remain the same, but the combat encounters would be different and a lot of the small plot areas could be more fluid. Like two different people in the same maze on parallel corridors once the maze has fallen apart just a little. The things that differ slightly would link so that it is all very similar but from a different perspective.

EDIT: if it was cleverly implemented, just imagine how good it would be, it would be a challenge and a half but would the results not be worth it?